Background

UN Women (UNW), grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women’s triple mandate, along with its global network and deep policy and programming expertise, continues to endow the Entity with a unique capacity to: (i) support Member States to strengthen global norms and standards for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and mainstream gender perspectives in other thematic areas; (ii) promote coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and (iii) undertake operational activities to support Member States, upon their request, in translating global norms and standards into legislation, policies and strategies at country level.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). In line with the national priorities, the work of UN Women for the period 2023-2025 is aligned with three of the Palestine United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework’s (UNSDCF) outcomes:

• Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector.
• Palestinians, including the most vulnerable, have equal access to sustainable, inclusive, gender responsive and quality social services, social protection, and affordable utilities.
• Palestinian governance institutions, processes, and mechanisms at all levels are more democratic, rights-based, inclusive, and accountable.

Its three-year Strategic Note supports the efforts to achieve measurable results in country in terms of four UN Women global Strategic Plan impacts (2022-2025): (SP Impact 1). Governance and participation in public life; (SP Impact 2). Women’s Economic Empowerment; (SP Impact 3). Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and; SP Impact 4. Women peace and security, Humanitarian & Disaster Risk Reduction.

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to  achieve gender equality and to fight Violence Against Women (VAW), and in full partnership with the Justice, Security and Social Sectors, including the Public Prosecution (PP), the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP), the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), the High Judicial Council (HJC) and the Supreme Judge Department (SJD), UN Women, within its joint programme with UNDP and UNICEF- “Promoting the Rule of Law in Palestine- SAWASYA II” is supporting the Justice, Social and Security institutions to mainstream gender into  their procedures and policies, and develop and provide  gender responsive services to women victims and survivors of violence, through providing institutional capacity building and policy level interventions  amongst others.

Violence against women in Palestine, particularly by intimate partners, remains at an alarmingly high rate with 59.3 per cent of Currently Married or Ever Married Women (15 - 64 years) in Palestine who were Exposed (at least once) to One Type of Violence by their Husbands during the Past 12 Months,, of whom less than 1 per cent sought legal and/or psychosocial support; 52.3 per cent in the West Bank compared to 70.4 per cent in Gaza Strip.

On the other hand, as per the findings of the Images study- Understanding Masculinities in Palestine, which was conducted by UN Women in 2017, 34% of men and 26% of women agreed that there are times when a woman deserves to be beaten; and 63% of men and 50% of women believe that a woman should tolerate violence to keep the family together. The situation is exacerbated with the lack of progress in the status of the Family Protection Bill (FPB) and CEDAW. Despite the efforts exerted by different actors, including CSOs, some governmental partners, UN Agencies, the international community, and others, no progress is witnessed so far on the status of the FPB and CEDAW.

Gender discriminatory social norms is one of the root causes of gender discrimination. Social norms are identified by many names such as heritage, cultural norms, traditional practices and values. Most often, these social norms and the gender roles designed by them discriminate against women and perceive women as exclusively responsible to preserving cultures.

Against this background, UN Women within Sawasya II programme aims to contract an experienced international consultant to develop a research on the root causes of discriminatory social norms against women in Palestine. The selected consultant should abide by UN Women research ethics guidelines, and should obtain informed consent of interviewees, and maintain privacy and confidentiality of collected data. All names should be coded and encrypted. The property rights of the research are for UN Women. The research should be developed in English, edited, and proofread.

Objective of the assignment:

     UN Women within “Promoting the Rule of Law in Palestine- Sawasya II” programme is seeking to

     recruit an international  consultant to develop comprehensive research on the root causes of

     discriminatory social norms against women in Palestine. The purpose of this research is to identify and

     analyze the root causes of discriminatory social norms against women in Palestine, with the purpose of   

     guiding programmatic interventions aiming to improve the socio- legal and  economic     

     status of women in Palestine.

