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) hosts the ASEAN liaison office which extends support to ASEAN and its Member States in advancing Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in line with global normative frameworks. UN Women Indonesia launched a five-year project, Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace: Preventing Violence and Promoting Social Cohesion in ASEAN. The project funded by the Governments of Canada and the Republic of Korea supports efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its 10 Member States to promote women's participation and leadership in conflict prevention, resolution and recovery. The project puts into action recommendations made in the ASEAN Regional Study on Women, Peace and Security, released in March 2021, as well as United Nations Security Council resolutions that made women, peace and security a global agenda. Region-wide, the project works to promote policy frameworks such as ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security, which is planned to be endorsed by ASEAN before its launching in December 2022; capacity-building activities such as training, workshops, dialogues and consultations; and exchanges of knowledge and good practices. The project also does country-level activities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.

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 peace-building initiatives. It stresses the need for 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.

UN member states in Southeast Asia have taken greater strides in the implementation of 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 on the promotion of WPS, adoption of a joint statement on promotion of WPS, enhanced contribution of troops by 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, etc.  Despite results already achieved there are still individual and common challenges that are being faced by the ASEAN Member States (AMS) which were captured in the ASEAN Regional Study on WPS. Limited allocation of financial resources for the implementation of WPS Agenda is one of the challenges in the region.

The UNSCR 2242 (2015) and the 2017 report on WPS agenda of the Secretary-General (SG) to the General Assembly calls for increased funding for Gender Equality and WPS programming. A lack of financial resources has been identified as one of the major challenges that impeded the implementation of the national WPS policies at the national level including National Action Plans.  Despite significant attempts by the governments to advance the implementation of the UNSCR on 1325 and the subsequent NAP WPS[1], failure to allocate sufficient resources and funds has been the most serious and persistent obstacle to the implementation of the WPS  agenda over the past 10 years.

Against this backdrop, UN Women Indonesia CO seeks to hire an international consultant who will strengthen the capacity of Government actors in Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand and the Philippines on Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting (GRPB) to enhance the allocation of financial resources for the implementation of the NAPs on WPS and other WPS national and regional frameworks.

Objectives of the assignment

The main objective of this assignment is to support targeted ASEAN Member States to strengthen their capacities on GRPB to advance the implementation of gender equality and specifically the implementation of WPS agenda.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work and tasks

Under the overall guidance and management of the Programme Specialist, ASEAN Governance, Peace and Security, and supervision from the Project Coordination Specialist ASEAN WPS and in close coordination with country-level GRB and WPS project officers, the IC will perform the following tasks:

Task 1. Desk Review and development of a consultancy work plan.

§  Conduct a desk review of existing relevant documents (Home-based).

§  Conduct preliminary consultations with members of the project team and stakeholders at the Country Level.

§  Develop a consultancy work plan  

Task 2. Conduct national GRB assessment including institutional and individual capacity needs assessment in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand to identify the status and capacities of major stakeholders on GRB and identify strategic entry points and best practices.

§  Conduct desk review

§  Develop an inception report that should be structured as follows:

• Executive summary
• Acronyms

o   Background information (findings from desk review)

o   Proposed research objectives

o   Proposed research design (Description of   research methodology and research questions, research tools etc.)

o   Proposed field schedule (Data collection)

o   List of organisations/persons to be interviewed

• Develop data collection tools, and collect data
• Lead and manage data processing and analysis; and
• Develop a well-structured report that comprehensively outlines research findings, methodology, challenges, recommendations, list of persons interviewed.   The GRB assessment should be structured as follows:

(a)    Executive summary

(b)    Introduction

(c)     Table of Contents  

(d)    Background information (findings from desk review)

(e)    Proposed research design (Description of   research methodology and research questions, research tools etc.)

(f)   Research findings (Political will, Existence of National gender commitments and legal frameworks on GRB, budgetary systems, level of transparency and accountability, Monitoring and reporting systems, actors engaged in GRB, existing GRB institutional and individual capacities, existing GRB tools, existing mechanisms that can enable operationalization of GRB, existing best practices) 

(g)    Conclusions

(h)    Key recommendations

(i)      Annexes:

1.       TOR

2.       Research tools

3.       Field schedule (Data collection)

4.       List of organisations/ persons interviewed and workshop participants

Task 3. Organize tailored gender responsive planning and budgeting capacity building activities  in Indonesia, Viet Nam, the Philippines and Thailand for relevant institutions including mentoring sessions to ensure that national and local budgets integrate actions and financial resources to advance the implementation of the WPS agenda.

• Adapt GRB training/capacity building materials, based on the findings from the assessment described in task 2.
• Submit GRB materials for UN Women review/inputs.
• Develop pre and post-tests to measure changes in knowledge and skills
• Support UN Women team to identify participants
• Facilitate 4  workshops with support from UN Women staff (one in each targeted country) to enhance the capacity of at least one hundred civil servants (Budget Officers, M&E officers, Gender Focal persons and members of the gender units) and decision makers from targeted Ministries  and Government agencies in selected countries
• Write up a capacity building report which will include a description of the capacity building activities rolled out,  recommendations, results achieved including changes in knowledge and skills.

Task 4. Support the Government of Indonesia to establish a monitoring mechanism aligned with the existing government’s monitoring mechanism to track allocation of budget and expenditure for the implementation of Gender policy frameworks including the NAP on social conflict.

• Develop monitoring tools and provide technical assistance to Government and CSOs to establish a monitoring and reporting system that captures results achieved in the promotion of gender equality and the implementation of existing gender policies such as the NAP on social conflict.
• Facilitate trainings for Government officials on how to monitor the allocation and expenditure of resources for the implementation of the NAP WPS
•  Write up a training report which will include recommendations, results achieved including changes in knowledge and skills.

Expected Deliverables

The International Consultant 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 approved by UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt.

1. Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background information and documents, and a list of stakeholders relevant for the assignment.
• The Consultant is expected to work using his/ her own computer.
• UN Women will directly cover travel costs as per UN Women’s rules and regulations
• UN Women will cover translation/interpretation costs

1. 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

Stakeholder Engagement

Leading by Example

Functional Competencies:

Excellent analytical skills

Strong networking skills

Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization

Ability to work in a highly pressured environment 

Required Skills and Experience

Required experience and qualifications

The Consultant should fulfill the following requirements:

Education

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies, Public Finance, Law, Public Administration or other related fields.

Experience

• At least 7 years of experience in the field of gender mainstreaming, and GRB with experiences in developing countries, preferably in the Asia-Pacific region 
• Proven experience facilitating high-level consultative workshops for government stakeholders, institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs) 
• At least 1 year of experience in providing policy advice and technical assistance on women, peace and security to government institutions. 
• Proven experience in conducting research in the area of gender equality and women empowerment.  
• Knowledge of the Southeast Asia context related to WPS and GRB.

Language and other skills:

• Proficiency in oral and written English
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, Internet and email. 
• Excellent facilitation skills

Submission of application

Submission  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.

The documents detailed above should be submitted in one PDF document.

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  http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment

Evaluations

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.