Request for Proposal: Provision of Professional Services for the Conduction of Policy Research on the Empowerment of Drylands Women

RFP/001/10/14

The objective of this policy research assignment is to contribute to the global UNDP research agenda on inequality and inclusive growth and to the implementation of the Windhoek initiative on the “Empowerment of Drylands Women”. Participants in the “Gender and Drylands Policy Forum” identified the challenges facing drylands women which can be summarized as follows:

• Limited participation of drylands women in decision-making processes from the local to the national level
• Inequality of access to land and its resources (patriarchal values, biased customary practices, etc.)
• Poor recognition of the role of drylands women in natural resource management including their indigenous knowledge
• Inadequate access to basic services (health, education, water, etc.)
• Weak socio-economic capacity (access to capital, credit, technology and markets)

The assignment seeks to address these challenges by proposing strategic actions in the policy, institutional and capacity spheres to advance the gender equality and women empowerment agenda in the drylands.

Based on the challenges identified in the “Gender and Drylands Policy Forum”, the critical areas of concern for the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action currently under review (Beijing+20), the agenda and priorities of UNDP and UNCCD, the following research themes were agreed to constitute the focus of this assignment:

• Drylands Women and Land rights

The majority of women in the drylands lack secure access to and control over land which increases their vulnerability, reduces their status and exclude them from the decision making process related to the control and transfer of land. Women play an integral part in the production of food and goods, from work in fields, factories, and home-based business across the globe. There is a critical relationship in the role that women play and the sustenance provided for families, communities, and nations. Improving women's access to and control over land is a fundamental human right and critical for drylands development, food security, and poverty reduction. The research will focus on identifying current status, constraints and opportunities, good practices as well as strategic actions in the policy, institutional and capacity spheres to enhance security of tenure and equitable access to land for drylands women.

• Drylands Women and Resilience

Dryland ecosystems have a fragile natural resource base and are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Dryland communities are faced with increasingly destabilizing challenges - including recurrent drought and limited economic infrastructure and opportunities. These challenges are driving land degradation, threatening livelihoods, interfering with the fulfillment of basic human needs, and fueling conflicts over scare land and water resources. Women if properly equipped and empowered can act active agents of change in driving resilient development in the drylands. The research will focus on identifying current status, constraints and opportunities, good practices as well as strategic actions in the policy, institutional and capacity spheres to enhance the role of women in building resilient livelihoods and ecosystems in the drylands.

• Drylands Women and Decision-making

Women are often marginalized in decision-making processes relevant to drylands development. This constitutes both a violation of basic human rights of women and deprives communities of the valuable knowledge and skills women possess for driving inclusive, equitable and sustainable development in the drylands. The research will focus on identifying current status, constraints and opportunities, good practices as well as strategic actions in the policy, institutional and capacity spheres to enhance equality between men and women and advance the role of drylands women in decision-making processes, particularly at the local level where they act as users and managers of natural resources.

In researching these themes, a human rights-based approach will be adopted. This approach seeks to analyze inequalities which lie at the heart of development problems and redress discriminatory practices and unjust distributions of power that impede development progress. It considers discrimination against women a violation of human rights and the empowerment of women and the improvement of their political, social, and economic and health status as important ends in themselves.