Background

Over the past years, UN Women has provided support to national and local stakeholders in strengthening democratic governance and advancing women’s rights through initiatives aimed at mainstreaming gender in policy planning and budgeting. Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) has been identified as important tool for advancing gender equality in key national documents as in accordance with existing Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRoM) national policy documents on social inclusion and gender equality.
 
In accordance with government priorities stated in the national and local plans and strategies, UN Women has been supporting government efforts (at central and local level) in using GRB as a tool to advance gender equality and ensure that women’s needs are incorporated in policies and related budgets.
 
At the same time, technical assistance was provided to non-governmental organizations and gender experts in developing and using GRB as a tool for carrying out different analyses such as piloting costing studies, monitoring existing sectoral policies and budgets from gender perspective and advocate for policy change.
 
The long-term result of these initiatives is the incorporation of gender equality principles, perspectives and priorities not only in policy making, but also in budgeting at national and local level, leading to greater accountability and transparency of public finances. In the frame of the Regional Project on Gender Polices in CEE countries financed by Austrian Development Agency and UN Women, a two day and half training with experts from CEE countries will be supported with the goal of increasing capacities on how to analyze public policies/budgets and making them gender responsive. Participants will be gender and finance experts from the countries that the project is implementing. It is expected from participants to be involved in the coming capacity building activities in their respective countries and in the region.
 
Parallel with this intervention a special focus is being given to the regional project to increase capacities of civil servants and government institutions to integrate gender into policies, planning, programming, budgeting and monitoring for results. Upon other initiatives two day training will be delivered to civil servants in Albania on gender responsive budgeting tools and methods.
 
To this effect, UN Women is seeking to recruit an international expert that will deliver a two day and half regional training for the GRB experts from CEE countries and two days for civil servants in Albania on how to use GRB as tools to Mainstream Gender in Policies and Budgets.

Duties and Responsibilities

Tasks and Responsibilities:
 
Working under the supervision of the GRB Regional Project Manager and the UN Women Albania Policy specialist, GRB and Statistics, the international expert will be responsible to deliver a four days and half training (two days and half advanced training for GRB experts and two days for Albanian officials) to be held in Tirana, Albania. The training should be interactive and offer:
 
Two days and half with regional GRB experts:
  • Theoretical background for policy analysis, gender equality and gender mainstreaming and budget monitoring from gender perspective;
  • Practical tools on how to carry out gender budget analysis, based on budgetary systems of CEE countries as well as resources needed for assessing impact on beneficiaries;
  • Practical tools on how to mainstream gender in policies and budgets with examples of successful GRB initiatives;
  • Case studies and work within groups - examining examples of GRB introduction at different levels of Government
Two day training with Albanian officials:
  • Theoretical background for policy analysis and budget monitoring from gender perspective;
  • Practical tools on how to carry out gender policy analyses specifically in the field of labor and agriculture;
  • Gender indicators and sex-disaggregated data.
With regards the training component on the specific budgetary process in Albania, BiH and FYR of Macedonia, the international expert will receive all the necessary support from the UN Women offices while for the training with Albanian officials a national expert will be hired.
 
Deliverables:
 
The international expert will be tasked with the following:
 
