UNDP Jobs - 30033- Consultant to assess EU legislative framework, int

Consultant to assess EU legislative framework, international legal instruments and standards related to gender equality and to assist in drafting of a new Action Plan for Gender Equality in Montenegro 2013-2017

Location :

Home based and Montenegro

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

18-Jun-2012

Application Deadline :

20-May-12 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

up tp 6 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

approximately 20 working days within the period mid of June – end of December 2012

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Equality between women and men is not just a goal in itself: it is a precondition for the fulfillment of human rights and human development in general, and of the overall EU objectives in regard to growth, employment and social cohesion, in particular. In Montenegro, women have never had equal conditions for realizing their human rights nor opportunities to contribute to national, political, economic, social and cultural development, and consequently to benefit from these opportunities. Despite the fact that more and more women are highly qualified and labor market participation of women is on the increase, women are still largely outnumbered by men in positions of responsibility in politics and business, particularly at the top level.

Gender Programme IPA 2010, started in March 31, 2011 and run by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights-Department for Gender Equality , Delegation of European Union to Montenegro and UNDP, aims to improve the status of women as reflected in personal integrity, economic advancement and political representation. The specific objective of the project is to strengthen capacities, improve mechanisms, advance policies and improve the conditions for the implementation of the National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2008-2012 in following three areas:

Political Empowerment of Women: starting from the fact that equal participation in political life plays a pivotal role in the general process of the advancement of society, the project has a three-fold approach: a) empowerment of women in politics and sensitization of male politicians; b) strengthening of political party structures by introducing gender-sensitive policies and programmes and c) improving legislation by introducing gender-sensitive provisions in the Electoral Law, the Law on Political Parties and the Law on Financing of Political Parties. Each of these three components is accompanied by awareness raising and lobbying activities. Women/political candidates are directly targeted in order to ensure their full commitment to and support for this process. Political parties engaged are the ones represented in Parliament and the most direct beneficiaries of this action, besides women candidates, are party leaders. The intervention simultaneously requires an institutional approach, which is specifically addressed towards Parliamentary Committees (i.e. Gender Equality, Human Rights and European integration) and in the Government towards the relevant Ministries. CSOs and NGOs are self-evident partners in this work, and are invited to participate in Advisory Teams, lobbying, training, assessments and other activities.
Economic Empowerment of Women: given the fact that women’s economic potential in Montenegro remains neglected, and also having in mind significance of economic empowerment of women as one of the most effective ways of strengthening gender equality, the project addresses the creation of economic opportunities for women within the context of the economic crisis. Within the project, assessment of women entrepreneurship has been done and based on recommendations, activities related to creation of set of financial and non-financial instruments for support to women entrepreneurship are on the way. Government institutions, including relevant ministries, agencies and specialized bodies, as well as associations of employers, trade unions and NGOs are actively involved in creation of implementation models within through participation in the Advisory Board for Economy.
Elimination of violence against women: recognizing that an estimated one in three women experiences violence in the home, the project aims to ensure that the new Law on Protection of Victims of Violence is fairly interpreted and implemented in daily practice, ensuring that victims, in daily practice actually do experience system-wide support. Aware that many laws have been passed without corresponding budgetary commitments and with no actual implementation, the Project team will create a sustainable coordination and monitoring mechanism at the national level to support and ensure the implementation of the law. The project will further ensure the capacity enhancement of the actors to be involved in implementing the law, including civil society organizations; such capacity development will be guided by a survey on violence in the family, aimed at understanding perceptions of family violence and its dynamics, to be monitored for changes over the course of the project. A centralized database, based on EU best practice, will be established to track cases of violence dealt with in both governmental institutions and NGOs. Awareness-raising and education will form a central part of the project, particularly as it pertains to working with youth through the education system.

