Introduction

The Global Disability Fund/UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) is dedicated to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It brings together different UN entities, governments, persons with disabilities and civil society for the purpose of joint programming and partnerships. The GDF/UNPRPD Country Specific project in Kenya brings on board ILO, UNICEF and UNFPA to strengthen systems towards Disability Inclusive Policies, Programmes and Services. Funded from 2024, the project focuses on four key areas:

• Strengthening CRPD coordination and monitoring mechanisms.
• Strengthening legal and policy environment to enhance disability inclusion.
• Enhancing adoption of inclusive approaches to expand access to essential services in health (including SRHR), education and technical training, employment and economic empowerment practices and extension of social protection to all persons with disabilities.
• Promoting disability inclusion in mainstream national planning and particularly in humanitarian and emergency preparedness and in climate change adaptation.

Kenya has enacted laws and policies to protect the rights of persons with disabilities in different sectors however, implementation gaps, inadequate enforcement, and inconsistencies persist. In as much as there have been notable attempts by the State to map, review, and repeal national legislation and align them with the CRPD, much more remains to be done, for example, the denial of reasonable accommodation is still not recognized as discrimination under national law, which has led to contradicting interpretations of the principle by Kenyan Courts. The lack of comprehensive legal frameworks and the limited integration of disability rights into sector-specific policies hinders the achievement of equity and non-discrimination. In addition, some of the existing laws are not fully enforced. For example, the obligation to ensure that at least 5% of all electives, appointive, and employment positions are reserved for persons with disabilities under the Constitution and the Persons with Disabilities Act 2003, has not been achieved. Furthermore, persons with disabilities continue to face stigma and discrimination, particularly women, girls, and underrepresented groups.

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities has been training frontline and essential government workers with an aim of equipping trainees with basic sign language skills to enhance effective communication with the deaf seeking services in public institutions which has significantly increased the number of service providers conversant in sign language. It is also important to build capacity of key stakeholders to speed up implementation of existing disability laws and policies to include on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to enhance disability inclusion in mainstream public and private programmes: Strengthening the capacity of stakeholders will enhance their understanding of disability issues and their ability to effectively contribute to inclusive implementation processes and in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Organization of Persons with Disabilities’ capacities should also be strengthened to ensure that they can effectively participate in advocating for disability inclusion and engage in awareness raising initiatives to promote understanding, acceptance, and respect for the rights of persons with disabilities.

To effectively advance the principles of equity and non-discrimination and dispel stereotypes and misconceptions, the UNPRPD/GDF programme seeks to develop a specialized module on equality and non-discrimination, aligned with CRPD Article 5, for training state and non-state actors. This training will raise awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities and strengthen disability inclusion in their areas of operation and also support the process of training stakeholders on the development of a non-discrimination strategy scheduled to be done later this year. It is in this regard that the ILO is seeking to contract an Individual Consultant to develop a module on the rights of persons with disabilities with an emphasis on equality and non-discrimination in line with the CRPD article 5 for training state and non-state actors to increase awareness on disability inclusion in their areas of operation.

Objectives

To develop a module on the rights of persons with disabilities with an emphasis on equality and non-discrimination in line with the CRPD article 5 for training state and non-state actors to increase awareness on disability inclusion in their areas of operation.

Scope

The Individual Consultant will conduct a desk review of existing training materials on the rights of persons with disabilities and delivery modalities and hold two consultative forums on the contents of the Training Module on the rights of persons with disabilities. The consultant will be expected to draft the module on the rights of persons with disabilities with an emphasis on equality and non-discrimination in line with the CRPD article 5 developed for training state and non-state actors to increase awareness on disability inclusion in their areas of operation. Once the draft is cleared by the Technical Working Group it will be validated in a workshop bringing together key stakeholders. Inputs from the validation workshop will be integrated and Module finalized.

Timeline

Q2 and Q3 of 2025.

Supervision

The Individual Consultant will work under the supervision of the ILO. Oversight and guidance will be provided by the Technical Working Group which will endorse outputs and deliverables.

Expected Outputs

The consultancy will be expected to deliver the following within 30 working days spread out in Q2 and Q3 of 2025

1. Inception report aligned to the TORs capturing information on the desk review on existing training modules and materials on the rights of persons with disabilities/disability inclusion in Kenya. The Inception Report should also include an annotated outline of the module.
2. Two consultative forums report on the rights of persons with disabilities geared towards the development of the Training Module
3. Draft Module on the rights of persons with disabilities with an emphasis on equality and non-discrimination in line with the CRPD article 5 for training state and non-state actors to increase awareness on disability inclusion in their areas of operation.
4. Validation Workshop bringing together key stakeholder to review and validate contents of the draft Module.
5. Final Module on the rights of persons with disabilities with an emphasis on equality and non-discrimination in line with the CRPD article 5 for training state and non-state actors to increase awareness on disability inclusion in their areas of operation.

Required qualifications, desired competencies, technical background and experience
The Individual Consultant will be required to have the following experience and skills:

• Relevant advanced academic degree (Social sciences, development studies, economics or related fields).
• Demonstrated experience in working on Disability Inclusion
• Demonstrated experience in conducting capacity building initiatives on disability inclusion
• Specific experience on engagement in complex social and economic strategic and policy frameworks
• Experience working with governments, employers, workers, Organizations of Persons with
• Disabilities, Development Partners and the UN
• Ability to facilitate consultative/validation workshop towards consensus building
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English.

Applicants are required to submit a technical and financial proposal with a clear work
plan/timelines
Application process.
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their applications including the following:

1. Technical proposal for implementing the assignment
2. Financial proposal for implementing the assignment

The financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown (professional fees, travel related expenses, communications/interpretation, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.)

Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

How to Apply:

Applications clearly marked as ‘Consultancy to a Training Module on the rights of persons with disabilities‘ should be sent to nboprocurement@ilo.org to reach us not later than 28th April 2025.