Reference:
JOB1068
Application deadline:
1 week 3 days 18 hours 47 minutes
Issue Date: February 2, 2012
Submission Deadline: April 1, 2012
Summary
Women’s
World Banking (WWB) seeks a qualified gender microfinance specialist to
support a gender research study in Egypt. The study will examinegender
issues surrounding women’s ability to access and control individual
loans in Egypt.
About Women’s World Banking
WWB
is an international microfinance support organization and network of 39
microfinance institutions in 27 countries. The mission of WWB is to
expand the economic assets, participation and power of low-income women
and their households by helping them access financial services,
knowledge and markets.
About the Project
WWB
in collaboration with a leading microfinance institution (MFI) in Egypt
is introducing appraisal based individual lending with the specific
mandate of targeting women microentrepreneurs. This project is an
extension of similar work with other network partners in the Middle East
and North African region. An integral component of this project is to
understand the barriers and opportunities women face in growing their
microenterprises and accessing finance to support such growth. This
client level research involves both secondary and primary research. The
secondary research seeks to contextualize the position of women within
Egypt’s economy, particularly in the informal economy. The primary
research will involve in-depth individual interviews and focus groups
with current and potential clients of the MFI using participatory
research techniques honed by WWB.
The secondary research study will explore:
·
General statistics: population and population growth rates, percent
living below poverty, literacy rates, women’s contributions to GDP.
· The position of women in the Egyptian economy with an emphasis on the informal economy.
· Family structures; patterns, laws and customs regarding property ownership; inheritance; divorce and migration.
· Government and non-government initiatives to empower women.
· Women’s access to finance.
The primary research study will explore:
·
How gender identities influence intra-household roles and
responsibilities, resource allocation (spending, savings and investment
decisions) and the capacity of poor women to invest both their time and
money in their businesses and on family needs.
· Risks and vulnerability of women—lifecycle events that exert financial pressure on households.
· The barriers to women having and growing their own businesses.
·
The gender responsiveness and customer satisfaction levels of current
financial products, service delivery, staff interaction and branch
experience offered by the partner institution and its competitors.
The
findings will be used to educate WWB and the MFI on what products and
product policies as well as marketing strategies are most effective in
reaching and impacting women.
Objectives & Responsibilities
The
consultant will be responsible for providing intellectual leadership on
gender throughout the project, including: secondary research, research
design and planning, execution, analysis and developing findings and
recommendations. Specific objectives include:
Secondary Research
- (remote) Prepare a secondary research report, which provides background information on gender issues in Egypt, as they relate to the research objectives, including annotated bibliography.
Primary Research:
- (Remote) Research design and planning:
- Participate in research design and planning sessions with members of the WWB research team.
- Work with the project team to prepare guides for focus groups and in-depth interviews.
- Coordinate logistics for the research with other members of the project team.
- (In
field) Execution, analysis, developing findings and recommendations,
and presentation preparation in Egypt with other members of the project
team. This includes but is not limited to:
- Facilitating focus groups and in-depth interviews.
- Typing verbatim transcripts of research sessions.
- Assisting in the development of a conceptual framework for analyzing the data
- Analyzing research transcripts with team.
- Ensuring data integrity by participating in daily debriefings to share findings.
- Developing findings and recommendations, preparing them into a PowerPoint presentation, and presenting the PowerPoint presentation to a partner institution with team.
This
consultancy may be extended to integrate the findings into a comparative
analysis of women’s opportunity to grow income-generating activities
and access finance across MENA.
Project Team
The
consultant will work with a small team from WWB: the work will be
executed and managed by Anjali Banthia and the consultant will report to
her and the Project Manager.
Duration of Consultancy
The
secondary research and preparation work will take place in April-May
2012 and field work is expected to take place in Egypt in June-July
2012. The specific dates are TBD. The contract will include up to 5 days
of remote pre-work and up to 15 days of field work.
Location of Work
The
consultant may work remotely on the secondary research and research
design and planning. The execution and analysis of the research will be
done in Egypt.
Preferred Qualifications
· Fluency in Arabic and English
·
10+ years of research experience in the area of economic development
and gender in the Middle East and North Africa region
· Master’s Degree in development economics or related degree, PhD preferred
· Strong research, writing, analytical and interpersonal skills required
· Experience in research of low income populations preferred
· Author of peer reviewed publications preferred
· Knowledge of gender issues across the Middle East and North Africa for comparative purposes with this study preferred
· Knowledge of individual lending to women preferred
· Ability to manage own expenses and travel arrangements
To Apply
Please submit a cover letter, resume and rate history to Anjali Banthia, abanthia@swwb.org, by April 1, 2012.
Moreinfo: http://www.swwb.org/node/1068
