UN Women (UNW), 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 centre of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the 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.

UN Women’s triple mandate, along with its global network and deep policy and programming expertise, continues to endow the Entity with a unique capacity to: (i) support Member States to strengthen global norms and standards for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and mainstream gender perspectives in other thematic areas; (ii) promote coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and (iii) undertake operational activities to support Member States, upon their request, in translating global norms and standards into legislation, policies and strategies at country level.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). In line with the national priorities, the work of UN Women for the period 2023-2025 is aligned with three of the Palestine United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework’s (UNSDCF) outcomes:

• Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector.
• Palestinians, including the most vulnerable, have equal access to sustainable, inclusive, gender responsive and quality social services, social protection, and affordable utilities.
• Palestinian governance institutions, processes, and mechanisms at all levels are more democratic, rights-based, inclusive, and accountable.

Its three-year Strategic Note supports the efforts to achieve measurable results in country in terms of four UN Women global Strategic Plan impacts (2022-2025): (SP Impact 1). Governance and participation in public life; (SP Impact 2). Women’s Economic Empowerment; (SP Impact 3). Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and; SP Impact 4. Women peace and security, Humanitarian & Disaster Risk Reduction.

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to fight Violence Against Women (VAW) as set in the National Strategy to Combat VAW, and in full partnership  with the protection, security and justice sectors’ actors, including the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP), the Public Prosecution (PP), the High Judicial Council (HJC), the Supreme Judge Department (SJD) and the Ministry of Social development (MoSD) UN Women,  within its joint programme with UNDP and UNICEF- “Promoting the Rule of Law in Palestine- SAWASYA II” is supporting the Justice and Security institutions to mainstream gender into their procedures and policies, and develop and provide  gender responsive services to women victims and survivors of violence, through providing institutional capacity building and policy level interventions  amongst others.  

Palestinian people face various emergencies and crises over the years due to the Israeli occupation, the political instability and split between the largest political factions, amongst others. In  2021- 2022, the country faced the Covid-19 pandemic emergency, which  created critical challenges on ground, notably as pertaining to services provided to women survivors of violence. In line with this, and acknowledging the impact of  emergency situations  on the capacity of the justice, security, social, health institutions and CSOs to continue providing essential services to women victims and survivors of violence, UN Women in partnership with the PCP, the AGO, the HJC, the SJD, and the MoSD developed emergency plans for each mentioned above institution, with the aim of supporting these institutions to effectively responding and managing VAW cases during emergencies, including pandemics. One key recommendation that was highlighted in these plans is the need to develop effective referral pathway during emergencies, to facilitate collaboration and coordination amongst the various actors  involved in responding  to VAW  cases.

Against this background,  under the umbrella of the National Referral system, and through full cooperation with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, UN Women within its joint rule of law programme- Sawasya II, plans to recruit an international consultant to support developing referral pathway procedures during emergencies to cases of women victims and survivors of violence, to be added as a separate chapter to the National Referral System.

The main objective of the assignment:

The main objective of the assignment is to develop referral pathway procedures to cases of women victim and survivors of violence during emergencies, to facilitate and guide referral and coordination between service providers to ensure   timely and gender responsive protection services to women victims and survivors of violence.

The specific objectives of the assignment include the following points:

1. To develop referral pathway procedures for managing and referring VAW cases during emergencies between national partners, including the social,  justice,  security,  health  institutions and civil  society organizations.
2. To enhance coordinated gender responsive services for women victims and survivors of violence during times of emergency.

Under the overall guidance of UN Women Special Representative, the direct supervision of  UN Women Rule of Law Programme Specialist, and working in close cooperation and coordination with  the Ministry of Women’s Affairs- (MoWA), the justice, security and social sectors, CSOs, and UN Women’s technical team, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

1. Inception phase:

• Develop a work plan with timeframe and methodology, and share with UN Women and the MoWA for discussion and approval.
• Meet with UN Women and the targeted institutions to agree on the assignment’s objectives and the methods that will be used.

