Background

In recent years, and with the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), a number of significant achievements have been made by the Government of Albania (GoA) to move towards a more pro-active implementation of the standards and norms laid out by the CEDAW, Beijing Platform for Action, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and EU laws and policies.  
 
With the adoption of the law “On Gender Equality in Society” (No.9970, dated 24.07.2008), and the law on “on Measures Against Violence in Family Relations” (No.9669, dated 18.12.2006), and the revision of the country’s comprehensive strategy to ensure gender equality and combat domestic violence in 2010 (National Strategy on Gender Equality, Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence – NSGE-GBV-DV), the GoA has clearly stated the national priorities for advancing women’s human rights and for ensuring gender equality.  
 
In 2011, the National Institute of Statistics of Albania conducted the Population and Housing Census (1). Preliminary results (2) were released early this year, whereas the main results will be released in September 2012. The 2011 population census collected a wide range of information and all census data would be meticulously analyzed and published in concise reports to enhance effective decision making process. A series of analytical monographs will be prepared on several topics including population, employment, living standards and gender.  have been released early this year, whereas the main results will be released in September 2012. The 2011 population census collected a wide range of information and all census data would be meticulously analyzed and published in concise reports to enhance effective decision making process. A series of analytical monographs will be prepared on several topics including population, employment, living standards and gender.  The later, is aimed at government officials and decision-makers in Albania to provide with evidence to design gender-sensitive policies and programmes and monitor their effectiveness.
 
This monograph will present key findings with clear explanations to help readers interpret the data and understand its limitations. It should serve as a useful resource for anyone interested in economic and social development in Albania.
 
To improve overall coordination of the implementation of the legal and policy frameworks and national and international commitments to addressing gender equality in Albania, INSTAT through the support of UN Women and the technical inputs of UNFPA has worked these past three years in collectively developing the country’s first “Harmonised Indicators on Gender Equality and the Status of Women” and the “National Report on the Status of Women and Gender Equality in Albania”. Women’s monograph in Albania will be an important addition to these publications – considered an important basis to improve knowledge on gender issues in Albania.
 
The adoption of the Harmonised Indicators on Gender Equality and the Status of Women was the first steps toward both improved coordinated response by authorities in implementing the Government’s commitments towards gender equality, as well as improved, coordinated monitoring by central and local government institutions on the status of women and the advancement of gender equality in the country. 
 
The aim of the women’s monograph is therefore to facilitate the process of improving the monitoring – by Government, Parliament, non-profit organizations and development partners - of the implementation of the government’s commitments to gender equality and women’s human rights in a transparent, harmonized and simplified manner.

(1) More information on INSTAT website
(2) http://census.al/default.aspx?lang=en

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of the International Consultancy services is to support INSTAT for the preparation of a Women’s Monograph.
 
Specific background information for the assignment:
UN Women and UNFPA are seeking the services of the international consultant to take the lead but work jointly with national team (1) to undertake the following tasks:
  • Review national legislation, strategies and policies related to the theme
  • Look into international data analysis guidelines and standards in this area
  • Review literature in the context of emerging issues and methodological aspects
  • Identify what data are available from that national census and develop an outline for the monograph
  • Discuss priorities with the relevant ministries (data users) and refine outline
  • Assess data quality and limitations
  • Compile results in the context of levels and where possible trends (2001-2011) of within the country at District levels and where applicable at sub-district level
  • Interpret the findings in the context of polices which have impacted on the area of study and where possible make appropriate recommendations
  • Prepare an analytical monograph based on the approved outline
  • Present a draft monograph and subsequent ones for discussion and improvement
  • Finalize the monograph once all the comments have been accepted by the Project team
  • Prepare a power point presentation and two-page synopsis of the monograph highlighting the findings and recommendations once the monograph has been finalized
Objective of the assignment:
Under the guidance of UN Women Representative and UNFPA Population and Development Analyst, the international expert should support INSTAT for the preparation of Women’s Monograph for a period of 30 working days.
 
