UN WOMEN Jobs - 76282- International Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Ex

International Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Expert

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Kabul and home based plus one week exposure visit to a third country, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

27-Dec-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

138 working days within 10 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

A.   Organizational 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 and the third gender as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
All human development and human rights issues involve gender dimensions. UN Women globally focuses on key priority areas that are fundamental to women’s equality, and that can unlock progress across the board. The priority areas include increasing women’s leadership and participation in political and decision-making spaces, ending violence against women, enhancing women’s economic empowerment, engaging in all aspects of Women, Peace and Security processes, making gender equality central to national planning and budgeting through Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and advancing gender in intergovernmental processes.
Over hundred countries globally have adopted GRB in one form or the other. UN Women’s work on GRB involves ensuring that national planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation processes incorporate a gender perspective.
UN Women’s GRB programmes at the regional and country level have made significant contribution towards mainstreaming GRB in the planning and budgeting processes by building political support, developing technical resources and capacities, generating good practices for improving women's access to services and increasing accountability for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE).
At the forefront of global, regional and local advocacy for application of GRB as tool for ensuring gender equality in the planning and budgeting processes of governments, UN Women has built partnerships with diverse government, inter-governmental and non-governmental partners to further efforts and demonstrate GRB’s relevance to sustainable development, aid effectiveness, public sector reform and transformative financing for development.
UN Women has been working in Afghanistan since 2002 (earlier as UNIFEM). As Afghanistan Country Office (ACO), UN Women’s programme on GEWE focuses on three pillars: political and economic empowerment, elimination of violence against women, and coordination and advocacy. Towards strengthening Government’s planning and budgeting, UN Women liaises with Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), along with sectoral ministries, to support effective implementation of GEWE policy & budgetary commitments.
B.   GRB in Afghanistan
The Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s (GoIRoA) initiatives to institutionalize GRB can be dated back to the mid-2000s, when a Gender Budgeting Working Group was established within the Ministry of Finance.
The Afghanistan’s National Development Strategy (ANDS) from 2008-2013 positions gender at the core of national development agenda by adopting the three-pronged goal of eliminating all forms of discrimination against women; developing women’s capital; and ensuring women’s full participation and leadership in all aspects of life in Afghanistan. Derived from ANDS, the National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA) from 2008-2018 was launched to implement commitments to GEWE along the three pillars of Security; Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights; and Economic and Social Development. Among others, the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF), the National Priority Program on Women’s Economic Empowerment (NPP WEE) also focusses on gender responsive planning and programming.
In 2008-09, Budget Call Circulars (BC1 & BC2) issued by MoF directed ministries/departments to integrate gender considerations into the budget process. Afghanistan is also one of the few countries with a dedicated Strategic Action Plan (SAP) on GRB (2015-18). The Action Plan defines GRB as,
“the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislations, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels”.
GoIRoA also remains committed to reforming and strengthening Public Financial Management (PFM) systems to ensure prudence in fiscal management and to maintain fiscal stability. The Government launched PFM roadmaps in (2010-13) and (2016-20). The 2015 PFM roadmap identifies GRB as one of the eighteen priorities.
GRB has the potential for strengthening PFM system reforms. Using engendered performance based budgeting systems, GRB incorporates information into the budget cycle that measures the goods and services produced by government and the impacts of government expenditure and revenue raising on the community from a gender perspective. Hence, PFM reforms in the form of performance based budgeting or performance oriented budgeting offer a potentially valuable framework for incorporating GRB.
C.   Rationale for the proposed assignment
UN Women collaborates with Ministry of Finance to support the implementation of GRB Strategic Action Plan. In 2016, UN Women and MoF signed an agreement to strengthen coordination and monitoring mechanisms on GRB in six pilot ministries (Education; Higher Education; Public Health; Rural Rehabilitation & Development; Agriculture and Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled) with critical priorities for GEWE, as identified in NAPWA.
UN Women recently assessed the existing capacities at the environmental, organizational and individual levels to implement the GRB Strategic Action Plan across six pilot ministries. Based on the preliminary findings of the assessment, UN Women and UNDP in collaboration with the Administrative Office of President (AOP), and guided by MoF and MoWA, are working on a project to advance gender integration into the planning and budgeting processes of ten ministries and/or independent directorates; including MoF, MoWA and the six pilot ministries. This will be achieved through building, strengthening and institutionalizing gender mainstreaming initiatives across each Ministry’s organogram and GRB architecture, furthering the priorities of NAPWA, Security Council Resolution 1325 National Action Plan (SCR 1325 NAP), National Priority Programme on Women’s Economic Empowerment (NPP WEE). The Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF) and EVAW NAP, through the following two approaches:
i.   Bottom-up approach: Orientation, training, mentoring and deployment of 40 female graduates to be seconded to Finance & Budgeting, Planning and Gender Units of ten ministries; and
ii.   Top-down approach: Capacity enhancement on GRB of Deputy Ministers/Directors General of the ten ministries and/or independent directorates to steer GRB initiatives within their given Ministry.
Within the above context, UN Women calls for the services of an International Research & Training Consultant on GRB.

Duties and Responsibilities

Deliverable 1: A work plan with clear timeline for project’s activities, missions of the consultant and timeline of consultant’s deliverables.
Key activities:

Conduct a desk review of the ongoing work on GRB by Government and other partner agencies;
Consult UNW and partners and develop a workplan with clear timelines for the project activities to be implemented over the duration of the project as per the details below;

Timeframe: 7 working days
Location: Afghanistan

Deliverable 2: 3-day training during exposure visit and preparation of training report with recommendations and lessons learnt.
Key activities:

Provide input to the finalization of a concept note for exposure visit to a country with successful history on implementation of GRB;
Based on the concept note for the exposure visit, develop an agenda and conduct a 3 day training/workshop on relevant topics,covering key concepts of gender and GRB, including the importance of GRB and key tools of GRB for Deputy Ministers/Director Generals of the 10 Ministries/government institutions .

