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.  

Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life.

Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is an innovative public policy tool for assessing the impact of policies and budgets from gender perspective and for ensuring that policies and their accompanied budgets do not perpetuate gender inequalities but contribute to more equal society for women and men. GRB aims to close the “implementation gap” that exists in countries such as Serbia, which have laws and policies in place to advance gender equality, but these are not implemented in practice. By focusing on the most important tool the Government has at its disposal - the budget - GRB initiatives call for commitment not only on paper, but also in practice, and contribute to developing the capacities and knowledge needed to address gender gaps in sector and local government policies, plans and budgets.

GRB was formally introduced in Serbia by the adoption of the Budget System Law in 2015, when promotion of gender equality was identified as one of the budget goals (Article 4). New provisions of the above-mentioned Law introduced GRB as an obligation in the planning and execution of budgets, implying gradual introduction from 2016 to 2024. Additional amendments to the Budget System Law adopted in December 2016 further enhanced the GRB introduction, through incorporation of obligatory reporting on impact of the budget programmes on improvement of gender equality into the Annual Budget Statement (Article 79). Furthermore, information on gender responsive objectives and indicators became integral part of programme information (Article 28, paragraph 6).

UN Women Office in Serbia continuously supports the process of GRB implementation and institutionalization at the national and provincial level, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, the Coordination Body for Gender Equality and the Provincial Secretariat of Finance.

In order to deepen the previously done work, launch new initiatives and ensure sustainability of the interventions on GRB, UN Women initiated a regional programme “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2024), in which Serbia is also participating. The main programme approach will involve around transformative financing as an enabling factor for policy and financing actions to accelerate implementation of existing national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the in Western Balkans. It envisages provision of tailored technical assistance and guidance, as well as building institutional capacity and knowledge. This includes conducting gender analysis, to ensure that gender gap in various areas is closed through evidence-based policies and programmes.

Objective

The objective of the assignment is to further support gender mainstreaming and strengthen the process of GRB implementation in the Provincial Secretariat of Economy and Tourism through conducting of budget gender analysis and review from gender perspective their support programmes and funded initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working under the overall supervision of the UN Women GRB Programme Coordinator, the principal duty of the consultant will be to prepare gender analysis of the budget of the Provincial Secretariat of Economy and Tourism (PSET) and review the funded programmes and initiatives from gender perspective and develop recommendations for gender mainstreaming of existing programmes and proposals of new programmes specifically targeting women’s entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship.

Specifically, the consultant will be responsible for:

• Prepare Work Plan with the proposed methodology for the analysis (including timeframe) and propose structure of analysis (propose sections and sub-sections);
• To collect data in cooperation with the PSET, facilitated by UN Women, and conduct budget gender analysis of PSET programmes, with focus on support to women’s entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship;
• To conduct a focus group and in-depth interviews (if additional and specific information is needed) with women who were previously supported through programmes and initiatives of the PSET to investigate their needs, preferences and potential challenges when accessing the PSET subsidies, reasons for using and not using available support measures and general perceptions of its availability and usefulness, and what solutions and services would ease their access etc;
• To prepare draft gender analysis and recommendations for future support programmes as well as GRB budget objectives and indicators, to be included in 2024 PSET budget;
• To present the draft analysis findings to the PSET and finalize the analysis with recommendations based on their comments and suggestions.

Deliverables and Timeline

Competences and Qualifications

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Good knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues, gender mainstreaming and international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Strong writing skills;

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in in the area of gender studies, law, management, international relations, political sciences, social sciences, or an area relevant to the requirements of the TOR.

Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of experience in the field of gender mainstreaming and international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality;
• At least 2 years of relevant experience in supporting gender responsive budgeting through capacity development, conducting of analysis etc.;
• At least 3 years of experience in working with government institutions and supporting their capacity development.

Language:

Fluency in English and Serbian (written and oral).

Application procedure:

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

• P11 with past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc, a signed copy should be submitted.Financial Proposal Specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference. Can be downloaded from the following link: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-07/confirmation.docx . The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days and any other possible costs).

In order to apply please merge your P11 and the financial proposal into a single PDF file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.

Any request for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the e-mail info.serbia@unwomen.org

Evaluation of applicants:

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Having received the highest 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.

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points:

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)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

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 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.)