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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world.

Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life. According to its mandate, UN Women works in five thematic areas, such as leadership and participation, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, women peace and security and governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments. UN Women is also the lead Agency in coordinating the UN Country Team on gender equality and is chairing the UN Group on gender equality.

Rural women in Albania face many challenges to their economic security, such as: lack of financial support, a weak access to secure land rights, a limited understanding of which businesses are profitable, limited availability to enter the labor force due to disproportionate engagement in unpaid activities and, high dependence from family members. Women’s contribution to agriculture in Albania is vital, with 54 percent of employed women working in this sector. However, such contribution often remains invisible because of the high levels of informality, which often leaves them without protection or social benefits.

To address some of these challenges UN Women, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and with the support of the Government of Italy, will implement the Gender Rural Equality and Tourism (GREAT) project, a three-year initiative that will contribute to rural women’s empowerment in Albania and will strengthen women’s roles and contribution to rural development. The project will contribute to sustainable economic development of rural women in three targeted regions and their communities by increasing their income and ability to obtain work.

The project aims to develop the capacities of rural women to develop their own business, to self-organize and register as local groups and to improve their access to finance. Simultaneously, GREAT will support targeted municipalities to prioritize and promote rural women’s businesses, rural tourism and value chain development. The project will promote a policy and legislative environment to strengthen women’s economic empowerment and their access to and control over productive assets.

The project GREAT was developed based on the needs identified by UN Women and FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MOARD), following recommendations of different studies and country assessments undertaken these entities. Its main goals are aligned with the priorities of the Government and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS Tirana), in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its core principle of leaving no-one behind. UN Women is the implementing agency for this project with FAO as the main responsible party that will implement specific components. UN Women will engage relevant staff and expertise to ensure overall coordination, quality assurance, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the project.

In this context, UN Women GREAT Project is invited to provide technical expertise to ensure that gender responsiveness is established as a clear and explicit quality marker of Albania’s NISARDF.

To support the implementation of the project, UN Women Country Office Albania is seeking to hire a National Consultant who will work jointly with an International Consultant in reviewing and integrating priority gender equality elements into the draft of the National Strategy for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries (2021-2027).  

Under the direct supervision of the UNWOMEN GREAT Project Manager, guidance of the International Consultant as well as in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the draft strategy experts, the national consultant is responsible for the following tasks:

1. Conduct desk review and consult relevant information on key national/international reports, studies and analysis related to gender equality and women’s empowerment standards applicable to the agriculture, rural development and fisheries sectors.
2. Based on the desk review prepare a summary document (in English) highlighting achievements and key gaps/issues that need to be addressed for informing the Technical Note that will be prepared by the International Consultant.
3. Provide any other input needed to the International Consultant for finalizing the Technical Note;
4. Coordinate closely with experts from the MOARD and other draft strategy consultants in acquiring relevant information regarding the strategy preparation process, format and progress;
5. Assist the International Consultant with ad-hoc research work and relevant information from local publications.
6. Provide inputs for the performance monitoring framework for the new strategy with regards to integration of gender-related SDG indicators, disaggregated data and other relevant gender indicators; Collect indicator values/baselines, provide inputs to the indicators passports and support the Ministry and team of experts in setting up the targets for the proposed indicators;
7. Prepare short briefs, presentations and inputs to be used in meetings, consultations and other fora upon request by UN Women, in coordination with other strategy experts;
8. Participate in meetings, working groups and consultations and provide relevant inputs as agreed;
9. Other related field work as instructed by the International Consultant and UN Women.

Main expected outputs/deliverables:

• Consultancy workplan in combination with the international expert by 15 August 2021.
• Summarized findings from the review of local national reports, studies and analysis related to gender equality and women’s empowerment standards applicable to the agriculture and rural development sector by 31 August 2021.
• Relevant materials and inputs prepared for meetings and presentations upon request.
• Minutes of meetings as requested.
• Set of inputs related to gender-sensitive indicators and related information by 29 October 2021.

Duration

The National Consultant will be contracted for a maximum of 20 (twenty) working days to perform the specified tasks from August until October 2021.

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues
• Accountability
• Creative problem solving
• Effective communication
• Inclusive collaboration
• Stakeholder engagement
• Leading by example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and- competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Strong skills in developing, designing and preparing well-structured, logically organized guidance materials, kits, overviews, briefs, and similar knowledge products.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to synthesize straightforward and clear content from a range of complex background documents.
• Ability to produce knowledge and information materials tailored to the specific target-audience and fine-tuned to the purpose and country context.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (both oral and written).
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with team members.
• Strong initiative-taker.
• Focuses on impact and results.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and with a positive, constructive, problem-solving attitude.
• Ability to handle conflict and sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.
• Capacity to work under pressure and to meet strict deadlines.
• 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 and results-orientation and ability to perform under pressure.

Minimum Requirements, Qualifications and Experience:

The National Consultant to support gender mainstreaming in the Draft National Intersectoral Strategy for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries (NISARDF) will have the following qualifications:

Education/Academic qualification:

• Advanced degree in development, agricultural/rural studies, statistics or economy;

Work experience:

• Trainings in gender studies are considered an advantage.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the economic and/or rural development sectors with a particular emphasis on gender mainstreaming in national policies.
• Experience in conducting research, data collection, and use of gender indicators and statistics.
• Experience in gender-responsive practice/consultancy with UN, EU and other similar international organizations is an asset.

Language Requirements: Fluency and excellent writing skills in both Albanian and English

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the daily fee in Albanian Leke (ALL) for the tasks specified above. 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).
• Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iii) submission of and approval by UN Women; and (iv) submission of the certification of payment.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 26 July 2021:

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest including a brief description explaining why the individual considers her/himself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• Completed and signed UN Women Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded at link: UN Women Personal History Form (P11) or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about- us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying the total lumpsum in Albanian Lek (ALL) for the tasks specified in this assignment, following the instructions under the above section on Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments.

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.

Technical Evaluation –70 points:

• Advanced degree in development, agricultural/rural studies, statistics or economy; Trainings in gender studies are considered an advantage – 10 points.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the economic and/or rural development sectors with a particular emphasis on gender mainstreaming in national policies – 25 points.
• Experience in conducting research, data collection, and use of gender indicators and statistics – 20 points.
• Experience in gender-responsive practice/consultancy with UN, EU and other similar international organizations – 15 points.

Financial Evaluation – 30 points

• 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 follow:

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.

How to Submit the Application: To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), the Financial Proposal, the Letter of Confirmation of Interest and sample of your previous monitoring, evaluations and results-based reporting products 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.

Notes:

• UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications, we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
• The consultancy post is open to local (Albanian) individuals or foreign individuals with valid temporary or permanent residence in Albania.
• Applications without the financial offer will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• The individual consultants should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.