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.

In 2017, UN Women Ukraine launched the project “Enhancing accountability for gender equality and women’s empowerment in national reforms, peace and security”, funded by the Government of Sweden, in partnership with the Office of the Deputy-Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. This project aims to support the consolidated efforts of the government, parliament, women’s groups and civil society organizations (CSOs) to meet state commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, including the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of the 4th World Conference for Women (1995) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More specifically, the project works to support the Government to achieve transformative results for gender equality and women’s empowerment in Ukraine by integrating gender equality and women’s human rights commitments into the national reforms and the peace and security processes, and by putting mechanisms in place for adequate financing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

The Ukrainian Constitution, policy and legal frameworks guarantee equality for men and women in Ukraine in almost all sectors and the country has ratified and adopted the main international women’s human rights frameworks and conventions. However, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted concern in its Concluding Observations on the eighth periodic report of Ukraine at the general lack of updated statistical data, disaggregated by sex, age, ethnicity, disability, geographical location and socio-economic background. These data are necessary for an accurate assessment of the situation of women, to determine whether they suffer from discrimination, for informed and targeted policymaking and for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of progress achieved towards the realization of women’s substantive equality in all areas covered by the Convention.  

The Committee called upon the Ukraine State party to develop a gender indicator system to improve the collection of data, disaggregated by sex and other relevant factors, necessary to assess the impact and effectiveness of policies and programmes aimed at mainstreaming gender equality and enhancing women’s enjoyment of their human rights. In this regard, the Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general recommendation No. 9 (1989) on statistical data concerning the situation of women and encourages the State party to seek technical assistance from relevant United Nations agencies and to enhance its collaboration with women’s associations that could assist in the collection of accurate data.

The State Statistics Service of Ukraine is the authorized central body of executive power in the field of statistics with the main task of implementation of state policy in the field of statistics (Decree of the President of Ukraine About the State Statistic Service of Ukraine dated 6 April 2011, #396/2011, and Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 23 September 2014, # 481-2014-?, about Approval of the Regulation on the State Statistics Service of Ukraine). UN Women Ukraine therefore aims to provide this institution with technical assistance and capacity-building support to further mainstream gender into its work and to ensure an effective system for gender-sensitive data collection, monitoring and reporting, in compliance with international standards.

Improved gender statistics will support the Government’s design and implementation of sectoral planning and budgeting to ensure that the needs of all populations are addressed, as well as contribute to Ukraine’s efforts to measure progress in implementation of their international, regional and national gender equality commitments.

UN Women Ukraine has already contracted a local consultancy company to work with the State Statistics Service to strengthen their capacities to collect and analyse gender-responsive data. The project is now seeking an international consultant to compile and share best practices from around the world on gender sensitive data collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting with the State Statistics Service of Ukraine to support the institutionalization of such practices in their everyday work. 

The local consultancy company will support the preparation and implementation of the activities of the assignment. The international consultant is expected to work in close cooperation with the national consultancy firm for the substantive as well as operational coordination.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative and direct supervision of the Programme Specialist, the International Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Conduct a desk review of international best practices, tools and methodologies on gender sensitive data collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting;
• Undertake a brief 3-day mission to Ukraine to hold consultations with the local consulting company and the State Statistics Service to better understand their needs concerning gender sensitive data collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting;
• Based on the desk review of best practices and the consultations with partners in Ukraine, develop a toolkit with step-by-step guidance that is contextualized to meet the needs of Ukraine’s State Statistics Service on gender sensitive data collection, analysis monitoring and reporting
• Undertake a second 3-day mission to Ukraine to:
  • Present the results of the desk review on best international practices, tools and methodologies on gender sensitive data collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting, along with the newly-developed toolkit and guidance for Ukraine at a multi-stakeholder workshop, organized in close cooperation with the local consultancy company and UN Women;
  • Organise a capacity-building training for the staff of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and other government institutions responsible for generating and analysing gender statistics to test the toolkit and the guidance.

