UN WOMEN Jobs - 49227- Beijing + 20 Strategic Advisor

Beijing + 20 Strategic Advisor

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3.5 – 4 Months

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, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender quality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women launched its Regional Office for Arab States in Egypt to work in priority areas of:

(i) expanding women’s leadership and participation;
(ii) enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and
(iii) ending violence against women. In addition to the above, UN Women also actively participates and contributes to various UN inter-agency processes and collaborates with UN organizations around specific programme areas.

In 2015, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will carry out in its 59th Session an appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (PoA) adopted twenty years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) and reconfirmed at the Twenty-third Special Session of the General Assembly (2000). In this connection, the UN Regional Commissions (including UN-ESCWA) have been mandated to prepare regional reports on progress made towards the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action .These reports, to be based on national reviews conducted by each of the UN member countries, will feed into a global report to be consolidated by CSW Secretariat at UN-Women in time for the CSW 59th Session and that the Secretary General will present to the General Assembly. To this end, the collaboration between UN-Women Regional Office for Arab States and the ESCWA Centre for Women (ECW) will consist of the execution of the following activities to support the review process of the implementation of Beijing PoA in the Arab region, leading to the finalization of the Beijing+20 Review Reports at both country and regional levels. It is expected that this collaboration would enhance not only the common objectives of both UN-Women and UN-ESCWA, but would also strengthen the capacities of various national and regional stakeholders in the region, primary among them National Women’s Machineries (NWMs).

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of the Assignment:

The Strategic Advisor will be UN WOMEN´s focal point on the collaboration with the regional commission on the Beijing + 20 report. She/he will be expected to review drafts, provide relevant information, and liaise closely with colleagues to ensure that the report captures not only the update, but also strategic ways forward for the region on Beijing +20.

Scope of the Assignment:

The Strategic advisor will work under the overall guidance of the Political Participation Advisor. She/he will also be working closely with the regional office team, and senior management in particular.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Review and provide technical input and applicable strategic directions into the regional Beijing + 20 report;
Working closely with ESCWA, assist in Consolidating and conduct content analysis of the Arab country reports and write up a comprehensive report, including the translation of reports, if needed;
Work closely with UN Women ROAS and the UN ESCWA on the implementation of all activities related to the consolidation of the Beijing + 20 regional report, including nomination of regional experts for the EGM meetings;
In collaboration with UN ESCWA, thoroughly review the citations/sources and footnotes/annexes in the reports to ensure that all information is up to date;
Review and provide technical input into the regional shadow report on Beijing +20;
Provide policy advice on the way forward for UN WOMEN on the Beijing +20 PoA in light of the developed regional and shadow reports;
Propose plan of action for immediate and long range actions enhance women's active participation, on all levels, in the region;

Deliverables:

Develop a detailed assignment action-plan with corresponding timeframe;
Review into first draft of Beijing + 20 report on a chapter by chapter basis;
Develop a short analysis report based on the consolidation and review of all country reports, highlighting any major issues on GEWE in the region;
Develop bi-weekly progress reports outlining the achievements related to the review of the reports as chapters are finalized;
Develop a short report outlining the result of the review of the reports' annexes and citations/sources used;
Work closely with the UN Women ROAS and the UN ESCWA on the launch and EGM of the report;
Review of the CSOs report;
Policy and strategic directive/action plan paper on UN WOMEN´s strategic position vis-à-vis Beijing + 20 in the region;
Act as the overall focal point between the UN ESCWA and UN WOMEN;
Work closely with UN ESCWA to ensure that the final reports are accurate, up to date, and of a quality that is of publishable standards according to UN WOMEN rules and regulations.

Monitoring and Reporting Requirements:
The Strategic Advisor will report to UN WOMEN as follows:

Monthly progress reports upon which payment will be made;
Update reports on a need basis, including comments on draft documents on Beijing + 20.

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Promoting Ethics and Integrity / Creating Organizational Precedents.

Organizational Awareness:

Building support and political acumen.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation.

Working in Teams:

Building and promoting effective teams.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

Creating an emotionally intelligent organization.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Functional Competencies:

Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the area of gender equality and women´s empowerment
Familiarity with the Arab Region, women's rights organizations and networks in the region,
Good knowledge of UN Women and the UN system;
Proven ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
Proven experience working on the Beijing review process, working with Arab governments and the regional commission;
Solid research and data collection expertise.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's degree or equivalent in political/social sciences with concentration on gender issues and women's empowerment.

Experience:

A minimum of fifteen years of experience in the fields of gender and women’s empowerment with demonstrated analytical and report writing skills;
Demonstrated experience in articulating applicable policy and strategic directives as well as advocacy means;
Demonstrated up-to-date knowledge and capacity to analyse the impact of the current socio-political events on women;
Familiarity with the Arab Region, women's rights organizations and networks in the region and globally;

Language:

Fluency in Arabic and English, French an asset.

Note:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should 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 weight 70%.

Financial Criteria weight 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical 70%:

Criteria: Years of relevant experience (Weight: 30%. Maximum obtainable Points: 30);
Criteria: Knowledge of gender issues and women rights (Weight: 30%. Maximum obtainable Points: 30);
Criteria: Relevant education (Weight 5%; maximum obtainable points 5);
Criteria: Excellent written and spoken English and Arabic. (Weight 5%; maximum obtainable points 5);

Financial: Lowest financial proposal: 30%.

Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combines score (financial and technical). The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

(Lowest Bid Offered*)/(Bid of the Consultant) x 30
*"Lowest Bid Offered" refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in technical evaluation.

Applications

Documents to be included when submitting the proposal:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal:

To be included as part of the proposal:

A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work;
A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (limit to under 1500 words).
UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; and
Personal CV.
Financial proposal:
Proposed daily fee.