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 Ukrainian Constitution, policy and legal frameworks guarantee equality for men and women in Ukraine in all sectors. The country adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), joined the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action (BPfA) of the 4th World Conference for Women (1995) and ratified the main international instruments on gender equality and women’s rights, including the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol.

UN Women in partnership with the Office of the Deputy-Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration launched the project “Enhancing accountability for gender equality and women’s empowerment in national reforms, peace and security” with the goal to support the Government in achieving transformative results  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 global HeForShe solidarity movement for gender equality was launched in Ukraine and supported by opinion leaders and influencers from diverse fields, such as in academia, sports, the arts, the private sector, government and more, as public advocates for change and commit to progress towards gender equality within their own fields and institutions. As part of the HeforShe commitment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs became the first ministry in Ukraine to commit to conducting a Gender Equality Audit with the aim to mainstream gender equality in the internal policies, processes and structures at the level of the ministry, work units and individuals. The gender equality audit aims to:

• Generate understanding of the extent to which gender mainstreaming has been internalized and acted upon by the Ministry’s staff;
• Assess the extent of gender mainstreaming in terms of the development and delivery of gender-sensitive approaches in functioning across systems and approaches;
• Identify and share information on mechanisms, practices and attitudes that have made a positive contribution to mainstreaming gender in the Ministry;
• Assess the level of resources allocated and spent on gender mainstreaming and gender-targeted activities;
• Examine the extent to which human resources policies are gender-sensitive;
• Examine the staff sex balance at different levels of an organization;
• Set up the initial baseline of performance on gender mainstreaming in the Ministry with a view to introducing an ongoing process of benchmarking to measure progress in promoting gender equality;
• Measure progress in implementing action plans on gender mainstreaming and recommend revisions as needed; and
• Identify room for improvement and suggest possible strategies to better implement the action plan.

The gender equality audit will enhance the collective capacity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to examine its activities from a gender perspective and identify areas requiring changes for the Ministry to effectively advance gender equality. The gender equality audit will explore how to better harmonize the internal practices and related support systems for gender mainstreaming; will identify critical gaps and challenges; recommend ways of addressing them and suggest possible improvements and innovations; and, will document good practices towards the achievement of gender equality. It will monitor and assess the relative progress made in gender mainstreaming and help to build organizational ownership for gender equality initiatives and sharpen organizational learning on gender.

The main outcomes of the gender equality audit will be a report that includes (i) the key findings regarding the ministry; (ii) its good practices in mainstreaming gender issues; (iii) Desk review of global good practices in conducting Gender Equality Audit and its follow up, especially in EU countries; (iv) set of recommendations for performance improvement; and, (v) Plan of Action for implementation of the recommendations including but not limited to integrating gender in objectives, processes, partnerships, human resources, organizational culture. In summary, a   gender equality audit will identify the strengths and areas for improvement in the policies, processes, structures, institutional and individual capacities, and provide with the roadmap/work plan for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for implementation of the recommendations to address the areas for improvement   through a process of team-building, information sharing and reflection.

As a part of the above UN Women project, UN Women seeks to hire the National Consultant to work in collaboration with an international consultant and provide technical support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to conduct a gender equality audit and work closely with the MFA focal point during the entire assignment. The key components of the methodology will be:

• A desk review (exclusive of the confidential documents);
• Analysis of the good practices of other EU countries towards integrating gender concerns in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suitable for Ukraine’s context;
• Semi-structured interviews with staff of the audited unit at all hierarchical levels; and a collective workshop/ training on integrating gender in the operations of MFA

