1.       Scope of Work

a.       Conference Overview:

·       Name: Gender Flagship Conference on “Best Practices & Lessons Learned”

·       Location: Brussels, Belgium

·       Dates: 8 to 9 October 2025

The Gender Flagship Project has worked with 12 Beneficiary Authorities across nine Member States to support institutional change through gender action plans, gender-responsive budgeting, and capacity building. Over 43 months, the project has combined expert guidance, training, and peer learning to support more effective, inclusive policymaking.

This one-and-a-half-day event will gather around 60–80 participants including representatives of participating authorities, the European Commission, and around 15 local experts who have supported the project implementation. Conference agenda includes high-level opening speeches, panel discussions reflecting on participants’ journeys  and challenges around gender mainstreaming, and breakout workshops to foster peer learning and co-develop policy recommendations.

General Objective: The final conference of the Gender Flagship project will bring together project partners, Beneficiary Authorities, EU institutions, and expert partners to reflect on the progress achieved by the Gender Flagship project and explore future directions for gender mainstreaming in public policy and budgeting. It is designed to serve two key objectives:

§  To showcase the achievements, tools developed, and lessons learned from the Gender Flagship project, particularly focusing on Beneficiary Authorities supported. By highlighting concrete examples of institutional change, successful technical support, and implementation of gender mainstreaming tools, the conference aims to strengthen mutual learning and exchange among stakeholders.

§  To contribute to the broader policy debate on how gender mainstreaming can be more effectively reinforced across Europe.

To support the organization of this final conference external expertise is required for the design, preparation and overall facilitation of the conference, as well as to assist with debriefing and reporting following the event.

On this purpose, the short-term expert /facilitator will work under the overarching supervision of the Head of Project and the Project Manager, while maintaining close coordination with Gender Flagship project Team. The facilitator will play a key role in ensuring the smooth delivery, meaningful engagement, and coherence of the two-day conference. The facilitator will guide discussions, moderate sessions, connect insights across panels and workshops, and help synthesize outcomes in an engaging, participatory, and inclusive manner. Co-facilitating with a technical expert could also be an option to build on the trust developed with participants over the length of the project.

b.      Expected Deliverables:

Concept note and detailed agenda for the conference, including roles, instructions, ways of working principles, processes and formats for interaction, learning, active knowledge sharing, and reflection.

2.       Expert Responsibilities

Main tasks:

Ø  Participation in preparatory meetings and finalization of agenda/session formats.

Ø  Live facilitation and moderation of the conference (8–9 October).

Ø  Short summary report (3–5 pages) with key outcomes and messages.

Ø  Participation in debriefing call with the organizing team.

·       Preparation (August - September 2025):

o   Lead kick-off meeting with team members to identify the purpose, objectives and outcomes of the event.

o   Develop purpose and objective statement and high-level agenda with building blocks for feedback

o   Participate in preparatory meetings with EF and partner (SG REFORM) to align on conference objectives, format, and facilitator role.

o   Review the conference agenda, background documents, and presentation inputs to understand content flow

o   Draft & update facilitators agenda, including roles, instructions, ways of working principles, processes and formats for interaction, learning, active knowledge sharing, reflection and sense making.

o   Review design of up to 6 targeted sessions & provide feedback, iterate session design with partners / leads

o   Develop script for the in-person facilitation sessions.

o   Provide input on final session designs to maximise interactivity and coherence.

·       Facilitation (8–9 October 2025):

o   Act as Master of Ceremonies for the conference, providing dynamic moderation across plenary sessions.

o   Facilitate transitions and linkages across sessions to reinforce key themes.

o   Moderate or co-moderate key sessions such as: Opening and introductory sessions; The high-level roundtable on Day 2; Report-back and final reflection sessions

o   Ensure inclusive and balanced participation across stakeholder groups (BAs, experts, EU reps).

o   Capture emerging insights and connect them to the broader objectives of the conference.

o   Provide real-time summarization or distillation of takeaways (verbal, visual, or in collaboration with rapporteurs).

o   Guide and work together with co-facilitators

o   Run daily debrief & check-in meetings with the organising team to reflect and course correct Lead plenary sessions and moderate discussions effectively.

o   Contribute to smooth logistics with the Gender Flagship project team in Paris.

·       Reporting (Mid–end of October 2025):

o   Provide a short summary note (3–5 pages) outlining key takeaways, recommendations, and messages from the event.

o   Participate in a debriefing session with EF and core partners.

o   Provide inputs for project monitoring and evaluation as required.