Gender Disability Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Analysis for an IT skills training and employment program.

Overview

Call for Expression of Interest

Gender, Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion Analysis (GEDSI) Analysis for an IT skills training and employment program.

Location: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia  

Please note that this work is subject to funding approval

Project Background:

Sightsavers is implementing a 5-year IT skills and employability program across seven countries in Africa. The program’s central aim is to improve access to dignified and fulfilling employment for young people with disabilities across Africa.

We are seeking the services of a consultant to carry out a GEDSI (Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion) analysis in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. A strong GEDSI lens is fundamental to achieving these outcomes. Country‑specific GEDSI analyses will enhance understanding of gendered norms, disability stigma, and intersectional barriers that limit access to IT skills development and decent employment for young men and women with disabilities. Insights will guide adaptive programming, outreach strategies, training design, family and community engagement, safeguarding considerations, and policy advocacy priorities.

Responsibilities

Purpose of the Consultancy:

Overall objective

The overall objective is to conduct a country level GEDSI analysis in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia to identify structural, social and behavioural factors that influence access to IT skills training and employment of young women and men with disabilities.

The analysis should apply an intersectional lens, examining barriers and catalysts at individual, household, community, institutional and policy levels, and identify the behavioural drivers influencing participation of young women and men with disabilities in IT skills development and employment programs. The key behaviours that the program seeks to promote among young women and men with disabilities is that they should enrol into IT skills development programs, complete skills training and become active in the labour market, leading to a transition to jobs in IT and other sectors.

Understanding the barriers that limit participation will enable the program to implement a gender and disability responsive program.

Specific Objectives

Carry out primary and secondary data collection and data analysis with a goal to:

• Identify root causes of inequalities that limit equitable participation of young women and men with diverse disabilities in digital skills training and employment.
• Examine how gendered and disability-related stigma influences the ability of women with disabilities to apply for, enrol in, complete IT training, and transition into employment (waged employment, self-employment and entrepreneurship).
• Identify strategies and support systems that best improve confidence and participation among young women and men with disabilities in the digital economy.
• Support the program in the development of a Gender and Disability Action Plan capturing specific recommendations and actions to be undertaken by the program for a gender and disability responsive intervention. The recommendations and actions should cover diverse project areas including but not limited to; participants mobilisation strategies, curriculum design, curriculum delivery, employment/business skills development, employer and employment service providers engagement, advocacy and project learning.

The GEDSI analysis will incorporate a focused behaviour analysis to understand the key factors that influence whether young women and men with disabilities apply for, enrol in and complete IT skills training, and pursue employment opportunities in IT and other sectors. The consultant will assess the motivations, norms, barriers and enabling conditions that shape these behaviours across the individual, household, community, institutional and national levels. This will help identify which behavioural drivers are most significant and actionable within the programme, ensuring that recommendations and the Gender and Disability Action Plan directly address both the structural and behavioural determinants affecting women’s participation.

Please see Terms of Reference for full scope of work

 

Duration of Project

The consultancy will tentatively run between 8 April to 31st July 2026, with an expected 34 working days distributed over this period. The consultant will develop a detailed workplan at inception.

Skills and Experience

Consultant specifications 

Minimal qualifications for a Lead Consultant/ Team Members

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies, Disability Studies, Development Studies, Public Policy, Education, or related fields or equivalent experience
• Demonstrated experience in conducting GESI/GEDSI Analysis and developing GESI/GEDSI strategies, action plans and monitoring frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience in social behaviour change programming. Specific experience in carrying out behaviour analysis in social inclusion programs is an added advantage.
• Familiarity with gender-, disability- and age- sensitive approaches in social inclusion
• Experience in youth empowerment, skills development, youth employment and entrepreneurship. Specific experiences in IT skills development and employment is an added advantage.
• Experience in conducting qualitative participatory research.
• Extensive experience in facilitating the sharing of project learning and knowledge and supporting people / projects to apply the learning
• Proven ability to produce high-quality analytical report and knowledge products.
• Strong ethical and safeguarding standards
• Excellent English written and verbal communication skills
• Availability within the specified period
• Knowledge of the national context in the selected country

Next Steps

How to Express Your Interest

Applicants should apply for one country only Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia). One consultant/consulting team will be selected per country.

Interested applicants will apply via our application portal and complete a number of Application Questions, as well as the online Expression of Interest form (EOI). Please do not complete Section 4 “addressing the requirements” or Section 5 “costs” of this form. Instead, please provide the following:

• EoI form (excluding sections 4 and 5, details above)
• A technical proposal that is no more than 5 pages (excluding Annexes), detailing:

• • Alignment of the consultant/consulting team’s skills and experience to the Terms of Reference
  • Understanding of the assignment
  • Proposed methodology and work plan
• Financial proposal (in the country currency) with a clear cost estimate of professional fees, data collection costs and other logistical costs(excluding dissemination and gender action plan development workshop).
• CV(s) with recent, relevant experience.
• Uploading examples of similar completed work will assist your application but is not essential.

Application Deadline: 15^th March 2026 Remote interviews to be held: Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 March 2026 Work to commence: week commencing 8 April

Full Terms of Reference - ToR

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we actively encourage Expressions of Interest from all sections of the community. Qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to express their interest.

Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential consultants will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls.