Facilitator for the African Femonomics collective planning session

Job Reference Number/Emploi de consultance: : FNT/EOI/20/2025

Job Category/Catégorie d'emploi: Call for Proposals

Job Location/Pays: NA

Job Expiry Date/Date d'expiration: 18/04/2025

Duration: 15^th to 23^rd May 2025 (7 Days)

1. About FEMNET

The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) is a pan-African, feminist, membership-based network based in Nairobi, Kenya. It has over 800 individual and institutional members across 50 African countries and the diaspora. FEMNET envisions a society where African women and girls thrive in dignity and well-being, free from patriarchal and neoliberal oppression and injustices.

Founded in 1988, FEMNET exists to facilitate and coordinate the sharing of experiences, information, and strategies for human rights promotion among feminists, activists and women’s rights organisations as a strategy for collective organising, policy influencing & advocacy, strategic communication, capacity strengthening, as well as feminist solidarity and movement building. For more information, visit www.femnet.org.

2. Background

The African #Femonomics Collective planning session is an inaugural gathering designed to convene feminist economists, practitioners, thought leaders, and activists working on women’s economic justice and rights across Africa. This transformative Collective planning session seeks to provide an interactive platform for community building, critical reflection, collaboration, and strategic thinking to shape the future of the African feminist macroeconomics movement. Conventional conferences, especially in public policy, academia, and international development, have historically been influenced by colonial legacies. Western institutions, languages, sources of financing, and gatekeeping mechanisms have predominated these domains, frequently marginalising or tokenising voices from previously colonised areas. Consequently, the knowledge generated and shared in these spaces often embodies Eurocentric hypotheses, marginalising indigenous, local, and feminist perspectives.

We aspire for this collective planning session to serve as the cornerstone of what will become Africa’s annual Femonomics conference. An annual conference that examines Africa’s financial architecture, investigating diverse feminist alternatives and realities that extend beyond traditional realms such as academia, policy, and activism, yet integrates all these modalities to achieve African women’s and girls’ socio-economic rights. It is essential to recognise that academic endeavours are not merely about the relentless chase for new ideas but rather about engaging with intricate concepts and effectively conveying that intricacy to broader audiences, enabling them to derive practical applications in the real world.

The objectives of the session are to:

• Build community amongst different organisations and individuals that work on these issues, but often in parallel and without dedicated space and time for this specific community.
• Facilitate discussions among participants that explore the existing framework of feminist macro-level economic policies and practices, pinpointing areas of deficiency and potential avenues for research, advocacy and implementation.
• Engage in a collaborative process to conceptualise and curate the essential elements of a recurring convening on women’s economic justice and rights. Ensure that the convening resonates with the priorities of both the African and Global South contexts.
• Investigate overarching economic structures and policies that prioritise the empowerment of African women and girls, highlighting the affirmation of their socio-economic rights.
• Cultivate a vibrant community of peers within the African #Femonomics movement, stimulating solidarity and shared learning to advance feminist economic agendas.

3. Objective/Purpose of Assignment

FEMNET would like to recruit a facilitator to record the sessions’ proceedings and ensure proper documentation of key actions for follow-up.

4. Scope of Work and Terms of Reference

The facilitator will be required to:

Before the Session:

• Pre-session planning meetings with the FEMNET, NAWI and AMwA Team to design the agenda, exchange ideas and feedback on goals, structure, content and use of facilitation techniques.
• Attend the dry run for the session in-person.

During the Retreat:

• Manage expectations and clarify roles and responsibilities of participants.
• Guide the conversations and build a feminist space to facilitate a structured and productive discussion following the programme and develop dynamic group and team-building exercises.
• Ensure equal participation and contribution of all participants to the discussion.
• Note key points throughout the discussion and build on them throughout the sessions/convening.
• Summarize and simplify complex issues and agreements to ensure accuracy.
• Facilitate discussion on priorities, principles, and next steps to build consensus (FEMNET, NAWI, and AMwA will provide guidance on this).

After the Retreat:

• Share a report reflecting the key takeaways and outcomes of the discussions

5. Key Deliverables and Outputs.

• Attend pre-session meetings with FEMNET, NAWI and AMwA to co-curate the design and structure of the Retreat agenda.
• Facilitation of the African Femonomics collective planning sessions
• Submit a report reflecting the key takeaways and outcomes of the discussions.

6. Required Qualifications, skills and Competencies.

• Advanced university degree in Development studies, Gender studies and social sciences or economics studies is preferred, although relevant profiles may be considered.
• Fluency in oral and written English.
• The consultant should espouse Pan African Feminist values, including the UN Women Core Values (Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity) and Core Competencies (Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues, Creative Problem Solving, Effective Communication, Inclusive Collaboration, Stakeholder Engagement, Accountability, Leading by Example).
• Evidence of 7 years experience in facilitating inclusive and engaging sessions in similar spaces coupled with knowledge and skills to ask probing questions to encourage a solution-oriented deeper analysis.
• Experience working with a wide variety of stakeholders, such as civil society organizations, youth organizations, governments, international organizations, philanthropy and the private sector, preferably with experience navigating conversations within a multi-stakeholder partnership context.
• Sound theoretical and practical background in the field of Gender and Feminist analysis, with a focus on Economic Justice and Rights in the Global South

7. Duration of Assignment.

This is a 7-day assignment from 15th to 23rd May 2025

8. Liaison, Coordination and Reporting.

The consultants will work closely with the Economic Justice and Rights Program lead at FEMNET Secretariat. Before the start date, the consultant must have a briefing session with the mentioned staff to discuss the assignment and expected deliverables.

9. Selection of Consultant.

FEMNET shall contract the consultant. The contract will include Withholding Tax (WHT) deduction in line with laws of contracting where FEMNET is headquartered. A WHT certificate will be issued to the consultant. Payment will be done through bank transfer to the consultant bank account. FEMNET will not meet the costs of bank charges. Payment schedule will be agreed upon with the consultant upon successful selection. In case of team/firm applicants, a designated assignment contract manager will be the contact between FEMNET and the team and responsible for all deliverables.

10. Intellectual Property Rights.

The consultant expressly assigns to FEMNET any copyright arising from the outputs produced while executing the service contract. The consultant may not use, reproduce, disseminate, or authorize others to use, reproduce or disseminate any output produced under the service contract without prior consent from FEMNET.

11. Terms of Service.

This is a non-staff contract and therefore the consultant is not entitled to insurance, medical cover or any other status or conditions as FEMNET staff.

12. Application Process.

Interested applicants should send the following:

• CV and references for similar work.
• Cover Letter indicating your Daily Costs

Applications are by e-mails only, sent to:  recruitment@femnet.or.ke. Please indicate the reference on the subject line as FNT/EOI/20/2025 – Facilitator for the African Femonomics collective planning session. Deadline for submission of applications is 18/04/2025.

Please note: FEMNET is committed to prevention any type of unwanted behaviour including sexual harassment, exploitation, abuse, and lack of integrity as well as other ethical breaches. All staff and consultants are expected to share this commitment through our code of conduct and Safeguarding Policy. Offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and fraud.

We welcome people from the widest possible diversity of backgrounds, culture and experience. We will make any practical adjustments to enable people with disability participate fully in an inclusive working environment.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have given consent to the collection, use and/or disclosure of your data by us for the purposes set out in this job description. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted

Other Open Positions