Consultant to develop Capacity Building Training Manual for Policy Makers on Care Economy

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women South Africa is based in Pretoria, South Africa, and works with the government, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and the Private Sector to contribute to gender equality by formulating and implementing norms, laws, policies, programmes, and services that ensure the human rights of women and girls and increase economic participation. 

Care work is essential to societies and economies, encompassing both paid and unpaid labour that supports the well-being of individuals and communities. The global monetary value of women’s unpaid care work is estimated at $10.8 trillion annually, three times the size of the world’s tech industry. Despite its critical importance, care work remains unrecognized and undervalued, entrenched in patriarchal norms that consider it a woman's duty.  Women in sub-Saharan Africa spend 3.4 times more time on unpaid care work than men, limiting their access to education, decent employment, and participation in public life.¹ If unpaid care work were assigned a monetary value, it would constitute 7.2% of GDP in Ethiopia, 7.9% in Tanzania, and 8.8% in South Africa.

South Africa government together with partners have made significant strides in advancing the care economy agenda by elevating it as a national, regional, and global policy priority. Domestically, it has strengthened gender-responsive budgeting approaches culminating in its first gender budget statement and supported the integration of care into public planning and financing discussions. It has also integrated care into broader social protection, early childhood development, health, and labour policy frameworks while expanding public investments in childcare, health, and social services. Under its 2025 G20 Presidency, South Africa elevated the care economy as a global policy priority by championing the 5R framework—Recognize, Reduce, Redistribute, Reward, and Represent care work—and advocating for increased investment in care infrastructure and services. This leadership has extended beyond the national level, influencing continental action through the African Union's decision to develop a Common African Position on Care Work and support Member States in developing national care strategies. 

Despite this progress, several challenges persist in the area of care economy. In present South Africa, women continue to bear the primary responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work, including childcare, elder care, household maintenance, and family support. On average, women spend nearly twice as much time as men on these activities, with the gap widening considerably in households with young children. In such households, women devote substantially more time to caregiving and domestic responsibilities than men, limiting their opportunities for paid employment and other economic activities. This unequal distribution of care responsibilities reflects deeply rooted historical, social, and economic norms that continue to shape gender roles.

These patterns are also evident in the paid care economy. Women are significantly more likely than men to work in private households, domestic work, and community and social service occupations (Statistics South Africa, 2023). The paid care economy accounts for approximately 13.8% of total employment in South Africa, with women representing around 84% of the workforce in the sector. Care services are delivered through both public and private providers across formal and informal markets, with nonprofit organisations playing a substantial role in service provision.

Unpaid care work remains a major driver of gender inequality, restricting women and girls’ time, choices, and opportunities for decent work, education, and participation in public life. As a result, many women are crowded into low-paid and insecure jobs increasing their likelihood of living in poverty without social protection.

In this regard, UN Women in partnership with Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) seeks to recruit a national consultant to develop a training manual for policy makers on care economy. The Manual will be used to strengthen institutional capacity for sector National and Provincial Departments on care economy. The training manual will build on UN Women’s existing materials, which have been used to strengthen policymakers’ capacity on the care economy across Africa. The consultancy will focus on consolidating practical examples/ case studies from South Africa and integrating them into the existing materials to develop a localized manual that reflects the country’s context and experiences. The objective of this assignment is to develop a comprehensive manual to support implementation, training, quality assurance, and knowledge transfer across stakeholders.

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist: Women’s Economic Empowerment with overall guidance from the Deputy Representative.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The overall goal of the consultancy is to develop a training manual that will be used to enhance the skills, knowledge and capacity within the public sector on care economy, to strengthen the technical capacity of government technocrats and representatives who play a critical role in shaping a comprehensive policy framework for South Africa. Through the training, the manual will be used to equip participants with skills and knowledge to deepen their ability to design, implement, and advocate for the care agenda and gender-responsive social protection interventions. The training manual is designed to strengthen institutional capacity and provide practical tools for policy workers to translate the learning into policy making. These skills are essential for addressing structural inequalities, shifting social norms, and advancing the transformative care agenda.

The consultant will need to develop a comprehensive, user-friendly training easy to use manual that will be used to strengthen the capacity of policy makers on care economy. It will provide theory, best practices and practical examples

Specific tasks will include: 

• Inception meeting with Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD), to understand the purpose, expectations, and key deliverables of this work. 
• Review existing UN Women training materials currently in powerpoint presentation format 
• Assess practical examples from government, CSOs and private sector that are advancing transformative care systems in South Africa 
• Integrate the examples into the training materials and develop a draft Manual and present for validation.
• Revise the draft manual based on comments received. 

Deliverables

1) Inception report that contains methodology that will be used for the development of the manual. 

2) Data mapping assessment of the existing training materials and the practical examples that will be used to localize the materials into a training manual. This will include key informant interviews and technical consultations with UN Women, DWYPD and other stakeholders working on care economy.

3) Develop a draft Manual that outlines training sessions, procedures, workflows,  case studies, group work and other tools such as mentimeters on care economy.  

4. Present draft to technical team for validation purposes , Compile feedback and revise document.

5. Submit final manual, with editable source files 

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. The consultant will be required to travel as necessary as part of this assignment

Education and Certification:

A master’s degree or equivalent in economics, finance, public administration, human rights, gender equality, management, or other related areas

Experience  

• A minimum of  5 years of relevant professional experience in conducting policy research, analysis, and drafting policy papers is required.
• Demonstrated expertise in gender equality, care systems, social policy, labour economics, social protection, and/or women's economic empowerment is a requirement.
• Proven experience producing manuals, toolkits, guidelines or Standard Operating procedures is required.
• Demonstrated facilitation and stakeholder engagement experience is a requirement.
• Experience with UN, development partners or government programmes is a desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation skills.
• Strong budget and finance skills
• Strong knowledge of Results-Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports for management and strategic decision-making.
• Strong analytical skills
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems
• Strong excellent report writing and Knowledge management.
• Capacity development expertise

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

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