Background

Albania’s progress in recent years respecting and promoting Gender Equality is highlighted in a series of international commitments and in national legal and policy frameworks. To promote gender equality since 2008 Albania passed the Gender Equality in Society Law, established the national machinery, evaluated the National Strategy for Gender Equality and Domestic Violence (2007-2010) the National Strategy on Gender Equality and against Gender-based and Domestic Violence (2011-2015) and currently implementing the new National Gender Equality Strategy (2016-2021).

In line with Albania’s achieving candidate status for the EU, today it seeks to ensure the transposition of the EU ‘Gender Equality acquis’ or legislation and directives applied within the European Union to ensure Gender Equality. As the Government of Albania prepares itself to align with the broader EU ‘acquis communitaire’ in a wide range of sectors it is prioritizing investment in particular sectors with specific areas of social and economic reform. All this within the context of the Government of Albania’s adoption of a comprehensive sector based approach to development.

Against this background and in accordance with its Strategic Note and Annual Work Plan the UN Women Office in Albania is engaged in a number of programmatic initiatives namely on:

  • Women’s increased participation in politics, both at national and local levels;
  • Women’s economic empowerment, especially from rural areas;
  • Ending violence against women;
  • Assist the national and local authorities in the formulation of gender responsive plans and budgets;

Support the UN Country Team through cooperation and coordination that can strengthen the impact of other agencies interventions on achieving greater gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of UN Women Representative, and in coordination with the Head of the Programme Unit the consultant will:

  • Provide project development, design and implementation support to the UN Women office in Albania in order to ensure that proposed projects are consistent with its Strategic Note and Annual Work Plan;
  • Develop and implement strategies to raise awareness and advocacy on UN Women’s work to potential partners and donors;
  • Provide appropriate Technical Advice on Gender Mainstreaming.

Deliverables:

  • At least four project documents prepared and fully endorsed by the project approval committee;
  • Support provided to the country office on gender mainstreaming;
  • At least two advocacy initiatives launched in key strategic areas of programme development for the country office.

Duration and remuneration:

The duration of the assignment will be five (5) months and the duty station will be Tirana, Albania. Given the nature of this assignment which requires closely interaction with the UN Women staff, the consultant is expected to carry out his/her functions from the UN Women premises. Office space and equipment will be provided by UN Women. The consultant is expected to carry out some mission travels within the country.

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

  • Programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
  • Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings
  • Good knowledge of technical area
  • Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to detail

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree in one of the following areas: law, human rights, international development, social sciences, gender studies;

Work Experience:

  • A minimum of 10 years’ experience engaged on human rights and/or gender equality;
  • Experience in drafting project documents and conducting gender-related needs assessments;
  • Previous work experience in Albania or similar countries; 
  • Previous works similar with this assignment.

Language requirement:

  • Fluency in English (written and spoken);

Other skills:

  • Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point);

Evaluation of Applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and 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 defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

Evaluation Criteria:

Technical Evaluation (70%) – Maximum Obtainable Points 70

  • Master’s degree in one of the following areas: law, human rights, international development, social sciences, gender studies (5 points);
  • A minimum of 10 years’ experience engaged on human rights and/or gender equality (25 points);
  •  Experience in drafting project documents and conducting gender-related needs assessments (25 points).
  • Previous experience within the Albanian or similar country context (5 points)
  • Previous works similar with the assignment (10 points).

 Financial Evaluation (30%) – Maximum Obtainable Points 30

TOTAL - 100 points

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 suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Where:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

The consultant will be remunerated based on an “all inclusive” monthly lump-sum (week-ends and public holidays are not included). The consultant will receive his/her payment at the end of every month based on a time sheet duly approved by the UN Women Country Representative. Travel to/from Tirana will be provided directly by the UN Women office in Albania.

Application Procedures:

The interested applicants must submit:

  • Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. 
  • Filled UN Women Personnel History Form (P11 form) including past experience in similar projects and contact details from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
  • Financial Proposal* - specifying a total monthly lump sum amount in US dollars (USD) for the tasks specified in this announcement.

Please make sure you have provided all requested materials as well as detailed descriptions of your previous positions and duties in your P11 form.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health/travel insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).

The selected applicant will be requested to provide a Statement of Good Health from a recognized physician prior to commencement to work also certifying that the individual is fit to travel.

How to Submit the Application: To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

  • All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://unwomen.unssc.org/files/UN_P11.doc
  • Merge all the required documents above 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.

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.

Qualified women candidates are highly encouraged to apply.