Background

Terms of Reference

Position:                            International_ Technical Consultant on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Office / Section:               Timor-Leste Country Office

Location:                             Dili or remote/ home based

Timeline:                             1 January 2022 – 30 June 2022

Reports to:                         Head of Office

Deadline application:     29 October 2021

Context:

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 also helps coordinate and promote the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality, and in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda. UN Women works to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals, and a more inclusive world.

UN Women, as part of the United Nations in Timor-Leste, contributes to the Government’s legislative and policy commitments to address violence against women and girls (VAWG), as outlined in its Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030, Sustainable Development Roadmap, and international human rights obligations. To address the global challenges of VAWG, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations commenced a multi-year programme - the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative. This is the world’s largets targeted effort to end all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030. The Spotlight Initiative aims to support transformative change to end violence against women and girls in all its forms. The Initiative is active in more than 20 countries as well as regional programmes. It is the world’s largest targeted effort to end all forms of violence against women and girls. It was launched with a seed funding commitment of €500 million from the European Union, and represents an unprecedented global effort to invest in gender equality as a precondition and driver for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a demonstration fund for action on the Sustainable Development Goals, to show that a significant, concerted and comprehensive investment in gender equality and ending violence can make a transformative difference in the lives of women and girls.

In Timor-Leste, the Spotlight Initiative is implemented through five UN agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF, and ILO) under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator. The Steering Committee, composed of government stakeholders, meets two times per year and is the key governance structure of the Initiative, including approving the Annual Plan of the Timor-Leste Spotlight Initiative. The Civil Social Reference Group provides ongoing advice and feedback on programming. The focus of the Initiative is to help eliminate intimate partner violence and domestic violence. Meetings with Heads of Agencies from participating agencies are held to monitor and adjust on implementation and delivery. The overall vision of the Spotlight Initiative in Timor-Leste is that women and girls enjoy their right to a life free of violence, within an inclusive and gender equitable Timor-Leste. This contributes to implementation of Timor-Leste’s National Action Plan on Gender Based Violence (2017-2021 and the plan under development for 2022 - 2026), with attention to prevention and response to violence against women and girls.

The Spotlight Initiative aligns to UN Women’s Ending Violence against Women (EVAW) programme in Timor-Leste and complements its other thematic programmes focused on Women’s Economic Empowerment, advancing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, mainstreaming gender in planning and budgeting in support of national and international gender equality commitments. In support of its coordination mandate, UN Women Country Office Chairs the UN Inter-agency Gender Theme Group and the Co-Chairs the Multi-stakeholder Gender Coordination Group.

The Programme in Timor-Leste commenced in January 2020 and has made significant progress over the past 2 years. In addition to supporting work at national level, the programme also supports work in 3 focal municipalities (Ermera, Bobonaro and Viqueque), which were chosen in a consultative process of programme design in 2019.

The Consultant will report directly to the Head of Office and work closely with staff of the Resident Coordinator’s Office, Spotlight program staff in the five agencies, and the UN Women EVAW Programme Specialist.

The Consultant requires substantial experience and in-depth understanding of violence against women and children, gender equality and women's empowerment particularly in terms of providing technical advice on both response and prevention related to violence against women and girls and monitoring and reporting on EVAWG programming.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

Deliverables:

The following deliverables are expected from the successful candidate.

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

• Strong knowledge and experience with evidence-based approaches to ending violence against women and girls
• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management and developing capacities on RBM
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation
• Strong networking skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required.

A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Technical experience in evidence-based approaches to ending violence against women and girls;
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset;
• Familiarity with Timor-Leste context is an advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required
• Competence in Tetum is an asset

Duration of the assignment

The duration of the assignment is from 1 January 2022 until 30 June 2022 (6 months).

Schedule of Payment

Payment in full upon final submission and satisfactory outputs/products in accordance with specified requirements.

All the deliverables, including events materials, notes and reports should be submitted in written in English language.

Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the instalment, the deliverables-related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of the review is one week after receiving the report.  

Inputs

• The consultant is expected to use her/his own computer and have all needed software for related tasks.
• Cost of mobile phone communication needs to be covered by the consultant.
• UN Women will provide the consultant with office space, access to internet and a printer in Dili, when needed/ available.
• UN Women team will support resource materials, and reference documents as relevant.
• UN Women will cover cost of travel and per diem to the municipalities as relevant for the programme and upon issuing of Travel Authorization.   

Performance evaluation

Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the deliverables.

Submission package (mandatory)

1. Cover letter

2. Completed P-11 form (available from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment) or CVs and copy of latest education certificate

3. At least one relevant sample of the research paper (applicant must be author or has written contribution)

4. Financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per each deliverable, including any travel, per diem and administrative fees, based on the template in Annex 1. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation. The actual payment will be payable based on the stated lump sum for each satisfactorily achieved deliverable.

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be invited to the interview.

Selected candidates will need to submit prior to commencement of work:

1. UN Women P-11 form, available from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.
2. A statement from a medical doctor of ‘good health and fit for travel’.
3. For any travel outside of Dili UN Women will require the consultant to provide the certificate proving completion of BSafe training (see trip.dss.un.org).

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. 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 will be considered as technically-qualified candidate.

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the price component is 100.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Annex I: Financial Proposal

BREAKDOWN OF COSTS SUPPORTING THE ALL-INCLUSIVE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

Breakdown of Cost by Components:

Payment Schedule linked with deliverables

All the documents, including reports, questionnaires, presentations and reports should be submitted in English language, or if in Tetum, include an English summary.

Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the instalment all submitted reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women.

Notes:

• Relevant tasks to be developed by each programme based on deliverables and to be discussed with consultant.
• All events should include a pre and post assessment, training materials and a report.
• Mechanisms for consultation will be adjusted in response requirements and regulations related to COVID-19.