Background

I. Organizational Context

UN Women (the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of 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.

In line with UN Women Global Strategic Plan (2022-2025), and its Country Strategic Note (2022-2025), in Türkiye UN Women works towards three overarching goals:  

1) Women lead, participate in, and benefit equally from governance systems.  

2) All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence. 

3) Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action.  

Towards these goals, UN Women implements programmes and projects that aim to advance gender equality, improve women’s access to opportunities, rights and services in political, social and economic life and combat gender stereotypes, discrimination and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments. UN Women collaborates with numerous partners – central and local level government authorities, civil society organizations, including women’s organizations and platforms, academia, private sector companies, other UN agencies. It commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle, by supporting targeted actions to remove the obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women face in accessing their rights and to promote them as agents of change. 

Globally and in Türkiye, UN Women engages with and supports civil society organizations (CSOs), in particular women's organizations, as key advocacy and knowledge partners, as well as implementing partners in operational activities in advancing women's economic, political and social rights. UN Women's work with civil society encompasses facilitating and expanding spaces for CSOs to come together for coordinated actions and to engage in dialogue with duty-bearers and decision-makers at local, national, regional and international levels, and in the context of inter-governmental processes. UN Women is focused on convening multi-stakeholder partnerships and engaging a wide variety of stakeholders, including men and boys and young people, to bring forth transformative change towards gender equality, in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Sustainable Development Goals and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Under this framework, UN Women is implementing `Strengthening civil society capacities and multi-stakeholder partnerships to advance women's rights and gender equality in Türkiye-Strong Civic Space for Gender Equality`, funded by the European Union. The overall objective of the project, to be implemented until October 2024 is to reduce gender inequalities by enhancing the ability of CSOs in Türkiye to be agents of transformative change towards gender equality and women's rights. The specific objective is "Women's rights groups, women-led CSOs and other relevant rights-based CSOs more effectively influence the gender equality and women's empowerment agenda at the national and local levels."

Within the scope of the Project, UN Women is partnering with ?6 women’s civil society organizations in the implementation of programmatic initiatives to address persistent gender inequalities and rights violations, exacerbated by COVID-19 and after Kahramanmaras earthquakes in February 2023. ? These projects implemented at the national level are in the following thematic areas:

• Elimination of violence against women and girls
• Increasing women’s access to justice and human rights mechanisms
• Advancing women’s economic empowerment
• Enhancing women’s leadership and meaningful participation in climate action
• Advancing youth’s transformative role in gender equality

Partnership agreements with women/women-led CSOs that were signed in 2021 and 2022 as a result of a competitive selection process, contribute to the achievement of the project Output: “Women’s rights/women-led civil society organizations and other relevant rights-based CSOs in Türkiye have increased resources and capacities to advance the rights of women and girls in fields where gender gaps persist in line with Türkiye’s national and international commitments and in consideration of COVID-19 impacts.” The partner CSOs) are required to submit financial and technical quarterly progress reports to evidence the effectiveness of the implementation and tAo fulfill the principles of transparency and accountability of financial expenditures. UN Women Project Team is providing continuous technical support to the CSOs for the submission of reports in a timely, relevant and accurate manner.

To support the team in realizing this task UN Women seeks to hire a national consultant for 80 non-consecutive days between 02 January  2024 to 31 July  2024. The consultant is expected to provide substantive and technical support to UN Women Project Team and to the CSOs implementing joint programmes as per the functions specified under part II.

Duties and Responsibilities

II. Functions

Within the scope of the assignment, under the direct supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist and in close collaboration with the Programme Analyst and UN Women staff, the national consultants will be responsible for the below listed generic tasks:

• Task 1: Provide substantive support, regular guidance and advice to the CSOs for the financial management of the joint programmes as per the agreed project budgets.
• Task 2:  Provide guidance and substantive support to partner CSOs which are implementing joint projects in the thematic areas to submit quality and timely progress, final and financial reports, as well as any ad hoc report required. Partner CSOs will submit quarterly progress reports and financial reports (approximately 6 reports per project).
• Task 3: Provide technical support to UN Women Türkiye Office to review project progress and financial reports submitted by the Partner CSOs.
• Task 4: Provide technical and substantive support to UN Women for the monitoring of the Partner Agreements in the thematic areas implemented in different cities in Türkiye through meetings via online tools e.g. Zoom, prepare checklists and minutes and follow-up with the CSOs to implement the agreed action points emanating from the monitoring activities.
• Task 5: Provide expertise and input to the formulation and delivery of online/offline capacity development workshops on financial management organized by UN Women.

III. Deliverables and Payment Schedule

Duration of the assignment is from 02 January 2024 to 31 July 2024. The Consultant is expected to dedicate approximately 11-12 working days per month on average for this assignment and to spend up to 80 working days on a non - consecutive basis throughout the assignment.

Expected Deliverables and Payment Schedule:

The following table summarizes the main activities and expected deliverables against the targeted submission deadlines and indicative working days to be invested by the Consultant.

IV. Key Performance Indicators

• Adherence to UN Women mandate, standards and rules.
• Timely and quality delivery of the progress and financial reports submitted by the Partner CSOs
• Timely technical support to UN Women staff for the financial management of the Partner CSOs.
• Positive feedbacks from the Partner CSOs regarding the substantive support provided by the Consultants.

Competencies

V. 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

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Programme formulation and implementation skills
• Knowledge of Results Based Management
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf (unwomen.org)

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.)  

Required Skills and Experience

Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template

The prospective Individual Consultant should take the following explanations into account during submission of his/her price proposal.

1.       Daily fee

The daily price proposal should indicate a "lump sum amount" which is "all-inclusive"; All costs (professional fees, communications, consumables during field related missions, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor needs to be factored into the proposed price.

UN Women will not withhold any amount of the payments for tax and/or social security related payments. UN Women shall have no liability for taxes, duties or other similar charges payable by the Individual Contractor in respect of any amounts paid to the Individual Contractor under this Contract, and the Contractor acknowledges that UN Women will not issue any statements of earnings to the Individual contractor in respect of any such payments.

2.       Travel costs

        This is a home-based assignment with no travel foreseen. In case of an unforeseen travel, UN Women Turkey Office will cover    the organization and the costs of the consultant’s travel as per UN Women’s rules and regulations. UN Women will not cover transportation cost within duty station including the taxi costs.

3.       Daily Subsistence Allowance

Not applicable.

4.       Currency of the price proposal

The applicants are requested to submit their price proposals in Turkish Liras.

Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form

To: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Ref: National Consultant for Supporting the Financial Management of Civil Society Organizations

Dear  Madam/Sir,

I, the undersigned, offer to provide professional consulting services to UN Women within the scope of the referred Assignment.

Having examined, understood and agreed to the Terms of Reference and its annexes,

the receipt of which are hereby duly acknowledged, I, the undersigned, offer to deliver professional services, in conformity with the Terms of Reference.

Based on the deliverables and estimated working days summarized in the ToR, my maximum total price proposal for the assignment is given below:

I confirm that my financial proposal will remain unchanged for 120 days. I also confirm that the price that I quote is gross, and is inclusive of all legal expenses, including but not limited to social security, income tax, pension, etc., which shall be required applicable laws.

I agree that my proposal shall remain binding upon me for 120 days.

I understand that you are not bound to accept any proposal you may receive.

[Signature]

Date:

Name:

Address:

Telephone/Fax:

E-mail: