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.

The Government of Albania has made national and international commitments to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in many different areas of life. Several international conventions and platforms, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Beijing Platform for Action, demonstrate Albania’s commitment to the realization of women’s rights and the achievement of gender equality.

Over the past 7 years, UN Women has provided support to national and local stakeholders in strengthening democratic governance and advancing women’s rights through initiatives aimed at mainstreaming gender in policy planning and budgeting. Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) has been identified as important tool for advancing gender equality in key national documents as in accordance with existing Albanian national policy documents on social inclusion and gender equality. In this framework, Albania has made important steps towards the institutionalization of gender responsive budgeting at central and local level. In the frame of the Regional Project on ‘Promoting Gender Responsive Polices in SEE’ financed by Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and Swiss Development Agency (SDC) and with technical expertise of UN Women, as well as in accordance with GoA’s priorities stated in the national and local plans and strategies, UN Women has been supporting government efforts -at central and local level- in using GRB as a tool to advance gender equality and ensure that women’s needs are incorporated in policies and related budgets.

Gender equality is now a core principle in the Law on the Organic Budget (2016) and in support of this initiative, the Ministry of Finance and Economy has issued several instructions guiding the application of GRB and providing requirements for gender-sensitive reporting. In addition, GRB has been included as a legal requirement to the Local Government Financial Management cycle. The approval of law no. 68/2017 "On Local Government Finances”, paved the way for the effective inclusion of GRB in all the phases of local financial management cycle (medium term and annual budget programming, monitoring and reporting, evaluation and auditing) by local government units. The inclusion of the Gender Responsive Budgeting in the Medium-Term Budget Program as well as the legal changes in the field of Public Financial Management at local level, provide greater responsibilities and challenges for public entities in effectively managing gender-based policies, by devoting the budget resources to achieve them.  Civil society organizations especially have an important role in supporting public entities at the local and central level and citizens to deliberate on gender issues in their communities and prioritize activities accordingly. The ultimate aim of GRB is that a country has and implements budgets and programs that take into account the needs of men and women, girls and boys.

UN Women places important focus on accountability and monitoring mechanisms for tracking performance on gender equality commitments. In Albania, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), including women's groups, networks and gender advocates still have insufficient capacity to adequately monitor budgetary expenditure through the lens of its impact on women and men. On the other hand, CSOs play an important role in keeping central and local governments accountable to gender equality commitments and their dialogue and advocacy efforts are crucial for inclusion of gender issues in policy and programme planning at national and local level.

To this purpose in 2018 UN Women in Albania will support implementation of the first training program on Gender Budget Watchdog Reporting for CSOs working in the Republic of Albania and interested to develop their knowledge and skills to monitor the impact of public policies and public spending on women and men. The training program for CSOs on Gender Budget Watchdog Reporting will be structured in two modules and will include a 3-day Training on Gender Responsive Budgeting and Budget Monitoring and a 3-day Workshop on Gender Watchdog Reporting, to be organized in June and September 2018 with the aim to engage and support up to 15 CSOs in preparation of Gender Budget Watchdog reports by exposing them to the best gender budget watchdog group practices.

Therefore, UN Women is seeking to recruit a national consultant who, in coordination with an international consultant to be selected by UN Women, will be responsible for developing and delivering the following:

1. A three-day Training on Gender Responsive Budgeting and Budget Monitoring to be conducted in Durres
2. Post-training support and coaching to the previously trained CSOs to 1) analyze budgets and develop gender budget watchdog reports and 2) organize dialogue events to present the findings of the Gender Budget Watchdog Reports and advocate for their future use for gender sensitive budgeting and policy making.
3. A three-day Workshop to be conducted in Tirana on Gender Watchdog Reporting to support up to 15 CSOs finalize preparation of at least 5 Gender Budget Watchdog reports in pilot areas

The training will include CSOs covering local and central budgets accountability.  At the central level, budgets to be monitored will be selected in sectors depending on the organizations’ expertise. At the local level, pilot areas will be selected by the participating CSOs in close consultations with UN Women in Albania.

