Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women has been working in Ukraine since 1999 to help the country meet its gender equality commitments and unlock progress for both women and men. Since 2015, UN Women has been scaling-up its presence and programme. UN Women facilitates gender mainstreaming in humanitarian needs assessments and planning to better meet acute and lifesaving humanitarian needs. UN Women supports greater engagement of women, particularly those facing compound discrimination due to displacement, age, disability, ethnic or other backgrounds. UN Women also contributes to recovery and peacebuilding efforts advocating for and supporting implementation of the United Nations agenda on Women, Peace and Security, which to date comprises of eight UN Security Council Resolutions and aims to ensure women’s full and meaningful participation in conflict prevention, peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction processes. The importance of women’s role in peace and social cohesion building processes in conflict-torn societies has also been the focus of CEDAW General Recommendation # 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations and the UN Secretary-General annual report on?“Women’s Participation in Peacebuilding”. UN Women also strives to support longer-term national reforms in Ukraine, including decentralization and security sector reforms, while promoting gender equality and women’s human rights and accountability. UN Women makes every effort to ensure full and meaningful participation of women and women’s groups and organizations in government reform processes, in humanitarian response decision-making and in recovery planning to ensure their responsiveness to the distinct needs of women and girls which may otherwise be overlooked.

As a part of its Women, Peace and Security programme portfolio, the UN Women Ukraine would like to extend its work to support the government in prevention and response to the Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). In June 2014, a Guidance Note of the Secretary General on Reparations for Conflict Related Sexual Violence was published providing policy guidance and eight guiding principles on how to establish an effective and fair reparation program. UN agencies in the Western Balkans and other conflict and post-conflict zones have started applying this guidance note with governmental and NGO partners. UN Women would like to begin considering whether the Guidance Note principles are relevant to Ukraine and how they might be best applied.?

In Ukraine, pre-conflict, sexual and gender-based violence were under-reported due to stigma and a culture of silence, broken referral pathways, inefficient legal system, limited medical and psychosocial support services for victims and survivors, limited capacity among government and non-government actors in the documentation of cases. All these problems have been exacerbated by the conflict and while conflict-related sexual violence may be in the rise, there is still only limited information regarding the scope of the problem. The gaps in the legislation, particularly absence of clear definitions, low capacity of law-enforcement to document and investigate cases of sexual violence, limited forensic services affect any possible future prosecution for sexual violence crimes in relation to the conflict.

Documentation of CRSV cases remains limited. In 2015, at least 43 cases of conflict related sexual violence were documented by the Human Rights Monitoring Mission (HRMM), UNFPA, UNHCR, and the Women’s Information and Consultative Centre (NGO)/Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Group. Moreover, 96 cases of rape and sexual violence were registered by UNFPA mobile teams of psychosocial support operational in 5 eastern conflict-affected oblasts of Ukraine since November 2015. The documented cases included intimidation, attempted rape, threats of rape, rape during detention, ill-treatment and torture, as well as the killing of a victim. Both men and women have been affected. Obtaining information about cases, patterns and trends is extremely difficult particularly in the non-Government Controlled Areas (NGCAs) of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Often, cases emerge long after the incident, when survivors and witnesses have begun recovering from the physical trauma of the incident. Hence, the true prevalence of conflict-related sexual violence is unlikely to be known. With limited access to NGCAs, it is challenging to monitor conflict-related sexual violence and carry out protection activities for civilians, in particular for women and girls.

The Government of Ukraine has expressed the commitment to undertake the efforts necessary to design and operationalize effective measures to address CRSV. The technical support required by the government at this stage is strategic guidance on how to combat impunity, ensure prevention of CRSV and protection for survivors, provide multi-sectoral assistance/reparations for survivors, carry out documentation and reporting the crimes related to CRSV and integrate attention to CRSV in security sector reform.

UN Women seeks to hire a consultant to provide strategic advice to the government, Parliament, civil society organizations and the UN System on preventing and addressing the CRSV, including through the development of a reparations program. The international consultant will work in cooperation with a national consultant, who will liaise with the national partners, support the collection of materials for a desk review and will co-facilitate the workshop.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Gender Advisor and in close cooperation of the Government of Ukraine, the incumbent shall be responsible for implementation of the below tasks:

Task 1:  Facilitate strategic discussions with key counterparts about the strategy for prevention and multi-sectoral response/reparations to CRSV. The task will include but will not be limited to the following activities:

• Conduct desk review of the policy, legislation, studies and researches related to all forms of gender- based violence in Ukraine, including Istanbul Convention ratification package, National Human Rights Strategy and Plan, National Programme on Equal Opportunities, Law on Domestic Violence as well as consider policies, legislation and commitments related to the victims (civilian, military, IDP) of the consequences of the conflict.;

• Identify potential entry points for prevention and multispectral response to the CRSV, documentation and reporting the CRSV cases in Ukraine, policy and legal frameworks, national institutional mechanisms, repartition mechanisms etc

• Mission to Ukraine to meet with the key stakeholders (government, Ombudsperson, Parliament, civil society, local authorities) to facilitate discussions on a strategy/methodology for dealing with CRSV in Ukraine. 2-day trip to the conflict-affected region of Ukraine (Government-controlled area) to meet with the service providers, regional office of the Ombudsperson, local authorities, civil society organizations and survivors of CRSV*.

