UN WOMEN Jobs - 51036- UNWOMEN - National Consultant/Researcher

UNWOMEN - National Consultant/Researcher

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey (one consultant for each country)

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Dec-2014

Application Deadline :

14-Nov-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

41 working days (including up to 3 in-country travels)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

41 working days in the period of 1 December 2014 – 1 March 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 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). As of 30 September 2014, 21 countries have signed and 15 countries have ratified the convention and it entered into force on August 1, 2014. Albania ratified the convention on 4 February 2013, Bosnia on 7 November 2013, Turkey on 14 March 2012 and Macedonia signed the convention on 8 July 2011 respectively.

In order to provide the Member States with additional information on requirements and implications of ratification, as well as practical guidance for implementation, UN Women in partnership with 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, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Turkey (a similar study is being undertaken in Georgia as well).

The studies in the 4 countries will be conducted by national consultants/researchers (one for each country) under the overall technical guidance of an international consultant. The team composed of the international consultant and 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: 1) 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; 2) standards: existence and quality. For this study, data is to be collected from primary service providers from both governmental and non-governmental sectors, possibly including service users also;
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.

In this respect, UN Women in close cooperation with Council of Europe is hiring 4 national consultants/ researchers (one for each of the 4 countries listed above) to ensure that the respective countries are 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 consultants/researchers are:

To design initial country-level implementation plan for the study;
To translate and pilot research instrument two questionnaires that have been already elaborated (including translation of all research instruments into local languages);
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, 1st week of December 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 to the international consultant;
Provide inputs/feedback to the international consultant once a comparative multi-country study report has been produced;
Take part in the presentation of the study to share its findings and recommendations with relevant stakeholders.

Deliverables:

A country-level implementation plan for the study submitted, on the basis of agreements reached in Tirana meeting (5 working days) - by 7 December 2014;
Research instrument translated into local languages and piloted (10 working days) - by 20 December 2014;
Fieldwork as per the elaborated country-level study implementation plan completed and country report submitted (20 working days) – by 15 February 2015;
The findings of the country level study presented to relevant stakeholders (3 working days) – by 22 February 2015;
Inputs/feedback provided to the international consultant once a comparative multi-country study report has been prepared (3 working days) – by end of February 2015.

Competencies

Core Competencies

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

Functional Competencies

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education

University degree (Masters) in Social Sciences.

Experience:

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

Language:

Good knowledge of English and fluency in required local languages.

Application procedure:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their online applications through http://jobs.undp.org by 14 November 2014 with the following documents as a single document.

CV;
Dully filled Personal History Form P11 which can be downloaded from http://unwomen.unssc.org/files/UN_P11.doc ;
Lump sum financial proposal/offer*, aggregated including all necessary travel expenses (up to 3 in-country travels), fee per day and any other expenses essential to undertake the task;

*The applicants are required to submit an aggregated financial offer (“aggregated financial offer” is the total sum of all financial claims of the candidate for accomplishment of all tasks spelled out in this ToR). For the given ToR the applicants should not include costs related to travel and stay in Tirana, Albania.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Please note that individuals may only apply for consultancy positions in countries for which they hold a valid nationality and are legally permitted to work.

Evaluation of financial proposal

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 consideration.

Management arrangements:

The contractor will work under direct supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist in the Regional Office in Istanbul and guidance of UN Women Deputy Regional Director for ECA region.

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 satisfactorily performed as specified below:

Deliverable 1, 2, 3 (19 working days) – 45%;
Deliverables 4, 5, 6 (22 working days) – 55%.