Vacancy: CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)
Posted by: SDGs Kenya Forum
Date: May 12th, 2025
Call for Expression of Interest (EOI)
The Coalition for Sustainable Development (SDGs Kenya Forum) is seeking expression of interest (EOI) from qualified consultants/firms to conduct a Gender Budget analysis for the financial year 2024-2025 national and selected county budgets in Kenya. The outcomes of this analysis will contribute to enhancing efforts to achieve SDG 5 targets in Kenya. The primary aim of this investment is to advance gender equality initiatives and outcomes through the programme titled ‘Advancing Gender Equality Discussions & Accountability in Kenya’.
About the SDGs Kenya Forum
The Coalition for Sustainable Development (SDGs Kenya Forum) is an inclusive National membership platform and a convener of Agenda 2030 for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that provides space for structured and coordinated civil society organisation (CSO) engagement with (national and subnational) governments, citizens, the private sector, media, academia, and development partners. The Forum engages with national and county government and all other stakeholders in the implementation, review, and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda for SDGs.
The Forum's mission is to influence multi-stakeholder policies and actions for the achievement of the SDGs in Kenya. The advocacy-based approach the Forum employs towards the implementation, monitoring, and review of the SDGs is based on collective voice and action by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) engaging other stakeholders, thus fostering synergies among stakeholders. The overall goal of the Forum is to empower citizens to demand accountability through policy change and budget commitments for sustainable development that leave no one behind.
Overview of the Forum’s gender equality work in Kenya
To strengthen gender equality within the Kenyan government and Civil Society, the Forum continues to convene national and subnational gender machinery working on the SDGs implementation and policy advocacy. Through collective efforts, the Forum and members advocate for gender-responsive budgeting at county and national levels. To advance gender equality initiatives and outcomes, the Forum focuses on data production, analysis, uptake and its use for evidence-based accountability. By supporting a consortium of gender champions across the 47 counties, the Forum provides technical, capacity-building opportunities for grassroots and sub national/regional gender-equality organizations.
To enhance efforts to achieve SDG 5 targets in Kenya, the Forum is currently implementing a programme titled ‘Advancing Gender Equality Discussions & Accountability in Kenya’.
The primary aim of this investment is to advance gender equality initiatives and outcomes in Kenya, with a specific focus on data uptake and accountability. This will be accomplished through ongoing and existing partnerships with national and subnational gender machinery, by supporting the Kenyan government in both implementing and, crucially, tracking the SDGs, and by connecting with civil society on citizen-generated data initiatives.
It will contribute to the following goals:
• Enhancing Gender Data Use: Improve the use of gender data for SDG5 accountability.
• Strengthening Dialogue: Foster better communication between gender data users and producers to enhance programming and policymaking.
• Increasing NSO Capacity: Build the capacity of the National Statistics Office (NSO) and allocate more domestic resources for gender data use, thereby strengthening the infrastructure and demand for data and evidence uptake.
Purpose of the Gender Budget Analysis Consultancy
Over the past decade, Kenya has undertaken notable political and economic reform that have contributed to robust economic growth, improvements in social indicators, and greater political stability. Despite this progress, the country continues to grapple with persistent development hurdles, including widespread poverty, high levels of inequality, limited employment opportunities for youth, and insufficient transparency and accountability in governance. Additionally, private sector investment remains subdued, and the economy is highly susceptible to both domestic and global shocks.
The economy has faced significant fiscal pressures marked by rising public debt, inflation, and a weakened shilling, which have constrained both national and county budgets. Revenue shortfalls and growing debt servicing obligations have limited the government's fiscal space, leading to delays in county disbursements and cuts in development spending. These economic challenges have impacted on the implementation of key public services and slowed progress on development priorities, including the localization of the SDGs and gender-responsive budgeting. Counties have particularly struggled with inadequate and unpredictable funding, affecting their ability to plan and deliver on inclusive and sustainable development commitments.
