UN WOMEN Jobs - 61048- UN Women - International Gender and Public Adminis

UN Women - International Gender and Public Administration Consultant to Engage in the Gender Revision and Updating of Training Modules of the Albanian School of Public Administration (ASPA)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Max 16 working days between November 9th, 2015 until January 31st, 2016

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 Albania and impact on all aspects of social, political and economic life, on access to productive resources, entitlements, services, and interpersonal relationships. Despite positive developments, such as the endorsement of a series of international commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, and the adoption of national gender legislation and gender policy, key policy debates and discourses do not yet sufficiently integrate gender equality issues. Statistical data as well as Albania’s reporting in the framework of the UN CEDAW Committee, Universal Periodic Review, Beijing, and EU Progress Reports have evidenced marked gender inequalities in development outcomes. Gender mainstreaming still needs to be coherently pursued in programming, planning, budget allocation, implementation, and monitoring.

Public Administration Reform is among the priority areas of the European Commission’s Enlargement Package for Albania. Equality - in particular equality between women and men - and accountability to female and male citizens are guiding principles within the EU, specifically reflected in the EU Gender Equality acquis. Since progress in adopting the EU Gender Equality acquis largely depends on the capacity of government institutions, Public Administration Reform that supports and results in accurate absorption of the EU Gender Equality acquis is of high importance.

The most important gender equality issue related to public administration is the capacity of public institutions to formulate policies and deliver programmes that (i) recognize and respond to the different situation and needs of women and men; and (ii) work towards reducing inequalities. It is therefore paramount that the envisaged reform process specifically establishes the preconditions for engaging in socially and gender-responsive service delivery at central and municipal level. The aim is to ensure a public administration that delivers high-quality, inclusive, and equitable products and services, benefiting all women, men, girls and boys.

In light of Albania’s advancement to the EU accession process, considerable and broad-based technical support is needed to ensure the effective implementation of the newly adopted reforms, the recent advances in the country’s legal framework and further alignment of the national legislation, policies and strategies with the EU Gender Equality acquis. In particular, Sector Reforms and Public Administration Reform foresee a significant re-structuring and modernization of governance. The Government of Albania has identified gender equality as a cross-cutting strategic priority in the realization of democratic governance and sustainable development, and the eradication of gender-based violence and domestic violence is among the national priorities for the advancement of gender equality.

Since 2007, UNDP and UN Women (formerly UNIFEM) have provided support to the Department of Public Administration (DoPA) and the Training Institute of Public Administration (at present Albanian School of Public Administration - ASPA) by introducing induction training modules on domestic violence, gender equality, implementation of non-discrimination legislation, gender mainstreaming, and gender responsive budgeting. Furthermore, training manuals and toolkits were produced to support the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth (MSWY; formerly MOLSAEO) in its role to increase the capacities of Gender Equality Employees/ Gender Focal Points, and align their responsibilities to the requirements of CEDAW and the national gender equality legislation.

To ensure that Gender Equality goals and social priorities are implemented by central government structures, that is to go beyond existing routine operations, and prioritize specific social concerns, is difficult. It requires objective oriented planning, committing human resources to specific results, and measuring success. Government units are understaffed, do not always associate with achieving measured success, have limited experience in new areas of work, and are rarely incentivised to do so. Implementation in such a context is particularly challenging requiring the provision of on-going support and advice to government staff. Top-level management needs to ensure that “doing” is accompanied by training and reflection; that revised plans are linked to budgets and resources; that monitoring implementation is based on targets; that coordination, liaison and collaboration is accompanied by coaching; that when faced by bottlenecks, intransigence and challenges, advice is available. In this task, ministerial top level managers are foreseen to be technically supported by a ministerial Gender Equality Employee (GEE), jointly anchoring gender mainstreaming within a ministry. So far, GEEs have not yet been fully established. In order for GEEs to be of clear benefit and assume their role as supporters to ministerial top level management, the Job Description/ToR of GEEs needs to be matched with and aligned to the requirements derived from sector reform and GoA’s obligations under the accession/enlargement agenda, particularly the EU Gender Equality acquis.

Albanian Gender Equality Law, the UN Beijing Platform for Action, and the EU Gender Equality acquis oblige government to engage in the mainstreaming of gender equality concerns. Through its routine capacity development measures, the Albanian School for Public Administration (ASPA) assumes a central role in equipping civil servants with the respectively required knowledge and skills for ensuring efficient absorption and application of the EU Gender Equality acquis. ASPA is critically positioned to establish gender sensitivity as a clear and explicit quality marker of Albania’s Public Administration. To this end, UNDP and UN Women will seek the services of a team of two national and one international consultant to jointly support ASPA in the gender-sensitive assessment, review and updating of ASPA’s current curricula and training modules targeting top level management of ministries.

The two national experts will consist of one legal and public administration expert, and one gender and central public administration expert. They will jointly work as a team, supported by an international gender & public administration expert.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Team Leader of the UN Women Gender Equality Facility in Albania, the international gender & public administration consultant will support the two national consultants by contributing specific expertise in mainstreaming gender equality goals into public administration curricula, modules, and training. In particular she/he will ensure incorporation of international best practice and alignment with EU standards and EU best practice. The three experts will work as a team, with the international expert providing technical advice, input, and feedback at specified critical moments, and backstopping throughout the assignment.

