Antecedentes
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. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
UN Women Albania is implementing its Strategic Note (SN) 2022-2026, which aims to ensure that “All Women and girls enjoy and exercise their human rights in a gender equal society and meaningfully contribute to Albania’s sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development and EU integration”. To achieve such a result, UN Women will focus on three outcomes, which mirror verbatim the areas of focus of the United Nations Albania:
1. Increased and more equitable investment in people to remove barriers and create opportunities for those at risk of exclusion.
2. Innovative and integrated policy solutions that accelerate sustainable, productive and inclusive development.
3. Gender-responsive governance that strengthens equality and non-discrimination.
In Albania, the tourism sector is a major and continuously growing contributor to the country’s economic development. In the first nine months of 2023 over 8 million tourists visited Albania, more than double the number in 2022. While no in-depth studies were conducted on women in tourism, in line with international trends women are widely employed in the sector, (including in agrotourism), many informally or as family workers. Women are also more impacted by security and safety both as employees as well as tourists. With the country aiming to become the next international tourist destination, there is no better time to strengthen gender mainstreaming in tourism. Global evidence shows that a high percentage of women workers in tourism does not necessarily translate in safe and decent jobs, adequate career opportunities, and equal wages. Promoting gender responsive tourism is therefore vital for achieving the country’s declared vision of “sustainable tourism” as part of its National Strategy on EU Integration and Sustainable Development 2022-2030.
In this context, the CO is piloting the initiative “Engender the consumption and offer of tourism services in Albania”.
The initiative will support the achievement of the SN outcome 2 ‘By 2026, all persons benefit from, and contribute to, innovative and integrated policy solutions that accelerate sustainable, productive and inclusive development, enhanced climate change adaptation and mitigation and transition to a green and blue economy’ and will focus on the following interventions:
- Prepare a country assessment of women in the tourism sector and review of related policy framework;
- Support women-led business development, growth and gender championing, enlisting tour operators to pilot a gendered approach to tourism;
- Organize incubator of ideas for a feminist approach to tourism. Leveraging both the WEPs platform and the EXPO national network, the initiative will support various innovative ideas and applications to promote women-led entrepreneurship; feminist tourist communication; travel vloggers/bloggers offering a women perspective to tourism in Albania, and more.
The intervention will further provide sector specific gender mainstreaming guidance and technical assistance using previous UN Women interventions and tools related to gender mainstreaming in a EU accession context and contribute to better interface between institutions and businesses in the sector.
In this context, UN Women Albania is seeking to recruit a national consultant with a track record of expertise and experience in the tourism sector and promotion of women in tourism. The consultant will be expected to support UN Women in implementing a set of activities and will work closely with a senior national consultant on women economic empowerment, under the overall lead and guidance of an international expert on gender mainstreaming and tourism and will be supervised by the UN Women Project Coordinator.
Deberes y responsabilidades
Under the overall supervision of the Project Coordinator and under the technical lead of the International Expert on Gender, Mainstreaming and Tourism and in collaboration with the Senior National Consultant on Women Economic Empowerment, the consultant will be required to undertake the following tasks:
- Support the development of a detailed workplan for the proposed components of the intervention;
- Support the design and preparation of a stakeholder mapping (formal and informal) to identify relevant actors in the field of tourism sector and gender equality in Albania;
- Carry out consultations with the identified stakeholders in the sector;
- Conduct desk review of the existing evidence (available qualitative and quantitative data) and information (including reports from development agencies, NGOs and INGOs, research studies and journal articles, government reports and statistics, and other reports) considering the analysis axes set for the gender assessment;
- Support the identification of target regions where the project will be implemented;
- Support the development of a country assessment report of women in the tourism sector (in English), under the lead of an international expert on gender mainstreaming in tourism, by preparing sections of the report as per separation of duties;
- Support during the implementation of activities (including key informant interviews, one workshop, two focus groups, one training, presentation of report), as per prepared workplan for the finalization of the country assessment process;
- Support the data validation process with stakeholders;
- Attend and lead missions to the identified target areas;
- Provide input for the development of a concept note led by the international expert for further resource mobilization to take forward and expand the work through this pilot initiative.
- Provide inputs to the draft of the new National Strategy on Tourism and other relevant policy documents requested by UN Women.
- Prepare regular updates and progress reports as well as inputs for the final report on the engagement as part of the consultancy and results of the interventions.
Deliverables | Tentative schedule |
Inputs to the workplan for the consultancy assignment and the proposed intervention (English); | By mid-April 2024 |
Stakeholder mapping of relevant actors (formal and informal), collection of qualitative and quantitative data feeding the first mission of the international consultant in May 2024, and identification of target regions as per set criteria;
| By end of April 2024 |
Contribution in implementation of activities as per prepared workplan; (one workshop, conducting key informant interviews, at least 2 focus groups with women in tourism in the selected region) and drafting of inputs from stakeholders;
| By end of November 2024
|
Desk review of the existing evidence and information considering the analysis axes set for the gender assessment.
| By end of October 2024 |
Support to the data validation process with stakeholders and preparation of draft sections of the country assessment report as per task distribution plan;
| By end of March 2025 |
Support to the review of the preliminary and final draft of the gender assessment and in implementation of activities (one training, presentation of report), as per prepared workplan;
| By end of June 2025 |
Inputs to the draft National Strategy on Tourism and other relevant policy documents if needed, including a concept note for further resource mobilization;
| By mid-September 2025 |
Activity and mission reports;
| After each mission as per work plan |
Final consultancy report (in English) describing the consultant’s completed deliverables, problems encountered while carrying out the consultancy and recommendations for future similar interventions. | By end of September 2025 |
Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy, and the incumbent will be expected to liaise closely with UN Women Albania project team, including regular face-to face and online meetings with the projects’ team of consultants. As part of this assignment, there will be a minimum of 3 trips to the identified target areas/municipalities of the project.
Competencias
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
Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
- Proven research, analytical and drafting skills;
- Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with various public and non-public stakeholders in the tourism and gender equality sector;
- Excellent writing skills both in Albanian and in English;
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
- Ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks.
Habilidades y experiencia requeridas
Education and Certification:
- Advanced university degree in tourism studies, economics, business management or similar discipline.
Experience:
- At least 10 (ten) years of professional experience working on tourism sector in Albania;
- At least 5 (five) years of experience in designing and conducting research or sector studies independently, with skills to conduct interviews, focus groups, workshop style consultation process and capacity building interventions;
- Previous experience in engaging and cooperating with the national and local mechanism and actors in the tourism sector in Albania;
- Previous experience in coordinating, facilitating and engaging in consultations around tourism sector with multiple stakeholders across government, CSOs and other actors.
- Prior experience in working on issues related to gender and social inclusion in tourism or any other sector will be an added advantage;
- Previous experience with the UN system or other international organizations would be an advantage.
Languages:
Fluency in spoken and written English and Albanian is required.
V. How to Apply
Qualified and interested candidates are required to apply online and submit the following documents:
- Completed Personal History From - P11 (P11 can be downloaded from:https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
- A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
How to Submit the Application: To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:
- Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11).
- Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11) and Cover Letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.
- Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement).
- Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
- Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above).
- You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.
Notes:
- UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications, we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
- The individual consultants should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.
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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.)