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; 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 is partner 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 first-ever comprehensive State Strategy on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men by 2030 and the operational action plan on its implementation in 2022–2024 were adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in August 2022. The main goal of the Strategy is to reduce the actual inequality between women and men in all spheres of society and to ensure the implementation of international and European standards of equality. The result of the Strategy implementation should be the application of a systemic approach to the implementation of the national gender equality policy and the consolidation of the actions of central and local executive authorities, local self-government bodies, civil society and business entities to ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men in all spheres of society, including in addressing the consequences of the full-scale war.

The implementation of the Strategy contributes, in particular, to progress in the implementation by Ukraine of international treaties on human rights and women’s rights, including the Sustainable Development Goals, Beijing Declaration, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and Association Agreement between Ukraine, the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, and to the fulfilment of commitments taken as part of international initiatives, implementation of international standards, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Trade Organization regarding ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men, and raising Ukraine's positions in international rankings on gender equality.

In view of the challenges caused by the full-scale war on the territory of Ukraine, the Strategy provides for: integrating gender approaches in the processes of providing humanitarian aid, post-war reconstruction and development of Ukraine; meaningful participation of women in recovery processes, in particular in decision-making, at all levels (from the national to the community level); building the capacity of public officials to integrate a gender approach into recovery processes.

Ministry of Justise within its respective mandate is responsible for contribution to all 4 outcomes of the Strategy:

• National machinery for ensuring equal rights and opportunities of women and men operates effectively and has the capacity to support the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of gender equality policy in different areas of public life and at all levels
• Women and men are free from violence, in particular war and conflict related violence, have equal access to justice and participate on an equal basis in peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery
• Women and men enjoy equal rights and opportunities of human development in the field of education, healthcare, social protection, culture and sports
• Women and men participate in different areas of economic activity on an equal basis, benefit from the results of sustainable economic development and have equal access to all kinds of economic resources.

One of the leading functions of the Ministry of Justice within the GEWE area is conducting gender expertise of legislation, as defined by the Procedure for Gender Legal Expertise, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 28.11.2018 ? 997.  

Ministry of Justice has been also coordinating development of the National Human Rights Strategy and its Action Plan for 2021-2023. As part of UN Working Group on Human Rights, UN Women has been providing inputs to the Strategy and its Action Plan.  

Ministry of Justice is coordinating the work of government-donor Sectoral Working Group “Justice” where UN Women participates.  

As part of its work on supporting National Women’s Machinery institutions to further implement and better monitor gender equality commitments, as well as strengthen their accountability, UN Women project “Transformative Approaches to Achieving Gender Equality in Ukraine” is looking for a National Consultant to provide expert support to the Ministry of Justice on implementation of the State Strategy on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men.

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 the Ministry of Justice. The assignment will include but not be limited to the following tasks developed in coordination with the Ministry of Justice and UN Women:

1. Provide expert support in implementation of the State Strategy on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men until 2030 and its Action Plan  for 2022-2024.

1. Provide expert support in implementing internal mechanisms to prevent and respond to cases of gender-based discrimination and violence, including sexual harassment in the workplace.

1. Provide expert support on making gender budgeting analysis of programs and gender audit of Ministry of Justice policies to identify gaps that need to be addressed to.

1. Provide expert support and assistance in the development of knowledge products pertaining to gender equality and women’s empowerment, including rights of vulnerable groups and the mechanisms of their implementation, which could include gender-disaggregated data, studies, informational, analytical, thematic materials.

1. Provide recommendations to the policy documents, laws and regulations in the area of ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men in various areas of public life in terms of their compliance with international gender equality commitments with special focus on the rights of women facing multiple forms of discrimination.

1. Facilitation of elaboration and implementation of capacity development programs for the Ministry of Justice’s staff on integration of gender equality and protection of rights of women facing multiple forms of discrimination.

1. Facilitate different multi-stakeholder’s meetings organized by the Ministry of Justice on gender equality and women’s human rights with engagements of the women’s and human rights civil society organizations, governmental institutions on the national and regional level, local authorities and development partners.

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 three 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

Qualifications Education:

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

Experience:

• Minimum 3 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 documents and policy documents and providing policy gender-responsive recommendations on GEWE;
• Previous experience of providing advisory/technical support to the legislative and/or executive institutions, dealing with issues of human rights and GEWE;
• 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;
• Proven knowledge of human rights and GEWE international and national frameworks.

Languages and other skills: 

• Working level in verbal and written English and fluency 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).

Application and submission package:

All applications must include as one attachment:

1. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unwomen.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FHeadquarters%2FAttachments%2FSections%2FAbout%2520Us%2FEmployment%2FUN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK

1. Financial proposal (sample is provided below) completed and signed: The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (e.g. tele-communication, etc).

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 23:59 EET 23 July 2023 by submitting applications to the following e-mail address: hr.ukraine@unwomen.org with a subject “National Consultant on expert support to the Ministry of Justice on implementation of State Strategy on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men”.

Applications without P11 and financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

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.