UNDP Jobs - 50917- Re-advertisement - Gender Responsive Budgeting (G

Re-advertisement - Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Consultant

Location :

GEP-Kabul, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

Candidates who previously applied need not re-apply.

Gender mainstreaming is identified in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) as a cross cutting issue. The adoption of the National Action Plan for Women in Afghanistan (NAPWA) in 2008 forms the policy and institutional basis for “promotion of women's advancement is a shared obligation within government and it is a collective responsibility of all sectors, institutions, and individuals to include women or/and gender concerns in all aspects of government work.” NAPWA seeks to achieve outcomes in three main areas: (i) gender equality in employment, promotion, policy making, and budget allocations; (ii) measurable improvements in women’s status, in line with MDG 3; and (iii) greater social acceptance of gender equality as evidenced by increased participation by women in public affairs and policy discussions.

Afghanistan has also committed itself to gender equality in other documents such as the Afghanistan Constitution, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Afghanistan Millennium Development Goal and the Afghanistan Compact and National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan.

To implement the objectives and the commitments made in these documents, selected Ministries have established Gender Units. The objective of the Gender Units is to facilitate the integration of gender analysis into government planning, implementation, monitoring and budget processes. They are expected to provide guidance in development of gender sensitive strategies, plans, programmes and budgets. In addition, the Ministry of Finance in Afghanistan has initiated Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) reform in 2010, using pilot approach. GRB has been incorporated into basic budget circulars issued by the Ministry of Finance, using adapted program budget approach, implemented across all Government Ministries and agencies. In fourteen line ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, special Gender Budget Units have been formed. Taking into account ministries ability to develop meaningful programmes, as well as importance of their work from the gender equality perspective, four line ministries were selected to pilot GRB; Education, Higher Education, Public Health and Labour and Social Affairs. These Ministries reflected gender quota and issues in 1391 budget submissions and preliminary described budget effect on gender.

However during the past two years of GRB implementation, it became evident that the line ministries have some difficulty (i) the gender/budgets units are not fully functional, the gender/budget focal persons lack tools and checklists for GRB and gender mainstreaming, they require practical hands on experience in identifying gender needs for their sectors and budgeting for them, they lack resources to implement gender activities. This seems to be the case due to lack of capacity to (conduct basic policy development, (ii) undertake gender data and budget analysis, (iii) develop adequate and integrate gender into ministry`s programmes, activities, outputs and outcomes or develop budget submissions.

One of the concerns of MOF is that the budget proposals are not prepared on the basis of ANDS, NAPWA or MDG benchmarks because budget units/gender units lack awareness of those benchmarks. As a result MoF faces many challenges and the process of approving funds lengthens thereby delaying implementation of projects. On the other hand MOF has received a number of theoretical trainings and have made inroads in terms of implementing GRB. There is need for practical working and training sessions to enable sectors and the MOF to understand the GRB process.

In 2013 the budget circular 11 was reviewed and gender issues were identified for inclusion in GRB. Two training sessions were also conducted for MOF, MOWA and pilot ministries.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Working under the supervision of the Project Manager the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

To establish, coordinate and lead the GRB advisory committee
To coordinate and lead the study GRB analysis in 6 line ministries in collaboration with relevant local stakeholders
To engage the relevant line ministries in collaboration with MoWA and gender units to increase allocation of budgets for the promotion of gender equality
To participate in the 2015/2016 national planning process with the view to mainstream gender in the budget
To support the ministry of finance to develop gender sensitive budget statement
To build capacity of budget cells and gender units o gender responsive budgeting (training, development of tools, practical working sessions)
To support budget cells of line ministries to implement the action plans on implementing GRB
To advocate with senior government officials and line ministries to strengthen the budget cells and gender units
To conduct a two day practical training session for MOF, MOWA and sector ministries on GRB.
To strengthen capacity of budget units, MOF and MOWA by providing on the job technical support on mainstreaming gender in policies, plans, strategies, budgets and monitoring plans.
To develop a strategy for implementation of Gender Responsive Budgeting in subnational level

The ultimate goal is to ensure that the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Women Affairs (MOWA) and six line ministries (6) – 1) Public Health 2) Agriculture, 3) Rural Development 4) Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled 5) Education 6) Higher Education are adequately capacitated to practically implement gender responsive budgeting in their ministry and that gender budget is increased.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Expected results

A functional GRB advisory committee advocating for increased budget allocation for the promotion of gender
GRB analysis study of in 6 line ministries in collaboration with relevant local stakeholders
GRB study recommendation adopted and implemented by 6 line ministries
Analytical paper demonstrating increase allocation of budgets for the promotion of gender equality
A analytical report on 2015/2016 national planning process on gender equality
Gender sensitive budget statement and Budget Circular 1 and Budget Circular 2
Budget cells and gender units identify gender issues for inclusion in the national budget
GRB action plans in 6 line ministries implemented
Budget cells and gender units strengthened (technical, financial, human resources) by senior officials

Price Proposal and Schdule of Payment

The proposal from the consultants in relation to this assignment should be expressed as a lump sum payment plus the appropriate level of DSA subject to travelling to Afghanistan twice for the period of 20 days assignment and travel costs from the consultant’s home base to and from Kabul. The lump sum payment will be made based upon completion of indicated deliverables. An IC Time Sheet will be maintained by the Contractor and serve as the basis for the payment of fees. The ticket cost and DSA will be provided upon signature of the contract, and the payment will be made upon completion of each deliverable as indicated above.

