UNDP Jobs - 60769- International Consultant to Assist UN Country Team

International Consultant to Assist UN Country Team in Turkmenistan to Develop a Joint Gender Equality Programme for the 2016-2020 in Turkmenistan

Location :

Home-based with One Mission to, TURKMENISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

16-Nov-2015

Application Deadline :

22-Oct-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

16.11.2015-10.12.2015

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

18 working days

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

The United Nations commitment to advancing human rights and gender equality can be traced to its Charter, and numerous subsequent resolutions of its different organs and specialized agencies. Different UN agencies have committed themselves to mainstreaming human rights and gender in their programmes and structures. Human rights and gender is a crosscutting issue in the UN Reform process, and accordingly the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Turkmenistan is resolved to mainstream human rights and gender equality in its activities. It is with this purpose UNCT Human Rights and Gender Theme Group (HRGTG) was established for further developing capacities across the Country Team, providing technical support to agencies, the Resident Coordinator, and the various coordination groups of the UNCT in Turkmenistan. The Theme Group will provide leadership towards systematically and effectively addressing human rights and gender perspectives in the context of the UN’s assistance, and other development partners’ programmes in Turkmenistan, particularly within the context of the National Action Plan(s) on gender and human rights, the post-2015 development agenda and SDGs.

The overall objective of the Human Rights and Gender Theme Group (HRGTG) is to serve as a key mechanism for joint UN action and coordination of human rights and gender work at the national level in Turkmenistan. The Government of Turkmenistan developed and approved National Action Plan on Gender Equality in March 2015. Following on that development, UNCT HRGTG have discussed the importance of the joint Gender Equality Programme and surveyed UN agencies’ priority areas for this Programme.

In view of the above, the UNCT, with the assistance from an international consultant, intends to develop the joint Gender Equality Programme (2016 – 2020) with anticipated costs of each activity in the Plan for the UN Country Team Turkmenistan. These programme and concrete plans will strengthen gender mainstreaming efforts and co-coordinated gender equality work of UN agencies, Government of Turkmenistan and other development partners, particularly in the context of Turkmenistan’s National Action Plan on Gender Equality, UN Partnership Framework for Development 2016-2020 document, post-2015 development agenda and SDGs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work: Develop a joint Gender Equality Programme for the 2016-2020 Turkmenistan - UNCT Human Rights and Gender Theme Group (HRGTG)

The overarching goal of the Joint Program is to develop national capacities for consistent mainstreaming of the human rights and gender in the national policies and to ensure effective technical assistance, data collection and evaluation of the National Plan of Action on Gender Equality.

Specifically, the Joint Programme will address the following issues:

Enhancing the agenda for sensitive issues within the NAP, specifically violence against women;
Support in establishing M&E framework which is within the overall system of data collection, analysis and reporting in line with international standards and obligations. This will also strengthen the cooperation and enhance greater joint accountability of the Government and UN toward implementation of the PFD 2016-2020, SDGs, and realization of National Action Plan on gender equality and human rights.

The Program will attempt to describe how the UN agencies and its development partners will coordinate and undertake joint gender mainstreaming and gender equality work.

Under the overall supervision of the UN Resident Coordinator and in close consultation with the UNCT, the international consultant shall:

Review the existing gender mainstreaming strategies and programmes on gender-related issues, including programmes and gender-thematic areas where work and cooperation have been already established and their results/lessons learned;
Read in–depth the TKM-UN Partnership Framework for Development (PFD) 2016-2020, Turkmenistan’s National Action Plan on Gender Equality, UNDG Guidance Note on Joint programming, and its post-2015 development agenda and SDGs documents along with plans prepared by UN agencies for their next five year country plans that are expected to be aligned to the PFD, especially from gender perspective;
Meet with Heads of UN agencies (HoA) and members of HRGTG to understand the extent to which they engage and assist their respective ministries and other national partners to strengthen their partners’ capacity and contribution to the gender mainstreaming and gender equality programming relevant to NAP GE, PFD and SDGs;
Familiarize with agencies gender equality strategies to be provided during the desk review;
Assess the sufficient and efficient commitment, capacity and resources of UN agencies and their program staff to develop, implement, document and evaluate the joint Gender Equality Programme and provide technical assistance on the NAPs ensuring the gender and human rights mainstreaming;
Conduct a presentation on the best practices and KEY aspects that should be considered in developing a joint Gender Equality Programme that will be jointly monitored by UN agencies and cooperate with the government and other development partners. Include a clear section on possible risks and major challenges, added value to the existing efforts and relevance to the country context, interest of donors/funding potential and resource mobilization strategies. Address following priority thematic areas for joint programming: monitoring and evaluation of the national action plans from gender perspective, awareness-raising on gender issues, eradication of all form of violence against women and girls. This should include gender and human rights monitoring and evaluation framework applicable to the national action plans;
Provide recommendations for a new system to be developed specifically for the joint Gender Equality Programme;
Provide options (having completed all activities set out above) for a monitoring system within the structure proposed in para 5 and 6 in the narrative and the clearly defined realistic indicators in the Programme document that incorporates all aspects that need to be included (as defined in 9 below);
Provide a suggested layout, i.e. table of contents, (detailed outline with brief descriptions based on the extensive discussions and review mentioned above) for the joint Gender Equality Programme and Plan which sets out HOW best to jointly Government, UN and its development partners can assist, monitor and evaluate the National Action Plans, especially on gender and human rights, based on realities of Turkmenistan;

Develop the joint Gender Equality Programme document (agreed by the UN and TKM (see item above)). The Programme document will include the following:

Cover Page;
Executive summary;
Situation analysis (including country and stakeholder analysis);
Strategies including lessons learned and the proposed joint programme;
Results framework;
Management and coordination arrangements (including governance structure, ToRs, communications);
Fund management arrangements;
Monitoring, evaluation and reporting;
Resource mobilization strategies and plan;
Common gender equality monitoring and evaluation framework for NAPs’ evaluation;
Legal context or basis of relationship (memorandum of understanding);
Work plans and budgets (common budgetary framework).

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Deliverable one:

Review the existing gender mainstreaming strategies and programmes on gender-related issues, including programmes and gender-thematic areas where work and cooperation have been already established and their results/lessons learned;
Read in–depth the TKM-UN Partnership Framework for Development (PFD) 2016-2020, Turkmenistan’s National Action Plan on Gender Equality, UNDG Guidance Note on Joint programming, and its post-2015 development agenda and SDGs documents along with plans prepared by UN agencies for their next 5 year country plans that are expected to be aligned to the PFD, especially from gender perspective; Familiarize with agencies gender equality strategies to be provided during the desk review.

Total days assigned to this deliverable - three days desk review – home based.

Deliverable two:

Meet with Heads of UN agencies (HoA) and members of HRGTG to understand the extent to which they engage and assist their respective ministries and other national partners to strengthen their partners’ capacity and contribution to the gender mainstreaming and gender equality programming relevant to NAP GE, PFD and SDGs;
Assess the sufficient and efficient commitment, capacity and resources of UN agencies and their program staff to develop, implement, document and evaluate the joint Gender Equality Programme and provide technical assistance on the NAPs ensuring the gender and human rights mainstreaming;
Conduct a presentation on the best practices and KEY aspects that should be considered in developing a joint Gender Equality Programme that will be jointly monitored by UN agencies and cooperate with the government and other development partners. Include a clear section on possible risks and major challenges, added value to the existing efforts and relevance to the country context, interest of donors/funding potential and resource mobilization strategies. Address following priority thematic areas for joint programming: monitoring and evaluation of the national action plans from gender perspective, awareness-raising on gender issues, eradication of all form of violence against women and girls. This should include gender and human rights monitoring and evaluation framework applicable to the national action plans;
Provide recommendations for a new system to be developed specifically for the joint Gender Equality Programme;
Provide options (having completed all activities set out above) for a monitoring system within the structure proposed in para fifth and sixth in the narrative and the clearly defined realistic indicators in the Programme document that incorporates all aspects that need to be included (as defined in nine below);
Provide a suggested layout, i.e. table of contents, (detailed outline with brief descriptions based on the extensive discussions and review mentioned above) for the joint Gender Equality Programme Plan, which sets out HOW best to jointly Government, UN and its development partners can assist, monitor and evaluate the National Action Plans, especially on gender and human rights, based on realities of Turkmenistan.

