Background

UN Women in Kyrgyzstan is a strong advocate for improving the lives of women and girls in the country. Building on the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, we are working to enhance women's leadership; the elimination of violence against women; involving women in all aspects of decision making; economic empowerment of women.

UN Women in Kyrgyzstan prioritizes initiatives and programs in areas fundamental to achieving equality for women and finding ways of progress for both women and men. At the moment, the country office supports programs throughout the country, which are aimed at: expansion of economic rights and opportunities for women; elimination of violence against women; peace, security and gender mainstreaming in humanitarian action.

In 2023 UN Women Kyrgyzstan Country office commenced the programme funded from the UN Peace Building Fund (PBF) under the title ‘Blossoming Aigul - Capacitated Women Civil Society Organizations sustaining peace in Kyrgyzstan’. This is a Joint Programme (JP) of three partners organizations – UN Women, FAO and the Public Foundation ‘Roza Otunbaeva Initiative’. The partnership work under the JP aims at the institutional capacity building of Women led CSOs (WCSOs) and creating a conducive environment for their participation in strategic level decision-making as a basis for addressing climate security leading towards sustaining peace in Kyrgyzstan. The JP proposes unique and innovative sets of approaches and concepts which were tested in the context of Kyrgyzstan, in gender, climate security and peace areas, including within the previous PBF projects.

Within this JP UN Women is seeking to hire two Experts on strengthening capacity of Women CSOs on gender, climate security and peacebuilding, who will work under the overall supervision of National Program Officer. The Experts will be responsible for a set of a comprehensive and integrated interventions in support of WCSOs by applying social innovation tools.  

Duties and Responsibilities

The Experts will work in partnership with each other to jointly deliver the results through the process of implementation of three interlinked stages, as follows:

Visioning consultations with CSOs

Objective: Develop an overall conceptual framework for WCSOs’ capacity strengthening activities, including interlinked stages of Visioning, Training of trainers (TOT), and Mentorship support. This Concept  is to be framed around national commitments on SDGs and Women/Peace and Security Agenda (UNSCR1325), and to be based on social innovations for ensuring gender-sensitive and human-centered approaches in civil society activism on climate security and peace-building.   

Training of Trainers for selected groups of CSOs

Objective: Conduct the TOT aiming at preparing participating CSOs to facilitate interventions as planned in the JP in 9 target communities. The focus of  the TOT will be on new knowledge and skills on ‘how to’ apply innovative tools to facilitate and accelerate community activism on climate security and peacebuilding.

Mentorship support to CSOs who facilitate activities in target communities

Objective: Provide mentorship support to the CSOs who conduct cascade interventions in target communities. Mentorship includes regular guidance to CSOs during the process of facilitation of community activities, enabling CSOs to effectively apply innovative methods based on human centric and gender equality principles.  

Tasks:

Visioning consultations with CSOs

• Conduct desk review of relevant documents, including the ‘Global SDG Partnership guide’, ‘UN Community Engagement for Sustaining Peace guide’ to determine the specific goals and outcomes of the workshop with the focus on climate security and women, peace and security agenda
• Conduct review of the composition of WSCOs selected for participation in the workshop, and specific needs of other participating actors such as LSGs, universities, media
• Based on the desk review develop the Concept of the whole process Workshop that includes workshop conceptual parts (objectives, expected results), detailed agenda, activities and timing for each session. The Concept should contain a methodological approach based on a combination of innovative tools, ex. Design Thinking (DT), GALS
• Prepare all necessary materials for the workshop, including agenda, handouts, presentations, and supplies
• Conduct the 3 day Visioning Workshop, lead interactive sessions that introduce the design thinking process and its key principles
• Facilitate brainstorming and ideation sessions that encourage creativity and collaboration among  participants
• Provide guidance and support to participants as they develop prototypes and test their ideas related to climate change, gender and peacebuilding
• Encourage active participation and engagement of all participants throughout the workshop, manage time effectively and ensure that all sessions are completed within the allocated timeframe
• Facilitate selection of WCSOs for further engagement in the interventions of the project
• Provide a report that summarizes the key insights and recommendations resulting from the workshop, including visioning, prototypes of each group.
• Conduct at least 6 online reflection session as per area of work with participants and follow up to ensure that they are able to apply the design thinking principles to their community activities

Training of Trainers for selected groups of CSOs

The Experts will be responsible for conducting a Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions for a group of CSOs and partners who will be selected as a result of their participation in the Visioning Workshop. This ToT will enable CSOs to conduct cascade consultations by using  Design Thinking/GALS and Speed Dating methodologies in the respective 9 target communities.