• Preparation and conduct of the two - day workshop with the key state actors, including oblast and local authorities from conflict-affected areas, service providers, civil society CSOs and development partners (up to 35 participants). The workshop should aim to discuss and decide upon the following issues: the scope of the problem (how many women/men/girls and boys are survivors); geographical, time-related, conditional limitations on who can be considered a survivor of CRSV; selection of the judicial or administrative remedies; identification of the kind of multi sectoral assistance (reparations) to be provided to survivors (and their families) and the way these will be paid for (setting the reparation mechanism); needs for design of the capacity building for police, persecutors, judges, CSOs, psychologists etc; need for the new legislation or amendments to existing legislation.

• Development of a summary report with the recommendations and draft road map of actions by sectors/state actors for dealing with CRSV.

Indicatively the mission to Ukraine will be planned for the period between 7 and 20 November 2016.

Task 2:  Development of the draft project document to provide technical support to the government Ukraine in prevention and response to the CRSV:

• Following consultations with the stakeholders and the workshops the incumbent will draft a project proposal for UN Women (possibly a joint programme with the other UN Agencies).

Key Deliverables and Timeframe

The selected consultant shall be responsible for delivering of the following outputs, comprising the main milestones:

Milestone 1:

Draft plan for implementation of assignment  - By 20 October

A draft concept note and agenda for the workshop with a full set of hand out materials submitted to UN Women - By 1 November

Milestone 2:

Summary report of the consultations with the stakeholders and workshop and a Draft project proposal submitted for UN Women review - By 23 November

Final report of the assignment and project document finalized based on the UN Women comments - By 1 December

Total number of days: up to 33 days

All the deliverables should be agreed and endorsed by UN Women Gender Advisor. The timeframe for the work of the International Consultant is tentatively planned from 17 October to 23 December 2016, with an estimated total volume of work not to exceed 33 working days, including one mission to Ukraine (up to 8 days), coordinated in advance with the UN Women Ukraine management, upon contracting.

Note: The mentioned number of working days has been estimated as being sufficient/feasible for the envisaged volume of work to be completed successfully and is proposed as a guideline for the duration of assignment. It cannot and shall not be used as criteria for completion of work/assignment.

Management arrangements

Organizational Setting: The Contractor will work under the direct supervision of the Gender Advisor and in close collaboration with UN Women local consultant on CRSV, and will participate in all working meetings appointed by UN Women.

Contributions: UN Women will put at the contractor’s disposal all available materials and necessary information for tasks achievement and will facilitate the meetings, as needed.

Travel

All envisaged travel costs related to the mission to Ukraine must be included in the financial proposal. In general, UN Women should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the contractor wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and contractor, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Performance evaluation

Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Financial arrangements

Payments will be disbursed in 2 (two) installments as per the following deliverables:

• Upon submission of the draft concept note and agenda for the workshop with a full set of hand out materials to UN Women (By 1 November)
• Upon submission of the final report of the assignment and project document finalized based on the comments of the UN Women (By 23 December)

The payments will be processed upon approval of deliverables and certification by Gender Advisor that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Competencies

Core values/ guiding principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree in human rights, international law, political science, international relations or conflict prevention and resolution, gender studies or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of work experience in the field of Gender-based Violence and CRSV;

• Experience in advisory services on establishment of the multi-sectoral state mechanisms of prevention and response to CRSV including understanding of the state mechanisms of addressing the CRSV, human rights, gender equality and women’s human rights;

• Experience in developing complex, multi-year proposals and logical frameworks;

• Experience working for UN/UN Women is an asset.

Language skills:

• Fluency in verbal and written English. Knowledge of Russian/Ukrainian is an asset.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria, 70% of total evaluation – max 70 points:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The

technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification

evaluation criteria:

Criterion A – Relevant education. Maximum obtainable points- 10.

Criterion B – Language and IT skills.? Maximum obtainable points- 5.

Criterion C (total points) - 55:

• Minimum 7 years of work experience in the field of Gender-based Violence and CRSV (15 points)

• Previous experience of providing advisory/technical support to governments dealing with CRSV and its aftermath, including in the establishment of a reparations system, establishing multi-sectoral state mechanisms to prevent and respond to CRSV. (25 points)

• Previous experience developing complex, multi-year proposals and logical frameworks (10)

• Experience working for UN/UN Women is an asset (5).

Total obtainable score - 70.

Application and submission package:

The candidate’s application should include:

• CV/P11*
• Letter of Intent with justification of being the most suitable for the work, vision and working approach, specifically indicating:

                     -Reflection of skills and experience with CRSV;

                    -Previous experience developing complex, multi-year project proposals.

• Financial proposal: The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (international travel costs, daily subsistence allowance in Ukraine, in-country travel expenses other necessary costs to fulfill the assignment etc. The daily subsistence allowance and in-country travel costs will be covered by the consultant).

Completed and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) form, that can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 12:00 am EET 3 October 2016 by submitting online application with a message subject “UN Women Ukraine –? Consultant on CRSV”, including 2 attachments:

• Technical (P-11, Letter of Intent) and;
• Financial proposals (sample financial proposals can be found below)

Applications without financial proposal will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.

Winning Candidate

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown on the following tables is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal:

Cost Breakdown per Deliverables (Basis for payment tranches)

• Deliverable ______# of days and Percentage of Total Price_____Price, USD

• Deliverable ______# of days and Percentage of Total Price_____Price, USD

• Total_______ max. # of working days (100%) _________Total Price, USD