Historique

Gender equality is fundamental to responsive and accountable democratic societies. Women’s representation in elected institutions in equal proportion to men is key to the credibility and legitimacy of parliaments, national assemblies and local governments. Yet, globally, just over a fifth of members of parliament are women. In the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, the statistics are similar – women’s representation is barely 21 percent. 

Women’s representation in local elected office remains equally low, particularly in mayoral and leadership positions in local assemblies and councils. Women represent just 15 percent of mayors or leaders of municipal councils, and 35 percent of local or municipal councilors.

To combat discriminatory legislation and policies and improve gender equality outcomes in policymaking, elected representatives in countries in the region have established structures and strategic plans to improve women’s political participation and gender equality. UNDP has facilitated the creation of such structures in many countries, recognizing the important role they play in empowering women as parliamentary representatives, supporting the emergence of gender-sensitive parliaments, and adopting gender-sensitive policy and legislative frameworks. 

However, working with governments, civil society actors and donors is only one side of the coin. The low levels of awareness around women’s political participation and what equal representation means for inclusive open societies remains a major obstacle in the way of getting more women elected. There is a need to do more advocacy and amplify messages around women’s role in politics, through the use of striking data combined with emotional resonance.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, serve as a framework for UNDP in addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
In 2020, the global community will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). At the same time, a five-year milestone will be reached towards achieving the SDGs. 2020 is therefore a pivotal year for the accelerated realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, everywhere.

The sixty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women is planned to take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 20 March 2020. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session.
In the lead up to the conference, UNECE will undertake a regional review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly in the context of preparations for the global Beijing +25 review in 2020.  This meeting will take place on 29 and 30 October 2019 in the Palais des Nations, Geneva.
The regional review event represents an excellent opportunity and platform for UNDP to position UNDP as a key player in gender equality; to showcase our expertise and build upon our work on women’s political participation and create a calling card for fundraising for future UNDP initiatives.
We would like to build an interactive platform that allows users from around the world to actively observe the progress (or lack thereof) on women’s political participation since the 1995 Beijing conference. 

• How has women’s political participation in national parliaments fared across the region over the last 25 years? 
• By how much, in which country? 
• At the current projected levels, what can we expect to happen in the next 25 years

Indicative User Journey for the website
The user, upon arrival to the site, is confronted with a question in large font: “How many women have entered the parliament in the last 25 years in your country?”

• The user picks a country from the ECE region, which includes 56 countries in Europe and Central Asia.
• The website charts women’s political participation in the parliament for that country from 1995 to today, similar to the interactive piece How much hotter is your hometown than when you were born? (New York Times, 2019) 
• As they review the country’s graphic, the user receives other useful information in little “sidebar bubbles”, information such as: The gender equality ranking and index of the country and whether there has been an increase or decrease in these figures since 1995; Whether quotas have been adopted in this country and when; any interesting tid-bits about laws, policies promoting gender equality in politics, civil service; caucuses/networks of women politicians; women’s organisations’ mobilization; Number of women in politics at the local level and in overall decision-making roles in public institutions (as per available data)
• The user also has an option now to simulate future trends. The website automatically calculates and displays what women’s political participation will be in 25 years based on current rate of progress.
• The user receives an advocacy message at the end. “If quotas are adopted, women’s political participation would be X% higher in the next 25 years.” 
• The user can share this information directly to social media, helping to build a campaign on networked platforms.
• When the user continues to scroll beyond the data visualization, they can read a 1,000 word essay on women’s political participation, overview of trends in our region, and the importance of adopting quotas.
• The website includes a section that provides a short background on and links to Beijing +25. 
• The website includes 5 case studies on women politicians.
• The website should be built in a way that allows it to be updated in the future with more data points.
• Launch Date: The platform is expected to launch ahead of UNECE’s regional review on 29 and 30 October, 2019 in Geneva.

The platform lives online, has its own sub-domain (ie. xxxxx.eurasia.undp.org, where xxxxx is the name of the platform) but links to UNDP Eurasia’s website and work. It is clearly linked to UNDP with the title “UNDP Europe and Central Asia presents” at the beginning, as on our other micro-sites, such as OutSpoken and Voyages.
The visual character and artistry of the platform is key and will be one of its unique strengths. 