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Representative of UN Women in Ukraine, the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist and a day-to-day supervision of the Director General Department for International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the National Consultant will be providing regular day-to-day technical support to the Ministry on conducting a Gender Equality Audit and will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Support organization of the first mission of the international consultant to Ukraine. Organise and participate in consultations of the international consultant with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to present and discuss the best international practices and a draft methodology, toolkit and schedule of the gender equality audit to be used for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine;
• Provide support to the international consultant to finalize methodology, toolkit and a schedule of the gender equality audit based on the consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other partners in Ukraine;
• Coordinate the programmatic/ technical person to provide day-day to technical assistance to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in guiding the process for conducting the gender equality audit; organize meetings with the different stakeholder; conduct the interviews and meetings with the relevant stakeholders for data collection;
• Support organization of the second mission of the international consultant and to organize and participate in the following events:
  • a training by the international consultant for the national consultant and the key staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the methodology and toolkit of the gender equality audit;
  • a workshop by the international consultant for the staff of the Ministry as a part of the gender equality audit;
• Be trained on the methodology and toolkit of the gender equality audit developed by the international consultant;
• In regular consultations and with advisory support of the international consultant to conduct gender equality audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs according to the methodology and toolkit developed by international consultant (via regular correspondence, Skype calls and webinars, if necessary);
• Provide support to the international consultant to prepare a draft report that includes the key findings regarding the Ministry, its good practices and gaps in mainstreaming gender issues and a set of recommendations with the roadmap/work plan and concrete actions for follow-up by the Ministry for implementation of the recommendations to address the gaps; provide assistance with the translation of the materials where needed;  
• Support organization of the third mission of the international consultant to Ukraine to present and discuss the draft findings and recommendations with the roadmap/work plan and concrete actions for follow-up by the Ministry for implementation of the recommendations to address the gaps and to train the key MFA staff on the required knowledge and skills for implementation of the recommendations;
• Provide support to the international consultant to finalize the report and the roadmap/work plan and concrete actions for follow-up by the Ministry for implementation of the recommendations to address the identified gaps based on the consultations with the Ministry;
• Organize the logistical arrangements for sharing the findings of the draft report with MFA and other relevant stakeholders;
• Provide other technical support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs related to the gender equality audit as requested by the Ministry.

Assignment Deliverables:

Submit monthly time-sheets and reports about implemented activities, the progress, achievements, lessons learnt, recommendations and next steps (including supporting documents, such as reports on the international consultant’s missions, consultations and events in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as other respective documents) (according to the provided templates) – 17 April-30 November 2019 (by the 5th of next month)

TOTAL - 120 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:  

Payments will be disbursed by monthly instalments based on time-sheets certified by the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and monthly progress reports certified by 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 International Law, International Relations, Public Policy and Administration, Gender Studies, Social Studies, and other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of professional experience in the field of gender studies, gender-based monitoring and evaluation; human rights and non-discrimination and other related fields;
• Sound knowledge and understanding of international best practices, tools and methodologies on gender equality audit;
• Proven experience with conducting a gender equality audit, gender studies and preparing analytical reports for national governmental institutions;
• Proven experience of work with or/and in the governmental institutions in Ukraine
• Advanced understanding of gender equality and women’s human rights;

Languages and other skills:

• Fluent in English and Ukrainian;
• 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 International Law, International Relations, Public Policy and Administration, Gender Studies, Social Studies, and other related fields. (4 points - Advanced (Masters) degree; 5 points - PhD degree)

Criterion B – Language skills:

• Fluent in English and Ukrainian. (5 points fluent in English and 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 studies, gender-based monitoring and evaluation; human rights and non-discrimination and other related fields (7 points);
• Sound knowledge and understanding of international best practices, tools and methodologies on gender equality audit (7 points);
• Proven experience with conducting a gender equality audit, gender studies and preparing analytical reports for national governmental institutions (7 points);
• Proven experience of work with or/and in the governmental institutions in Ukraine (7 points);
• Advanced understanding of gender equality and women’s human rights (7 points);

Total Obtainable Score for Technical Criteria – 35 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; F min - 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.). 
• Please include a sample of your previous work relevant to the assignment.

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 05 April 2019, 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: hr.ukraine@unwomen.org with a subject “National Consultant on Technical Support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to conduct a Gender Equality Audit”.

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

1. 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.