The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Women in STEM Initiative (AIMSWIS)

is a flagship program of AIMS dedicated to accelerating progress for African women in STEM
through evidence-based reporting and advocacy, leveraging increased investments, adoption of
best practices, engaging men and collaboration across African women in the STEM pipeline. It
was launched just before the 2016 Next Einstein Forum Global Gathering, during the first
AIMSWIS Consultative meeting on the development of a pan-African Agenda for Women in
STEM. The consultative meeting brought together key actors from across Africa working on
promoting African Women in STEM related fields. The aim was to agree on key priorities for
moving forward collectively on these important issues. Participants included members of the
African Union Commission, a representative from the Government of Sénégal, HRSC (South
Africa), FAWE, WAAW Foundation, the African Research Academies for Women, the Visiola
Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Next
Einstein Forum (NEF) Ambassadors, and many others. Working in alignment with Continental
Frameworks and priorities such as the Agenda 2063, the STISA 2024 and the Maputo Protocol,
the AIMSWIS Initiative seeks to be Africa’s Secretariat for Promoting Women in STEM. Key
priorities for the AIMSWIS Initiative include:
i. Promoting pan-African dialogue and collaboration among Women in STEM Partners to
amplify our collective reach and impact;
ii. Addressing the need for comparable, reliable, sex-data and statistics on women’s
participation and leadership across the STEM pipeline in Africa;
iii. Supporting decision-makers in governments, academia, industry and civil society through
evidence-based recommendations for action;
iv. Sourcing funding for innovative programs that promote Women in STEM and enabling
best practice models to be brought to scale;
v. Promoting a holistic approach to gender equality in STEM by engaging men and boys and
promoting gender sensitive science.
Gender Summit 18- Africa
The Gender Summit 18- Africa (GS 18) is led by Portia and AIMS, in partnership with science
institutions across Africa and beyond. This is the third Gender Summit focused on research and
research capacity in and for Africa, and the second organised jointly by AIMS and Portia. The GS
18 theme is Agriculture with a Gender Lens: From Surviving to Thriving in a Climate Changing
World. The event was to take place in Nairobi on 9-10 March 2020 but due to COVID-19
pandemic disruptions, it will be held virtually between 23 November and 05 December, 2020,
using the original programme.
The GS 18 will build upon the success of GS 14, which took place in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2018,
under the theme: Climate Change through the Gender Lens. Click on the following links for the
GS 14 programme and report: GS 14 programme and GS 14 report.
GS 18 will advance one of the continent’s most pressing problems: how do we shift the paradigm
in agriculture from one where women and marginalized groups strive to survive to a sector where
they have the skills, space, and opportunity to harness knowledge and technology to fuel their
empowerment? The focus, in particular, will be on how scientific understanding of biological and
ecological factors, together with knowledge of socio-cultural conditions, can be effectively
deployed to transform resilience and quality of crops and of farming practices into evidence-based,
sustainable and holistic agricultural systems, in which women, and the young can fully and equally
participate and thrive.
Purpose of Consultancy
The scientific evidence and examples of best practice reported on at GS 18 will provide the basis
for developing a Call to Action designed to engage key actors and stakeholders in transformative
actions recommended by the Summit’s participants. The Call will formulate a collective strategy
for change with achievable near- and longer-term objectives, and show where improvements are
needed most and who should take what action. An indication of what is envisaged regarding the
Call to Action is the roadmap report from 3rd Gender Summit, accessible through this link- 3rd
Gender Summit Roadmap.
The goal of this consultancy is to collect, analyse and organise evidence and recommendations
from GS 18 into:
i. A conference report, and to;
ii. Identify and prioritise the discussions topics, interventions and recommendations to be
include into the Call to Action for transformative change strategy.
The specific objectives are:
i. Engage with session moderators and panel speakers to achieve consensus on which topics,
recommendations, and practices should be part of the Call to Action;
ii. Coordinate the acquisition and collation of necessary conference material and any
references to the relevant publications;
iii. Identify opportunities for developing the collected materials into training opportunities for
use by AIMS staff, AIMS Community of Scientists, and other trainees;
iv. Produce the conference report;
v. Produce recommendations of themes and topics to be included in future Gender Summit
– Africa events and in the AIMSWIS programme.
Scope of Work
The Consultant Rapporteur will:
Before the event
i. Consult regularly with Summit coordinators.
ii. Become familiar with the conference theme, programme, objectives, themes, and
speaker presentations when available.
iii. Consult with session panel chairs and speakers to agree on the best preparation and use
of the session content for reporting purposes and for inclusion in the Call to Action.
During the event
i. Attend and monitor the GS 18 sessions and in particular Q&A exchanges, including the
online Chat Rooms. The conference will be hosted on Zoom and with the panels’
permission all sessions will be recorded.
ii. With the assistance of volunteers, support panel chairs/moderators pick up interesting
questions that relevant to the Call to Action.
After the event
Prepare a *conference report
Prepare a *Call to Action
*AIMS and Portia will provide support in the selection, organisation and reviewing of the
content of these documents.
Organisational Arrangements
The Consultant Rapporteur will report to the GS 18 Coordinators: Audrey Namdiero-Walsh
(Gender Officer, AIMS) and Dr Elizabeth Politzer (Director, Portia, Ltd). Regular meetings with
the GS 18 Coordinators and Consultant to discuss preparations, progress and implementation of
the consultancy will be scheduled as appropriate. AIMS will provide the consultant with the
relevant documents.
Duration and Working Schedule
The assignment is planned for November and December 2020. It is estimated that 24 staff days
of professional services would be required for this assignment as shown in the table below:
Tasks Estimated
days
Dates
Before the event Consultations with GS 18
Coordinators, sessions
Chairs and Speakers
5 By 20th November, 2020
During the event Engaging with and
monitoring session
discussions
5 23rd November- 5th
December, 2020
After the event i. Conference report
preparation (first
draft)
5 By 22nd January, 2021
ii. Call to Action
preparation (first
draft)
2 By 22nd January, 2021
iii. Conference report
preparation (final
draft)
5 By 19th February, 2021
iv. Call to Action
preparation (final
draft)
2 By 19th February, 2021
Total 24
Deliverables
The following reports should be submitted to the GS 18 Coordinators in MS Word format as
follows:
i. GS 18 Conference report
• Draft: This should be submitted for comments by close of business 22nd January,

