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. As the United Nations continues to convene talks in Geneva under the framework of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), it recognizes the importance of a fully inclusive process to ensure that the voices and views of Syrian women are heard, consistent with the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012 and Security Council Resolutions 2122 and 1325, including in the context of the ongoing constitutional process.
UN Women over the past six years has been supporting the Syrian political process, including through building a wide range of Syrian women civil society leaders and organizations to ensure their engagement in peacemaking and peacebuilding. UN Women continues to support Syrian women’s leadership and effective engagement in the peace process through support to the Women’s Advisory Board (WAB); as well as through supporting Syrian civil society more broadly to create a strong cadre of women leaders. UN Women also supports coordination and provides balanced gender analysis of the conflict and humanitarian situation in Syria, and coordination with other actors supporting Syrian women’s participation in the political process and humanitarian response.
Against this background, UN Women is seeking two Interpreters and Translators (Arabic-English; English-Arabic) to support the implementation of various programme activities. The Interpreters and Translators will provide interpretation services (in-person and virtual) for high-level meetings, events, and workshops as well as written translation of documents produced under the auspices of the programme.

The Interpreters and Translators will be engaged under a retainer contract and is expected to provide high quality Arabic to English and English to Arabic interpretation (simultaneous and/or consecutive) and written translation services for UN Women on a per assignment basis.

Main Objectives and Purpose of the Consultancy
•Provide simultaneous and/or consecutive interpretation (Arabic-English, English-Arabic) at in personor virtual meetings, workshops, and events;
•Provide written translation (Arabic-English, English-Arabic) for a range of documents, including briefs,papers, presentations, meeting notes etc.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Interpreters and Translators will work under a retainer contract. Individual assignments will vary in form, ranging from a half day to a week or more. Assignments can include translation of documents, simultaneous or consecutive interpretation (in person and virtual) at events meetings and workshops, or any combination of these duties. Travel may be required for some assignments. For any travel required, UN Women will cover costs in line with internal travel policies and guidelines.
UN Women Regional Office of the Arab States will identify in advance translation/interpretation assignments, ascertain whether the hired consultants are available during the time period of the assignment, and clearly inform the hired consultants of the nature, timeframe, and expected outputs for each assignment. Flexibility is expected as the nature of the programme is responsive and often evolves to respond to contextual needs and demands. After completion of the assignment, the consultant will be required to submit an invoice detailing the time spent on the task and/or the number of pages/words translated.

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.

Functional Competencies:

• Substantial experience providing interpretation and translation services for UN agencies, Member-States and International Organizations;
• Strong understanding of terminology related to gender equality, women’s rights, WPS, and the UN systems in English and Arabic.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in English, interpretation/translation, or other related field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in translation and simultaneous/consecutive interpretation (English-Arabic, Arabic-English);
• Familiarity with terminology related to gender equality, women's rights, and Women, Peace and Security in the context of Syria in English and Arabic;
• Familiarity with the UN system and its terminology in English and Arabic;
• Ability to meet deadlines on time;
• Punctuality in attending events;
• Computer skills, internet communication (including use of online interpretation features on platforms such as Zoom, Interprefy, WebEx, etc.), and command of MS Office.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

Evaluation Criteria:

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Technical Evaluation (70%) split such as:

• Education: 30% (30 points)
• Professional Experience & background: 40%;(40 points) should detail work experience, specifically experience which is relevant to the consultancy requirements indicated above.

Financial Evaluation (30%)

• The cover note should include the financial proposal (in USD), including.

Written translation:

• Arabic to English: Price per page of 250 words;
• English to Arabic: Price per page of 250 words.

Consecutive interpretation: Full-day rate and half-day rate.

Simultaneous interpretation: Full-day rate and half-day rate.

• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:
• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest BidOffered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• Lowest Bid Offered 'refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application Information:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

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).