UNDP Jobs - 78003- National consultant to conduct an intersectional a

National consultant to conduct an intersectional analysis of the response to domestic violence from the perspective of access to services by women belonging to marginalized groups

Location :

home-based, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

11-Apr-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

25 April – 05 June 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

25 workdays (please note, this is a lump sum arrangement and the lump sum should include all travel

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

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination and violence 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. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards.

“Implementing norms, changing minds” is a UN Women regional programme, which aims to support a reduction in discrimination and violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Turkey and six Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Kosovo (under UN Security Council Resolution 1244), FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), anchored in the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Istanbul Convention, and also in alignment with European Union accession standards. The programme is funded by the European Commission under IPA II. The programme supports the development of an enabling legislative and policy environment on eliminating violence against women and all forms of discrimination; promotes favourable social norms and attitudes to prevent gender discrimination and violence against women; and pursues empowering women and girls (including those from disadvantaged groups) who have experienced discrimination or violence to advocate for and use available, accessible, and quality services. The programme will channel its interventions through and for women’s organizations, with an emphasis on those working with women from disadvantaged groups.

Mainstream research and theories on domestic violence and violence against women argue that gender inequality, entrenched in social and cultural structures, is the underlying cause of these phenomena. For minoritized women in particular these issues can be compounded by multiple, intersecting inequalities and a broader context of social exclusion and marginalisation. Minoritized/marginalized women's experiences of multiple forms of discrimination often results, not only in increased exposure to violence, but a lack of access to appropriate VAWG support services. In addition, existing services are rarely designed around the needs and experiences of these minoritized women. Subsequently, women belonging to disadvantaged groups are often reluctant to seek outside help because of individual or institutional discrimination they may encounter. Failure to address intersecting oppressions that women face jeopardizes the validity and legitimacy of the efforts to respond to and end domestic violence and violence against women.

CEDAW Concluding observations on the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of BiH emphasize the need to take effective measures to eliminate discrimination against Roma women, internally displaced women and minority returnee women, rural women, older women and women with disabilities. Furthermore, the Istanbul Convention recognizes the greater risk faced by groups of women who are subject to intersectional discrimination and urges all stakeholders to take into account specific needs of persons made vulnerable by particular circumstances when addressing issues of domestic violence and VAWG. According to prevalence research in BiH, almost half of women surveyed (47.2%) experienced at least one form of violence from the age of 15. The prevalence of violence is higher in rural than in urban areas and material deprivation significantly increases the risk of domestic violence. When it comes to access to services for survivors of violence, UN Women research has shown that services are not available for all, in particular not for minoritized groups or socially excluded persons. In relation to this, UN Women BiH seeks to identify gaps in access to services for minoritized women, in order to mobilize all the relevant stakeholders to increase their efforts in addressing those gaps.

Duties and Responsibilities

UN Women Country Office in BiH is seeking an experienced consultant to conduct an analysis of access to services for women belonging to minoritized groups, formulate concrete recommendations for improving intersectional competences of the main service providers, as well as ways to empower women from those groups to demand services. The consultant is to present the research findings to major stakeholders (sub-national legislators and policy makers, relevant line ministries, governmental and non-governmental service providers, and groups representing minoritized women).

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist and the direct supervision of the EVAW Technical Project Analyst, the consultant will work with a number of service providers in the field of domestic violence and violence against women (social protection, law enforcement, health, justice) in FBiH and Republika Srpska and groups representing minoritized women, in order to produce a report on the most important obstacles (physical and structural) that these women face in access to services for protection from domestic violence and VAWG, Outputs

a. Detailed methodology. In developing a detailed methodology, the consultant should include the following:

Desk review of existing research and publications on intersectionality and domestic violence in the region and wider if relevant;
Collection of data from representatives of institutions involved in the response to domestic violence and VAW in both entities in BiH (social protection, law enforcement, health, justice) on their experience and competences in service provision to women belonging to minoritized groups of population;
Collection of data from women belonging to minoritized groups (based on all or any of the following social identity markers, but not limited to - socio-economic status, geographical location, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability status);

b. Final report. The consultant is expected to produce a document of minimum 15 and maximum 20 pages based on a) desk review of documentation; b) inputs provided by representatives of institutions involved in the response to domestic violence and VAWG; c) inputs provided by women belonging to disadvantaged groups and associations representing their rights; d) local context and c) the fair and impartial judgement of the consultant. Final report should include recommendations for improving intersectional competences of the main service providers, as well as ways to empower women from disadvantaged groups to demand services.

c. Validation/presentation of the main findings and recommendations to a group of stakeholders consisting of law and policy makers, service providers from the governmental and civil society sector, and representatives of minoritized women’s groups;

Activities and Timeframe

The consultant is responsible for the complete delivery of the following indicative tasks:

Tasks Days Delivery date by

First meeting with the UN Women 0.5, April 25th;
Draft of the methodology 2 April 30st;
Final methodology 1,5 May 03rd;
Desk review 3 May 08th;
Draft report (including time for collection of data) 15 May 29th;
Final report including validation workshop 3 June 05th

Total 25

All deliverables should be submitted to the UN Women Programme Specialist and the final report should be written in B/H/S and English and should not exceed 20 pages.

Guiding principles

Target groups/respondents should include, as much as possible, persons living in remote/rural areas or locations with otherwise socially excluded population
Research approaches should be based on a participatory approach as much as possible, and uphold all the relevant ethical standards in social research

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

Required Skills and Experience

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents:

Expression of interest and research outline
Detailed financial proposal (which includes consultancy fees, travel, accommodation, subsistence etc.)
UN P11 form
Previous relevant research reports or publications

Please note: All documents have to be uploaded in 1 single file.

Evaluation of Offers
UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of potential consultants as well as the financial proposals submitted in support of consultant applications. Candidate applications will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of applicant qualifications and financial proposal. The contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

responsive/compliant/acceptable, and;
having received the highest score out of below defined technical, interview and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for an interview. Top 3 candidates (with highest number of points in the technical evaluation) will be interviewed. The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal will be allocated to the lowest price proposal among those candidates who have reached at least 5 points in the interview. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion.

Criteria:
Technical Evaluation – documents and interviewed based (80%)

Financial Evaluation- based on submitted offer (20%)

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 20
S - score received on financial evaluation;
Fmin - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;
F - financial offer under the consideration.
Please note that travel costs should be covered by the consultant.
Please note that travel costs should be covered by the consultant.

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 large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.