Assignment Deliverables:

1.       Submit the desk review of international best practices, tools and methodologies on gender sensitive data collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting – 5 days, by 12 October 2018;

2.       Undertake at least a 3-day mission to Ukraine to hold a series of individual and/or group consultations with key stakeholders – 3 days, by 26 October 2018;

3.       Submit a draft toolkit with step-by-step guidance for the State Statistics Service based on international best practices, tools and methodologies on gender sensitive data collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting – 14 days, by 19 November 2018;

4.       Undertake at least a 3-day mission to Ukraine to present the results of the desk review of best international practices and present the newly-developed toolkit and guidance at a multi-stakeholder workshop; prepare and deliver a capacity-building training for the staff of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and other government institutions to test the applicability and relevance of the toolkit and guidance– 5 days, by 30 November 2018;

5.       Submit a final version of the toolkit and the guidance for the State Statistics Service of Ukraine integrating any feedback from the presentation and training in Ukraine – 3 days, by 10 December 2018.

TOTAL – 30 days

• The reports and all supporting documents should be submitted in English language. 
• The Consultant is expected to work remotely using her/his own computer but may access the UN Women office for printing of relevant documents or should he/she be required to work on-site at any point during the assignment. 

Performance evaluation:

Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager, which will also be the basis for payment on a delivery-by-delivery basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

Payment will be disbursed in three instalments; the first installment will be disbursed upon receipt and approval of deliverable 1, the second installment will be disbursed upon receipt and approval of deliverables 2-3 and the third and final installment will be disbursed upon receipt of deliverables 4-5 and their certification by the UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

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

Qualifications Education:

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Social Science Research methods, Statistics, Gender studies, Development studies, International Law, Public Policy and Administration, and other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of professional experience in the field of gender sensitive data collection, monitoring and reporting, gender equality, and other related fields;
• Sound knowledge and understanding of international best practices, tools and methodologies on gender sensitive data collection, monitoring and reporting;
• Proven experience with developing technical guidance, toolkits and/or training manuals and guidance;
• Proven experience with developing and leading capacity-building activities, particularly with State institutions;
• Advanced understanding of gender equality and women’s human rights;

Languages and other skills:

• Fluent in English; knowledge of Russian or Ukrainian is an asset.
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria and interview, 70% of total evaluation – max 45 points for technical criteria and max 25 points for interview. Total max 70 points:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 45. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on a desk review and the following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Technical Criteria

Criterion A – Relevant education:

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Social Science Research methods, Statistics, Gender studies, Development studies, International Law, Public Policy and Administration, and other related fields. (4 points - Advanced (Masters) degree; 5 points - PhD degree)

Criterion B – Language skills:

• Fluent in English; knowledge of Russian or Ukrainian is an asset. (4 points fluent in English; 5 points fluent in English and knowledge of Russian or Ukrainian)

Criterion C – Relevant Experience with total for all of the following criterion (35 points) including:

• At least 3 years of professional experience in the field of gender sensitive data collection, monitoring and reporting, gender equality, and other related fields (7 points);
• Sound knowledge and understanding of international best practices, tools and methodologies on gender sensitive data collection, monitoring and reporting (7 points);
• Proven experience with developing technical guidance, toolkits and/or training manuals and guidance (7 points);
• Proven experience with developing and leading capacity-building activities, particularly with State institutions (7 points);
• Advanced understanding of gender equality and women’s human rights (7 points);

Total Obtainable Score for technical criteria – 45 points

Maximum Obtainable Score for the interview – 25 points

Total Obtainable Score for technical criteria and interview – 70 points

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30

(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).

The candidate’s application should include: 

• A brief Letter of Interest containing the statement on candidate’s experience in the field of recruitment. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) form, which can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment. 
• Proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (telephone, etc.). 

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 19 September 2018, 23:59 EST  by submitting 2 attachments: 1) technical (a Letter of Interest and P-11) and 2) financial proposal to the following e-mail address: procurement.ukraine@unwomen.org with a subject “International Consultant to support Ukraine’s State Statistics Service with best practices on gender sensitive data collection, monitoring and reporting”. 

Applications without financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown on the following tables is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal

A.                  Cost Breakdown per Deliverables*

*Basis for payment tranches

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.