OVERVIEW

UNESCO, in partnership with Beijing Normal University and in collaboration with the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, is implementing the project “Closing the Digital Divide: Ensuring Gender-Transformative Digital Skills Education for Women and Girls” . The project aims to advance inclusive and gender-transformative digital education by addressing systemic barriers limiting meaningful participation of women and girls in digital learning, ICT, and technology-driven opportunities. The initiative responds to persistent gender disparities in access to digital technologies, digital skills development, and participation in ICT-related education and career pathways. Although Tanzania is experiencing rapid digital transformation and an increasing demand for digital competencies, many girls, particularly in public secondary schools, continue to face interconnected barriers, including limited confidence in using digital technologies, inadequate exposure to female role models in ICT and STEM, entrenched gender stereotypes, and socio-cultural norms that constrain their participation, aspirations, and progression in digital fields.

To address these challenges, the project focuses on increasing girls’ exposure to ICT through school-based extracurricular initiatives that nurture their interest, confidence, & digital competencies while challenging gender stereotypes and broadening awareness of ICT studies and career opportunities. These interventions include establishment & strengthening of school-based ICT Clubs, complemented by mentorship programmes, ICT and STEM workshops, innovation boot camps, and other experiential learning opportunities implemented in collaboration with national and local partners.

Long Description

ICT Clubs will serve as structured platforms for experiential & empowering learning, providing safe and supportive environments where students, particularly girls, can develop digital skills, collaborate on innovative projects, engage with mentors, and gain practical exposure to ICT and STEM. Additionally, the clubs are intended to build girls’ confidence, leadership, problem-solving skills, and aspirations while fostering their active participation in digital innovation and future ICT careers. Implementation will ensure at least 50% female participation, while actively promoting girls’ leadership, meaningful engagement, and sustained participation throughout all project activities.

To ensure the effective implementation of these interventions across the 20 schools, UNESCO seeks to engage a Lead Gender Expert to provide overall technical leadership, strategic guidance, quality assurance and coordination of the gender component of the project. Working closely with UNESCO, the technical implementing partner, education authorities, school leadership, teachers, mentors and other stakeholders, the Lead Gender Expert will ensure that gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches are systematically integrated across all project interventions, methodologies, learning materials and implementation processes. This includes providing strategic technical advice, strengthening the capacities of project stakeholders, monitoring implementation progress, identifying emerging gender-related issues, and supporting adaptive programme management to maximize project outcomes.

The project will be implemented in 20 secondary schools in Morogoro MC and Dodoma CC to implement school-based extracurricular interventions aimed at promoting girls’ participation and leadership in ICT and digital innovation. The schools will serve as demonstration sites for the establishment and implementation of ICT Clubs, mentorship programmes, ICT and STEM clinics, Innovation Bootcamps, and other gender-responsive and gender-transformative extracurricular activities designed to strengthen girls’ digital skills, confidence, leadership, and participation in ICT education.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this assignment is to engage a qualified Lead Gender Expert to provide overall technical leadership, coordination, quality assurance, and strategic oversight for the implementation of the gender component of the UNESCO–BNU Project through gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches that strengthen girls’ participation, leadership, empowerment, and sustained engagement in ICT education and digital innovation. The Lead Gender Expert shall deliver the assignment through a technical team comprising 3 Supporting Gender Specialists and shall be fully accountable to UNESCO for the quality and timely delivery of all outputs.

Specifically, the assignment aims to:

Long Description

a. Provide overall technical leadership, strategic guidance, and quality assurance for the integration of gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches across all school-based ICT Clubs and related extracurricular interventions implemented under the UNESCO–BNU Project.

b. Co-design, with UNESCO and the technical implementing partner, project methodologies, ICT Club activities, mentorship engagements, Innovation Bootcamp activities, training materials, facilitation guides, implementation tools, and capacity-building approaches, ensuring that gender-transformative content is deliberately incorporated to challenge gender norms and stereotypes and strengthen girls’ agency, leadership, confidence, and aspirations in ICT and STEM.

c. Mobilize, coordinate, supervise, and provide technical guidance to a team of three (3) Supporting Gender Specialists to ensure consistent implementation, harmonized technical approaches, and high-quality delivery of gender-responsive interventions across the twenty (20) participating schools.

Long Description

d. Strengthen the capacities of the technical implementing partner, teachers, mentors, school focal persons, and other relevant stakeholders to effectively plan, implement, monitor, and sustain gender-responsive and gender-transformative ICT education initiatives.

e. Provide strategic technical leadership and monitoring during the implementation of ICT Clubs, mentorship programmes, ICT and STEM clinics, Innovation Bootcamps, STEM hackathons, and other project activities, including the design and incorporation of gender-transformative content that challenges stereotypes, creates meaningful technical and leadership roles for girls, and promotes girls’ confidence, safety, retention, empowerment, and sustained participation.

Long Description

f. Lead the identification and preparation of appropriate female ICT and STEM role models and mentors, in collaboration with UNESCO and the technical implementing partner, and co-design mentorship and career exposure engagements that enable girls to learn about educational and career pathways, opportunities for women in technology, and strategies for challenging gender stereotypes

g. Lead the monitoring, documentation, consolidation, and reporting of the gender component by capturing achievements, lessons learned, good practices, challenges, and recommendations, and providing strategic technical inputs to UNESCO to support adaptive programme management, knowledge generation, and the sustainability of project outcomes.

