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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world.
Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life. According to its mandate, UN Women works in five thematic areas, such as leadership and participation, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, women peace and security and governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments. UN Women is also the lead Agency in coordinating the UN Country Team on gender equality and is chairing the UN Group on gender equality.
Since 2010, UN Women has been implementing the regional project “Promoting Gender Responsive Polices in South-East Europe and the Republic of Moldova” covering Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia) and the Republic of Moldova. The project is financially supported by the Austrian Development Agency and the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development. Its overall goal is to support the advancement of implementation of national and international commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment in line with national Sustainable Development Goals priority targets.
The project is structured around two outcomes:
1.    Governments in targeted countries promote gender responsive fiscal laws, policies and national action plans to enable specific budgetary allocations for gender equality.
2.    Gender advocates and MPs demand accountability from national and local governments on policies and budgetary allocations for GEWE.
The programme’s country component implemented in the FYR Macedonia includes activities focused on enhancing the institutionalization of GRB at central level and an extensive component for introducing gender responsive budgeting at local level.
To better inform future interventions and complement the existing research base with sufficient evidence on how policies and programmes can respond to the needs of women, including the most vulnerable groups, the office has commissioned a Mapping Study on vulnerabilities and social exclusion at local level from a gender perspective. The findings from the analysis will provide evidences  of the existing gaps in policies and practices at local level and will drive further actions that will enable important actors such as  local and central government, CSOs, etc. to address gender-specific vulnerabilities and exclusion.
Based on a nationally representative field survey, the Mapping study will provide in-depth insight in vulnerabilities and exclusion caused by different factors such as age, place of residence, ethnicity, disability, health risks etc., and, in particular, to analyse those with gender lenses. To this end, the representative field survey targeting 11 municipalities has already been concluded, data analysis has been initiated and first draft report of the mapping study has been prepared.  
To support the finalisation of the study report, with strong focus on interpretation of data and analysis from a gender perspective, UN Women is seeking to recruit an international expert who will be responsible for providing expert peer review and finalize the report on the Mapping study on vulnerabilities and social exclusion at local level from a gender perspective.

Scope of work

The main objective of this assignment is to provide expert analytical and editing support in the process of finalisation of the Mapping Study on vulnerabilities and social exclusion with gender lenses. The aim of the assignment is to validate the interpretation of the findings, strengthen the gender perspective and contribute to the finalization of a high-quality final study report.  

For achieving this goal, the international expert will work, consult and coordinate with the GRB Regional Project Manager, GRP programme team in the country and the team of expert researchers. The data of the study will be available to the international expert for further gender interpretation if needed. The international expert will be responsible for informing regularly UN Women on the progress and for submitting the required deliverables.

Duties and Responsibilities

Based on the above-described objectives of the assignment, under the supervision of the GRB Regional Project Manager and in cooperation with team of experts and researchers, the International expert is expected to undertake the following tasks:

• Review the first draft with preliminary findings of the Mapping study and provide technical advisory support in deepen the data analysis for assessing exclusion and vulnerability from a gender perspective;
• Where necessary, revise sections and/or add new sections in the study report to make the analyses richer;
• Liaise with UN Women team with comments on drafts, and in regards to any other issues related to the data analyses and the content of the study;  
• Support the finalisation of the final study report including editing;
• Prepare a summary study report of max 20 -25 pages based on the main one;
• Extract key data and draft key messages for visual presentation of the main findings;
• Submit final report to UN Women (max. 2 pages), outlining key observations, challenges and recommendations.

Key deliverables

The International expert will be expected to deliver the following:

• Draft-edited study report for UN Women’s review;
• Final edited study report;
• Summary of the study report (max. 20-25  pages)
• Final document with key messages for visual presentation of the main findings;
• Final report of the assignment in English language (max 2 pages).

All deliverables should be submitted to the GRB Regional Project Manager and the UN Women GRB country Project team. All materials and reports produced under this ToR should be submitted in English language, and in concise and user-friendly language.

Activities and timeframe

The International Consultant will be expected to complete the below tasks within the indicative timeframe:

Tasks/Working days
Draft-edited study report for UN Women’s review    7 days (by 25 April 2018 )
Final edited study report    6 days (by 10 May 2018)
Final summary report (short version of the study)    5 days (by 15 May 2018)
Final document with key messages for visual presentation of the main findings    1 day by 20 May 2018
Final report of the assignment     1 days (by 01 June 2018)
Total    20 working days

Reporting
Under the overall supervision of the to the GRB Regional Project Manager and the UN Women country GRB team, the International Consultant will develop and deliver the above listed outputs in accordance with the indicative timeframe.

Competencies

Core Values/guiding principles:

• Integrity - Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism - Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Cultural sensitivity and respect for diversity - Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Additionally, the individual should have an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Planning & Organizing – Develops clear goals in line with agreed strategies, identifies priorities, foresees risks and makes allowances accordingly.
• Organizational Awareness - Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Teamwork - Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Accountability – Takes ownership of all responsibilities and delivers outputs in accordance with agreed time, cost and quality standards.

Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
• Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach/advocacy
• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource

Leadership and Self-Management

• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in relevant field, such gender, development, social sciences or similar. PHD is an advantage

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of relevant professional experience in conducting research, particularly in carrying out gender analysis.
• Demonstrated understanding of the links between gender and  social exclusion, poverty and vulnerabilities;
• Excellent research and writing skills, including a proven track record in writing succinct, analytical publications and reports;
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team, including ability to give concise and constructive criticism;
• Previous experience in the region shall be considered as asset, as well as previous professional experience with the UN;
• Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point).

Language

• Fluency in English is required (spoken and written).

Application procedure:

Interested individual consultants are requested to apply electronically through the following link: http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm  no later than 13 March 2018 and to submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Cover letter explaining the applicant;s interest in applying for the position;
• Filled in P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from: (http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment);   Please, merge your completed Personal History form, financial proposal and cover letter, if applicable, into a single file and upload when you click ‘Submit Application’.
• The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount in USD (14 working days in Total) and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in instalments or upon completion of the entire contract). Given the nature of the work payments will be based upon delivery of the services specified in the TORs.
• Please note, this is a lump sum arrangement and the lump-sum should include all costs relating to completion of this assignment including travel.

*Please note that the financial proposal shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, travel costs, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

• Evaluation of applicants:

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.

Criteria/Total points/Max. Points
Technical Evaluation (70%)    70    
Relevant education        10
Relevant professional experience in conducting research, particularly in carrying out gender analysis         20
Demonstrated understanding of the links between gender and  social exclusion, poverty and vulnerabilities        20
Excellent research and writing skills, including a proven track record in writing succinct, analytical publications and reports        20
Financial Evaluation (30%)    30    
TOTAL    100    

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 = 20 (µ/z)

Using the following values:
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.
Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Duration and remuneration:
The international expert will be engaged for a total of 10 working days during the period of  15 March until 01 June  2018. Deliverables from the expert will be reviewed and approved by UN Women before they are considered final.
The payment of fee will be made upon deliverables, as per payment schedule below:

• The first installment of 40% of the total amount will be paid after delivery of Draft-edited study report for UN Women’s review;
• The second installment of 60% of the total amount will be paid after submission of Final edited study report; and approval of final report by UN Women.