TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANTS
Background Information
The negative economic and social impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and efforts of governments in Central and West Asia to recover
require corresponding increased support in gender mainstreaming to ensure women’s inclusion
in the recovery and rebuilding efforts and to strengthen women’s resilience against current and
future external shocks. Policy actions, specific measures that provide opportunities for
employment, facilitate women’s access to utilities and services, promote financial inclusion will be
needed to enable women to effectively cope with the economic and social challenges. Executing
and implementing agencies (EAs/IAs) will need further capacity development on implementation
and monitoring of progress and results of Gender Action Plans (GAPs), as this will be key to
tracking the results of gender initiatives on the lives of women.
Subproject 13 will facilitate gender mainstreaming in projects in Central and West Asia taking into
account the current context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the post-COVID-19 recovery
efforts. Gender design features aligned with the pillars and sub-pillars of Operational Plan 2 will
be integrated across all sectors, with special attention to the challenging sectors for gender
mainstreaming- finance, public sector management, transport and energy, and in modalities such
as policy-based loans, and sector development programs. To help specific projects in these
sectors achieve effective gender mainstreaming (EGM) categorization, it will support the
development of gender-related transaction technical assistance subprojects to supplement the
gender design features identified in these projects. It will continue to provide technical guidance
to executing and implementing agencies (EAs/IAs) in the implementation of Gender Action Plans
(GAPs), collection, and review of semi-annual GAP updates, and reporting on gender equality
results at project completion. All GAP updates and gender equality results will be encoded in the
ender database and categorized according to the relevant OP2 sub-pillars these are aligned with.
Reports from the gender database will be generated and used to inform project design,
improvements in monitoring and reporting. Capacity development for EAs/IAs will continue to be
undertaken to further hone their skills on GAP monitoring, reporting on progress and gender
equality results, including on alignment of data from GAP updates with the relevant gender
indicators in the OP2 sub-pillars. Capacities of EAs/IAs will also be developed on new, good
practices and approaches to gender mainstreaming. As with subproject 3, the capacity
development activities will include in-country workshops and a subregional workshop. A technical
assistance cluster completion assessment will be conducted.
ADB will engage consultants to help implement the subproject, specifically to: (i) support gender
mainstreaming in the design and preparation of projects categorized as gender equity theme
(GEN) and effective gender mainstreaming (EGM) (ii) support the development and
implementation of gender subprojects linked to key projects/loans in the energy, finance, public
sector management, and transport sectors (iii) provide technical guidance and ensure efficient
and effective implementation of GAPs of GEN- and EGM-categorized projects and gender actions
of projects categorized as some gender elements (SGEs), (iv) facilitate preparation of gender
sections and reporting on gender equality results in project completion reports (PCRs), (v)
facilitate implementation of in-country capacity building activities for executing and implementing
agencies (EAs/IAs) to enhance knowledge and skills in gender mainstreaming and
implementation of GAPs and gender initiatives, (vi) provide inputs to enhance reporting of
quantitative and qualitative data related to the gender indicators in the Corporate Results
Framework, and (vii) contribute to the assessment of the implementation of the transaction
technical assistance cluster (C-TRTA) and its subprojects, help identify ways forward. These will
comprise (i) 48 person-months of individual international inputs, of which 24 person-months will
be for Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and 24 person-months of individual international inputs to
be based in ADB headquarters (one full-time) (ii) 72 person-months of individual national inputs
(24 person-months each to be based in Pakistan and Uzbekistan, and 24 person-months for TA
coordination in ADB headquarters (one full-time).
