| Overview : The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is implementing the project “Integrated Landscape Management for Ecosystem Resilience and Improved Livelihoods in the Mt. Elgon Region” in the districts of Mbale, Bulambuli and Manafa. The overall goal of the project is to empower communities in Mt Elgon to manage their production landscapes in an integrated manner for improved livelihoods and ecosystem resilience. This has not been realized due to gaps in implementation of existing legislation in SLM, SFM and CCM Mt Elgon landscape presents a variety of ecosystems providing services upon which local population heavily depends. A large portion of the landscape is now degraded, considering current changes in land use due to expansion of agriculture fields and human settlements, largely driven by high population growth. There is also increasing pressure on the land to accommodate a population that is still rising in the Mt Elgon region and the inherent danger is that this increasing pressure for land will impact negatively on land use, such as a) causing trees to be cut for fuel wood before maturing and b) increase encroachment into the upper protected watersheds c) increased land fragmentation d) increased soil erosion. Gender inequality is significant in the area of intervention. Although the Ugandan constitution grants women equality with men, men own, access or control most of the household resources. Family members, including women, often use these resources such as Land but have no right to own or control them. United Nations Development Program is committed to achieving gender equality through delivering on transformational gender equality results. This is demonstrated in SDG 5 – “Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls”. Gender inequality has important implications in terms of sustainable land management in the area of intervention. Therefore, the key concern for UNDP and partners is how the project can unlock the barriers to achieving gender responsive sustainable development in Mt Elgon region. Given the scope of this project, it is imperative that this project takes gender considerations into account in its planning and implementation particularly within the context of Land use planning and management, Sustainable Land Management, Sustainable Forest management, Climate Change mitigation. It is important therefore to integrate gender across the project implementation to ensure that men and women can equally benefit from any intervention in the project. Objective: These terms of reference address the need for a gender analysis and development of a comprehensive gender action plan that ensures that gender considerations are taken into account throughout the project implementation phase to contribute to the results required by the overall project goal. The consultant is expected to review and provide inputs into the development of gender-differentiated strategies that will be incorporated in the implementation plan. | 
