Background

In the context of the long-standing cooperation of the EU Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic and the UN Women on gender issues, UN Women CO and the EU Delegation to the Kyrgyzstan are planning to develop Country Gender Equality Profile of Kyrgyzstan. Based on both statistical and qualitative data, Country Gender Equality Profile will form an analytical document to provide an understanding of the current context in relation to gender equality and women’s empowerment, including an overview of opportunities to address the gaps in the implementation of the National Gender Equality Strategy identified through in-depth analysis in the following thematic areas:

1. Gender-based violence
2. Sexual and reproductive health and rights of women
3. Women’s Economic Empowerment (economic and social rights of women)
4. Equal participation and leadership of women
5. Women in peace and security, including conflict gender analysis in Batken region
6. Gender Equality and climate change including water and other natural resources management
7. Gender and Digitalization

The Country gender Equality Profile will serve as analytical and operational document which will be framed against international norms and standards on Gender equality and Women’s Empowerment and the national/international commitments made, including the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (PFA) and other relevant UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security (where applicable) and agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as well as other significant commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment made in the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction etc.

The gender analysis included in the Country Gender Equality Profile is expected to support the government of the Kyrgyz Republic to identify the key gender equality issues, barriers and challenges thus to accelerate the advancement of gender equality corresponding to implementation of National Gender Equality Strategy till 2030 and it’s NAP.  The analytical document will also assist the EU programming exercise in the context of the Multi-annual Indicative Programme during 2021- 2027 and EU Gender Action Plan 2020-2025 (GAP-III) for the Kyrgyz Republic.

The Country Gender Equality Profile will generate the findings and recommendations to target national policy reform based on holistic and robust analysis on gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as deep analysis on the root causes of 7 thematic areas which will be backed by accurate quantitative and qualitative gender statistics.

Therefore, The Country Gender Equality Profile is expected to strengthen national understanding and data on the advancement of international and national commitments towards GEWE and contribute to the design of national policy interventions that can accelerate progress towards achieving national SDGs by 2030 in the Kyrgyz Republic. To implement this initiative, UN Women CO in Kyrgyzstan on behalf of UN system in Kyrgyz Republic and EU Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic is seeking for the expertise of a National Gender Expert to develop Country Gender Equality Profile.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Regional Statistics Specialist, UN Women Country Office in Kyrgyzstan, and Macro-economist/Public Finance  Management Programme Officer at EU Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic; and under substantive leadership of the CGEP International Lead Consultant and in coordination with Gender Consultant, the Consultant will develop the Country Gender Equality Profile.

Duties and Responsibilities

Within the assignment, the Consultant will be responsible for the following activities:

• Prepare the detailed work plan including the division of responsibilities within the team, methodology and timeframe in line with Concept Note of Country Gender Equality Profile.
• Undertake initial desk review of existing background literature, including reports, analyses and assessments.
• Based on desk review, lead the work on the assessment of gender data gaps and compilation of data from different sources (global, regional, national) to be used for CGEP.
• To liaise with National Statistical Committee and other ministries and agencies to collect additional data to be used for each thematic area
• Support the National Gender Consultant to  lead  at least 5 Focus Group Discussions/interviews with relevant stakeholders (government, SCOs, academia, etc.)
• Provide quality inputs to develop and finalize the Country Gender Equality Profile, including statistical annexes, tables, charts, etc. as per agreed methodology.
• Support the National Gender Consultant to compile and review the first and second draft of CGEP based on UN Women and task force group’s comments.
• Support the National Gender Consultant to facilitate the Expert Task Force’s consultation and validation meetings. Where necessary, attend and contribute to the launch event to present the country profile disseminating the findings and recommendations therein.

• Timeframe, payments and deliverables

  The duration of the consultancy is through 15 February 2024 for up to 15 fee days:

  The payments will be made in KGS at the UN Operational Rate for Exchange (UNORE) effective at the month of payment and in two instalments per reported number of fee days based on submitted and approved deliverables, as follows:

  Deliverables	Number of fee    days	Activities	Target Date
  Detailed work plan outlining the division of responsibilities within the team including the timeframe	Up to 13 days	Discussion and finalization of Working Plan and Working Method	By 29 September 2023
  Inception report, including identified data gaps and recommendations to address them. The desk phase should include a thorough analysis of all existing documents available. The resulting report will set out the precise methodology and plan for the analysis.		Data Collection	By 31 October 2023
  Final Country Gender Equality Profile including the set of conclusion and recommendations and report on consultation process submitted and approved by UN Women and EU Delegation to Kyrgyzstan		The final report submitted and approved to UN Women and EU Delegation	By 12 December 2023
  Validation workshop		Expert-level workshop	By 19 December 2023
  Presentation of Country Gender Equality Profile	Up to 2 days	Event on joint launching of CGEP	By 15 February 2024

