UN WOMEN Jobs - 51472- National Consultancy for Political Participation o

National Consultancy for Political Participation of Women Interventions (For Bangladeshi Nationals Only)

Publié pour le compte de

UN WOMEN

Lieu :

Dhaka, BANGLADESH

Type de contrat :

Other

Date de commencement :

Date limite de candidature :

24-Nov-14 (Minuit New York, États-Unis)

Niveau du poste :

Other

Durée du contrat initial

3 months

Langues requises :

Anglais

Durée prévue de la mission :

3 months

Le PNUD s’engage à recruter un personnel divers en termes de genre, de nationalité et de culture. Nous encourageons de même les personnes issues des minorités ethniques, des communautés autochtones ou handicapées à postuler. Toutes les candidatures seront traitées dans la plus stricte confidentialité. Le PNUD ne tolère pas l’exploitation et / ou les atteintes sexuelles, ni aucune forme de harcèlement, y compris le harcèlement sexuel, et / ou toutes formes de discrimination. Tous/tes les candidats/tes selectectionnes /ées devront ainsi se soumettre à de rigoureuses vérifications relatives aux références fournies ainsi qu’à leurs antécédents.

Historique

Bangladesh is one of the growing democracies with a population of 166,280,712 of which male female ratio is 100% and 95% , i.e. almost half of the population is women. Thus, there is enormous significance of this mass of women population to be participating in the decisions influencing their lives, specially, at the political arena.

In terms of governance structure Bangladesh is a two-tier parliamentary democracy with a unicameral central legislature. The central legislature/Parliament is elected through direct elections based on universal adult franchise for a tenure of five year. The Prime Minister leads the government and is the head of the party/coalition that forms the majority of the Parliament. The Parliament has 350 seats including 50 reserved seats for women, occupied by members elected from single-member constituencies for a 5 year term. The President is the constitutional head of state but this is mainly a ceremonial post elected by the Parliament. The country is divided into seven Administrative Divisions: Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and Sylhet, and Rangpur. Each Division is placed under a Divisional Commissioner and is further divided into Districts (Zila) headed by Deputy Commissioners. The Districts are further divided into Thanas or sub-districts, and Thanas are divided into Unions or rural micro-areas, which are divided into villages. Governance at the local level in rural areas is entrusted to Gram Parishads, Union Parishads, Thana/Upazila Parishads and Zila Parishads, while in urban areas it is entrusted to Wards, Pourashavas/Municipalities (for which three classifications exist based on size of population) and City Corporations.

Constitution of Bangladesh in 1972 stated that women’s rights in all spheres of national life must be ensured. Article 9 states that the state shall encourage local government institutions composed of representatives of the areas concerned, and in such institutions special representation shall be given as far as possible to peasants, workers and women. While quotas for women in the Parliament were introduced in 1972, total 50 seats were finally reserved for women’ representation in the parliament through evolving process. The Local Government Ordinance of 1976 was the first ordinance to be issued with a provision for increasing women’s representation in local governance. The Local Government (Union Parishads) (Second Amendment) Act of 1997 increased the number of seats in the Union Parishad to twelve and kept the number of seats reserved for women at three. However, it introduced direct elections for the three reserved seats, along the same lines as the elections to the general category seats. Additionally, the Act divides the union into nine wards for the election of the nine general category seats (one seat from each ward). For the three reserved seats, the union is divided into three wards, each of which is formed by grouping together three of the nine wards for general category seats. Following this, several circulars have been released by the government with the intention to assign more responsibilities to women in committees by including them in bigger numbers and giving them the chair of committees on particular issues such as primary education, old age benefits etc. Committees such as the Village Social Development Committee are also headed by women, and deal with issues such as collection of information on births and deaths, education, health awareness, family planning, violence etc. However, in practice how much women are in power exercising in decision making in those committees is a matter of further understanding.