i. International Gender and Knowledge Management Specialist Consultant (24
person-months)
The international gender consultant will provide technical support in project design and
preparation of projects in the (i) agriculture, natural resources, and rural development and (ii)
education and health sectors. He/she will manage the development of gender knowledge
products, strategy documents, and capacity building activities, manage the cluster technical
assistance, including development and management of the implementation and reporting on the
cluster technical assistance and subprojects. He/She will lead the organization of the assessment
of the transaction technical assistance cluster (C-TRTA) and its subprojects. Specific tasks and
deliverables include:
a. Technical guidance in project design and preparation. Lead gender mainstreaming in
the design of projects in the (i) agriculture, natural resources, and rural development and
(ii) education and health sectors through participation in and provision of technical inputs
in fact-finding missions, provision of guidance to project social development consultants
in collection of relevant baseline data; review and finalization of poverty, social, and
gender analysis (PSGA) reports; review and finalization of the Summary Poverty
Reduction and Social Strategy (SPRSS), and gender sections in project documents. Lead
the drafting and finalization of the gender action plans (GAPs).
b. Overall management of the C-TRTA and development and management of
implementation of C-TRTA subprojects. (i) Lead the drafting of the subproject technical
assistance reports, (ii) Facilitate the finalization and approval of the subproject reports, (iii)
Manage the cluster TRTA and implementation, monitoring, and reporting on progress and
results of all the subprojects. (iv) Prepare the completion reports for all the subprojects
and the technical assistance cluster.
c. Assessment of the C-TRTA and its subprojects. (i) Provide guidance to the program
development specialist/workshop facilitator, in the preparation of the design of the
assessment workshop. (ii) Coordinate with the resident mission gender specialists for the
nomination, confirmation, and actual participation of staff and other participants in the
focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews. (iii) Review the outputs of the program
development specialist and provide inputs, as needed. (iv) Endorse the workshop
facilitator’s output/s and outputs of service provider/s. (v) Manage the documentation,
administrative arrangements, and logistics. (vi) Prepare the post-activity and back-tooffice report and the complete written documentation of the workshop proceedings.
d. Development of knowledge products. (i) Lead the coordination for the preparation of
gender case studies, articles, country gender assessment/s and updates for Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan and other knowledge
materials/publications on gender initiatives. (ii) Lead the review of the content and
finalization of draft manuscripts. (iii) Coordinate the interdepartmental review, publishing
process, finalization, publicity, and dissemination of gender knowledge products. (iv)
Prepare the blurbs and articles, as needed, for the promotion/ publicity of the knowledge
products.
e. Support to in-country capacity building activities. (i) Review and provide inputs to the
concept notes, design of the program and facilitate the finalization and approval of the
concept and draft program. (ii) Provide inputs to the technical materials and presentations.
(iii) Facilitate the administrative and logistical arrangements, as needed. (iv) Coordinate
the audio-visual documentation of the activities. (v) Prepare the post-activity and back-tooffice report to include among others key points and ways forward. (vi) Draft the blurbs,
blogs, news features, articles for information dissemination in various ADB media
platforms.
Minimum Qualification Requirements
a. With Masters’ degree on any of the following fields: social development, gender and
development, development studies, development economics, and related fields;
b. Minimum 10 years of general work experience with at least 5 years work experience in
multilateral development organizations;
c. A minimum of 7 years direct experience in gender mainstreaming, with at least 2 years work
experience on gender mainstreaming in multilateral development organizations;
d. Work experience on gender mainstreaming in ADB projects is strongly desired
e. Experience working in Central and West Asia strongly desired;
f. Knowledge of ADB reporting requirements and standards preferred;
g. With solid professional experience in research, strategic communications management;
h. Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills, detail-oriented, proactive and selfmotivated;
i. Team player with strong interpersonal skills, including experience working with international
and sector experts, senior management and professionals; and
j. Excellent oral and written communications skills in English, including ability to write succinct
reports and knowledge products are essential.
ii. International Gender Specialist (24 person-months)
The international gender specialist will lead gender mainstreaming in projects for Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan and implementation of GAPs. He/She will provide technical guidance and support
in project design and preparation for the following sectors: energy, finance, public sector
management, transport, and water and other urban services , expert advice and support to EAs,
IAs and project gender specialists on the implementation of the GAP and gender actions,
monitoring and reporting on gender equality results across all sectors, knowledge development,
and capacity development. He/She will provide overall technical guidance and coordination for
the preparation and finalization of the Turkmenistan Country Gender Assessment. The gender
specialist will also provide technical support on stakeholder engagement related to gender and
social inclusion. The tasks and deliverables include:
a. Technical guidance in project design and preparation. Lead gender mainstreaming in
project design through participation in and/or provision of technical inputs in fact-finding
missions, provision of guidance to project social development consultants in collection of
relevant baseline data; review and finalization of poverty, social, and gender analysis
(PSGA) reports; review and finalization of the Summary Poverty Reduction and Social
Strategy (SPRSS), gender sections in project documents. Lead the drafting and
finalization of the gender action plans (GAPs).