2. Development of referral pathway procedures:

• To conduct a desk review of existing relevant documents, such as the emergency plans that were developed for the five institutions, including the MoSD, the PP, the PCP, the HJC and the SJD; the National referral System,  the referral procedures of VAW cases during COVID- 19 pandemic which were adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2021, the EVAW national strategy for the years 2022- 2029, and others. The desk review should include references to experiences, practices and recommendations of other countries at the regional and international levels.
• To meet with UN Women, MoWA, and relevant partners to collect data and get a background about the current practices in managing VAW cases, and the lessons learned from the pandemic’s experience.
• To hold individual and groups meetings with relevant service providers, including representatives from the field, to explore current practices and discuss proposed pathway in the management and referral of VAW cases during emergencies.
• To facilitate collective workshops with representatives of relevant institutions to discuss referral procedures, opportunities, challenges.
• To draft referral pathway procedures, and referral mechanisms between service providers for cases of women victims and survivors of violence during emergencies, including defining roles and responsibilities of each service provider to enhance coordinated response.
• To facilitate consultation and validation sessions with national partners to build consensus among stakeholders and validate the product.
• Based on inputs and feedback provided by respective partner institutions and UN Women, to amend and submit the final version of the referral pathway procedures.

3. Reporting:

• To submit a final narrative report that includes a description of the assignment’s methodology, main findings, observations, challenges and recommendations for future related programming.  Minutes of meetings, sessions, and list of interviewees should be annexed.

Deliverables:

• Deliverable 1: An approved work plan with methodology and time frame. Expected delivery date: one week  from the signature of the contract.
• Deliverable 2: An approved draft of the referral pathway procedures for cases of women survivors of violence during emergencies.  Expected delivery date: 4 months after the signing of the contract.
• Deliverable 3: A final approved referral pathway procedures, and a final approved narrative report, that includes an overall description of the assignment, the methodology used, the achieved results, challenges, and recommendations. Expected delivery date: 5 months after the signing of the contract.

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

• Ability to lead Policy review process through consultation with stakeholders;
• Very strong background on gender;
• Experience in assessing impact of policies, strategies and measures from a gender perspective;
• Ability to manage time and meet tight deadlines;
• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Proven networking, organizational and communication skills.

Evaluation Criteria:

This SSA modality is governed by UN Women General Terms and Conditions. UN Women will only be able to respond to applicants who meet the minimum requirements.

Candidates should clearly indicate how they meet the above-mentioned criteria in their applications.

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

• UN Women P11 including experience in similar assignments; the P11 form can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted;
• Provide a sample of a developed  product by the applicant; (policy document on the management of VAW cases; or policy and/ or response document to emergencies, or any other related document).

Note: Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Please upload as one attachment of the documents as mentioned above online through this website

Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) expression of Interest (EoI).

Evaluation of applicants

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications mentioned above, and financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation. Only candidates obtaining 30/50 in the desk review will be considered for Technical Interview.

Technical Evaluation (70%) – max. 70 points.

• A Master’s degree in social science, gender, development, human rights, criminology, sociology or related discipline. PHD degree is an asset. (max. 10 points)
• At least 6 years working experience in the field of violence against women, protection, and gender justice. (max. 10 points)
• At least 3 previous assignments in developing policy papers, response plans, and\or procedures on combatting violence against women survivors of violence, including managing cases of women survivors of violence. (max. 15 points)
• At least 2 previous assignments related to developing policies and/or managing response to humanitarian crisis. (max. 15 points)
• Experience with the UN system or/and International Organizations is an asset. (max. 5 points)
• A sample of a developed product by the applicant; (policy document on the management of VAW cases; or policy and/ or response document to emergencies, or any other related document). (max. 15 points)

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

Only long-listed candidates will be contacted.

Financial proposal. Shortlisted candidate will be requested to submit a financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount breaking down a daily professional fee, proposed number of working days and any related expenses, i.e. travel and communications expenses.