More specifically, the research aims to:

1. To identify discriminatory social norms prevalent in Palestine that affect women’s rights and status; and analyze their impact on women’s realization of their rights.
2. To explore how gender discriminatory national narratives influence women’s achievement of their fundamental rights and freedoms.
3. To identify and analyze root causes of discriminatory social norms against women in Palestine.
4. To propose specific recommendations to address roots causes of discriminatory social norms against women in Palestine

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Special Representative in the State of Palestine, the direct supervision of UN Women Sawasya II Programme Specialist, and working in close cooperation and coordination with UN Women Sawasya II technical team, the selected consultant will undertake the following tasks, duties, and responsibilities:

1. Develop an inception report that includes the work plan, the methodological framework, and the outline of the research, to be approved by UN Women, following a consultation process with relevant actors. The outline should include executive summary, literature review, findings, analysis, and recommendations amongst others.
2. Based on the meetings and consultations with UN Women, design and execute a methodological framework, including the tools that will be used to collect data, and the theoretical frameworks and approaches that will be used to analyse and present it. The methodology should notably consider the following tools:

• Literature review of national, regional, and international references.
• Collection of primary and secondary data, including conducting semi structured interviews, and focus groups discussions with community members, including women, men, youth, community leaders, including religious leaders, PA officials, academic people, women’s human rights activists, representatives of civil society organizations and the international community in Palestine amongst others.
• Develop and fill a questionnaire/s by a representative sample of the different segments of the community, including women, girls, men and boys, covering different localities and personal characteristics.
• Organizing a validation workshop to solicit and reflect relevant parties’ feedback.

As part of the methodology, the selected consultant has to define the research sample; ensuring adequate representation of all community segments and localities, and maintain a participatory approach, throughout all phases of the work with UN Women.

       3. Develop the research, along with recommendations and submit to UN Women for review and approval. As part of developing the research, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

• Developing a literature review on discriminatory social norms against women in Palestine.
• Collecting and analysing data; preparing the first draft of the research, and sharing it  with UN Women for review and comments.
• Amending the first draft of the research in line with UN Women’s inputs, and facilitating a validation session on the research’s findings, conclusions and recommendations, for UN Women and other stakeholders, including community members- (women, men, youth, community leaders- including religious leaders); PA officials, CSOs, UN Agencies and others.
• Based on inputs provided during the validation session, amending the research, and submitting an amended version to UN Women for review and approval.

• 4.  Reporting on the whole assignment:

The selected consultant will be requested to submit a final report that includes a description of the assignment’s objectives, the methodology that was used, main achievements, main challenges, lessons learned and recommendations. The final report should include all annexes relevant to the assignment including lists of persons interviewed, minutes of workshops, and meetings conducted, materials consulted, raw material, tools, minutes of meetings, developed and filled questionnaires, among others, as relevant and required.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Ability to lead Policy review process through consultation with stakeholders;
• Very strong background on gender;
• Ability to manage time and meet tight deadlines;
• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Proven networking, organizational and communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Evaluation Criteria:

This SSA modality is governed by UN Women General Terms and Conditions. UN Women will only be able to respond to applicants who meet the minimum requirements.

Candidates should clearly indicate how they meet the above-mentioned criteria in their applications.

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

• UN Women P11 including experience in similar assignments; the P11 form can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted.
• A Sample of a developed research in the area of gender, or women’s rights or violence against women.

Note: Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Please upload as one attachment of the documents as mentioned above online through this website.

Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) expression of Interest (EoI).

Evaluation of applicants

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications mentioned above, and financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Evaluation (70%) – max. 70 points:  

• A master’s degree in social science, Gender Studies, Human rights, or any other related field. A PhD degree is an asset. (max. 10 points)
• Minimum three to five years’ experience in the fled of violence against women, gender equality and women’s rights. (max. 15 points)
• Minimum eight years of  research experience in the field of social studies, particularly in the field of violence against women and gender equality. (max. 20 points)
• Previous working experience in the Middle East is an asset. (max. 5 points)
• Experience with the UN system or/and International Organizations is an asset. (max. 5 points)
• A Sample of a developed research particularly in the area of gender, or women’s rights or violence against women. (max. 15 points)

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Only long-listed candidates will be contacted.

Financial proposal. Shortlisted candidate will be requested to submit a financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount breaking down a daily professional fee, proposed number of working days and any related expenses, i.e. travel and communications expenses.