b. Technical guidance in project implementation and monitoring. Provide technical
guidance to EAs/IAs on the implementation of GAPs, including in addressing
implementation concerns. Participate in project review missions, as needed and provide
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
inputs to the back-to-office reports (BTOR) and Aide Memoire (AM). Coordinate the
submission of semiannual GAP updates. Review and consolidate GAP updates of projects
and submit semi-annual reports to the Senior Social Development Specialist in ADB
headquarters.
Support in the preparation of Project Completion Reports (PCRs). Participate in PCR
missions, as needed. Provide guidance and facilitate the collection of data. Draft or
provide guidance on the drafting of the gender sections, including reporting on gender
equality results of the PCRs. Address comments on gender from the interdepartmental
review. Lead the finalization of the gender sections and reporting on gender equality
results in project completion reports (PCR).
Development of knowledge products. Lead the coordination of the preparation of gender
case studies, country gender assessments, and other knowledge materials for the
countries of assignment. Review and provide inputs on the draft manuscripts. Coordinate
with concerned
government agencies for the review, finalization, and endorsement of the knowledge
products.
Organization and conduct of capacity development activities. Identify capacity
development needs of EAs/IAs and other stakeholders. Prepare the concept notes.
Design and organize capacity development activities for EAs/IAs, and other stakeholders.
Conduct post-activity assessments. Prepare and submit post-activity report and submit
these to the Senior Social Development Specialist (Gender) together with the technical
reports and presentations.
Integration of gender perspective in development of strategies. Lead the drafting and
help finalize the gender sections in the country partnership strategies (CPS), country,
portfolio performance assessments. Review and provide substantive inputs to other
strategy documents.
Networking. Coordinate with development partners, relevant government sector agencies,
national women’s machineries, civil society groups for development and implementation
of gender initiatives and collaboration on gender mainstreaming/ gender and development
in the countries of assignment. Promote subregional knowledge exchange and/or sharing
on gender and social development trends and emerging good practices.
Support in the development and implementation of technical assistance subproject.
Provide baseline data, as needed. Provide inputs to the design of the subproject TAs and
other technical assistance projects. Coordinate with the concerned EAs, IAs, other
government offices, organizations regarding review and provision of inputs to the draft
TAs, arrangements for implementation, monitoring, and reporting, as needed.
Support in the assessment of the C-TRTA and its subprojects. Provide technical
inputs in the design of the assessment workshop. Coordinate with concerned EAs/IAs on
the nomination, confirmation, and actual participation of staff and other participants for
the focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews.
Guidance in development of the Turkmenistan Country Gender Assessment (CGA).
Provide overall technical guidance and coordination with the ADB resident mission and
concerned government agencies in the preparation and finalization of the CGA.
Technical support on stakeholder engagement on gender and social inclusion
(GESI). Provide technical guidance on consultations and engagement with stakeholders
(apart from government entities) including private sector, nongovernment organizations
(NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), elderly, persons with disabilities (PWDs),
cultural groups. Specifically, the support to stakeholder engagement will include the
following areas of work and/or concern: (i) sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment
(SEAH) (ii) sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics
(SOGIESC) (iii) development and implementation (by PIUs) of DMC-specific
communication and participation/ stakeholder engagement plan/s (as relevant/needed)
(iv) compliance with core labor standards.