  Reporting requirements:

  The National Gender Consultant is expected to work remotely using her/his own computer but may access the UN Women office to print relevant documents or whenever required to work on-site at any point during the assignment. UN Women and EU Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic will provide required logistical support to organize events/ activities within the scope of this assignment, and may provide support to coordinate activities with NSC, when and if required.

  Consultancy report should be provided in both in printed and electronic versions in Russian with detailed description of the fulfilled tasks, according to the present Term of Reference, and the contribution of the expert. Analytical documents, reports and other materials developed by expert should be attached to the report as annexes, which will serve as a justification for payment.

Competencies

Core Values:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Respect for Diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff.
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrate and integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards.
• Knowledge of the social, cultural, and political context of Kyrgyzstan and local issues of gender, public policy and governance
• Strong written/oral communication and training skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Competencies in coordination, planning and teamwork
• A commitment to quality product and deadlines

Required Skills and Experience

Application procedure:

Applications should include:

• Offeror's letter to UN Women confirming interest and availability for the assignment.
• Financial proposal, indicating a total lump sum to include all costs relating to the delivery of activities as per above description.
• P-11 form including experience in similar assignments. This form can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment.

Financial proposal format:

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant during the contract period. The financial proposal should be provided in KGS. If the proposal is provided in any other currency, it would be converted as per UN exchange rate on the date of post closure.

Evaluation of applicants

The evaluation starts with shortlisting of potential candidates and received applications against the mandatory requirements. Only full applications will be considered. Shortlisted candidates will be then evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants' technical qualifications and experience, and financial proposal. The contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Technically responsive/compliant/acceptable to the requirements of the ToR; and
• Having received the highest cumulative (technical & financial) score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

• The selection of candidates will be done in 2 stages:

  1st stage: Technical Evaluation/ Desk review.

   The candidates will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Criteria	Weight	Max. Point
  Technical	70%	70
  Education:	10%	Maximum 10 points, including:
  University degree in data/statistics or other social sciences fields relevant to the requirements of the TOR. Master degree will be taken as advantage	10%	10
  Experience, including:	40%	Maximum 40 points, including:
  At least 7 years of experience in the field of data and research on GEWE related topics.	15%	15
  At least 5 years of experience in working with data and statistics to inform policy making, monitoring and evaluation	15%	15
  Previous experience with National Statistical System of Kyrgyzstan is a strong advantage	10%	10
  Skills and knowledge, including:	5%	Maximum 5 points, including:
  Computer literacy ability to effectively use computers, including advance Excel skills and and/or knowledge of related analytical software (SPSS, Stata etc.) and standard applications for concise communication and development of complex written documentation	5	5
  Language Requirements	15%	Maximum 15 points, including:
  Fluency in Russian: 5 points – fluently, 0 points – not fluently	5%	5
  Working knowledge of Kyrgyz, 5 points – working knowledge, 0 points – not fluently	5%	5
  Working knowledge of English, 5 points – working knowledge, 0 points – not fluently	5%	5
  Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points out of 70 points at the Technical Evaluation/ Interview will be considered for the Financial Evaluation
  Financial	30%	30

2nd stage: Financial evaluation will be conducted according to the method described below:

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)

Where:

p - points for the financial proposal being evaluated;

µ - price of the lowest priced proposal;

z - price of the proposal being evaluated

The candidate achieving the highest cumulative score for both Technical and Financial evaluations will be recommended by the Evaluation Committee for contracting.

The Consultant shall promote a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations and commits to high standards of quality, productivity and timeliness in the delivery of tasks. The Consultant will meet and apply the highest standards of integrity and impartiality.

The Consultant must be fully dedicated to the mandate and the values of UN Women, particularly to promoting Gender Equality as a strategy to reduce conflict, improve livelihoods and ensure fairness and justice; to Women Empowerment underpinning Gender Equality promotion efforts; to inter-ethnic tolerance and concord; and to respect for diversity.

Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.  Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

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 is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.)

Applications without the completed P-11 form are incomplete and will NOT be considered for further assessment!