UN WOMEN Jobs - 48628- Extended Deadline-UN WOMEN-National experts to con

Extended Deadline-UN WOMEN-National experts to conduct a mapping study of participatory processes at local level from a gender perspective

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

25-Aug-2014

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Estimated 25 working days for the period from 25th August 2014-15th November 2014

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

Over the past years, through the regional project “Promoting Gender Responsive Polices in South-East Europe”, 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. As result, gender responsive budgeting has increasingly been recognized as important tool for advancing gender equality in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRoM) and the Republic of Moldova.

In this framework, FYR Macedonia has made important steps towards the institutionalisation of gender responsive budgeting at central level. The Law on Equal opportunities between women and men (2012), Articles 11 and 14 introduced obligation for state authorities to incorporate the principle of equal opportunities of women and men their strategic plans and budgets; to follow the effects and impact of their programs on women and men and report in the framework of their annual reports. Further, the Government adopted a Strategy for the promotion of gender responsive budgeting (2012-2017), while the Ministry of Finance amended the budget circular requiring pilot Ministries to select programs for gender budget analysis and develop gender indicators to improve their gender responsiveness.

As the project entered a second phase, financially supported by the Austrian Development Agency and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the FYR Macedonia component expanded to local level to match the central level intervention achievements. The expanded intervention foresees extensive capacity building activities for ten local self-government units and an engendering of local level programme planning and budgeting processes. The intervention would on the one hand build on the entry points identified within the sectoral programmes of the local self-government units, and on the other hand, on the entry points identified within the decentralization and budgeting process at local level. The local self-government units (LSGUs) participating in the regional project are: Aerodrom, Bitola, Bogovinje, Gjorche Petrov, Mavrovo and Rostushe, Sveti Nikole, Shtip, Strumica, Tetovo and the City of Skopje.

To this effect, UN Women is seeking to recruit two National experts to undertake a comprehensive mapping of participatory processes at local level with the aim to identify entry points for increasing women’s participation and advancing gender equality.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working under the supervision and in close consultation with the UN Women Country Project Manager and Project Officer, as team of two, the National experts will conduct assessment of the participatory processes at local level and identify entry points for increasing women’s participation and advancing gender equality through these processes.

The National experts will more specifically:

•   Review existing European charters, National strategic documents and laws relating to decentralization and local governance, gender equality, citizen’s participation and the obligations of the LSGUs to enact those commitments;
•   Provide an overview of the types of participatory and consultative mechanisms established at the level of the ten Local self-government units covered by the project;
•   Carry out a comprehensive mapping of participatory processes at local level from a gender perspective, focusing on:
-   Consultative mechanisms used, their effectiveness, roles and the capacities of LSGUs to run gender sensitive participatory processes related to programming and budgeting;
-   The extent and substantiveness of the participation of women compared to men, with special attention to the participation of women from different backgrounds (rural vs urban areas, socially disadvantaged groups, single mothers and women from ethnic communities), and possible gender differences in the capacities to articulate priorities and in the content of the requests towards the local self-government units;
-   Identifying roles and responsibilities of key non government actors including CSOs, media and community representatives in the participatory process;
-   Identifying the socio-economic reasons for the lower participation of women (or men) in the ten municipalities;
-   Identifying entry points and providing recommendations for increased women’s participation and advancing gender equality through participatory processes;
•   Conduct consultations with LSGU officials on preliminary findings and recommendations and share findings and recommendations of the mapping study with LSGU officials for validation.

      Deliverables

The National experts shall provide the following deliverables:

•   Detailed work plan for the assignment;
•   Methodology for the mapping study of participatory processes at local level incorporating feedback from UN Women;
•   Draft mapping study report with entry points for addressing women’s participation and advancing gender equality in local policy making and budgeting processes;
•   Final mapping study report incorporating feedback from the LSGUs and UN Women;
•   PPT on the entry points for increased women’s participation in local policy/programme planning and budgeting processes with visuals;
•   Individual report on the assignment.

Competencies

•    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.
•   Demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

•   University degree in public administration, public policy, development, gender studies or similar. Master’s degree would be considered an asset.

    Experience

•   More than 5 years demonstrated working experience in the area of gender and public policy, particularly focusing on local governance, participatory and decentralisation processes;
•   Knowledge of national gender equality and citizen’s participation commitments, participatory, policy development and budgeting processes at local level and the gender responsive budgeting initiatives in the country;
•   Demonstrated experience in conducting research (desk and field) and analyses of similar nature;
•   Willingness and ability to work as part of a team;
•   Previous experience working with international organizations;
•   Excellent knowledge of Macedonian and English language.

    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 70 points:

Criteria A – Relevant education (Max points: 15)
Criteria B – Expertise in the area of gender and public policy particularly focusing on local governance, participatory and decentralisation processes (Max points: 20)
Criteria C – Experience in conducting research(desk and field) and analyses of similar nature (Max points: 20)
Criteria D – Knowledge of national gender equality commitments, public policy and budgeting processes at local level, and the gender responsive budgeting initiatives in the country (Max points: 15)

Only candidates who have passed over the mandatory criteria obtain at least 49% of the points under the technical evaluation will qualify to the next round of financial evaluation.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30

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.

Duration and remuneration:

The duration of the contract is maximum 25 working days in the period 25th August 2014-15th November 2014. The payment of fee will be made upon satisfactory completion of all tasks in the assignment, and submission and approval of final report by UN Women.

   Application

Interested candidates are requested to apply online through this site no later than COB 18th August 2014.

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 and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) 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.