Gender equality and women’s empowerment remains a critical development issue in Armenia: women comprise 52.2% of population in Armenia and 56% of those with higher education, they are still underrepresented in leadership positions in government, in policy-making institutions or the private sector in Armenia. Due that women have very little influence over policy decisions. While a 30% quota system ensures women are represented in political parties, they face distinct barriers to entering office at the local and national levels.

UNDP Armenia has been continuously working in the area of the political empowerment of women, advancing leadership of women, supporting the local governments to engender local decision-making and development processes, enabling youth to get knowledge and skills on participatory governance, advancing their potential to raise their voice in policy-making at national and local levels. UNDP has considerably contributed to increasing representation of women at the local level, as well as formation of dynamic group and women and youth who not only benefit from projects’ support, but also lead local initiatives on broad spectrum of aspects, including participatory governance, women empowerment, and other.

Currently, UNDP’s Gender Equality Portfolio is comprised of several parallel projects working on political leadership of women, economic empowerment of women, innovative public services, youth leadership advancement, strengthening gender equality in the public administration system of Armenia and other.  Projects are implemented in strong synergy and coordination with one another building on the ongoing activities, relying on the cadre of women and youth already capacitated from previous projects and joining forces to upscale number of support schemes countrywide. UNDP enjoys broad partnerships among national, regional and local governments, donor and international community, civil society organizations, media and other.

“Women and Youth for Innovative Local Development” (hereafter WYILD Project) is one of the projects of the Gender Equality Portfolio. The overarching goal of the project is to improve the accountability, effectiveness and inclusiveness of local self-government in Armenia in regionally and socially balanced manner.

WYILD project is part of four-year strategic partnership framework between GIZ, UNDP and CoE within “Improvement of the local self-governance system in Armenia” programme and is implemented in partnership with RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI) with financial support from Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC).

The objectives of the Project are: (i) piloting three innovative municipal services which will be co-designed and monitored by citizens, including vulnerable/marginalized groups; (ii) advancing youth leadership; and (iii) empowering women at the local level through building on and upscaling the results achieved during the past years.

Objective:

Local Expert on Women Empowerment (hereafter Expert) will support the project team in:  1) establishment and capacity development of the Women and Youth Advisory Councils in target municipalities, 2) women’s leadership advancement schemes, 3) Research on women political leadership, gender-sensitive data collection at the local level, and 4) Methodological and knowledge support on the piloted approaches.

Under the overall supervision of the Gender Equality Portfolio Manager, direct supervision of the WYILD Project Technical Task Leader, and in collaboration with other projects’ teams, the incumbent will be responsible for the following activities: 

• Support to establishment of 10 new Women and Youth Advisory Councils (WYAC) in target municipalities including: 
  • Coaching and guidance of the target municipalities at the formation phase;
  • Needs assessment of members in the established WYACs;  
  • Development of four tailored capacity development outlines (online and offline for beginners); 
  • Leading the organization of the capacity development activities, including facilitation, content development and review, organizational/logistical issues, other as needed;
  • Contributing to the development of the ‘learning-by-doing’ modalities (mini grants) for the WYACs; 
  • Monitoring and reporting on the of the WYACs progress. 
• Strengthening the capacity of already established 10 WYACs including:
  • Development of four tailored capacity development outlines (online and offline for advance groups); 
  • Leading the organization of the capacity development activities, including facilitation, content development and review, organizational/logistical issues, other as needed;
  • Contributing to the development of the ‘learning-by-doing’ modalities (mini grants) for the WYACs; 
• Organization of three women leadership schools (WLSs) including:
  • Preparatory work (participants’ recruitment, venue, outline development and trainers’ selections)
  • Leading the work on WLSs, including facilitation, content development and review, organizational/logistical issues, other as needed;
  • Development of three reports on the results of the WLSs
• Development of the qualitative reports on women's political participation and gender-sensitive data collection at the local level, including:
  • Revision of the relevant articles, research papers, and legal documentation;
  • Interviewing the experts and relevant stakeholders and analysis of the inputs;  
  • Development of two user-friendly research reports based on the interview results and documentation revision
• Compilation of three methodologies and/or knowledge products on the pre-electoral and post-electoral work as well as the work of the WYACs including:
  • Interviewing the team and experts;
  • Revision of internal documentation (outlines, evaluations, etc.); 
  • Compilation of three user-friendly knowledge products/methodologies based on the interview results and documentation revision.

Expected deliverables:

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UN and UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• A good understanding of current situation and development trends in the fields of gender equality, women political participation, community development, and participatory democracy in Armenia;
• Systemic thinking in regard to organizational management and related aspects;
• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to establish and maintain effective work relationships with people of different social and cultural backgrounds;
• Strong track record with producing high quality research and strong data collection and analysis skills;
• Ability to work independently and to participate effectively in a team-based information sharing; strong team player.

Eduaction 

• Advanced University degree (MA, MSc, or PhD) in social sciences, humanities, gender equality, public administration, law or other related fields.

Experience

• At least 7 years of experience in design and implementation of thematic concepts, methodological tools and knowledge products in the areas of women empowerment, gender equality, community development, participatory democracy;
• 5 years of proven experience in gender equality and women empowerment;
• Experience in organizational support to institutions and/or organization, networks;
• Previous exposure to aspects of political participation of empowerment at the local level is an asset;
• Proven track-record in designing capacity development models and training modules;
• Track record and experience with international organizations is a strong asset.

Languages:

• Proficiency in written and spoken Armenian and English, Russian is a strong asset.

CANDIDATES WILL BE EVALUATED BASED ON THE FOLLOWING METHODOLOGY:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants' technical qualifications, experience and financial proposal.The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer has been evaluated and determined as technically responsive/compliant/acceptable to the requirements of the ToR and received the highest cumulative (technical and financial) score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation - max. 70 points

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

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION.

• Financial Proposal and Availability form: OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP (A total lump sum  option is applicable for this assignment)
• CV shall include Education/Qualification, Processional Certification, Employment Records /Experience

General Conditions of Contract is available here: GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

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