UN WOMEN Jobs - 48400- National Consultant / Researcher to Conduct Georgi

National Consultant / Researcher to Conduct Georgia Component of a Multi-country Study on Support services for Women and Girls Subjected to Gender-based Violence

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Tbilisi, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

20-Aug-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

43 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

43 working days in the period of 18 August, 2014 - April 3, 2015

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

UN Women in partnership with Council of Europe has initiated a study on the availability and accessibility of support services for women and girls subjected to gender-based violence. The partnership is in line with the objectives of the Letters of intent the two organizations exchanged in February 2012 and in particular the first objective: Promote and support the signature, ratification and implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS no.210) by the Council of Europe and UN Member States (The Istanbul Convention was opened for signature on 11 May 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey).

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, is the first legally binding instrument in Europe creating a comprehensive legal framework to prevent and combat violence against women (VAW) and domestic violence. It defines and criminalizes various forms of violence against women (including forced marriage, female genital mutilation, stalking, physical and psychological violence and sexual violence). It also foresees the establishment of an international group of independent experts to monitor its implementation. As per 30 June 2014, 25 countries have signed and 11 countries have ratified the convention and it will be entering into force starting from August 1, 2014. Georgia has signed the convention on 19 June 2014 and expressed political goodwill to ratify it before the end of 2014.

In order to support the signature and ratification of the Istanbul Convention by providing Member States with additional information on requirements and implications of ratification, as well as practical guidance for implementation, the Council of Europe is supporting a multi-country study on the obligations formulated in the Istanbul Convention to set up both general and specialist support services for victims/survivors of all forms of violence covered by its scope. In the first phase, the study aims to develop a methodology for monitoring compliance with these provisions. In the second phase, the study will be conducted using the elaborated methodology in several selected countries of Southeast Europe and Georgia.

The study will be conducted by a team of international consultant and national consultants/researchers (each in every country selected for the study).

The international consultant in cooperation with the national researchers will be responsible for developing and writing a comprehensive study to respond to the following objectives:

To map the provision of support services for women and girls subjected to gender-based violence in the selected countries. In particular, the study is to address those services required under Articles 20, 22-25, 55(2), 56 (1e) and (2), 57 and 60(3) of the Istanbul Convention;
For each type of service, the study should collect data on coverage, funding (amount, source, sustainability, in particular whether or not the funding of the specific service is mandated by law), and quality.

In terms of quality of services, the study is to address the following issues:

Accessibility of services understood as non-discrimination (i.e. open to all victims irrespective of any of the grounds listed in Article 4 (3) of the Istanbul Convention), and existence of special measures/ special services for particular groups, who would otherwise be unable to access those services;
Standards: existence and quality;
For this study, data is to be collected from primary service providers from both governmental and non-governmental sectors, possibly targeting service users also (An Advisory Group of Experts was established to guide the development of the methodology of the study and provide advice to the national researchers. The list of services as per the Istanbul Convention requirements to be looked at by the study have been identified at the first meeting of the Advisory Group of Experts on 22 November 2012, in Strasbourg.);
To identify gaps in service provision and formulate recommendations for measures to close the gaps.

The findings and recommendations of the study will be shared with the concerned governments as well as civil society groups and expert community

UN Women in close cooperation with Council of Europe would like to hire national consultant / researcher to ensure that Georgia is effectively engaged in the multi-country study on support services as provided by Istanbul Convention for women and girls subjected to gender-based violence.

Duties and Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the national consultant / researcher are:

To design initial country-level implementation plan for the study;
To pilot research instrument - two questionnaires that have been already elaborated (including translation of all research instruments into Georgian);
To take part in the meeting aimed at a) finalization of the study methodology and b) training of researchers on the methodology tool. The meeting will take place in Tirana, Albania, November, 2014;
To finalize country-level implementation plan for the study on the basis of agreements reached in Tirana meeting;
To undertake data collection / fieldwork as per the elaborated country-level study implementation plan;
To draft and submit the country report;
Provide inputs/feedback to international consultant once drafting comparative multi-country study report;
Take part in the presentation of the study to share its findings and recommendations with relevant stakeholders.

Deliverables:

Initial country-level implementation plan for the study submitted (5 working days) - by August 29, 2014;
Research instrument translated into Georgian and piloted (10 working days) - by 26 September, 2014;
Final country-level study implementation plan on the basis of agreements reached in Tirana meeting submitted (4 working days) - by 5 December, 2014;
Fieldwork as per the elaborated country-level study implementation plan completed and country report submitted (20 working days) – by 27 February, 2015;
The findings of the country level study presented with relevant stakeholders (2 working days) – by 13 March, 2015;
Inputs/feedback provided to international consultant once drafting comparative multi-country study report (2 working days) – by 31 March, 2015.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills;
IT literacy.

Core Competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree (Masters) in Social Sciences.

Experience:

At least five years if experience as a social researcher in Georgia;
Proved experience of writing academic papers, research reports;
Proved experience of researching women's rights issues, gender-based violence and domestic violence issues in Georgia;
Past experience of work in an international environment;

Language:

Fluency in Georgian and good knowledge of English.

Evaluation procedure:

The candidates will be evaluated against the following technical and financial criteria:

University degree (Masters) ins Social Sciences (max 30 points);
At least five years of experience as a social researcher in Georgia (max 100 points);
Proved experience of writing academic papers, research reports; (max 100 points);
Proved experience of researching women's rights issues, gender-based violence and domestic violence issues in Georgia (max 90 points);
Fluency in Georgian and good knowledge of English (max 30 points).

Maximum total technical score amounts to 350 points. Only candidates who have passed over the mandatory criteria and have accumulated at least 245 points under the technical evaluation will qualify to the next round of the financial evaluation.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F 150.

S - score received on financial evaluation;
Fmin - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;
F - financial offer under the consideration.

Management Arrangement:
The contractors will work under direct supervision of UN Women National Programme Officer overall guidance or UN Women Georgia Country Representative.

Financial arrangements:

Payment will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women National Programme Officer that the services have been satisfactory performed as specified below:

Deliverable 1, 2 and 3 (19 working days) - 45%;
Deliverable 4, 5 and 6 (24 working days) - 55%.

Application procedure:

CV and dully filled P11 form that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/
Technical proposal on gender audit methodology explaining why candidate considers her/himself the most suitable for the work and providing a brief methodology concept-vision on how she/he will approach and conduct the work;
Financial proposal - lump sum budget in Georgian Lari (including breakdown of this lump sum amount indicating all related costs to complete the mission: total remuneration, travel expenses (per diems, tickets, lodging and terminal expenses, if applicable);

Only short listed candidates will be contacted.