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.

UN Women Indonesia Country Office (CO) includes the ASEAN liaison office function to extend support to ASEAN and its Member States in advancing Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in line with global normative frameworks. UN Women in partnership with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is implementing the regional programme, “Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace: preventing violence and promoting social cohesion in ASEAN” (Advancing WPS in ASEAN).  The programme aims to support ASEAN Member States to advance and strengthen WPS agenda, including through preventing violence against women and girls and promoting social cohesion in the region. The programme will ultimately contribute to the achievement of gender equality through inclusive and sustainable peace and development in the region.

The WPS agenda was formally initiated by the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), which was adopted on 31 October 2000. UNSCR 1325 reaffirmed the important role of women in prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building initiatives. It stresses the need of women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security. UNSCR 1325 also urges all stakeholders to take action to increase the participation of women and calls on the UN member states to incorporate gender perspectives into all of its peace and security agenda. It also calls on stakeholders to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict.

ASEAN Member States have taken greater strides in promoting the WPS agenda as shown in the ASEAN Regional Study on Women, Peace and Security released in 2021. Some of these results include strengthened commitment in advancing WPS, including the adoption of the Joint Statement on Promotion of WPS in ASEAN (2017), increased contribution of the ASEAN member states to UN peacekeeping missions, enhanced participation of women in law enforcement institutions, strengthened efforts around conflict prevention, including building social cohesion and community resilience to face emerging security challenges, among others  

Despite some progress, challenges and opportunities remain in the localization of the WPS agenda in the ASEAN regional context as highlighted in the ASEAN Regional Study on WPS, which also took stock of progress made in the advancement of WPS and a review of similar trends globally. It further took a critical examination of persistent and emerging challenges on WPS, and captured lessons learned across the region. Most importantly, this study provided critical recommendations for supporting ASEAN Member States in enhancing women’s meaningful participation in peacebuilding and conflict prevention, resolution, and post-conflict processes in line with regional and international commitments.

The major recommendations of this regional study include:

• Formulate an ASEAN WPS Regional Plan of Action (RPA). 
• Mainstream gender as a crosscutting issue across ASEAN community pillars and sectoral bodies and within the analysis of traditional and nontraditional regional peace and security policy issues by adopting gender-responsive frameworks and capacity-building. 
• Ensure that ASEAN approach to peace and security is for all. 
• Build the institutional capacity for and commitment to WPS through knowledge-building exercises, regional dialogues, and international engagement among relevant sectoral bodies.
• Raise awareness of the ASEAN approach to WPS among people and civil societies. 

Against this backdrop, Cambodia has taken ASEAN Chair in 2022 with the key priority to advance the WPS agenda in ASEAN in line with the recommendation of the regional study above. The ASEAN Committee on Women (ACW) Cambodia plays a key role in leading ACW and chairing the process to develop the ASEAN RPA on WPS with the support of the ASEAN Secretariat in close coordination with the ASEAN Commission on the promotion and protection of the rights of Women and Children (ACWC), and the ASEAN ACWC advisory group with the technical and financial support from USAID-funded PROSPECT project staff and UN Women. In this connection, UN Women seeks to hire a Senior Gender Advisor (International Consultant) to support ACW Cambodia in response to the request from ACW Cambodia for a secondment of the technical support to shepherd the ASEAN intergovernmental process to advance WPS agenda, which includes coordination and engagement of three ASEAN Community Pillars.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives and scope of the assignment

The main objective of this consultancy is to support ACW ASEAN in the development of an ASEAN WPS RPA and inform relevant stakeholders about the significance of developing and implementing this plan. Under the overall guidance of ACW Cambodia in close coordination with the Programme Specialist, ASEAN Governance, Peace and Security and Project Coordination Specialist ASEAN WPS and in partnership with ASEC, WPS Advisory group, the Senior Gender Advisor will perform the following tasks:

• Provide overall strategic advice on both procedural and substantive matters to ACW Cambodia for the entire process to develop the RPA on WPS to ensure consensus building and garner support across all the three ASEAN Community Pillars
• Technical support for ACW Cambodia in coordinating with the ASEAN Secretariat, UN Women, Regional Consultants/experts and related partners to ensure coherent coordination and completion of the RPA on WPS as per approved RPA concept note/timeline.
• Support ACW Cambodia’s role as a chair of expanded WPS advisory group, including all three ASEAN Community Pillars, substantive preparation for a series of regional consultation meetings, submission of inputs and suggestions for draft RPA on WPS, regular communication with UN Women, the ASEAN Secretariat and partners and provision of strategic direction of the launch, socialisation and advocacy plan of the RPA on WPS, among others
• Provide strategic and technical support to ACW Cambodia, including substantive drafting speeches, remarks and reports related to advancing WPS in ASEAN and to the RPA on WPS at various platforms as part of building momentum and advocacy for WPS agenda within the ASEAN regional inter-governmental processes and beyond.
• Provide technical advice and support to ACW Cambodia to ensure the linkages of WPS agenda and the ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit

Expected Deliverables

The Senior Gender Advisor will produce the following deliverables: 

All the deliverables, including annexes, notes and reports should be submitted in writing in English.

Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the first installment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and endorsed by ACW Cambodia and UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt. 

Scope of bid price and schedule of payments

The contract price is a fixed deliverable-based price regardless of extension of the contract duration. Payment will be done once deliverables detailed in section II are submitted and approved by UN Women.

The lump sum costs should include a consultancy fee, administration costs, communication costs, and expenses related to the consultancy. All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation using the template in Annex 1. 

Performance evaluation

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

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

Required Skills and Experience

Required experience and qualifications

The Consultant should fulfil the following requirements:

Education

• Master’s degree in Political Science or Social Science, Gender Studies, International Development

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in the field of gender and development, preferably in the Asia-Pacific region 
• Experiences in the issues of women peace and security in the context of ASEAN regional inter-governmental process is an advantage 
• Proven experience facilitating high-level consultative workshops for ASEAN government representatives, dialogue partners, institutions, and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Southeast Asia
• Experiences in providing policy advice and technical assistance on governance and women, peace and security to government institutions, preferably in the ASEAN region
• Experience in influencing the agenda setting/priorities of government in Southeast Asia related to advancement of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls is desirable
• Knowledge of the Southeast Asia context related to WPS.
• Previous work experience working with high-level government officials in ASEAN would be a strong asset

Language and other skills:

• Proficiency in oral and written English
• Proficiency in any of the ASEAN national languages will be an advantage
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, Internet and email. 
• Excellent facilitation skills

Submission of application

Interested candidates are requested to submit electronic application no later than 25 January 2022.

Submission of package

1. Cover letter.
2. Curriculum vitae including contact information of at least 3 referees
3. A financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per each deliverable, including any administrative fees, based on the template in Annex 1. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation.

Applications without any of the items listed above will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further processing.

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. A copy of the latest academic certificate
2. UN Women P-11 form, available via https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc

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 allotted 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 meet the minimum requirements will be longlisted, and additional documentation may be requested. Candidates with a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically qualified candidates and will be shortlisted for interview.

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 allotted 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 technically 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

Breakdown of Cost by Components:

The lump sum costs should include administration costs and expenses related to the consultancy. All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation.