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.

The UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) was established in Istanbul, Turkey, at the beginning of 2014 as part of the UN Women’s new regional architecture. UN Women ECARO has initiated the process of developing a new Strategic Note 2018-2021 to define its regional strategy for Europe and Central Asia. This strategy will clearly identify key strategic priorities and programming areas and approaches, based on an analysis of the developmental situation and future trends, underlying factors, support needed from COs, PPs and Member States in the region.

The Strategic Note will be based on the global UN Women Strategic Plan 2018-2021 which focuses on five thematic priorities: (1) comprehensive and dynamic set of global norms, policies and standards on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is strengthened; (2) Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems; (3) Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy; (4) All women and girls live a life free from violence; (5) Women and girls contribute to building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from crisis prevention and humanitarian action. The development of the Strategic Note would be guided by three major components: 1. Narrative, 2. Results Framework, 3. Integrated resource management/mobilization. The Strategic Note articulates a compelling vision of what the Regional Office desires to achieve by 2021 in ECA region and should:

·         Take into account the regional context and political developments in Europe and Central Asia;

·         Be based on current and emerging trends related to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) in the region;

·         Reflect UN Women’s mandate towards achieving goals and objectives of the SDGs and the 2030 development agenda gender equality commitments, CEDAW and relevant normative frameworks;

·         Present an overview of the work of other UN agencies and international partners in the region in the area of GEWE and key opportunities and gaps that could be addressed through strengthened coordination;

·         Summarize key lessons learned from relevant evaluations and reviews of UN Women Regional Office’s work over the past years and provide recommendations on how to build on the experience gained.

Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose of the Consultancy

As part of the drafting process of the Strategic Note, UN Women ECARO plans to hold a retreat to allow Heads of Offices in the region and relevant staff from UN Women Headquarters to share key lessons learned from the Strategic note (2015-2018), define priorities for the new Strategic Note, and develop the Theory of Change and operational modalities.  

The Office retreat will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, from 5-7 September 2018. The main purpose of this Strategic Planning Retreat is to ensure the development of new Strategic Note that is aligned to UN Women’s regional work within the Global UN Women corporate framework and capitalizing on UN Women comparative advantages.

Objectives of the Workshop:

• To examine and analyse the socio-political and economic environment in ECA region in relation to the work of UN Women.
• To define the future direction, strategy and priorities of UN Women in ECA region for 2019-2021 in support to global, regional and national development priorities.

Scope of Work

In this context, UN Women ECA seeks the engagement of a facilitator to develop the design of the workshop and undertake the facilitation of the retreat.

Duties and Responsibilities

The facilitator is expected to:

1.       Familiarize with UN Women ECARO’s work, including the review of organizational documents and meetings with key staff members;

2.       Plan for the Strategic planning retreat in consultation with ECARO Management:

• Liaise with ECARO Management to ensure coherence and clarity on the planning process.
• Familiarize with key organisational documents e.g UN Women Strategic Plan 2018-2021, ECARO Strategic Note 2014-2017
• Design appropriate facilitation methodologies and materials to achieve retreat objectives

3.       Design and prepare innovative participatory methodologies, emphasizing discussion and focusing on building upon the organization’s existing strengths. Workshop must be participatory and must be designed to provoke critical review and thinking amongst the participants;

4.       Facilitate the Strategic Planning Retreat guiding participants in application of the Theory of Change approach in strategic planning;

5.       Prepare a summary report of the strategic priority results for 2019-2021 and agreed specific recommendations to manage potential risks.

Deliverables:

• Workshop plan and activities;
• Workshop report, with summary of 2019-2021 strategic priority results.

Duration of the Consultancy:

The duration is a total of 7 working days with

2 days                  the preparatory work taking 2 days;

3 days                   the workshop will take place on 5-7 September (3 days);

2 days                   the drafting of the final reports (2 days).

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:

• Good knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Strong report writing skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications and experience

·         Master’s degree or equivalent in International relations, Law, Political Sciences or other social sciences including gender studies, public administration, public policy, or a related field.

·         At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in facilitating strategic planning processes for development and human rights institutions;

·         Experience in development programming/planning;

·         Knowledge and experience of using participatory approaches and innovative facilitation techniques;

·         Prior UN Women experience considered an advantage

·         Prior experience working in the ECA region considered an advantage

·         Prior experience working with UN Women senior management considered an advantage

Application procedure

Applicants are requested to upload the following documents:

·         A copy of your latest updated P11 Form which can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted.

·         Cover letter to include a brief overview in English (unedited text) about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position

·         Technical Proposal.

·         Financial Proposal (specifying a daily fee in USD for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference).

Applications without Technical Proposals will not be considered.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF attachment as the system only allows upload of one document

Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted

Evaluation of applicants

The Consultant will be evaluated based on the qualifications and the years of experience, as outlined in the qualifications/requirements section of the ToR.  In addition, the Consultant will also be evaluated on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis: When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;

·         Technical Criteria weight: 70%;

·         Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

The award of the contract shall be made to the Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the ToR.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Technical Evaluation: 70% of total evaluation (maximum 100 points):

Criteria A: Education (maximum 10 points);

Criteria B: Experience (maximum 50 points);

Criteria D: Methodology (Maximum 40 points)

The evaluation will be based on the combination of the weighted technical and financial scores (70 per cent technical and 30 per cent financial). The technical evaluation includes the knowledge/expertise in gender equality and ending violence against women within the context of the Europe and Central Asia, and the strong professional experience/track record in conducting baseline and end-lines.

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a)      Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b)      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.

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 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)

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

The evaluation methods include desk review and/or interview.

Final selection: only the candidate with the highest ranked will be selected.

Note: only the highest ranked candidates who have obtained a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the technical evaluation will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Contract supervision

The consultant will work in close cooperation and under the direct supervision of the UN Women ECARO Regional Director.

Schedule of payments

Payment in full upon final submission and satisfactory deliveries in accordance with specified requirements as reviewed by the Hiring Manager.