Minimum Qualification Requirements:
a. With Masters’ degree on any of the following fields: social development, gender and
development, development studies, development economics, and related fields;
b. Minimum 10 years of general work experience with at least 5 years work experience in
multilateral development organizations;
c. A minimum of 7 years direct experience in gender mainstreaming, with at least 5 years work
experience on gender mainstreaming in multilateral development organizations;
d. Work experience on gender mainstreaming in ADB projects, sexual exploitation, abuse,
and harassment (SEAH) and sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex
characteristics (SOGIESC) is strongly desired;
e. Experience working in Central and West Asia including working knowledge of the national
language are essential;
f. Knowledge of ADB reporting requirements and standards strongly preferred;
g. With solid professional experience in research, strategic communications management;
h. Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills, detail-oriented, proactive and selfmotivated;
i. Team player with strong interpersonal skills, including experience working with international
and sector experts, senior management and professionals; and
j. Excellent oral and written communications skills in English, including ability to write succinct
reports and knowledge products are essential.
v. National Gender Specialists (2 national, 24 person-months each)
The national gender consultant/s will provide inputs and support to project design in the following
sectors: energy, finance, public sector management, transport, and water and other urban
services, technical guidance in the monitoring of GAPs for GEN/EGM projects and gender actions
of SGE projects in Pakistan and Uzbekistan across all sectors, support the development of
gender knowledge products, conduct in-country capacity development activities, and undertake
networking with relevant government agencies, civil society groups, and development partners.
Specific tasks and deliverables include:
a. Support to project design and preparation. Support gender mainstreaming in project
design through participation in and provision of technical inputs in factfinding missions,
provision of guidance to project social development consultants in collection of relevant
baseline data, review and finalization of poverty, social, and gender analysis (PSGA)
reports, review and finalization of the Summary Poverty Reduction and Social Strategy
(SPRSS), gender sections in project documents. Provide inputs on the draft Gender Action
Plan (GAP) and support the finalization.
b. Support to project implementation and monitoring. Provide technical guidance, advice
to EAs, IAs in the implementation of GAPs addressing implementation concerns.
Participate as needed, in project review missions. Consolidate GAP updates of projects
and submit semi-annual reports to the Senior Social Development Specialist in ADB
headquarters.
c. Support to preparation of Project Completion Reports (PCRs). Participate in PCR
missions, as needed. Provide support to the collection of data and inputs to the
consolidation and analysis of data. Review and help finalize the gender sections of the
PCR.
d. Development of knowledge products. Provide substantive inputs in the preparation of
case studies, country gender assessments, and other knowledge materials. Render
administrative support in the finalization of the knowledge products.
e. Support to capacity development. Identify capacity development needs of EAs/IAs and
other stakeholders. Draft the concept note. Provide technical inputs to the design of the
activity. Coordinate the administrative and logistical arrangements of the capacity
development activities for EAs/IAs, and other stakeholders. Conduct post-activity
assessments and provide inputs to the post-activity reports.
f. Support to strategy development. Provide substantive technical inputs in the
development and finalization of gender sections in country partnership strategies (CPS),
country, portfolio performance assessments Review and provide substantive inputs to
other strategy documents.
g. Support to development and implementation of TAs. Provide baseline data, as needed.
Provide inputs to the design of the subproject TAs and other technical assistance projects.
Coordinate with the concerned EAs, IAs, other government offices, organizations
regarding review and provision of inputs to the draft TAs, arrangements for
implementation, monitoring, and reporting, as needed.
h. Support to the assessment of the cluster transaction technical assistance (C-TRTA)
and subprojects. Provide technical inputs in the design of the assessment workshop.
Coordinate with concerned EAs/IAs on the nomination, confirmation, and actual
participation of staff and other participants for the focus group discussions (FGDs) and
interviews.
i. Networking. Coordinate with development partners, relevant government sector agencies,
national women’s machineries, civil society groups for activities and implementation of
ADB initiatives on gender mainstreaming/gender and development in the country.
j. Assist and provide technical support on stakeholder engagement on gender and
social inclusion (GESI). Provide technical guidance on consultations and engagement
with stakeholders (apart from government entities) including private sector,
nongovernment organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), elderly,
persons with disabilities (PWDs), cultural groups. Specifically, the support to stakeholder
engagement will include the following areas of work and/or concern: (i) sexual exploitation,
abuse, and harassment (SEAH) (ii) sexual orientation, gender identity, gender
expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), (iii) development and implementation (by
PIUs) of DMC-specific communication and participation/ stakeholder engagement plan/s
(as relevant/needed) (iv) compliance with core labor standards.