Timeframe: 6 working days
Location: Outside of Afghanistan, the country to be determined

Deliverable 3: Individual capacity needs assessment baseline report with recommendations on the areas of capacity building of 40 women graduates.
Key activities:

Establish a baseline through assessing individual capacity needs of 40 female graduates to orient them on the concepts of gender, budgeting and planning processes within GoIRoA, GRB, PFM, orientation on National GRB Strategic Action Plan of MoF, GRB Policy, other guiding national policies relating to GRB, etc. .

Timeframe: 12 working days
Location: Afghanistan

Deliverable 4: Institutional architecture baseline report with recommendations for putting in place required institutional arrangements/ required procedures and processes(blueprints) of GRB architecture in each Ministry.
Key activities:

Establish a baseline through assessing institutional architecture, procedures/processes, and capacities of the ministries in which the female graduates will be placed;
Based on the institutional architecture assessment, identify entry points for GRB application and design a blueprint for GRB architecture for each of the ten ministries/government entities, including recommending in place required mechanisms/procedures for operationalization and institutionalization of the GRB architecture within each ministry.

Timeframe: 15 working days
Location: Afghanistan

Deliverable 5: Contextualized training modules on different topics for female graduates based on the training needs assessment.
Key activities:

Based on the results of the individual capacity needs assessment, review existing/develop new modules on the concepts of gender, budgeting and planning processes within GoIRoA, GRB and PFM, etc., including trainings agenda and contextualize those training materials as per the capacity needs of female graduates, the ministries, other target groups.

Timeframe: 20 working days
Location: 10 days in Afghanistan and 10 days homebased

Deliverable 6: Conduct training sessions for the 40 women graduates based on the training materials developed as per the result of the capacity needs assessment .
Key activities:

Facilitate and conduct series of trainings (at least one training of one week in two months) on the concepts of gender, budgeting & planning processes within GoIRoA, GRB and PFM, etc. for female graduates based on the training needs calendar;
Develop training needs calendar and if/where needed, take corrective measures about the training materials based on the trainings held and feedbacks received .

Timeframe: 40 working days
Location: Afghanistan

Deliverable 7: Mentoring support to the graduates to influence the planning and budgeting processes within their respective ministries.
Key activities:

Stay in touch and provide constant on-job mentoring and support throughout the project life time to the 40 women graduates to enable them to influence the planning and budgeting processes within their respective government institutions;
Provide advice and guidance to the 40 female graduates as to their activities within their ministries to promote and institutionalize GRB.

Timeframe: 12 working days
Location: 5 days in Afghanistan and 7 days from home

Deliverable 8: Report on mid-term evaluation of baseline findings, including the progress of operationalization of proposed GRB architecture in each Ministry based on blueprints finalized.
Report on end-line evaluation of baseline findings along with documentation of enhanced institutional mechanisms to mainstream gender, recommendations and the way forward for sustenance of capacities and institutional memory.
Key activities:

Gather, measure and document mid-term individual and institutional progress vis-à-vis baseline targets/indicators/blueprints for GRB architecture for each Ministry (the mid-term assessment to cover all aspects of the work from points including the individual and institutional capacity assessments, exposure visit, trainings and mentoring support); and accordingly undertake mid-course correction and monitor progress;
Conduct an end-line assessment of individual and institutional progress vis-à-vis baseline targets and indicators (the assessment will cover all aspects of work as above) as well as document and report consolidation of the baseline, mid-term and end-line assessments to demonstrate the result of total project’s duration.

Timeframe: 20 working days
Location: 10 days in Afghanistan and 10 days home based

Deliverable 9: A 5-7-page concept note as resource mobilization tool on next phase of the project.
Key activities:

Based on consultations with UNW, UNDP, AOP and donors, prepare a 5-7 page concept note outlining the key priorities and 2nd/next phase of the project towards resource mobilization.

Timeframe: 6 working days
Location: 2 days in Afghanistan and 4 days homebased

Competencies

•   Strong and proven knowledge and experience of GRB in a developing country context;
•   Understanding of international and national normative frameworks/conventions on GEWE;
•   Knowledge of macroeconomic context, public finance management reforms, gender equality and women’s empowerment status of Afghanistan;
•   Strong understanding of gender responsive economic empowerment concepts;
•   Strong experience in results based management planning, research methods, results-based budgeting, implementation, and documentation and reporting;
•   Proven experience in designing training modules and facilitating trainings/coaching on GRB/PFM;
•   Proven expertise in conducting assessment/baseline studies/research;
•   Excellent inter-personal and general communication skills;
•   Must be self-starter with excellent demonstrable teamwork skills;
•   Strong and proven integrity, time management and work prioritization and analytical skills; and
•   Essential computer skills – familiarity with Microsoft Word programs, internet, e-mail.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
Master’s or a higher degree in Gender Studies, Development Studies, Financial Management, Public Finance, Economics, Social Sciences and/or related field.
Experience:
Minimum 10 years of progressively relevant professional working experience working with governments in the field of GRB, budget policy and public finance; experience working with the UN will be an asset.
Language Requirements:
Fluent spoken and written English;