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. Women’s leadership and political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work as mandated in its inception, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. Through its Leadership and Governance section, UN Women works to implement Output 4 of the Entity’s Strategic Plan 2018-21 “More women of all ages fully participate, lead and engage in political institutions and processes”.

To promote the leadership and participation of women in all levels of decision-making processes, UN Women works with a range of stakeholders including women leaders and aspiring candidates, national parliaments and parliamentarians, political parties, media, civil society organizations, and electoral management bodies, in coordination with UN partner Entities, through a wide range of interventions which include: i) support gender responsive legal reforms, and institutional processes to advance women’s participation and representation (including initiatives to address violence against women in politics); ii) build capacities of women leaders and aspiring candidates; iii) promote change of gender norms through advocacy and outreach initiatives targeting communities, political leaders and the media; iv) and support women leaders in gender responsive political institutions.

UN Women conducted a study on VAWP that generates the evidence on the most critical barriers to women’s political participation and leadership in local government in Kyrgyzstan, that will guide the efforts of UN Women and its partners to promote and support women’s political empowerment and participation.

UN Women Kyrgyzstan CO is looking for a National Consultant to support the CO in WiL Program development, including Training Programme, with a particular focus on the capacity building of women and decision-makers from a behavioral science perspective.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Scope of work, duties, and responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Head of Programmes, the National Consultant will provide advisory services on development of the Programme Documents and the Training Programme that will integrate behaviour science in women's leadership. The WiL Programme and the Training Programme are the components of implementation of the State Programme on Women Leadership, adopted by the Cabinet of Ministries of the Kyrgyz Republic in November 2023.

Specifically, the consultant will support UN Women to build the capacity of partners from the government sector, civil society, and development partners on insights of women leadership and develop behaviour change part of the program together with the International Consultant. This consultancy is aimed to not only gather valuable insights on women’s leadership, but also to create a learning environment. The responsibilities will include the following:

A. Conduct co-creation workshop aiming to define priorities and objectives of the WiL Programme with relevant partners having an experience of promoting women leadership in different sectors.

1. Identify and compile a list of partners working in the area of WiL promotion in Kyrgyzstan, review their programmes, including capacity building activities, from the perspectives of adaptive leadership competencies and skills building.
2. Develop the Agenda of Co-creation workshop jointly with International Consultant and UN Women CO
3. Conduct co-creation workshop by co-facilitating sessions with the group of facilitators.
4. Develop the WiL Programme document by summarizing the findings of the co-creation workshop and using defined ideas as the conceptual basis for programme document.

B. Develop the Training Programme on WiL as part of implementation of the capacity-building component in the framework of the State Women Leadership Programme.

1. Review the existing training programmes on WiL, work closely with an International Consultant to define gaps in training programmes related to adaptive capacity building
2. Develop the Training Programme on WiL based on the findings of Co-creation workshop and the results of the review of existing programmes. Work closely with the International Consultant to integrate behavioral science principles into the programme sessions, with a specific emphasis on enhancing leadership skills among women leaders.  The behavioral science session needs to be both informative and experiential, equipping UN Women staff, partners, women leaders with the necessary tools to navigate and thrive in leadership roles.
3. Conduct TOT to pilot test the Training Programme with participation of the training team of the Academy of Training of Civil Servants
4. Finalise the Training Programme based on the findings of the TOT, support the team of the Academy to integrate the training programme into the curricular of the Academy.
5. Develop the Report with all findings in the process of programme document and training programme development.

V. Key Deliverables, Timeframe and Payments

Payment for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payment will be based on the submission of the SSA report along with the timesheet:

VI. Supervision

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Head of Programmes and will also work closely with the Head of Office. The deliverables are subject to further refining and changes upon agreement with the supervisor. 

Inputs:

• UN Women NPO will facilitate travel arrangements (national) and provide DSA as per actual cost, based on a mutually agreed travel plan.
• UN Women will provide the Consultant with relevant background materials and programme documents for the needs of the assignment. Specifically, UN Women will provide access to relevant training materials, reports, research and data.
• It is the Consultant’s responsibility to arrange private insurance.
• The Consultant will be required to provide a Statement of Good Health, endorsed by a certified Medical Practitioner.

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling UN Women values and ethical standards.
• Demonstrates a commitment to UN Women’s mission and vision.
• Able to work effectively within a team.
• Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability.
• Able to multi-task and juggle competing demands.
• Can assess and prioritize work needs quickly.
• Able to relate to external partners, including other international organizations and agencies, NGOs, grassroots community groups, etc.

Functional Competencies

• Sound practical knowledge of behaviour science within organizational culture, preferably on women’s political participation, and knowledge on prevention and mitigation of violence against women in elections/politics is an asset.
• Results based management skills.
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds, demonstrating excellent interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to produce well-written reports and/or programme documents demonstrating analytical ability.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Experience in working with UN Women or UN or international NGOs on women’s political participation, diversity or gender equality is an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications and skills:

• Master’s degree in political science, Sociology, International Relations, Law or relevant field.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written.
• Computer literacy (minimum MS Word, Excel).

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in qualitative research in the areas of women’s political participation, or social science.
• Experience of development of Training Programmes on the topics of gender responsive governance, women leadership, etc.
• Demonstrable knowledge of gender equality issues.
• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights, elections and related instruments.
• Experience engaging with multiple stakeholders including governments, CSOs particularly women’s organizations, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions.
• Experience in working as part of a research team.

Language: Fluency in oral and written English, and Russian is an asset.

Proposal

Candidate’s proposals should include:

1. P-11
2. Cover letter outlining the submitter’s qualifications and interest in the consultancy.
3. A Financial Proposal covering all costs including – daily fee, travel, insurance, and all other costs (in USD) required for the candidate to complete the above deliverables in the timeframe provided.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates must submit the following documents/information in a single PDF file to demonstrate their qualifications to the email the request came from:

• Completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from:  http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• A sample of original research piece where the applicant is the lead author/research member.
• A separate page of financial proposal, proposing total lump-sum figure with breakdown of professional fee per deliverable.

The financial proposal must be submitted in a separate page using the following template.

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, please combine all your documents into one single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form and written sample will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process. Applicants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications/skills and their financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive to and compliant with the ToR; and
• Having received the highest score out of below combined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 56 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

• Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

The financial proposal of candidates who meet the technical assessment threshold will be evaluated.  The total number of points allocated for the financial proposal is 30. In this methodology, 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 formula is as follows:

p = y (µ/z)

Where:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

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.

UN Women is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals especially women are highly encouraged to apply.