ASSIGNEMENT

Provide overall technical leadership, coordination and quality assurance for the work of the gender technical team in 20 schools

Mobilize, assign and supervise 3 Supporting Gender Specialists, provide technical guidance, mentoring, and monitor their performance, review and validate their technical outputs and ensure ICT clubs interventions deliberately challenge gender norms and stereotypes and strengthen girls’ agency, leadership, confidence and aspirations in ICT and STEM

Lead, identification & preparation of appropriate female ICT & STEM role models & mentors, & the design of mentorship & career-exposure engagements that provide girls with meaningful exposure to women in technology, ICT and STEM career pathways and opportunities

Provide technical guidance to ensure that gender-transformative content and approaches are consistently integrated into project methodologies, training materials, facilitation guides, implementation tools and capacity-building activities

Maintain direct technical responsibility for 5 assigned schools, including the provision of technical support, monitoring, follow-up, documentation and reporting on the implementation of the gender component in those schools

Ensure consistent application of agreed gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches, methodologies and quality standards 20 schools, identifying emerging gender-related barriers, risks and opportunities and recommending appropriate measures to strengthen implementation

Consolidate and quality-assure technical inputs, monitoring findings, achievements, lessons learned, good practices, challenges and recommendations generated by the Supporting Gender Specialists and from the 5 schools directly supported by the Lead Gender Expert

Serve as the principal technical focal point for the gender technical team and remain fully accountable to UNESCO for the quality, consistency, completeness and timely delivery of all technical outputs under the assignment.

CONTRACT DURATION

This assignment is expected to run for three (3) months between August and November 2026

DELIVERABLES

• Inception, Technical Review and Team Mobilization Report
• Consolidated Gender Technical Monitoring and Quality Assurance Report
• Final Gender Technical Report

COMPETENCIES – Core (C) & Managerial (M)

• Communication (C)
• Accountability (C)
• Innovation (C)
• Knowlegde sharing and continuous improvement (C)
• Planning and organizing (C)
• Results focus (C)
• Teamwork (C)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• An advanced university degree in Gender Studies, Education, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or a related field. A PhD will be highly desirable.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Over 10 years of experience in gender equality, girls’ empowerment, and gender-transformative programming, preferably within the education sector.
• Demonstrated expertise in integrating gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches into education, digital skills, ICT, STEM, youth development, or related programmes.
• Proven experience in providing technical leadership, coordinating multi-stakeholder programmes, and supervising multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and delivering capacity-building initiatives, providing technical advisory services, and producing high-quality analytical and technical reports.
• Experience working with government, development partners & international organizations. Working with the UN an added advantage.

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Excellent facilitation, communication, analytical, coordination, mentoring, and report-writing skills.

LANGUAGES

• Excellent knowledge of English and Kiswahili language

• Provide overall technical leadership, coordination and quality assurance for the work of the gender technical team in 20 schools
• Mobilize, assign and supervise 3 Supporting Gender Specialists, provide technical guidance, mentoring, and monitor their performance, review and validate their technical outputs and ensure ICT clubs interventions deliberately challenge gender norms and stereotypes and strengthen girls’ agency, leadership, confidence and aspirations in ICT and STEM
• Lead, identification & preparation of appropriate female ICT & STEM role models & mentors, & the design of mentorship & career-exposure engagements that provide girls with meaningful exposure to women in technology, ICT and STEM career pathways and opportunities
• Provide technical guidance to ensure that gender-transformative content and approaches are consistently integrated into project methodologies, training materials, facilitation guides, implementation tools and capacity-building activities
• Maintain direct technical responsibility for 5 assigned schools, including the provision of technical support, monitoring, follow-up, documentation and reporting on the implementation of the gender component in those schools
• Ensure consistent application of agreed gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches, methodologies and quality standards 20 schools, identifying emerging gender-related barriers, risks and opportunities and recommending appropriate measures to strengthen implementation
• Consolidate and quality-assure technical inputs, monitoring findings, achievements, lessons learned, good practices, challenges and recommendations generated by the Supporting Gender Specialists and from the 5 schools directly supported by the Lead Gender Expert
• Serve as the principal technical focal point for the gender technical team and remain fully accountable to UNESCO for the quality, consistency, completeness and timely delivery of all technical outputs under the assignment.

• Excellent facilitation, communication, analytical, coordination, mentoring, and report-writing skills.

• An advanced university degree in Gender Studies, Education, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or a related field. A PhD will be highly desirable.
• Over 10 years of experience in gender equality, girls’ empowerment, and gender-transformative programming, preferably within the education sector.
• Demonstrated expertise in integrating gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches into education, digital skills, ICT, STEM, youth development, or related programmes.
• Proven experience in providing technical leadership, coordinating multi-stakeholder programmes, and supervising multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and delivering capacity-building initiatives, providing technical advisory services, and producing high-quality analytical and technical reports.
• Experience working with government, development partners & international organizations. Working with the UN an added advantage.