Deliverables, Estimated Duration to Complete, Lump sum payment

Inception report on approach and timelines for completing expected results, December 2014, 10%.
GRB analysis study of six line ministries, January 2015, 10%.
GRB study recommendation adopted and implemented by 6 line ministries, February - March, 50%.
Analytical paper demonstrating increase allocation of budgets for the promotion of gender equality
A analytical report on 2015/2016 national planning process on gender equality
Budget cells and gender units identify gender issues for inclusion in the national budget
GRB action plans in 6 line ministries implemented, April - May, 30%
Budget cells and gender units strengthened (technical, financial, human resources) by senior officials

Methodology

Avoid the lecture type of trainings as participants have been trained on the theory of gender and GRB, notwithstanding quick refresher sessions are important.
Consultant may be required to allocate time to sit in each of the Ministries in order to provide practical working sessions to achieve the expected results.
Use participatory methodologies
The consultant is expected to share programme-based budgets of countries that are a best practice of GRB to enable participants to appreciate the processes.
Share policies, plans and strategies of some countries that are regarded as best practice in mainstreaming gender.
Participants are expected to review own sector policies, plans and budgets to enable them gain skills on GRB and gender mainstreaming.
Provide case studies of countries that have been successfully institutionalized GRB, provide clear steps and support the Ministries to strengthen the Budget Units.
To work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Finance in supporting the other Ministries.The leadership role of MOWA in coordinating gender activities need to be improved.

Target Group for the two day training

The Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Women Affairs (MOWA) and six ministries (6) – 1) Public Health 2) Agriculture, 3) Rural Development 4) Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled 5) Education 6) Higher Education

Working Arrangements

The Consultant will work under the guidance of the GEP Project Manager and relevant GEP Staff as well as UNDP Cross-Practice Unit (CPU) and MOWA. The consultant is expected to prepare the necessary resource materials for the trainings; bring best practices of some checklists for GRB and build on GRB handbook already developed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

The offer will be evaluated by using the Best Value for money approach (combined scoring method). The Technical Proposal will be evaluated on 60%. Whereas the Financial Proposal will be evaluated on 20%. Relevant education and experience will be evaluated on 20% making total score to be 100%. The breakdown for evaluation is found below.

Criteria, Weight

Technical Proposal, 60%

Methodology and approach to fulfilling the outlined deliverables.

Financial Proposal, 20%

Experience and Education, 20%

PhD (preferred), MSc/MA Degree or above in Gender Studies, Political Science or any other relevant social science discipline
At least 7 years of relevant experience in gender responsive budgets and institutionalizing gender/budgets units in sectors.
Proven experience in training, coaching, writing analytical reports.
Excellent written English, knowledge in Dari or Pashtun languages will be considered as an asset.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values

Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation

Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Team Work

Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing

Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Functional competencies:

Familiarity with the gender equality and women’s empowerment concept with particular focus on gender responsive budgeting;
Knowledge of program based budgeting of government institutions;
Advanced knowledge of the analytical foundations of adult education, coaching and mentorship for leaders development;
Demonstrates good writing skills and the ability to synthesize large amounts of information into succinct written notes/reports, summaries;
Strong proven capacity in training, coaching;
Ability to develop creative solutions;
Ability to liaise with stakeholders and partners, including government, civil society, international organizations;
Ability to work in culturally diverse environments and display diplomacy and tact;
Knowledge of socio-economic performance in Afghanistan or post-conflict countries.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

PhD (preferred), MSc/MA Degree or above in Gender Studies, Political Science, Economics or any other relevant social science discipline.

Experience:

At least 7 years of relevant experience in adult education, pedagogy, and training on women leadership and empowerment issues, experience in meditation, peace building and conflict prevention, experience in coaching and mentorship;
Proven experience in writing analytical reports.

In addition, the following professional experiences are considered as strong advantage/asset:

Familiarity with Afghanistan and its political, social and islamic context;
Successful working experience in Afghanistan or other Islamic countries; and,
Familiarity with, and actual use of, work and system of policy planning and management Familiarity with the gender equality and women’s empowerment concept with particular focus on gender ;
Proven ability to develop creative solutions;
Proven ability to work in culturally diverse environments and display diplomacy and tact;

Language:

Excellent written and spoken English;
Knowledge in Dari or Pashtun languages will be considered as an asset.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II).

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

Technical proposal:

Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
Methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.

Financial proposal:

That indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.

Submission of Applications:

Interested and qualified candidates should apply on-line through the UNDP Jobs site at http://www.undp.org.af/Jobs/index.htm. Please ensure to complete and upload Personal History Form-P.11 which is available at http://www.undp.org.af/Jobs/index.htm in the relevant field of the on-line application.

Incomplete applications or applications received after the closing date will not be given consideration. Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.

For more detailed information about UNDP Afghanistan please visit our website at www.undp.org.af.