Background

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.

As the United Nations continues to convene talks in Geneva under the framework of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), it recognizes the importance of a fully inclusive process to ensure that the voices and views of Syrian women are heard, consistent with the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012 and Security Council Resolutions 2122 and 1325, including in the context of the Constitutional Committee process.

UN Women over the past five years has been supporting this work, including through coalition building of a wide range of Syrian women civil society to ensure their engagement in peacemaking and peacebuilding processes. UN Women continues to support Syrian women’s leadership and effective engagement in the peace process through support to the Women’s Advisory Board (WAB); as well as through supporting Syrian women’s capacities and coalition building to create a strong cadre of women leaders with a strong social base for peace. UN Women is also providing balanced gender analysis of the conflict and humanitarian situation in Syria, and coordination with other actors supporting Syrian women’s participation in the political process and humanitarian response.

The Advisor and Facilitator is a peace process expert with experience in political negotiations, women’s rights and gender equality, building inclusive processes and peace building on the ground. S/he advises and supports UN Women and the Gender Advisor to the UN Special Envoy to Syria to assist the WAB to the Special Envoy on Syria. The Advisor and Facilitator would provide substantive assistance in the preparation, facilitation and follow-up to WAB meetings throughout 2020. The majority of these meetings will take place in the margins of the middle third bloc meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee. The Advisor and Facilitator may also be drawn upon to provide strategic advice related to advancing women’s participation and gender issues in the context of the Syrian political process.

Objective of the Assignment:

The role of the Advisor and Facilitator is to:

• Provide political, WPS and peace-building advice to the WAB during/between negotiation rounds to enhance input on substantive peace and political issues and strategizing on work plans;
• Provide written input and reporting such as working group reports and final reports of meetings (with input from facilitation team), and relevant briefings for UN Women and others as required;

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide senior advice on WAB dynamics during and between WAB meetings;
• Provide verbatim notes and reports of WAB meetings.

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:https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies

• Mediation experience;
• Facilitation skills;
• Public speaking skills;
• Expertise in the Syrian political context;
• Gender expertise.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree or equivalent in leadership, facilitation, conflict resolution, management or related field is required;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level, in international affairs and conflict resolution;
• Professional background in gender and/or women, peace and security is an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

Evaluation Criteria

• Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation. 

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

Criteria 1: Education (10 points);

Criteria 2: At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level, in international affairs and conflict resolution (30 points);

Criteria 3: Professional background in gender and/or women, peace and security (15 points);

Criteria 4:  Fluency in English and Arabic (15 points).

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points)

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;

Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment.
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.