• Based on the survey and observations during the Visioning Workshop - identify the CSOs/relevant partners that will participate in the ToT
• By using the priorities and outcomes defined during the Visioning Workshop – develop the Concept of the TOT that includes conceptual parts (objectives, expected results), detailed agenda, activities and timing for each session. The TOT Concept should contain a methodological approach based on a combination of innovative tools, ex. Design Thinking (DT), Speed Dating (SD), Gender Action Learning System (GALS) with a specific focus on the issues of climate change and women, peace and security agenda
• Develop the Master Plan of the TOT with a detailed agenda that includes activities and timing for each session
• Prepare all necessary materials for the ToT sessions, including handouts, presentations, and supplies
• Facilitate hands-on activities that allow participants to practice new skills to practically apply tools including DT/GALS/SD – which participants will be then using for facilitating workshops and consultations in target communities
• Provide mentorship guidance and support to participants as they develop their skills in facilitation and community engagement, encourage active participation and engagement throughout the ToT
• Jointly with TOT participants develop a Plan of support and mentorship to the CSOs, which aims at enabling CSOs to plan and conduct their own cascade workshops and consultations
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the cascade workshops and consultations, and provide feedback and recommendations for improvement
• Provide a report that summarizes the key insights and recommendations resulting from the TOT

Mentorship support to CSOs who facilitate activities in target communities

The Experts be responsible for providing mentorship support to the CSOs who will be tasked to conduct cascade workshops in 9 target communities. This will ensure that the CSOs are able to effectively apply the innovative approaches and methods (DT/GALS/SD) for conducting consultations/workshops in target communities.

• Identify the NGOs that will receive mentorship support
• Develop a schedule for mentorship sessions, including dates, times, and locations
• Determine the specific areas in which mentorship support is needed, based on the NGOs' previous experience and feedback from cascade workshops
• Provide guidance and support to the NGOs as they plan and conduct their own workshops and consultations
• Offer feedback and recommendations for improvement based on observations and participant feedback
• Encourage the NGOs to share their own experiences and insights, fostering a collaborative learning environment
• Provide additional resources and materials as needed to supplement the NGOs' own materials and resources
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the mentorship sessions and make recommendations for improvement
• Provide ongoing support and mentorship as needed, including follow-up sessions and additional resources
• Provide Regular progress reports that summarizes the key insights and recommendations resulting from the mentorship support to ensure that the CSOs led interventions is meeting the project's objectives

Timeframe, payments and deliverables

The payments will be made in KGS after the deliverables are submitted in accordance with ‘Deliverables Plan’, accepted and approved by UN Women. The Experts shall provide a report on deliverables with all necessary attachments describing the scope of work performed over the period for which the instalment is paid:

Inputs

• UN Women will provide access to UN Women Office during working hours to print relevant documents or whenever required to work on-site at any point during the assignment

• UN Women will provide logistical support to organize interviews with project beneficiaries, when and if required to develop communication products (stories, interviews)

• UN Women will provide all logistical arrangement for participants during Visioning and Design thinking workshops: venue, meal, stationary, transport 

Duration of Assignment:

The expected duration of the Experts is to be 8 months starting from 10 April till 15 December 2023

Competencies

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Respect for Diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff.
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Application procedure

Applications should be sent by 23:59 on 2 April 2023 to hr.kyrgyzstan@unwomen.org  and include the following documentation package:

-             P-11 form including experience in similar assignments. This form can be downloaded at https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process (UN Women Personal History Form (P11)

• Financial proposal, indicating a total lump sum to include all costs relating to the delivery of activities as per above description

Financial proposal format:

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant during the contract period (per diem, air ticket and other). The financial proposal should be provided in KGS. If the proposal is provided in any other currency, it would be converted as per UN exchange rate on the date of post closure.

Evaluation of applicants

The candidates will be evaluated in three stages: according to minimum qualification criteria; technical and financial evaluation.

The candidates must possess following minimum qualification criteria to be eligible for further technical evaluation:

The selection of candidates:

Technical evaluation criteria (including minimum qualifications):

Only candidates who have passed over the minimum qualification criteria and have accumulated at least 65 points out of maximum 70 under technical evaluation will qualify for the next stage i.e. evaluation of their financial proposals.

Evaluation of financial proposal

Financial proposal should include daily rate and field trip cost.

Financial evaluation will be conducted according to the method described below:

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion.

A suggested formula is as follows: p=30 (µ/z)

Where:

p - points for the financial proposal being evaluated;

µ - price of the lowest priced proposal;

z - price of the proposal being evaluated

The candidate achieving the highest cumulative score for both Technical and Financial evaluations will be recommended by the Evaluation Committee for contracting.

Winning candidate

The candidate achieving the highest cumulative score for both Technical and Financial evaluations will be recommended by the Evaluation Committee for contracting.

The Consultant shall promote a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations and commits to high standards of quality, productivity and timeliness in the delivery of tasks. The volunteer will meet and apply the highest standards of integrity and impartiality.

The volunteer must be fully dedicated to the mandate and the values of UN Women, particularly to promoting Gender Equality as a strategy to reduce conflict, improve livelihoods and ensure fairness and justice; to Women Empowerment underpinning Gender Equality promotion efforts; to inter-ethnic tolerance and concord; and to respect for diversity.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from

 https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.  Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. 

UN Women is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Applications without the completed P-11 form are incomplete and will NOT be considered for further assessment!