Background

Albania’s progress in recent years in respecting and promoting gender equality is highlighted in a series of international commitments as well as domestic legal and policy development and implementation. Since 2008 Albania passed the Gender Equality in Society Law, established the national gender machinery, improved the Law on Measures against Violence in Family Relations, opened the first national shelter for survivors of domestic violence, established the mechanism of coordination and referral of domestic violence cases in several municipalities, evaluated the National Strategy for Gender Equality and Domestic Violence (2007-2010), and approved the revised National Strategy on Gender Equality and against Gender-Based and Domestic Violence (2011-2015). To address unbalanced participation of women and men in decision-making, one of the four strategic priorities of this Strategy focuses on increasing women’s participation in decision-making. Introduction of the 30% gender quota and 50% gender quota in Electoral Code for general and local elections respectively and community initiatives in engaging women more intensively in electoral and decision-making processes have opened the door for a greater voice for women’s need. This has resulted in an average of 35% of women across the 61 the municipal councils.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are drivers of development progress. Specifically, shaping and building resilient, representative, responsive and democratic public institutions based on gender equality and respect for human rights are central to UNDP’s mandate to promote gender-responsive and equally inclusive governance institutions. This is adequately reflected in the Programme of Cooperation 2012-2016 that the Government of Albania and the United Nations signed, in 2011 to tackle some of developmental challenges of the country.

To support Albania’s efforts in increasing women’s participation in decision making, particularly as the country is in the process of implementing the administrative and territorial reform and this is the first year after the local government organs are elected with an increased participation of women at municipal councils, UNDP will support conducting a follow-up study over the gender quota impact and the real role and challenges that elected women as members of municipal councils have in local decision-making. 

Duties and Responsibilities

 A recent decision of the Albanian Parliament has established that women must comprise 50 percent of local council seats. This policy change is expected to result into several positive outcomes. Councilwomen will foster collaborative ties to advance women’s interests, confront existing beliefs towards women’s role in politics, and gradually transform local decision-making (Beckwith & Cowell-Meyers, 2007; Mansbridge, 1999). In the long run, the increased presence of women will enhance accountability and transparency, strengthen local democracy, and promote gender equality. However, a study conducted by UNDP before the local elections of 2015 suggests that increasing the number of women alone is not sufficient. The study found that the relationship between the proportion of women in local councils and their perceived decision-making power was not positive. Councilwomen were more likely to report raising their voice in councils with a high proportion of women. Yet, the relationship between the proportion of women and having the voice heard was not statistically significant. These findings raise questions on the difference that the newly introduced gender quota will make. Will the substantial increase of women make a difference in local councils and communities? How will the increased presence of women affect substantive representation? To address these questions, a mixed methods study, which combines both quantitative and qualitative methods, will be conducted in the local councils of Albania.

The proposed study will be based on a previous UNDP (2015) research project, which focused on the decision-making power of councilwomen in Albania. However, there will be some differences between the two. The study conducted in 2015 focused on perceptions, e.g., how councilwomen perceived their decision-making power. The proposed study will focus on objective measures, not simply perceptions; it will tap into many dimensions of representation, not just decision-making power. Furthermore, the proposed study will draw on multiple methods that will complement one another. Another difference with the study conducted in 2015 is that the focus will not only be on councilwomen, but also on councilmen and their relationships with one another. This is important because the increased presence of women does not only affect women as a group, but also men. Also, the proposed study will focus on the impact that the increased presence of women has on community participation during council meetings, thus the proposed study will have a greater scope. Finally, the focus of the proposed study will be to disentangle the causal effects of the gender quota on women’s substantive representation. Research findings will be used to inform local, national, and international agencies committed to gender equality and local development in Albania. In particular, findings will be useful for groups and organizations monitoring the implementation of the gender quota and advocating for greater voice of women in decision making.

UNDP will seek to create a research team with a lead researcher and an assistant researcher. The assistant researcher will be specifically tasked with the following:

1. Provide input to the lead researcher in developing the research methodology, including design, sample, methods, and instruments..
2. Bring together a group of local council members to pretest the survey tools.
3. Conduct interviews with councillors in the field.
4. Attend the agreed number of municipal council meetings using the participant observation tools to to gain insights into how women and men deliberate during council meetings.
5. Collect, enter and clean data per lead researcher instructions and advice.
6. Support UNDP in identifying relevant stakeholders with interest in decentralization reform, women’s participation in decision-making, local elections and gender equality.
7. Assist the lead researcher to present and discuss the main findings of the research with this group of stakeholders.
8. Develop recommendations that will help UNDP and Albanian national partners in their efforts in conducting similar surveys on gender equality and equal participation in decision-making in the years to come.

The list of final deliverables:

• Research methodology and research tools drafted and determined;
• A research report and a policy brief drafted;
• Power point presentations;
• A final report (in English) highlighting the expert’s work, outputs, achievements, lessons learned and the proceeding of the consultations, including recommendations for future similar interventions.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Deep understanding of the process of conducting surveys, particularly of the data collection, entering and cleaning in statistical programmes;
• Excellent networking skills, particularly with members of political parties.
• Extensive people mobilisation and communication skills;
• Meticulous in handling data and statistics and capacity to deliver as per deadlines.
• Good understanding of local government functions and processes, of gender equality and participation of women in decision-making in Albania.
• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity  
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication, communicating effectively.

Required Skills and Experience

Candidates who are not meeting the min requirements (education/ years of experience and knowledge/language requirements) as presented below will not be considered for the assignment.

Academic Qualifications/Education:

• Advanced university degree in political sciences, social studies, statistics or gender is highly preferred

Experience:

• Prior experience in developing survey methodology and indicators, in collecting, entering and cleaning data quantitative and qualitative data
• Previous experience in networking with politicians and deep understanding of challenges women face in participating in decision-making on an equal footing with men.
• Strong commitment and contribution in advancement of women’s rights and achievement of gender equality.
• Good knowledge and understanding of the United Nations System and particularly the role and mandate of UNDP is desired

Work Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of practicing and/or academic experience in gender equality, participatory democracy, local governance, women in decision-making, social statistics and research;

Language skills:

• Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English and Albanian.

 Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

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

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

• Criteria A: Compliant educational background - max points: 20

• Criteria B: Demonstrated experience in networking with politicians - max points: 20

• Criteria C: Previous experience with qualitative surveys and publications - max points: 30

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points

Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• A brief presentation explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position, to be entered in the first part of "Resume and Motivation" (max 1000 characters)
• Your word format resume in the following box, under"Resume and Motivation".
• Filled UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs); form to be downloaded at link: http://www.al.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/operations/jobs.html . Please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability-please fill in the attached form...
• Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel, per diems and any other possible costs).

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs);
• Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs), Financial Proposal, Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availibility and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement); 
• Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

*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. 

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.