Training with regional GRB experts:
  • Drawing from existing international, regional and national experience, prepare a draft agenda and training materials in English for a two-day and a half training for regional GRB experts on “Gender Responsive Budgeting”;
  • Revise and finalise agenda and training materials as per comments from UN Women;
  • Based on the above, prepare all required presentations, case studies and materials for two-day and a half training with the regional experts;
  • Conduct the  training using current adult learning methodologies, thereby ensuring active learning and active engagement of the participants;
  • Ensure that the training results in the following outputs:
    • Improved knowledge of regional experts on how GRB tools can be used for mainstreaming gender in policies and budgets cycle, including monitoring systems; Strengthened capacity of regional experts with particular emphasis on how to develop and use GRB tools when they work with government representatives and civil society organizations; Exercises on tools and practical steps how to carry out gender budget analysis, based on budgetary systems of both countries and assessing impact on beneficiaries are developed and presented; Improved knowledge of regional experts on gender equality indicators and their use, and improved knowledge on policy and budget monitoring tools; Proposals from participants of possible follow up projects and activities in this area; Pre and Post Evaluation of the training
  • Prepare a report - in English - on the training, including suggestions to UN Women for future work in the area of strengthening GRB regional experts to become in country capacity for budgetary purposes.
 Training with Albanian officials:
  • In Cooperation with National expert, prepare a draft agenda and training materials in English and Albanian for a two-day training for Albanian officials on “Gender Responsive Budgeting”;
  • Revise and finalise agenda and training materials as per comments from UN Women;
  • Based on the above, prepare all required presentations and materials for two-day training with the Albanian officials;
  • Conduct the training using current adult learning methodologies, thereby ensuring active learning and active engagement of the participants;
  • Ensure that the training results in the following outputs:
    • Improved knowledge participants on how GRB tools can be used for mainstreaming gender in policies and budgets cycle, including monitoring systems specifically in the field of employment and agriculture; Strengthened capacity of participants with particular emphasis on how to use GRB tools when they work with government policies and strategies; Improved knowledge and skills of participants on gender equality indicators as policy and budget monitoring tools; Proposals from participants of possible follow up projects and activities in this area; Pre and post Evaluation training questionnaire;
  • Undertake pre and post evaluation of the training summarized in an evaluation report which should clearly indicate whether and what capacity change was achieved as a result of the training.

Competencies

Core competencies and values:
  • Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards;
  • Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
  • Display cultural, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability.
 Functional competencies:
  • GRB: Strong expertise in the application of gender responsive budgeting methodologies and gender mainstreaming;
  • Policy and budget cycle: knowledge and expertise on policy development and budgetary processes, as well as budget analysis and budget advocacy from the perspective of civil servants;
  • Communication and training delivering experience: Excellent communication skills, and extensive experience in designing and delivering training with different audiences, including evaluation of capacity change achieved.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Advanced degree in economics, international law, development studies, and/or gender studies and/or international relations, or similar.
Experience:
  • A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience;
  • Previous training experience on public policies analysis and monitoring with gender perspective;
  • Experiences with Adult learning cycle and participatory methods in trainings;
  • In-depth knowledge of the policy development and budgeting processes;
  • Knowledge on CSEE region, local government policies would be an asset;
  • Experience on report writing;
  • Demonstrated interest and/or experience in gender work;
  • Demonstrated ability to work in a team;
  • Strong analytical, writing and communication skills in English;
  • Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Power Point, Word, Excel).
Evaluation of Applicants:
 
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
  • Responsive/compliant/acceptable;
  • Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
 
Technical criteria – 70% of total evaluation – max 45 points:
Criteria A – Relevant education max points: 10
Criteria B – Expertise on GRB, gender mainstreaming and budgeting of public policies form a gender perspective max points: 10
Criteria C -  Knowledge of budgeting processes max points: 10
Criteria D – Experience with adult learning and participatory training methods max points: 10
Criteria E – Knowledge of/previous experience in the region max points: 5
 
Duration and remuneration: 
 
The duration of the contract is maximum 11 working days in the period 4 – 30 April 2012. UN Women will provide a lump sum to cover costs of travel and accommodation to Albania, which will be released upon start of assignment. The remaining payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of all tasks in the assignment, and submission and approval by UN Women of final report.
 
Application:
 
Interested candidates are requested to apply online through this site no later than COB 23 March 2012.
 
The application should contain:
  • Short Letter of interest, including financial proposal, indicating a total lump sum for the delivery of outputs as per above description. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (consultancy fee per number of anticipated working days, travel and any other possible costs).
  • Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form, that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment/
 UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.