UN WOMEN Jobs - 57378- International Consultant for Mainstreaming Gender

International Consultant for Mainstreaming Gender in Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Belgrade, SERBIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Aug-2015

Application Deadline :

05-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

1st August until 30th September 2015

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

13 working days, Home based with travel to Serbia

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

Gender inequalities are prominent in Serbia and impact all spheres of social participation, access to important resources, and interpersonal relationships. Despite positive developments, including higher overall political participation of women during recent years, and the existence of gender equality strategies and mechanisms, key policy debates and political discourses do not focus on, nor properly integrate gender equality issues. Serbia faces an “implementation gap” when it comes to progress on gender equality – gender-related national strategies and laws exist on paper, but do not translate adequately into the programs and budgets of government institutions, nor do they lead to gains for the benefit of women and girls. Although there are evidence that gender equality and the upholding of women’s rights are pre-condition to achieving equitable and sustainable development, gender mainstreaming is still not a systematic in programming and implementation of resources. Therefore, there is a strong call for the Government to be held accountable for the allocation of resources to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

EU funding, used for activities to increase women’s employment rate and promote quality employment; to improve reconciliation policies for both women and men; to strengthen national gender equality infrastructures; and to tackle gender based discrimination, are indispensable for reaching the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy for Gender Equality. However, delivering on the EU’s Treaty Commitment on Equality between Women and Men as a Fundamental Right goes beyond the Europe 2020 framework. To meet these important objectives, EU funding is required for combating violence against women; for promoting equality in decision-making; for improving women’s health; for empowering women’s rights organisations; and for strengthening capacity for gender mainstreaming (the process of assessing the implications of planned actions and a strategy from the perspective of women, men, girls and boys in order to assure that females’ and males’ concerns and experiences are an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes) and gender budgeting in Europe.

In 2014, UN Women initiated cooperation with the Serbia European Integration Office, the Government institution mandated for the coordination of programming and the implementation of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), and with the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit, with the goal of including gender equality considerations into the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting processes under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). Cooperation is focused on enhancing the capacities of IPA programming and implementation units within line ministries in order to integrate a gender perspective in the sector planning documents through systematic gender mainstreaming. It has been noted that in order to ensure gender sensitive programming and the implementation of IPA funds, there is a need to introduce continual and systematic learning on gender equality and gender mainstreaming for ministries and government institutions, aiming to enhance the understanding of civil servants on the importance of gender equality as well as the processes and strategies for achieving equitable outcomes for women and men in Serbia.

In order to further strengthen the capacity and integration of gender into the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation elements of sector documents, UN Women is seeking an expert with international experience in gender mainstreaming within the context of EU funding to deliver training that will be organized in cooperation with the Serbia European Integration Office and Social Inclusion and Poverty reduction Unit on how to include gender considerations in formulating programme objectives, activities and indicators to representatives of the Serbian European Integration Office and IPA units in line ministries and for proposing methodology for mainstreaming gender in IPA and ESI funds.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Working under the overall supervision of the UN Women Gender Specialist in Serbia, the consultant will be responsible for developing an agenda and delivering a two-day training to the representatives of the Serbian European Integration Office and IPA units in line ministries. Associated tasks include: preparing training materials; proposing model for measuring change in training participants` knowledge (as a result of the training); and preparing a comprehensive training report. The training session is planned to be organized in September 2015. The training should include sessions on key gender mainstreaming concepts, and practical guidance on methods and steps to introduce gender equality considerations in the processes of IPA programming, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation. In addition, the consultant should propose methodology and guidelines for mainstreaming gender equality and equal opportunities in the programming, implementation and monitoring of IPA and ESI funds.

Deliverables and Timeline:

Draft and final agenda of the trainings including training materials;
Pre- and post- assessment questionnaire that will be used to measure the change of participants` knowledge as the result of the training;
Short report on the training including a summary evaluation that should include an overview of training goals achieved, and proposals for nest steps in institutionalizing gender mainstreaming in the process of IPA programming, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation;
Draft and final methodology, including guidelines for mainstreaming of gender equality and equal opportunities to programming, implementation and monitoring of IPA and ESI funds. Please refer to link ref. 1496 http://www.undp.org.rs/jobs_new.html to see more detailed breakdown for the deliverables.

Competencies

Demonstrates commitment to UN Women’s mission, vision and values;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Demonstrates integrity by modeling ethical standards;
Demonstrates ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds;
Facilitates and encourages open communication and strives for effective communication;
Excellent communication skills, including the ability to convey complex concepts and recommendations in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences;
Excellent coordination and facilitation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Advanced degree in Economics, Gender Studies, Public Administration, Public Policy, or related field.

Experience

At least 10 years of relevant professional experience;
Experience in conducting substantive gender policy analysis or gender budget analysis in an international context and EU funding;
Previous experience in conducting capacity development of key stakeholders on gender mainstreaming;
Excellent understanding of Serbia’s situation in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment;
Previous experience in EU accession countries and in the region of Western Balkans would be an advantage;
Knowledge on mainstreaming to programming and stages and timelines of programming and implementation of EU instruments (IPA and ESI) will be considered as an advantage.

Language

Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English.

Application Procedure:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked submitted their applications no later than 5th of July 2015.

Applications should include:

Cover letter (Explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position);
P11 including past experience in similar assignments. Can be downloaded at www.er.undp.org/hr/docs/p11-un.doc
Financial Proposal (Specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of the lump sum amount:

Number of anticipated working days;
Mission to Serbia in September 2015.

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.

Evaluation of Applicants

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation. For more detailed information on the technical criteria please refer to the link ref. 1496 http://www.undp.org.rs/jobs_new.html.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Where:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.