Since the National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2008-2012 is coming to an end the Government of Montenegro addressed the issue of preparation of a new NAP for the period 2013-2017 to the Department of Gender Equality. Upon consultations with the partners within Gender Programme IPA, it has been agreed that the new Action Plan should take into consideration the following:

Analysis of implementation of NAP 2008-2012;
Recommendations of CEDAW Committee from October 2011;
Expected changes of legal framework and institutional set up that will derive from the process of approximation of national legislation to the EU, CoE and other international legal instruments, standards and practice, having in mind expected opening of membership negotiation between Montenegro and EU in 2012;
Principles, strategic goals, specific actions, etc. proposed in Agenda for Europe 2020 and EU Joint Inclusion Memorandum;
Best practice and lessons learnt from other countries on how the EU integration process can be utilized for strengthening gender equality at the national level;
Monitoring and evaluation instruments to be incorporated into new NAP.

Partners have also agreed to establish a working group that incorporates representatives of all relevant stakeholders, including Government ministries, representatives of civil society, business associations and trade unions to assist to Department of Gender Equality in drafting the NAP. As a first step, it was agreed that the consultant will be engaged to assess above mentioned documents, policies and good practice, in order to prepare first draft of NAP which will be further elaborated and finalized by the Working Group.

The consultancy goal is to prepare guidance for the new NAP 2013-2017

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Gender Programme Manager, the consultant will perform the following duties:

In close cooperation with Gender Programme and Department for Gender Equality, to analyze results of implementation of NAP 2008-2012;
To analyze obligations deriving from the legal approximation process, international legal obligations, main EU strategic documents (Agenda 2020 and JIM) and to propose specific measures for gender equality that should be incorporated into NAP 2013-2017;
To analyze best practices and lessons learnt from other countries regarding utilization of the EU integration process for gender equality;
To produce draft of NAP;
To propose specific monitoring and evaluation instruments (tools) to be incorporated into NAP;
To present a draft of NAP to the Working group at the 2-days workshop which will be held in Montenegro, to assist to Working group to further elaborate it and to produce a final proposal of NAP.

Expected results/deliverables:

Assessment of results of NAP 2008-2012;
Assessment of legal obligations and best practices listed within the Job content;
Draft NAP 2013-2017;
Final NAP 2013-2017

Timing of the work:

The Consultants will be engaged under a short-term Individual Contract (IC) on part-time bases, immediately after the completion of the recruitment procedure, for an estimated time of 20 working days. The tentative date of the assignment will be the period from mid June to end December 2012. During the assignment the Consultant is expected to spend 3 working days in Podgorica, according to the schedule in agreement with the Programme Manager. The consultant will conduct preparatory activities and shall work on production of outputs from home, but in close cooperation with the Programme Manager. All travel and accommodation costs related to one visit and 3 (three) working days in Podgorica will be incorporated into financial offer of the Consultant. For the preparation of the document, consultant will be expected to be home based. (Dates, timing and the venues of the study visit will be determined as soon as possible).

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
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 good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree in political and social sciences, law, economics, European Studies or other relevant fields.

Experience:

Minimum 7 years of relevant working experience in the field of gender equality;
Proven experience in working on strategic documents related to gender equality;
Excellent knowledge of international legal instruments on gender equality;
Experience in participation in working groups for negotiations with EU will be an asset;
Excellent social, communicative skills and ability to operate under pressure.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in spoken and written English;
Knowledge of Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian/Montenegrin languages will be an asset.

Application Process:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications to UNDP Office in Podgorica by e-mail to consultancy.me@undp.org by Thursday, May 17th 2012.

The application should contain:

Duly completed Personal History Form (P11) can be downloaded from
http://www.undp.org.me/files/jobs/index.html
Cover/Motivation Letter

The short-listed candidates only would be requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work and travel (one visit, three working days in Podgorica, Montenegro ) envisaged in the section "Duties and Responsibilities”.

UNDP is an equal opportunity employer.

******* Procurement Note related to this vacancy can be found on the following link: http://www.undp.org.me/files/jobs/2012/12-034%20notice.pdf .