Consultant for Mentoring on Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion in Programming

- Organizational context

ChildFund Timor-Leste is the representative office of ChildFund Australia – an independent international development organisation that works to reduce poverty for children in developing communities.

ChildFund Australia is a member of the ChildFund Alliance – a global network of 11 organisations which assists almost 23 million children and their families in 70 countries. ChildFund Australia is a registered charity, a member of the Australian Council for International Development, and fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which manages the Australian Government’s overseas aid program.

ChildFund began work in Timor-Leste in 1990, originally under the management of ChildFund International. Since October 2017 it has operated as an office of ChildFund Australia and works in partnership to create community and systems change which enables children and young people in vulnerable situations, to assert and realise their rights.

ChildFund Timor-Leste’s projects focus on maternal and child health, nutrition, early childhood development, education, youth empowerment, child online protection and disaster preparedness. ChildFund Timor-Leste aims to demonstrate effectiveness and accountability in its program activities and add value to the efforts of its partners through quality programs that are respectful, responsive, and relevant in helping children living in poverty, their families, and communities.

ChildFund Timor-Leste is working with rural communities to build a new, stable, and prosperous future for what is one of the world’s youngest nations.

2. Background

ChildFund Australia aspires to be a learning organization, critically examining the quality of work that we do and achieving a deeper understanding of the diverse children and youth we serve to better inform our work. Related to this is strengthening ChildFund’s work on gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI).

ChildFund works in partnership with a number of local civil society organizations to foster social change in communities, focusing on children’s education, health, social-emotional learning, protection and disaster risk reduction. As part of its commitment to locally led development as well as to strengthening the integration of GEDSI into programming, ChildFund has been supporting its partners in Timor Leste to strengthen their GEDSI organizational and programming practices. So far this has been achieved through supporting some dedicated training and mentoring sessions.

In 2026-27, three partners are being provided with small grants to enable them to ‘learn by doing’ some specific actions/activities on GEDSI linked to strengthening their organization and their existing development programming.

3. Purpose

ChildFund Timor Leste is seeking to engage a consultant/s to

- provide tailored mentoring sessions for its three partners in Dili (2 partners) and Lospalos (1 partner) over a 10-month period, focused on:

Gender equality and disability inclusion integration in disaster risk management programming.

- Support the development and institutionalization of organizational GEDSI goals, targets, indicators, and accountability mechanisms within strategic planning and organizational systems.

- Support the review, finalization, and operationalization of GEDSI policies, including the development of implementation plans, guidelines, and practical tools to facilitate organization-wide application.

- Develop and contextualize GEDSI guidelines, training modules, induction packages, and learning resources to strengthen staff capacity and ensure consistent understanding and application of GEDSI principles across the organization.

- Strengthen GEDSI integration across programme design, implementation, monitoring, and review through practical tools, templates, guidance materials, and the incorporation of GEDSI considerations into programme processes.

- Support the review and strengthening of GEDSI-related indicators, monitoring tools, and reporting processes to enable partners to better track inclusion outcomes and measure progress across programs

- Develop practical approaches to monitor the effectiveness of GEDSI integration and identify barriers to participation, inclusion, and equitable outcomes across organisational and programmatic activities.

- Support partners to review and strengthen recruitment and human resource practices to ensure they are GEDSI-responsive, including promoting diversity, inclusion, equal opportunity, and equitable employment practices throughout the employee lifecycle.

4. Scope of work

The Consultant will, with support from the ChildFund Australia GEDSI Advisor and ChildFund Timor-Leste Country Office staff:

- Provide contextualised mentoring for each partner organisation through three mentoring sessions over the consultancy period. Mentoring topics will be tailored to the specific GEDSI priorities, capacity gaps, and organisational development needs identified by each partner, including areas supported through the GEDSI grant.

- Facilitate practical learning, reflection, and problem-solving processes that strengthen partner knowledge, skills, and application of gender equality, disability, and social inclusion principles within organisational systems, policies, programmes, and practices.

- Where appropriate, facilitate joint mentoring sessions between partner organisations on shared GEDSI priorities to encourage peer learning and exchange of experiences.

- Ensure that each mentoring session results in clear, practical, and achievable actions that partner staff can implement between mentoring sessions to strengthen GEDSI integration within their organisations and existing projects.

- Submit a short report following each mentoring session, using ChildFund Timor-Leste reporting templates, outlining progress achieved, challenges encountered, areas requiring further support, and agreed follow-up actions.

- Contribute technical advice and feedback, where requested, to support the review and refinement of GEDSI-related tools, resources, learning materials, or organisational processes relevant to the mentoring priorities.

- Prepare and submit a final report summarising the mentoring process, key areas of support provided, outcomes achieved, evidence of change in knowledge, attitudes and practices, materials developed or utilised, lessons learned, and recommendations for future support.

5. Methodology

The mentoring methodology should be participatory and build from partner skills and experiences, using facilitation methods that encourage critical analysis, reflection and learning by doing.

The mentoring process should:

- Encourage reflection, critical analysis, and peer learning.

- Promote practical application of GEDSI concepts within organizational and programmatic contexts.

- Focus on identifying realistic and achievable actions between mentoring sessions.

- Support continuous learning and improvement through coaching, feedback, and follow-up.

- Utilize participatory facilitation techniques that promote ownership and sustainability of GEDSI initiatives.

- Incorporate simple mechanisms to assess changes in knowledge, attitudes, practices, and organizational systems over the course of the mentoring period.

6. Selection Criteria for Consultancy Team

ChildFund Australia is seeking a consultant/s who based in Timor-Leste with knowledge and experience in delivering tailored mentoring sessions on gender equality and disability inclusion programming in Tetum. The Consultant must be available for face-to-face mentoring sessions.

Required experience:

- Degree in Gender, Social Sciences, Community Development, International Development or other related fields.

- Minimum 5 years’ experience working to integrate gender equality, disability inclusion and social inclusion in development programming, preferably with experience in Timor Leste.

- Strong understanding of GEDSI programming approaches and inclusive development principles.

- Demonstrated experience in developing and delivering mentoring sessions.

- Excellent oral communication and facilitation skills in Tetum.

Interested consultants should submit an expression of interest including: a technical proposal (max. 3 pages) outlining understanding of the assignment, mentoring approaches/methodologies proposed (including a sample mentoring session outline, timeline; a financial proposal/fee schedule in USD; a curriculum vitae including at least two references from similar assignments; and a sample of previous, similar work.

Please submit you application via

not later than 16 November 2026

For questions or clarifications, please contact Amelia de Araujo at [email protected] Nelita Ximenes at 
[email protected]

ChildFund Australia believes in a global community where children are safe and can reach their full potential. We take extensive steps to safeguard children in any work done by our people, i.e., our staff, volunteers and interns, supporters, partners, board members, ambassadors and suppliers. We strive to keep children safe through child safe practices, and rigorously ensure we prevent, oppose, and combat all exploitation and abuse of children and vulnerable people. As part of this commitment, all people working with us will undergo relevant background checks before joining ChildFund Australia.

At ChildFund Australia, all staff must remain alert and responsive to any child safeguarding or sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment (SEAH) risks. Staff will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to understand our Child Safeguarding and PSEAH policies & procedures, promote strong safeguarding practices, and conduct themselves consistent with these policies.

In line with our values, diversity of people and ideas is critical to our work and our success at ChildFund Australia. We strive for a team culture that is welcoming, inclusive, and supportive.

ChildFund is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and strongly encourages people from all backgrounds, abilities, and identities to apply.