Minimum Qualification Requirements
a. With Masters’ degree on any of the following fields: social development, gender and
development, development studies, development economics, and related fields;
b. Minimum 7 years of general work experience with at least 2 years work experience in
multilateral development organizations;
c. A minimum of 5 years direct experience in gender mainstreaming, with at least 2 years work
experience on gender mainstreaming in multilateral development organizations;
d. Work experience on gender mainstreaming in ADB projects is strongly desired;
e. Experience working in the country of assignment including working knowledge of the
national language are essential;
f. Knowledge of ADB reporting requirements and standards strongly preferred;
g. With solid professional experience in research, strategic communications management;
h. Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills, detail-oriented, proactive and selfmotivated; and
i. Team player with strong interpersonal skills, including experience working with international
and sector experts, senior management and professionals.
vi. National Cluster TA Coordinator (24 person-months)
The National Technical Assistance Coordinator will help the Cluster TA Team Leader in
administering and implementing activities of the Cluster TA, management of the Gender
database, and preparation of the monthly Gender Team Reports. The detailed tasks and expected
outputs will include the following:
a. Cluster TA management. (i) review, update the Cluster TA implementation plans, as
necessary; (ii) manage the Cluster TA recruitment process in CMS under the nondisclosure framework of ADB; (iii) manage the Cluster TA consultants' contracts through
the Integrated Disbursement System (IDS) and Technical Assistance Claims Partner
(TACP) including preparation of contract variations, processing consultants' claims
against contract's conditions, and others as may be required; (iv) review the TA cluster
consultants' claims and supporting documents, and ensure their correctness,
completeness and timely submission to ADB; (v) prepare the TA fund utilization report or
Consultants' Recruitment Activity Monitoring (CRAM) sheet and maintain the financial
records in accordance with the ADB TA Disbursement Handbook; (vi) assist in the
preparation of the TA cluster’s and its subprojects’ completion report/s;
b. Support to Cluster TA Capacity Development Activities and Knowledge
Management. (i) coordinate the production, dissemination, translation to local languages,
and disclosure of knowledge products prepared under the TA cluster; (ii) provide
administrative and logistical support for workshops and learning events; (iii) compile,
organize, and manage files on documentation, reports of conferences, workshops,
meetings and other events organized under the TA cluster;
c. Support to Management of the Gender Database. (i) review alignment of tagging of
GAP targets with the Gender indicators in the Corporate Results Framework (CRF); (ii)
Review consolidated, cumulative data and information on GAP activities and targets. (iii)
Generate consolidated semi-annual and annual reports on the gender indicators of the
CRF;
d. Preparation of Gender Team Reports. Prepare and submit monthly gender team
report/s by: (i) preparing the updated list of pipeline of projects, gender categorization,
milestone in project processing (ii) computing the percentage achievement of gender atentry (iii) computing percentages of GEN, EGM, SGE, NGE categorized projects from the
latest Contract Awards and Disbursement (CAD) lists by country and by sector, and (iv)
collecting and preparing updates on activities, gender TA cluster subprojects and other
TAs, and/or other gender-related initiatives of the department.
e. Support for organization workshops and events. Provide administrative and logistical
support for the preparation and management of workshops and learning events;
f. Perform other duties as assigned by the CWRD Senior Social Development (Gender)
Specialist.
Minimum Qualification Requirements:
a. Graduate of any related field, preferably in social science or management
b. At least five years of experience in TA administration of ADB TA projects and using relevant
ADB systems.
c. Experience working in a multicultural environment required.
d. Good oral and written communication skills.
e. Excellent knowledge of MS Office Applications and ADB systems.
f. Team player with strong interpersonal skills, including experience working with international
and sector experts, senior management and professionals.