Background

United Nation Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (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 in Georgia supports state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls.

In April 2023 UN Women, with the generous support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) launched a four-year project “Women’s Increased Leadership for Democracy in Georgia” (WILD). The impact-level goal of the project is to ensure that women and girls in all their diversity fully and equally participate in decision-making and benefit from gender-responsive governance in Georgia. In order to contribute to the achievement of this impact-level goal, the project sets forth two interlinked outcomes, which are as follows - outcome 1: Women and their organizations in all their diversity are engaged in and influence political life and decision-making at all levels in Georgia; and outcome 2: Gender equality and women’s meaningful participation and leadership at all levels is promoted through adoption and implementation of gender-responsive legislative and policy frameworks and practices.

Under outcome 2, inter alia, the project ensures that laws, policies and capacities for women’s political empowerment and for gender mainstreaming are developed and implemented at the national and local levels. To contribute towards achieving this transformative change, UN Women plans to develop a Manual on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and aligned with the manual, support capacity development of national stakeholders, including government counterparts and civil society partners on key principles of CEDAW Convention. The initiative is aligned with the recommendation directed at the Government of Georgia under the Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Georgia issued by the CEDAW Committee in 2023 (Available at: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4007519), which reads as follows – the Committee recommends that the State party… intensify its efforts to widely disseminate and raise awareness of the Convention, the Optional Protocol and the Committee’s concluding observations and general recommendations...”

To carry out the above-mentioned work, UN Women is seeking to contract a national consultant. The objectives of the consultancy are as follows:

  1. To develop a Manual on CEDAW Convention capturing key concepts, principles and standards of the Convention and the Committee’s General Recommendations with special emphasis on the roles of national parliaments and civil society organizations in advancing the CEDAW Convention
  2. To develop capacities of national partners, including public servants and civil society organizations on key frameworks and principles of the CEDAW Convention and the Committee’s General Recommendations

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will be responsible for the following tasks and deliverables:

  • To develop  a Manual on CEDAW Convention covering, key concepts, principles and standards of CEDAW Convention and the Committee’s General Recommendations, inter alia, with  special emphasis on the roles of national parliaments and the civil society organizations in advancing the CEDAW Convention
  • To conduct capacity development trainings on the CEDAW Convention covering, key concepts, principles and standards for national stakeholders, including for public servants and civil society organizations
  • To prepare final consultancy report capturing the work carried out, key observations and recommendations for follow up.

Deliverables:

  • Draft outline of the Manual on CEDAW Convention developed and submitted to UN Women (3 working days) – by 01 September 2023.
  • Draft Manual on CEDAW Convention developed and submitted to UN Women (14 working days) – by 30 September 2023.
  • UN Women feedback incorporated and the final version of the Manual on CEDAW Convention developed and submitted to UN Women (3 working days) – by 15 October 2023.
  • Relevant training materials developed, and capacity development trainings conducted  – (10 working days) – by 20 December 2023.
  • Final report prepared and submitted to UN Women (2 working day) – by 20 December 2023.

Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Competencies:

  • Excellent analytical and research skills.
  • Strong understanding of and commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment
  • Excellent writing skills.
  • Excellent organizational skills.
  • Proficiency in IT skills demonstrated

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • At least master’s degree in law, Human Rights sociology, or related field

Experience and competencies: 

  • At least five years of work experience on gender equality and women’s rights
  • At least three years of experience in conducting capacity development trainings on gender equality and women’s rights for various stakeholders.
  • Prior experience in working on CEDAW Convention, including the delivery of capacity development trainings will be an asset.
  • Prior experience in developing manuals, modules guidelines and alike on gender equality will be an asset.

Language and other skills

  • Fluency in Georgian and English

Evaluation Procedure

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:

  • At least master’s degree in law, Human Rights sociology, or related field
  • At least five years of work experience on gender equality and women’s rights
  • At least three years of experience in conducting capacity development trainings on gender equality and women’s rights for various stakeholders.
  • Fluency in Georgian and English

Technical evaluation criteria (including minimum qualifications):

  • At least master’s degree in law, Human Rights sociology, or related field  (max 80 points)
  • At least five years s of work experience on gender equality and women’s rights (max 80 points)
  • At least three years of experience in conducting capacity development trainings on gender equality and women’s rights for various stakeholders (max 50 points)
  • Prior experience in working on CEDAW Convention, including the delivery of capacity development trainings will be an asset (max 50 points)
  • Prior experience in developing manuals, modules guidelines and alike on gender equality will be an asset (max 60 points)
  • Fluency in Georgian (max 30 points)

Maximum total technical score amounts to 350 points. Only candidates who have passed over the minimum qualification criteria and have accumulated at least 245 points out of maximum 350 under technical evaluation will qualify for the next stage i.e. evaluation of their financial proposals.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 150

S – score received on financial evaluation;

Fmin – the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;

F – financial offer under consideration.

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

Management arrangements:

The contractor will report to and work under direct supervision of UN Women Governance & Participation in Public Life (G&PPL) Programme Analyst and under the overall supervision of the UN Women Deputy Country Representative.

Financial arrangements:

Payment will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women Programme Analyst that the services have been satisfactorily performed as specified below:

  • Deliverables 1 2 - 53 %
  • Deliverable 3,4,5 – 47 %

Application submission package:

Duly filled in Personal History Form PHF11 that can be downloaded from

  • CV including examples of the previous work.
  • Financial Proposal - lump sum proposal/offer* in USD (including breakdown of this lump sum amount indicating all necessary costs to complete this assignment).

*The applicants are required to submit an aggregated financial offer: “aggregated financial offer” is the total sum of all financial claims of the candidate, including travel costs (ticket, DSA etc.) for accomplishment of all tasks spelled out in this ToR.

How to Submit the Application:

  • Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process 
  • Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), CV and the Financial Proposal into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.
  • Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement).
  • Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
  • Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above).
  • You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

  • UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
  • Applications without the financial offer will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
  • The individual consultants should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of the assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.

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.).