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.

May 2023 marks Lebanon’s municipal elections. Women remain grossly underrepresented in Lebanon, despite women in Lebanon gaining the right to vote in 1952, and a vibrant feminist movement. Despite low representation in all aspects of political life, including 4.6% representation in parliament, and 5.4% of Lebanon’s municipal councilors, positive trends of participation, including through increased women candidacy, have continued. In the 2022 parliamentary elections, the number of female Members of Parliament increased from 6 to 8.

To support more women to run, and lead, UN Women is looking for a gender and politics specialist, to support its work around the 2023 municipal elections, and its support to female and male parliamentarians.

Following election day, and after induction of a number of new female members of parliament, UN Women will work towards supporting female MPs with the provision of technical assistance, roadmap development, and highlighting the most essential legislative reforms that aim at advancing gender equality. The person will be expected to map out politically neutral community based organizations working to support women’s political participation outside Beirut, will support in developing partner proposals, and a road map of support to UN Women and UNDP.

Duties and Responsibilities

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 Election results and electoral processes in Lebanon.
• Demonstrated leadership ability and technical ability to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing.
• Experience in working with parliamentarians and on issues of gender equality in public life.
• Ability to communicate effectively both in written and oral.
• Ability to build partnerships with elected officials.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in international Affairs/Development, Sociology, 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, public administration, elections, and research & analysis;
• Expertise on gender issues – with parties and candidates - in elections in Lebanon;
• Experience working in electoral processes, promoting women’s advancement in Lebanon or the region.
• Computer skills, internet communication and command of MS Office is required

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in both Written and oral English and Arabic is a must, French is an asset. 

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)

• Criteria 1. Education. 10 points
• Criteria 2. Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in areas of political science, public administration, elections, and research & analysis. 10 points
• Criteria 3. Experience working on elections, with electoral candidates and parties, on gender issues in Lebanon. 50 points

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 https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process.

Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

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