Total days assigned to this deliverable: seven working days - in country mission.

Deliverable three:

Provide a draft of the joint Gender Equality Programme document based on the preferred layout and option;

Total days assigned to this deliverable: Within five working days after completion of the in-country mission - home based.

Deliverable four:

Address comments of UN Agencies and submit the final draft of the joint Gender Equality Programme in Turkmenistan document.

Total days assigned to this deliverable: Within three days of receiving UN feedback on the draft - home-based.

Institutional Arrangement:

The consultant is expected to work on output basis in coordination with the UN Coordination Analyst under the overall guidance of the UN Resident Coordinator. She/he shall update the UNCT on the progress of implementation of the assignment. All organizational support and necessary meetings for the expert will be facilitated by the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office.

Competencies

Shares knowledge and experience and provides helpful feedback and advice;
Ability to identify beneficiaries’ needs, and to match them with appropriate solutions;
Excellent communication and interview skills;
Excellent analytical and report writing skills;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view;
Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in gender studies, human rights, public administration, social sciences or related fields.

Experience:

The successful candidate is expected to have extensive experience in UN programing, with strong background on Monitoring and Evaluation.

At least 7 years of professional experience in international development work, particularly in gender mainstreaming and gender equality programming with the focus on national machinery, including UNDAF guidelines and post-2015 development agenda/SDGs;
Substantive knowledge of United Nations Country Programming processes and frameworks, especially designing and managing joint, multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral programmes;
Understanding and familiarity with Central Asia and the Turkmenistan country context will be an asset.

Language:

Excellent English writing and editing skills;
Knowledge of Russian language will be an asset.

Evaluation Criteria:

The consultant will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum score is 100.

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 70 points, and for financial criteria 30% - maximum 30 points.
The technical evaluation (70%, or max 70 points) will take into account the following as per the scoring provided:

University degree – 10 points;
Years of professional experience – 25 points;
Understanding of regional/ country context – 10 points;
Language skills – 10 points;
Detailed methodology to carry out the assignment – 15 points.

Financial proposal – 30% of total evaluation – max 30 points.

Only the highest ranked candidates found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Recommended contractors aged 62 and older, and if travel is required, shall undergo a full medical examination including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior taking up their assignment. The medical examination is to be cleared by the UN physicians, and shall be paid by the consultant.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

All applicants shall submit:

Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment;
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc; please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
A detailed methodology indicating phases, tasks, methods, techniques, time, resources, accessibility and tools to be applied for successful completion of the assignment. Submission of 1-2 samples of previous products would be desirable;
Financial proposals for implementation of the assignment. All applicants shall submit a detailed, carefully considered and justified financial statement based on a lump sum, specifying a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement; and any other possible costs (including vaccinations, travel to and from the mission, dwelling, etc.). Template of the Offeror's Letter to UNDP form can be found at: http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/operations/jobs.

Payment Conditions:

This is a lump sum contract that should include costs of consultancy and other costs required to produce the above deliverables. The final schedule will be agreed upon in the beginning of the consultancy. Payment will be done in two installments based on the quality and timeliness of presented outputs after acceptance of them by the UN Country Team.

Upon submission of the first draft of the joint Gender Equality Programme documents (40% of total fee);
Upon submission of the finalized version the joint Gender Equality Programme documents (60% of total fee).

All costs related to the assignment will be covered through a special fund based on the agreement reached within the UNCT.