This will entail:

Undertake a desk review including key reference documents such as UNDP Gender Mainstreaming in Practice I and II; Gender Equality Legislation Toolkit; CEDAW Manual; EU Sector Guidance on Gender & Public Administration; EC Briefing Note on mainstreaming gender equality in Decentralization, public administration and local government; technical notes on gender mainstreaming in priority/reform sectors (e.g. national gender legislation and policy, gender statistics/indicators, gender responsive budgeting, national gender mechanism/machinery, decision-making bodies, aspects related to VET); current job description of Gender Equality Employees at ministerial level; national sector strategies (as required);
Provide technical advice and guidance to the team of national experts, in particular regarding the integration and reflection of international and EU best practice on mainstreaming gender equality goals into training and curriculum development, in line with EU gender policy and legislation;
Provide feedback on ASPA’s existing set of gender curricula, training materials and modules with reference to the roles and responsibilities of central government bodies/top level ministerial managers regarding gender mainstreaming, promoting gender equality, and preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence;
Comment on the national experts’ gender review of materials related to public administration and sector reforms relevant for the roles and responsibilities of public administration officials at central level in preventing and combating GBV&DV, promoting gender equality, gender mainstreaming, GRB, and adopting the EU Gender Equality acquis in drafting and/or improving legislation, public policies, plans, strategies, and budgets;
Based on the above, identify gender training gaps in current ASPA curricula, modules, and materials; provide input for the revision/updating of curricula and customizing of training modules for top level ministerial managers; suggest modules as required;
Comment on a draft “Training of Trainers” outline, to be designed by the national team of experts, in order to familiarize future ASPA trainers with the revised and updated modules, contents, and materials to be used in future training of top level ministerial managers;
Make available any additionally recommended/required materials, e.g. training agendas, power point presentations, content of participants’ folders, exercises for training sessions;
Engage in the revision of the current Job Description/ToR for Gender Equality Employees to match their envisaged role in supporting gender mainstreaming and ministerial top level management;
Provide backstopping guidance on specific issues and questions raised by the team of national experts throughout the assignment as and when required.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Submission of written contribution to the draft methodology and detailed Work Plan for the overall assignment (prepared by the team of national experts), indicating time line, tasks, and division of labor among and responsibility of each the consultants;
Feedback and input on the initial gap report assessing existing ASPA training contents and modules regarding the roles and responsibilities of central and local government bodies in preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, gender mainstreaming and promoting gender equality versus the contents to be incorporated in ASPA trainings in response to (i) the national legal and policy framework on gender equality and domestic violence; (ii) international gender equality obligations; and (iii) EU best practice as well as relevant elements of the EU Gender Equality acquis;
Provision of relevant best practice examples of manuals, curricula, guidance notes, Power point presentations, exercises and any other relevant tools, to be considered by the national team of experts;
Input for the revision of job descriptions of Gender Equality Employees (GEEs) at central level, reflecting GEE’s mandate and envisaged role in the framework of sector reform and the EU Gender Equality acquis;
Continuous backstopping notes/conversations by email/skype as required and requested;
A final report (in English) highlighting the expert’s work, outputs, achievements, lessons learned, including recommendations for the actual application and use of materials developed.

Institutional Arrangement

The international consultant will work under direct supervision of the Team Leader of the UN Women Gender Equality Facility, who will also be responsible for approval/acceptance of outputs and performance evaluation. Ultimate oversight rests with the UN Women National Programme Officer.

The international consultant will effectively work together with the team of two national consultants, who are under the direct supervision of the UNDP Gender Programme Manager.

The contractor is required to submit Deliverables in a highly responsive manner and as agreed with the Team Leader of the UN Women Gender Equality Facility. Overall reporting will occur at the end of the assignment.

Duration of the Work

The international consultant will be contracted for a maximum of 16 (sixteen) days to perform specified tasks from November 9th, 2015 until January 31st, 2016.

Duty Station

The successful contractor will perform tasks from home (desk-based).

Competencies

Core Values:

Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

Capable to effectively engage in distance work and to productively accommodate several team players (national experts) and multiple strands of work within a joint effort;
Strong inter-personal and communications (oral and written) skills, efficiency in a multi-tasking and multi-cultural environment;
Ability to work and adapt to a dynamic working environment, judgment, results-orientation, and ability to perform under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced academic degree (minimum Master’s or equivalent) in Public Administration, Political Studies, Public Policies, Legal Studies, or related filed, with specialization in Gender Studies or Development disciplines.

Experience:

At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in international gender mainstreaming practice/consultancy and public administration;
Proven specific gender mainstreaming experience in public administration reform processes with expertise in training and curriculum development, developing and designing gender training methodologies and modules; experience in delivering gender/gender mainstreaming trainings is an advantage;
Experience with similar/related assignments in other countries, in particular in applying EU gender policy and legislation in the EU accession/enlargement process; previous experience in the South-Eastern Europe and/or Albania is an asset;

Language:

Proficiency in written and spoken English, including gender and policy terminology; and
Excellent drafting and presentation skills.

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.

Applications will be assessed according to the following technical criteria:

Advanced academic degree (minimum Master’s or equivalent) in Public Administration, Political Studies, Public Policies, Legal Studies, or related filed, with specialization in Gender Studies or Development disciplines (weight 10, max. points 10);
At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in international gender mainstreaming practice/consultancy and public administration (weight 20, max. points 20);
Proven gender mainstreaming expertise in public administration curriculum and module development, methodologies, and training delivery and design (weight 20, max. points 20);
Experience with similar/related assignments in other countries, in particular in applying EU gender policy and legislation in the EU accession/enlargement process, including South-East Europe and Albania (weight 20, max. points 20);

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

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.

The calculation formula applied 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.

Applications Procedures

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 30th October 2015. Applications should include:

A Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how the assignment will be approached and completed;
P11 including past experience in similar assignments. Can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment;
Financial Proposal specifying the daily fee and the overall amount in US Dollars for the tasks and anticipated number of days specified in this announcement.

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 and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services). In the framework of this assignment, neither travel nor accommodation costs are foreseen to incur.

Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of task; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs, (iii) submission of and approval of final report; and (iv) submission of the respective timesheet and invoice.