  1. The GS 18 Coordinators will submit comments by close of business 29th
    January, 2021.
    • Final: The consultant will revise the draft comprehensive report based on the
    comments and will submit the final comprehensive report by 19th February, 2021.
    The GS 18 Coordinators reserves the right to request further amendments by the
    consultant if necessary.
    ii. Call to Action Strategy
    • Draft: This should be submitted for comments by close of business 22nd January,
  2. The GS 18 Coordinators will submit comments by close of business 29th
    January, 2021.
    • Final: The consultant will revise the draft comprehensive report based on the
    comments and will submit the final comprehensive report by 19th February, 2021.
    The GS 18 Coordinators reserves the right to request further amendments by the
    consultant if necessary.
    Schedule of Payments
    For the performance of the duties enumerated under the Terms of Reference, the Consultant will
    be paid a lump sum fee. The lump sum fee shall be paid in the following manner:
    • 25% of the contract sum on signing the contract;
    • 75% of the contract sum based on the approval of the final report.
    Essential Minimum Qualifications & Professional Experience
    • Be highly qualified and proficient in spoken and written English, with an advanced
    university degree from a recognised institution in English, gender studies, agriculture,
    environmental studies or related field.
    • Minimum 3-5 years’ work experience in a similar position or carrying out similar
    functions. At a minimum, the candidate should have experience leading the development,
    writing, and drafting/editing of technical reports or proceedings.
    • Have a good understanding of key concepts in gender equality and inclusion and
    agriculture in the African context.
    • Demonstrate the ability to use a neat, concise and clear style in writing and
    communication.
    • Have experience in discourse analysis methods and using innovative approaches such as
    graphics, charts etc, to summarize key content.
    • Previous experience at a virtual conference or workshop is an asset.

This vacancy is archived.

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