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 work in Ukraine focuses on supporting the government and civil society in advancing gender equality and implementation of the national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s human rights. UN Women Ukraine implements interventions on the following four thematic priorities: Peace and Security, Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction;           Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and Women; Women’s Economic Empowerment; Governance and Participation in Public Life. UN Women works closely with the UN Country Team in integration of women’s rights and gender equality in all spheres of UN work. The 2023 Strategic Note is aligned with the UN Transitional Framework covering the following areas: Humanitarian Response; Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus and Early Recovery.

UN Women works in integration of women’s rights and gender equality in governance, in particular within its project “Transformative Approaches to Achieving Gender Equality in Ukraine”, funded by Sweden, aimed at employing transformative approaches to the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment through removing the root causes, structural barriers, and restrictive social norms, that underpin the persistence of gender inequalities in various areas of life. The project has partnered with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration (DPMO) and engage the following key institutions at the same time: the government, the parliament, women’s organizations, media and the private sector.  

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is one of the project government partners, responsible for implementation of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) at all levels. The MoF has been working on introducing GRB with the support of the “Gender Budgeting in Ukraine” Project (2014-2020), funded by Sweden and implemented by NIRAS. In 2014, the GoU began piloting and introducing gender-oriented approaches, particularly by supporting gender analysis of budget programs at the state and local levels (oblasts, rayons, cities, amalgamated territorial communities). In 2018-2019, the approach was rolled out to all the ministries and 38 Key Spending Units (KSU) at the state level. More than 200 budget programs at both state and local level have been analysed from a gender perspective since 2014[1].

The MoF initiated the institutionalization of GRB by: (i) including the principle of GRB in the Strategy for Public Financial Management Reforms 2017-2020, (ii) committing to GRB implementation as part of the Medium-Term Planning and Program Performance Budgeting, (iii) adopting the Order on Methodological Recommendations on Implementing and Using the Gender Responsive Approach in the Budget Process, providing recommendations on GRB to all the KSU. In addition, the first medium-term Budget Declaration for 2018-2020 included gender consideration and stated that key spending units should adhere to the principle of ensuring equal rights and opportunities of women and men in the formulation of budget indicators[2].

To amplify these efforts, UN Women is looking for a National Consultant to provide expert support with facilitation of programme interventions on planning, coordination and implementation of GRB processes at all levels, and providing policy advice and technical support on GRB to government partners, including development of policy frameworks and methodological guidelines, conducting gender analysis, capacity development and advocacy and communication activities, and any other related tasks.

[1] UKRAINE PEFA Gender Responsive Public Financial Management Assessment 2020 Final report, 9 February 2021: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a85d6aad-47fc-5a30-a1d6-ecb60ff95da3/content

[2] Ibid.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist/Project Manager, the National Consultant will provide expert support to UN Women Ukraine CO. The Consultant is also expected to work in close coordination with the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine (MoF). The assignment will include but not be limited to the following tasks:

1. Provide expert, coordination, and technical support to UN Women Ukraine CO on planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programme interventions related to GRB component;
2. Provide policy advice to government partners on development/revision of normative frameworks, policy documents, methodological guidelines and tools an effective implementation of GRB principles in the budgetary process at the state, regional and local levels;
3. Provide expert support with conducting gender analysis of selected budgetary programs and sex-disaggregated data (upon the request from the MoF and/or other government partners), contribute with gender-responsive recommendations to advance GEWE in sectorial programs;  

4. Provide expert support on developing/updating capacity development programs and knowledge products on GRB, facilitate organization of tailored training activities on GRB for government representatives (in coordination with National Agency for Civil Service, if needed).

5. Establish cooperation and build synergies between the MoF and other government institutions to facilitate the GRB process at all levels, including regional and local authorities. Organize regular multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral expert groups and consultations to strengthen synergy among the Government and development partners;

1. Organize the engagement with the civil society and women’s groups to contribute to the government-civil society dialogue on the benefits of GRB, monitoring and evaluation of its results at different levels;
2. Contribute to development of communication materials and advocacy efforts of UN Women CO and government partners to promote GRB at all levels.

Assignment Deliverables:

*All reports should be submitted in English language and include the full set of supporting documents, such as analytical briefs, meeting notes, concept notes and agendas, handouts and lists of participants, etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian.

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment.
• The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer.

Performance evaluation:

• Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, efficiency, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager which will also be the basis for payment on a delivery by delivery basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

• Payment will be disbursed in ten installments upon receipt of the deliverables (as per above matrix) and their certification by UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Competencies

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

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience:

Qualifications Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in Public Policy and Administration, Public Finance, Economics, Social Sciences or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience (after Master’s degree) in human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) or other related fields;
• Proven experience with conducting gender analysis of normative and policy documents, sectorial budgetary programs and sex-disaggregated data, and providing policy gender-responsive recommendations on advancement of GEWE;
• Proven experience of providing advisory/technical support on GRB to government institutions; previous experience with the Ministry of Finance will be considered as an asset;
• Experience with support of coordination of multiple stakeholders’ activities and liaise with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, including development partners, and civil society; experience with UN Women and other UN agencies will be considered as an asset;

Languages and other skills: 

• Fluency in verbal and written English and Ukrainian is required. 

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications (including an interview) and a financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal (including an interview) being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable.
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria and interview - 70% of total evaluation (max 45 points for technical criteria and max 25 points for interview). Total max 70 points:

• The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 45. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.
• Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30
• (S - score received on financial evaluation; F min - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round; F - financial offer under the consideration).

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown on the following table is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal

1. Cost Breakdown per Deliverables*

*Basis for payment tranches

UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.