Location: Home-based with availability for virtual/remote meetings (i.e. Skype) during working hours in Istanbul, TR timezone

Devoirs et responsabilités

Under the guidance and supervision of the Regional Gender Equality Team Specialists, Peacebuilding Team Specialists and Communications Team specialists, the consultant will:

• Apply knowledge of layout, colour theory, typography, and iconography to create an engaging brand identity for the platform;
• Layout and design the platform with required functionalities;
• Transfer all domain rights to UNDP upon launch of the project;
• Follow UNDP branding guidelines (copies of which will be provided) to ensure consistency and quality across all visual outputs;
• Design engaging visual content for the social media outreach of the platform (10 social media graphics to be developed in consultation with UNDP specialists);
• Collaborate effectively across the institution to ensure delivery of on-time, high-quality deliverables;
• Other relevant tasks, as required and agreed.

All data points required for data visualization, 1,000 word essay, gender equality index and rankings of countries, the information that will be displayed inside “sidebar bubbles” and the text and photos making up the 5 case studies – will all be fully prepared and handed over to the consultant by UNDP specialists.

Expected outputs and deliverables

• Deliverable 1: Web platform containing data visualization, case studies and social media components to be hosted as per arrangements made by consultant.
• Deliverable 2: 10 social media graphics for promoting the platform, developed in consultation with UNDP.
• Deliverable 3: Maintenance of the website

Estimated number of working days within the contract duration: 25 days. Maintenance is expected to be ongoing and minimal until the end of calendar year 2019.

Payment schedule: Payments will be made based on the following schedule with UNDP confirming that services have been provided on time and the required quality. 

• 1st payment – 30% of the lump sum, upon submission of a workplan providing detailed set of actions and timelines for delivering on ToR  – one week after signing contract
• 2nd payment – 60% of the lump sum, upon completion of the deliverables 1 and 2 in a satisfactory manner. (Deadline for Deliverable 1 and 2: First draft: October 1, Final Draft: October 15)
• 3rd payment – 10% of the lump sum, upon completion of the maintenance period (by Dec 31, 2019)

Travel: No travel is anticipated under this consultancy. In the case of unforeseeable travel, for meeting(s) in Istanbul, the travel costs (including tickets, daily allowance and terminal expenses) will be covered separately as per UNDP rules and regulations. The mission dates and period should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel.

Timeframe: The consultant’s assignment is expected to last app. 25 working days, completed over the period from 21 August, 2019 – 31 December, 2019.

Compétences

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP
• Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; 
• Solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise.

Functional competencies:

• A clear and mature style of design with an understanding to implement in an official UN setting.
• Good understanding of new and evolving design technologies and digital platforms.
• Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities

Qualifications et expériences requises

Academic Qualifications/Education:  

• Bachelor’s Degree in graphic design, digital design, computer visualization or related field (required.)

Experience: 

• A minimum of 5 years of professional working experience in web, graphic or digital design is required
• A minimum of 3 years of professional working experience in data visualization is required
• Working experience on development and/or gender equality issues is desirable.
• Previous professional experience with UN is an advantage. 
• Strong IT skills (experience with in-depth research and handling large databases is an asset). 

Language skills:  

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. 

Portfolio
Interested individuals shall share relevant portfolios (through a dedicated link) showing similar work, either individually or as part of a team. In the case of sharing team work, please specify which part of the assignment was completed by the individual himself/herself. Only applications with accompanying portfolios will be considered. 

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:

• responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11/CV desk reviews) 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. 35 points:

• Criteria A - relevant work experience on web, graphic and/or digital design – max points: 5
• Criteria B - relevant work experience in data visualization – max points: 5
• Criteria C - Familiarity and work experience on development and/or gender equality – max points: 2.5
• Criteria D - Previous professional experience with UN - max points: 5
• Criteria E - Experience with in-depth research and handling large databases – max points: 5
• Criteria F  - Methodology proposed – max points: 5
• Criteria G - Score Samples – max points: 7.5

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points.

Application procedures
The application submission is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications.

Step 1: Interested candidates must include the following documents when submitting the applications (Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF attachment as the system only allows upload of one document):

• Cover letter (max. 500 words) explaining your brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work and why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.  
• CV or 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. 

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and requested to provide a financial offer.
Consultant is expected to arrange/purchase the hosting and include fees associated with hosting in his or her financial proposal. 

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.
Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.