Background

UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.  A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. 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; fosters women’s empowerment and equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, peace and security. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality, and in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda. The entity works to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals, and a more inclusive world. 

UN Women’s goal in Timor-Leste is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality as the country works towards sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development. This includes efforts to ensure women’s right to live free from any form of violence, efforts to advance women’s economic empowerment and women’s leadership and participation in support of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, and advance international agreements and commitments related to gender equality and women’s empowerment, including through adequate planning and budgeting. 

UN Women, through the WPS Programme, provides support to the Government of Timor-Leste in implementing its commitments on promoting gender equality and women’s rights in line with international, regional and national normative and legal frameworks, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Concluding Observation 2023, Beijing Platform for Action, UNSCR 1325, National Strategic Plan (2011-2030) and the NAP 1325.  In partnership with the Ministry of Interior, UN Women has been providing technical support to national security institutions and line ministries in the NAP 1325 structure in strengthening their capacities to plan, implement, finance, monitor and report their commitments in the NAP 1325 at both national and sub-national levels, in collaboration with the civil society organizations.

In the past decade, UN Women has been providing support to the Government of Timor-Leste and civil society organizations to promote gender mainstreaming in national security policies and reforms and advance women’s meaningful leadership in decision-making processes at all levels, towards accountable policy implementation, gender-responsive conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and to promote services that meet the security needs of women and girls in Timor-Leste. UN Women is working to promote the integration of women’s voices and concerns in peace and security policy formulation, implementation and monitoring, and promoting collaborative partnership and coalition-building among state, civil society and development partners for enhanced impact of conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and protection efforts across sectors.

In November 2022, the ASEAN agreed, in principle, to admit Timor-Leste as the 11th member of the ASEAN. A road map for the full membership of Timor-Leste in the ASEAN was adopted in May 2023. Timor-Leste demonstrates its full commitment in advancing regional WPS agenda and promoting the WPS localization in Timor-Leste. UN Women continues its support to Timor-Leste in preparing the accession to the ASEAN, and implementing the second NAP 1325 contributing to ASEAN’s Regional Plan of Action on WPS. In addition, UN Women works with the Government of Timor-Leste and the civil society to promote and strengthen regional and cross-sectoral exchange of experience, lessons learnt and good practices on WPS and humanitarian actions.

In this regard, UN Women Timor-Leste seeks to recruit an international consultant to provide technical support in fostering gender equality in all aspects of governance, peace and security.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Objectives of the assignment

The overall objectives of the consultancy assignment is to support UN Women in implementing and coordinating the Governance, Peace and Security Programme by supporting programme planning and implementation, supporting capacity development of relevant stakeholders, and building partnership, conducting research and supporting advocacy, and facilitating the sectoral coordination. The International Consultant will be based in Dili during the entire period of the assignment, and may be required to travel to other municipalities and other countries outside of Timor-Leste for work if needed.

1. Scope of Work/Duties and Responsibilities             

Under overall guidance and direct supervision of the UN Women Head of Office, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

1. Provide technical support to Governance, Peace and Security programme planning, implementation, and monitoring and reporting.
2. Provide technical support to promote women’s leadership in the decision-making roles at the national and sub-national level. Provide training to develop capacity of women leaders and gender champions in the NAP 1325 Structure, and in the National Parliament on gender equality, WPS, and women’s empowerment and leadership.
3. Support the development of institutional capacity development plans for national counterparts on WPS, including within the security sector, and provide support in capacity development.
4. Support the development of UN Women programming relating to Governance, Peace and Security, such as providing dedicated research support, as well as drafting of project proposals, concept notes, talking points, presentations, and briefs.
5. Conduct needs and impact assessment if needed, and support the development of relevant knowledge products and programme development documents on Governance, Peace and Security.
6. Conduct consultation with women-focused organizations and women’s rights organizations and other stakeholders active in the WPS to determine and align advocacy messages.

1. Duration of the assignment

The total duration of the contract assignment will be 4 months, between 1 August to 30 November 2023, with possible extension. The consultancy in mainly based in Dili, with official mission to municipalities, and other countries outside of Dili, if necessary.

1. Expected Deliverables

The International Consultant is expected to submit monthly reports on: 

• Technical support provided to the Governance, Peace and Security programmes in terms of project development, implementation, monitoring and reporting;
• Technical inputs into concept notes, proposals, background briefs for Governance, Peace and Security programme;
• A brief capturing lessons learned, good practices, and challenges related to implementation of gender-responsive actions on Governance, Peace and Security;
• Technical support and capacity strengthening support provided to key stakeholders from the Government and civil society organizations;
• Training packages for the implementation of programmes relating to Governance, Peace and Security; and
• Technical inputs into UN Women’s workplans and related programme documents when requested.

All the documents, including the project proposal, training materials and reports should be written in English.

Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the installment, the deliverables, related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women within one week of submission.

1. Inputs

• The consultant will cover the cost of international travel from her/his home country to Dili.
• The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer, but may access the UN Women office for printing of relevant documents.
• UN Women will cover the cost of translation and printing of training materials and training venue as required throughout the duration of the assignment. UN Women will also cover the cost of travel and DSA for the travel to other municipalities out of Dili, and other countries outside of Timor-Leste.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• 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:

• Strong commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women, with demonstrated experience of researching or working on gender issues;
• Strong research and writing skills, with strong analytical skills and creative thinking;
• Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail;
• Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Previous experience (also volunteer experience) from the non-profit sector is an advantage.
• Ability to multi-task and address competing priorities
• Ability to produce quality deliverables in a timely manner
• Strong computer skills, including Word, Excel, and Power Point

Required Skills and Experience

1. Performance evaluation:

Contractor’s performance will be evaluated based on: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

IIX. Required experience and qualifications

The consultant should fulfill the following requirements:

Education

• A Master’s degree in law, gender studies, humanitarian affairs, human rights, social science and/or any relevant field directly related to gender and humanitarian action, or a first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience and skills

• Minimum 3 years of progressively responsible, relevant work experience at national or international level in the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of programmes to promote gender equality, and/or governance, peace and security programmes. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Demonstrated experience in coordinating with governments and civil society in programme implementation, monitoring and reporting, and conducting research.
• Experience in writing project proposals, donor reports, and policy briefs.
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset.
• Working experience in Asia-Pacific, particularly Timor-Leste, is an asset. Knowledge of Timor-Leste’s context or experience in the country would be an added advantage.

Language and other skills

• Excellent command of written English.
• Ability to communicate in Tetum would be an added advantage
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.

Interested candidates are requested to submit electronic application to UNDP Job Site no later than 24 July 2023.
 

Submission of package         

1. Cover letter & Copy of the latest academic certificate
2. CVs or P11, including contact information for 3 references;
3. Financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per month and/ or the daily professional fee in USD and other related admin & travel costs.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the CVs or P11 and the financial proposal.

Please note that the submission package needs to be uploaded in one file/ document to UNDP Job site

Selected candidates will need to submit prior to commencement of work:

1. UN Women P-11 form, available from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
2. A statement from a medical doctor of ‘good health and fit for travel’.
3. For any travel outside of Dili, UN Women will require the consultant to provide the certificate proving completion of BSafe training (see trip.dss.un.org).

1. Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically-qualified candidate.

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the price component is 100.
• 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 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

1. Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

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.)