Objectives of the Consultancy
The overall objective of the gender budget analysis consultancy is to undertake an annual review and analysis of both national and county budgets to assess SDG 5 localization and gender prioritization and resource allocations in Kenya. The special focus will be on;
· Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) initiatives
· Gender-Based violence (GBV) prevention and response initiatives
· National care policy frameworks and initiatives
· Women’s participation in leadership and decision-making initiatives
· Other Gender indicators relevant to leaving no one behind (LNOB)-initiatives
Specifically, the study will:
i. Assess the budgetary allocations towards SDG 5 and the degree of gender prioritization in national and county budgets, identifying budget lines or programs that specifically target women, girls, youth, people with disabilities, the elderly, indigenous communities and other marginalized (special interest) groups.
ii. Analyze the budget and its social and equity dimensions.
iii. Track trends over time to evaluate progress or regression in gender prioritization in public budgets.
iv. Identify gaps and opportunities in current budget processes and allocations that affect the effective localization of SDG 5 and gender-responsive budgeting.
v. Highlight findings and conclusions indicating how the budgetary allocation at the national and county government level promotes or undermines the achievement of SDG 5 and other gender indicators across the 17 SDGs.
vi. Provide actionable and feasible strategies/recommendations for enhancing the realization of SDG 5 and other gender indicators through gender-responsive budgeting.
vii. Develop and or update the existing County development Index
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
The Consultant is expected to:
i. Review the national and county (Makueni, Nakuru, Laikipia, Uasin Gishu, Kilifi, Taita Taveta, Kitui and Bomet) budgets for financial year 2024/2025.
ii. Develop a succinct budget analysis (gender investments).
iii. Identify the critical public finance expenditure-related proposals, fiscal space, and financing of SDGs 5.
iv. Provide clear recommendations to key national and County policymakers on budgeting processes and why it matters in the realization of SDG 5.
v. Use the budget analysis results to develop and update the County Development Index
Timelines
The assignment will take 25 working days.
Role of the Forum
The role of the Forum in this exercise is as follows.
i. Provide any documents for review by the consultant as sources of secondary data.
ii. Provide support supervision during the assessment period.
Budget and Payment Schedule
The consultant will propose a budget covering professional fees and related expenses. Payment will be made in installments upon submission of key deliverables as follows:
· 30% upon approval of the inception report.
· 40% upon submission of the zero draft report and validation.
· 30% upon submission, approval and launch of the final report.
Expected qualifications
To be eligible for this position;
i. The Lead Consultant should hold academic qualifications of a minimum of a master’s degree level in one of the following degrees- Gender Studies, Economics, Statistics, Public Policy, Development Studies, Finance and Accounts, Business and Commerce or related fields
ii. The Lead Consultant should have proven experience (at least five years) in conducting work around budgets, finance, accounting, gender (gender responsive budgets), and evaluations for development projects or programs.
iii. The support team should be conversant with conducting qualitative and quantitative studies using mixed methodologies, with academic qualification of a minimum of bachelor’s degree level in Economics, Finance, Accounting, Statistics, or another related Social Science field.
iv. Evidence of successfully designing and managing large-scale, rigorous, and robust research/surveys processes (demonstrable through at least three comparable pieces of baseline/research around gender equality, disability inclusion, economic security, and livelihoods).
v. Strong understanding of Kenya’s public finance management systems and gender equality frameworks.
vi. Expertise in gender mainstreaming, women’s economic empowerment, Gender Based Violence (GBV), care policies, and LNOB principles.
vii. Proficiency in data analysis, research, statistical forecasting and report-writing.
viii. A demonstrated high level of professionalism and ability to work independently under tight deadlines.
ix. Geographic expertise/experience, preferably in Kenya.
Submission requirements
Interested consultants and/or agencies are expected to provide an expression of interest letter stating the consultant’s or firm’s capabilities, including the following:
i. Consultant(s) or agency profile outlining areas of expertise with samples of select works.
ii. Current list of recent and relevant clients.
iii. Any direct or relevant experience of undertaking similar initiatives.
iv. Names and CVs of the professionals who will be the lead and associated with the study and how the study will be managed.
v. Detailed technical and financial proposal outlining the approach to accomplish the assignment- not more than five pages
vi. A proposed timeline/ workplan.
All applications received by the submission date will be reviewed by a selection committee based on predetermined objectives. The shortlisted consultant(s)/consulting firm would be invited for an interview discussion.
Submission instructions
Interested and qualified bidders should submit a technical and financial proposal to info@sdgkenyaforum.org.
The subject of your email should read GENDER BUDGET ANALYSIS CONSULTANCY (AGENDA) NO: 12/05/FY25/
Hard copy documents will not be accepted. Queries related to the consultancy should be addressed to info@sdgkenyaforum.org
NB: The Technical and Financial proposals must be submitted separately.
The closing date for submission of complete applications is 26 May 2025