Women’s opportunities and public participation have gone through significant changes in Bangladesh in recent decades. At the policy level, the government has brought in a strong gender equality agenda, e.g., the National Policy for Women’s Advancement, National Action Plan to strategically implement the policy, gender responsive budget etc. Government is keen on gender equality and gender mainstreaming and therefore, in planning the 7th five year plan is planned to be developed using a gender lens and hence out of 28 technical background papers one is exclusively focusing on gender equality to prioritize the dimensions of it in multi-sectoral planning.

However, even after all these efforts and even after women leading the national parliament and different Ministries, the overall participation of women in politics is still low due to many factors such as, 1. absence of an enabling environment for women’s political participation: 2. Patriarchal structures and bias against women’s participation in the public sphere 3. Women lack political linkages and contacts, 4. Lack of economic resources, 5. Lack of education and training, 6. Security concerns. As a whole the enabling environment is yet to be developed for more women to come in political leadership and decision making process in practice.

The Representation of People’s Ordinance (RPO) 2013 (third amendment) requires all political parties to have at least 33% of women at all levels of the party (including in the Central Committee) and as candidates, by 2020. However, there are no mechanisms in place to monitor progress, and it appears that few parties have taken any specific measures to implement this.

With this broad spectrum of political participation of women and women’s actual position in it, UN Women Bangladesh has a mandate to strengthen women’s decision making role in the society along with positively influencing women’s political participation and empowerment of women through change in policy and legislative framework, social norms and practice by working closely with politicians at different levels, civil society and rights- holders and duty-bearers at all stages directly or, and indirectly.

Building on the recommendations emerging from the BRIDGE Gender and Elections workshop implemented in Dhaka in 2013, and the findings of a study on gender and elections commissioned jointly by UN Women and the Embassy of Sweden, UN Women BCO will use the BRIDGE Gender and Elections module to build local level demand and capacity for implementing the requirements of the RPO.

For the purpose to initiate and continue its function as a catalyst and norm-setter on political participation of women Un Women is going to recruit a consultant organize events and facilitate the process of coordination for the thematic area of political participation and decision making of women.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The key objective of the assignment is to ensure coordination and facilitation of the process of strengthening political participation of women in Bangladeshi society.

Scope of Work/Duties and Responsibilities

Under overall guidance of the UN Women Country Representative and direct supervision of the UN Women National Programme Officer, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

Task 1: Support to organize the BRIDGE training;
Task 2. Develop concept note and capacity on the issue of political participation;
Task 3: Coordination among different stakeholders at different levels and facilitating actions.

In consultation with experts and informed stakeholders, the Gender and Elections module to be tailored to the purpose and
the context in which it would be delivered by December 15, 2014.
The policy/ research brief on Gender and Elections published and disseminated with the stakeholders including GoB authorities by December 15, 2014.

Translated bridge module, materials approved by By January 15, 2015.
BRIDGE Training of Facilitators’ (ToF) organized, conducted and reported on by By February 15, 2015.
A concept note on UN Women’s Programme on promoting Political Participation of Women finalized by March 15, 2015.
The trainings and the period of consultancy reported by articulating learnings, challenges and way forward in comparison
with the 2015 UN Women annual DRF work-plan by By March 31, 2015.

All the documents should be submitted in written in English language.

Compétences

Technical competences:

Demonstrated analytical skills on Political Participation of Women Interventions;
Excellent writing, communication and analytical skills;
Excellent interpersonal skills; and
An ability to take initiative and be innovative.

Capacity development
Team work:

Building and promoting effective teams.

Coordination and networking.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

Masters in Gender studies, Gender and Women Development, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Political sciences, International Relations, Law or any other relevant field.

Experience:

Minimum 3 years’ experience of working with different level stakeholders at international, national or local levels for political empowerment of women;
Demonstrated understanding of influence of political context and electoral system in Bangladesh for political empowerment of women;
Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.
Skills of capacity development, coordination and networking;
Strong personal commitment to and interest in gender equality, women’s rights and human rights as a whole.

Language:

Good command of English and Bangla.

Submission package:

CV;
Letter of Interest containing the statement on candidate’s experience related to the ToR and expected fees.