Scope of Work and Deliverables:
Main outputs of the assignment:
  • Outline of the monograph.
  • List of tables required for generation of the data from the 2011 census data set.
  • First draft of the women’s monograph for discussion.
  • Final women’s monograph accepted by the UN Women, UNFPA and INSTAT incorporating the reviewers’ comments.
  • Power point presentation and two-page synopsis of the monograph highlighting the findings and recommendations.
  • Increased knowledge of the national staffs based on their participation. 
Deliverables:
List of deliverables and timeline:
The deliverables for this assignment include, but are not limited to the following:
  • Deliverable 1: Outline of the monograph, to be submitted within one week upon signature of the contract.
  • Deliverable 2: List of tables required for generation of the data from the 2011 census data set, as well as resource information needed, to be submitted within two weeks.
  • Deliverable 3: First draft of the monograph for discussion, to be submitted within four weeks.
  • Deliverable 4: Sub-sequent drafts of the monograph until the satisfaction of the project, to be submitted within eight weeks’.
  • Deliverable 5: A power point presentation highlighting the main findings and recommendations, as well as a synopsis of the monograph to be used for flyers.
  • Deliverable 6: A final monograph highlighting the consultant’s work, outputs, achievements, and lessons learned including recommendations for future similar interventions to be completed by January 31, 2013.
Methodological Requirement:
The methodology of implementing the tasks will be strongly based on analytical reporting as well as an ongoing participatory process and, in so doing, to strengthening local capacities.
The language will be English.
Expected support to the International consultant:
The national partner- INSTAT will be supporting the consultants by:
  • Providing the list of available materials, regulatory documents available, results of previous work, which relate to the statistics legislation;
  • Offering guidelines on the legal and institutional framework of the partner institutions thus ensuring that the Statistics Law conforms with the national priorities;
  • Providing working place for the consultants during their mission at INSTAT if required.
  • Provide inputs to the draft documents prepared by the International consultant.

Note: The international consultant will work with two national experts as part of knowledge transfer and capacity building process. 

(1) The international consultant will work closely with INSTAT team and with two national experts as part of knowledge transfer and capacity building process.

Competencies

Core 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;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Core Competencies:
  • Excellent leadership skills and the ability to work with other experts;
  • Ability to manage a diversity of opinions in different cultural contexts;
  • Ability to produce written reports in a short period of time.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Advanced university degree (PhD or equivalent) in social sciences, statistic or related fields.
Experience:
  • Minimum 7-10 years of professional experience, specifically related to gender and/or development and statistics.
  • Demonstrated work experience, including previous substantial reports on women’s monograph in different countries would be an asset.
  • Demonstrated experience in monitoring and evaluation of national initiatives.
  • Experience in writing monitoring and evaluation reports on gender issues as well as in analysis based in statistics and gender indicators. 
  • Working experience with senior officials within government, development partners and non-governmental organizations and international experts in field related to monitoring and evaluation of specific polices.
  • Knowledge on Central and Eastern Europe would be an asset. 
  • Experience in working with UN agencies and EU organizations will be an asset.
Language Requirements:
  • Excellent knowledge in English (written and spoken).
DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS:
Interested individual consultants are requested to send their application online and submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
  • Proposal explaining why they are the most suitable for the work (to be pasted under Resume and Motivation section of the online application)
  • Monograph’s Content, a proposal with most relevant chapters the monograph should include.
  • Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references including contacts. CV should be submitted in the P11 format downloadable athttp://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/P_11_form_UNwomen.doc

Financial proposal – lump sum (please fill in the applicable section of the online application). The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in instalments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including consultancy fee per number of anticipated working days, travel, per diems, and any other possible costs).

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process. Applicants will be evaluated based on a cumulativeanalysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicant’s qualifications/skills and their financial proposals.
 
The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
  • Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
  • Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical criteria – 70% of total evaluation – max 70 points:
  • Criteria A – Education, max points: 10
  • Criteria B – Experience in writing of similar reports in different countries, max points: 30
  • Criteria C - Experience in writing monitoring and evaluation reports on gender issues as well as in analysis based in statistics and gender indicators, max points: 30
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points