Under the overall guidance of the Regional GRB Project Manager, and direct supervision of the Program Manager of National Planning and Budgeting at UN Women Albania, the national consultant in cooperation with the lead International Consultant is expected to conduct the following:

Duties and Responsibilities

• Prepare a consultancy work-plan in consultation with UN Women team and the international consultant;
• Develop a a set ot tools to  assess the capacity and training needs of up to 15 CSOs interested and committed to draft  Gender Watchdog Reports and conduct the needs assesment;
• Analyse and summarise the needs assessment feedback from the selected CSOs and prepare the capacity and needs assessment report in English langugage to be shared with UN Women and the international consultant;
• Suggest to International expert changes to the training modules (already developed) as per findings of the above capacity and training needs assessment, including materials, handouts, pre- and post- training evaluation tools;
• Support with preparation of training Agenda, logistics note and communications with CSOs;
• Under the lead of the international consultant, conduct  a 3-day training on Gender Responsive Budgeting and Budget Monitoring (the training will target up to 30 participants, representing CSOs, with proven working experience in gender equality, local governance, human rights, public finance and auditing, and interested and committed to dedicate time for Gender Budget Watchdog Reporting), (tentative period mid-June to mid July 2018);
• Provide post-training support and coaching to the previously trained CSOs to analyze budgets and develop gender budget watchdog reports;
• Conduct  3-day workshop to facilitate finalization of at least 5  Local Gender Watchdog Reports, prepared by the CSOs capacitated  during the trainings and coaching period; (tentative period beginning of September 2018)
• In coordination with the international consultant draft a final report on the delivered tasks , including all materials, presentations, evaluation tools and follow-up recommendations for participants.

Expected deliverables:

• A consultancy work plan that includes timeline and a proposed outline and methodology for the consultancy (to be consulted with and approved by UN Women).
• CSOs Capacity and training needs assesment tool and report;
• Training modules (for the training and workshop), including materials, handouts, pre- and post- training evaluation tools reviewed and adapted;
• Report on the delivered 3-day training on Gender Responsive Budgeting and Budget Monitoring, including all materials, evaluation tools and follow-up recommendations for participants (this report will be delivered jointly with the international consultant);
• Report on the delivered 3-day workshop to facilitate finalization of at least 5 local Gender Watchdog Reports, prepared by the CSOs, including final recommendations for participants.
• Final consultancy report in English together with the timesheet for the days committed to the consultancy.

All deliverables should be agreed with UN Women and be provided in English, in electronic copy. Reports and timesheets need to be duly signed and submitted to UN Women as per agreed deadlines.

1. Duration and remuneration:

The duration of the contract will be up to 25 working days in the period between June– September 2018. The payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of all tasks and deliverables in the assignment, and submission and approval by  UN Women.

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:

• Technical skills on issues related to public financial management, human rights including women’s rights and gender equality;
• Strong presentation, facilitation, reporting and writing abilities in English and Albanian;
• Diverse organizational skills in various settings;
• Proven ability to work within limited time constraints in the preparation of high quality documents;
• Ability to work in a team, develop synergies and establish effective working relations with various counterparts, with specific focus on NGOs;
• Possesses the ability to work independently;
• Solid analytical, writing and communication skills in both Albanian and English;

Required Skills and Experience

Academic requirements:

• Master’s degree in gender equality, human rights, public policy or any other related science;
• Additional trainings and certifications on gender equality or Gender Responsive Budgeting;

Work Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant work experience, particularly in gender equality and human rights;
• Technical experience on issues related to public financial management and in gender responsive budgeting;
• Minimum of 3 years, experience in developing adult learning cycle and participatory methods and provision of trainings on issues related to gender equality, gender responsive budgeting;
• Experience in the field of preparation of Gender Watchdog reports, with focus on improving service delivery through building national capacities of NGOs would be considered an asset;
• Previous experience or familiarity with international organizations is considered an asset.

Language Requirements: Excellent written and oral English and Albanian communication skills are required.

Note: Since the individual will be travelling outside the country of his/her residence, he/she should submit from a recognized physician a Statement of Good Health certifying that the individual is in good health and is fit to travel. In addition, he/she should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of travel – details will follow before the commencement of the work.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the total fee in Albanian Lek for the tasks (25 days). 

• 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 and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services). The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate, and number of anticipated working days, travel costs outside Tirana for a distance up to 50 km, 100 km and 200 km, and any other possible costs.)

• Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iii) submission of and approval of final draft; and (iv) submission of the respective invoice.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 30 May.

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• P11 including past experience in similar assignment. Can be downloaded at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying the total daily fee in Albanian Lek for the tasks specified in this assignment.

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/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Applications will be assessed according to the following Technical Criteria:                                            

• Master’s degree in gender equality, human rights, public policy or any other related science (max 10 points);
• At least 5 years of relevant work experience, particularly in gender equality and human rights; (max 10 points);
• Technical experience on issues related to public financial management and in gender responsive budgeting (max 15 points);
• Minimum of 3 years, experience in developing adult learning cycle and participatory methods and provision of trainings on issues related to gender equality, gender responsive budgeting; (max 15 points);
• Experience in the field of preparation of Gender Watchdog reports, with focus on improving service delivery through building national capacities of NGOs would be considered an asset; (max 15 points);
• Previous experience or familiarity with international organizations is considered an asset; (max 5 points);

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

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. The calculation formula applied is as follow:

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.