1. Background

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (the Ministry) has established a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) to carry out the day-to-day activities of project planning, coordination and implementation of the Somali Electricity Access Project (SEAP) and the proposed Somali Electricity Sector Recovery Project. The Ministry intends to engage a consultant to provide support on gender-related matters for the World Bank – financed energy sector projects within the PIU. These Terms of Reference define the scope of activities and responsibilities of the project’s Gender Position.

2. SEAP Project Overview

The Government of Somaliland has secured a grant from the World Bank to implement the Somali Electricity Access Project (SEAP). The project development objective of SEAP is to expand access to electricity in targeted urban, peri-urban, and rural communities.

SEAP consists of three components:

Component 1: Electrification of households and small businesses through standalone solar home systems

This component aims to reduce market barriers for the private sector to provide modern energy access through solar home systems and targets (i) poorer households and small businesses in areas that cannot afford to connect to mini-grid services; (ii) households and businesses in these areas that are not sufficiently close to a mini-grid to be economically connected; (iii) isolated villages and smaller settlements where mini-grids do not make economic sense; and (iv) nomadic pastoralists whose livelihoods do not lend themselves to a fixed electricity connection. This component will fund a range of market-building supply- and demand-side interventions in response to these challenges. The proposed intervention includes: Seed and result based grants, consumer awareness and quality assurance.

Component 2: Analytic work for enabling electrification through Solar Powered / Hybrid Mini grids

This component will support the mini-grid sector in Somaliland. this component is expected to include the following activities: (i) Detailed geospatial mapping, (ii) Review of property rights and land issues pertaining to energy infrastructure investment, (iii) Pre-feasibility studies for hybridization, (iv) Pre-feasibility studies for greenfield (new) sites identified in geospatial mapping, (v) Developing structuring options for the financing, operation, and ownership of new mini-grids; and (vi) Defining legal, institutional and financing arrangements for developing mini-grids.

Component 3: Technical Assistance, Capacity Building and Project Management

This component will support a range of activities to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry and overall energy sector management, power, and access planning, and provides support for project management/implementation, including staffing of the PIU.

3. The Somali Electricity Sector Recovery Project – SESRP

The proposed SESRP project aims to support the reestablishment of the Somaliland Electricity Supply Industry for improved delivery of electricity services to enhance job creation and improved public services delivery. Currently, sector operations are owned, managed, and operated by the ESPs whereas the government institutions are in the formative stage with the policy, legal and regulatory frameworks at various stages of development. The project will address some of the key sector challenges that contribute to lack of efficient, reliable and low cost electricity services, namely: (i) absence of an integrated grid and duplication of distribution networks by the ESPs; (ii) poor operations practices leading to low generation efficiency and  high distribution network technical and commercial losses (currently estimated at over 40 percent of the total energy generated); and (iii) lack of an appropriate institutional and regulatory enabling environment.

4. Scope of work for the Gender Specialist (GS)
   • Objective of the Assignment

The objective of the consultancy is to

1. Provide technical advice on gender and support the Ministry of Energy and Minerals with regard to the World Bank-financed SEAP and SESRP projects in line with the Somaliland National Gender Policy as well as the World Bank’s Directive and Good Practice Notes.
2. Identify gaps in gender profiling and propose measures to bridge the gender gaps in the Energy Sector (including access, economic empowerment (both labor and entrepreneurship) and leadership).
3. Provide overall oversight and advice for the management of gender issues and impacts during the implementation of the project, supporting and advising the PIU in addressing a variety of gender issues and impacts at all the stages of the implementation of the project and in gender related training/awareness for each component of the project.
4. Implement gender-related activities as outlined in the diagnostic assessment of the project.
5. Support the gender focal point of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals.
6. Prepare necessary documents, such as gender guidelines and tools in consultation with relevant stakeholders and help the PIU in preparing gender related studies/assessments, if necessary.
7. Advise on monitoring and tracking of gender indicators in the SEAP and SESRP projects.

4.2 Responsibilities

Working closely with the Deputy Project Coordinator of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Project Implementation Unit (PIU), the Gender Specialist is expected to

1. Ensure the implementation of committed gender activities in terms of time and allocated resources;
2. Ensure the integration of gender in the project design, project implementation and other project documents, including SEAP and SESRP, in alignment with the Somaliland National Gender Policy and the World Bank Gender Strategy (FY16-23);
3. Develop materials for the SEAP capacity building training including a training for women-owned Renewable Energy SMEs;
4. Support the Ministry in addressing barriers to the employment of women in engineering and technical fields within the energy sector;
5. Support MoEM in integrating gender in the Monitoring and Evaluation activities include trainings;
6. Assure that the diagnostic assessments and stakeholder consultations inform the project design of SESRP;
7. Support MoEM in activities that will close gender gaps in the energy sector including bridging the skills gaps and increase the employment of women engineers in the energy sector;
8. Advise the PIU on the Somaliland National Gender Policy and World Bank’s Gender Strategy in gender assessments and supervision of grant and lending operations;
9. Develop a time-bound gender action plan with specific timelines and follow-up procedures and a gender capacity building plan in conjunction with the World Bank Africa Gender and Energy team;
10. Develop awareness plan for peers and PIU colleagues on the potential gender issues, risks and impacts as well as related management measures and strategies, as necessary;
11. Support the PIU in organizing gender orientation & awareness, and training for project partners, local consultations as well as local community engagement and other relevant stakeholders in the energy sector.

The consultant may also be called upon to undertake any other duties as determined by the Project coordinator, including attending more program-wide meetings.

4.3 Deliverables

The deliverables for the Consultant will be as follows

1. Provide quarterly and other periodic reports on status of work program specified in Section 3.2.2 Responsibilities.
2. Deliver gender-related trainings for the Energy Sector stakeholders
3. Produce well-written and comprehensive documents where applicable including:

• Gender Action Plans and Gender Capacity Plans for the Ministry
• Recommendations to strengthen linkages between gender stakeholders in the energy sector
• Other plans specified in the responsibilities

        4.4 Assignment Location

The Gender Specialist will be based in the SEAP PIU office at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals in Hargeisa and will report to the PIU coordinator. The gender specialist. will be expected to regularly meet and support the Project Coordinator. The successful applicant will also serve as the liaison between the World Bank Africa Gender and Energy team and the PIU, as well as other stakeholders.

4.5 Time frame and Reporting

The expected duration of the consultancy is one year, with possibility of contract extension subject to satisfactory performance. The assignment is expected to commence in April 2021. The consultant will report to the SEAP Project coordinator through the Deputy Project Coordinator of the PIU Team and work closely with the World Bank Project Team for guidance and advice.

6. Qualifications and Experience Requirements

The candidate should have the following desired qualifications and experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Management, Development studies or relevant social science fields
• 3-6 years of progressive experience in gender and social development work.
• Experience in Somaliland National Gender Policy as well as World Bank’s Gender Strategy is an added advantage
• Experience in project implementation of development projects in remote areas
• Knowledge of gender issues in the Somaliland Energy Sector Context
• Experience working in projects by NGO’s, international development organizations, governments and public institutions is essential
• Understanding of Somaliland’s unique context
• Fluency in oral and written Somali and English
• Readiness to work in multi-cultural and fast – paced environment meeting tight deadlines
• Reputable person with good ethical and moral character.

7. Inputs/facility provided by the PIU

The PIU will provide office space with necessary furniture and other facilities such as printing facility etc. to enable the consultant to perform day-to-day work. The PIU shall also provide soft and hard copies of any existing relevant documents e.g., project documents, manuals etc. if any on signing of the contract.