Background

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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The 2022 Parliamentary and municipal elections will likely happen against a very unique and challenging backdrop. 2019 witnessed a massive popular uprising calling for an end to sectarian power-sharing, a call which has resonated widely across Lebanon and has contributed to the emergence of a number of new political parties, many of whom are led by women or have women members and experts that intend to run in 2022.

With the 2022 parliamentary elections months away, UN Women is working to support women’s political participation and representation in the coming elections. This includes providing support at multiple levels, including the policy level, institutional level and the grassroot level, through supporting voters, candidates, and raising awareness.

A myriad of challenges face women when trying to reach positions of leadership, and the 2018 parliamentary elections only saw 48% voter turnout. One of the major reasons behind the low voter turnout is the lack of ease of access to voting centers, specifically for elderly and disabled individuals. Such issues have been persistent and re-emerging election after another, despite various calls for change, and unfulfilled promises. Targeting ease of access to voting centers is an essential step towards increasing turnout, and thus increasing the legitimacy of election results.  

As such, UN Women is working to support increasing the ease of access to voting stations through a number of initiatives. The aim of the proposed project is to increase the ease of access to voting stations, through mapping and analyzing voting stations, and consequently enhancing accessibility of voting centers to become more accessible to all groups. 

To accomplish the above, UN Women is looking to contract an Election Accessibility Specialist, with strong experience and understanding in Lebanese Electoral challenges, including voting, and Women’s Political Participation, to conduct mapping and analysis of select voting centers in Beirut, Tripoli and Saida, from an accessibility standpoint.

Main Objectives and Purpose of the Consultancy

The main objective of this work is to enhance accessibility to voting centers prior to the 2022 parliamentary elections, through:

1. Develop roadmap for improving accessibility in voting center leading up to the 2021, including workplan and methodology, while coordinating with main disability civil society organizations to avoid duplication of work;
2. Map out identified and selected centers in Beirut, Tripoli and Saida, and conduct a capacity needs assessment and analysis of each;
3. Develop report on the analysis of the identified centers, including needs of each, and categorize centers, including analysis of what would be required to enhance each, and recommendations of what would be needed to enhance these centers.

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsibilities and Tasks:

The main objectives to be completed within this consultancy are as follows:

1. Develop a baseline report and roadmap including workplan and methodology;
2. Conduct a thorough mapping of (20) select polling stations, in coordination with local organizations who have worked on similar studies to avoid duplication;
3. Analyze results, and group voting centers into predefined categories;
4. Develop full report of findings, including recommendations to enhance each center, analysis and needs assessment.

Deliverables:

Competencies

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.

Functional Competencies:

• Substantial knowledge and understanding of Gender Responsive Budgeting;
• Demonstrated leadership ability and technical ability to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing;
• Experience in analysis, drafting research findings and recommendations; 
• Familiarity with processes and thematic issues related to the SDGs;
• Ability to lead development of clear strategies and to provide strategic advice to senior management;
• Ability to communicate effectively both in written and oral.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in international Affairs/Development, Political Sciences, Public Administration, Gender and Women’s Studies, with strong knowledge of gender issues, or related discipline;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience: 

• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in areas of political science, election and disability access, public administration, elections, and research & analysis;
• Knowledge of the Lebanese electoral law and recommendations from the 2018 observer reports;
• Expertise on gender issues in elections in Lebanon;
• Experience working in electoral processes, promoting women’s participation in politics in Lebanon or the region;
• Computer skills, internet communication and command of MS Office is required.

Language:

• Proficiency in oral and written English and Arabic is a must. 

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (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 following technical qualification evaluation criteria.

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points (i.e., 49 points) will be considered as technically qualified candidate.

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree) in International Affairs/Development, Political Sciences, Public Administration, Gender and Women’s Studies, with strong knowledge of gender issues, or related discipline. (20)
• At least 5 years professional experience in the field of gender in politics and elections in Lebanon, and experience in the Lebanese electoral law, processes, and promoting women’s participation in politics. (25)
• At least 2 previous assignments related to electoral disability, voter access, election work, or women’s political participation. (25) 

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points) 

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: 

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical); 
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30; 
•  'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
• Financial proposal

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all of them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)