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.

The new State Social Programme on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Men and Women for 2018-2021 looks at strengthening the institutional mechanism for gender equality and an integrated approach to addressing the institutional barriers faced by the state response to gender inequalities and discrimination. To further support the consolidated efforts of the government, parliament, women’s groups and civil society organisations (CSOs) to meet state commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, including CEDAW, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325) and SDGs through reforms and peace and security processes, 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”. The project goal is to support the Government in achieving 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.

To coordinate and consolidate the efforts of CSOs and to strengthen their contribution to the development, implementation, and monitoring of the effectiveness, efficiency, and inclusiveness of gender equality related policies and programming across sectors, regions and geographies, the National Platform “Equal Rights and Opportunities” (National Platform) has been initiated by CSOs in August 2019. The National Platform is expected to serve as a platform to facilitate the cooperation between the Government and civil society in strengthening the national and international commitments of Ukraine on gender equality and women’s rights and to ensure meaningful participation of women’s’ groups and CSOs in policy making process.

In addition, another platform, “Family Policy in Ukraine in the context of Sustainable Development Goals” (the Platform) is initiated in August 2019 to join the efforts of gender advocates for the development of National Family Policy in Ukraine. This platform aims to bring diverse actors together to design a Family Policy for Ukraine in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), keeping in view the changing nature of families to unlock their potential to act as the places of equality and justice, and contribute to economies and create thriving societies meeting the vision of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The effective work of both the above-mentioned Platforms require effective coordination and support with information, communication and organization support. For this purpose, UN Women seeks to hire the National Consultant to support the work of the National Platform “Equal Rights and Opportunities” and the Platform “Family Policy of Ukraine in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals” as the Secretary of these platforms.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Representative of UN Women in Ukraine, technical guidance of the Programme Specialist, and day-to-day supervision of the Deputy Prime Minister of European and Euro Atlantic Integration, the Consultant will implement a set of tasks, including, but not limited to:

Task 1. Coordinating the activities of the Secretariat of the National Platform “Equal Rights and Opportunities” and the Secretariat of the Platform “Family Policy of Ukraine in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals”:

• Develop the Terms of Reference (Regulations of Activities) of “Equal Rights and Opportunities” (the National Platform) and the Terms of Reference (Regulations of Activities) Platform “Family Policy of Ukraine in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals” (the Platform;
• Organize consultations to incorporate inputs the Terms of Reference (Regulations of Activities) of the National Platform and the Platform in accordance with the relevant tasks and ensure the approval of the Terms of Reference;
• Finalize the Application Form for registering Platform’s members;
• Ensure participation of diverse women’s groups and CSOs from different regions of Ukraine in both Platforms;
• Establish a system of operation of the Secretariat, for e.g. draft through a consultative process, the rules and procedures/system for membership and withdrawal from the Platforms, maintain membership directory, keeping the members updated on the policy discussions through the meeting minutes etcetera;

Task 2. Establish and maintain an online platform to share the ongoing activities of the Platforms:

• Create an open and inclusive online platform for the members to share about the plans and activities related to “Equal Rights and Opportunities” (the National Platform) and “Family Policy of Ukraine in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals” (the Platform);
• Regularly post information and updates related to international normative commitments of Ukraine, and their implementation in the field of human rights and gender equality;
• Regularly update on the online platform, the information on the priority directions of the national gender equality policy;
• Organize CSO dialogues and public discussions on the draft legal acts to ensure integrating gender priorities into the draft laws;
• Organize the meetings of the CSOs with the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro Atlantic Integration and other relevant authorities in the framework of work of the National Platform and the Platform.

Task 3. Assisting in implementation of the activities of the two civil society platforms by ensuring the participation and representation of civil society in developing and implementing the national gender equality policy and family policy for consideration by the government.

• Provide substantive inputs to the drafting of the policy documents
• Facilitate the dialogue between the civil society and the government to design both the platforms’ action plan, and its implementation.
• Contribute to the civil society platform through drafting analytical documents and materials;
• Contribute to the preparation of documents that address the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro Atlantic Integrationresponse to the challenges in the field of gender equality.

Assignment /Deliverables

• The reports should be submitted in English language (supporting documents, such as meeting minutes, information materials, agenda etc., could be provided in Ukrainian).
• The Consultant is expected to work 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 Programme Specialist after receiving and accepting the progress report which will also be the basis for payment to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

Payment will be disbursed in two instalments upon receipt of the above deliverables and its certification by the UN Women Ukraine 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 (Masters) degree in Human Rights, Political Science, Gender Studies, Social Sciences or related field.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of relevant experience in gender, development or another relevant field;
• Proven experience of writing technical documents on gender equality, non-discrimination and governance;
• Experience of working in/with government institutions and CSOs;
• Understanding of the national legislation and policy frameworks and the governance systems;
• Experience with participation in organization of dialogues, consultations, workshops including with the members of government, Parliament, CSOs, etc.;

Languages and other skills: 

• Fluent in Ukrainian and English;
• 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 70% of total evaluation – max 70 points:

• The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

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).

Application and submission package:

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, that can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.
• Proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount in UAH 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 23:59 (EET) 24 October 2019 by submitting 2 attachments: 1) technical (P-11 and a Letter of Interest) and 2) financial proposals to the following e-mail address: hr.ukraine@unwomen.org with a subject “National Consultant as the Secretary of the civil society national platform “Equal Rights and Opportunities” and the platform “Family Policy of Ukraine in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals”

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

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.

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