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.

One of the key areas of UN Women work in Ukraine is Women, Peace and Security (WPS). In partnership with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, UN Women provides support to the national security sector institutions, including the Ministry of Interior, in implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. UN Women supported the state institutions with development of a new National Action Plan for Implementation of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for 2021-2025 (NAP 1325), which was adopted in October 2020, and stands ready to provide technical support in its implementation.

To further support the consolidated efforts of the Parliament, Government, women’s groups and civil society organisations (CSOs) to meet the state commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, including CEDAW, UNSCR 1325 and SDGs, through governance 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”, funded by the Government of Sweden. The project goal is 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 national security sector is one of the priority national reforms under the Startegy for Sustainable Development. The Government implements the National Security Strategy, adopted on 14 September 2020, which aims to achieve the national security priorities, the reforms envisaged by the Association Agreement between Ukraine and  EU, as well as partnership with NATO. It also includes gender equality provisions for the first time: ensuring equal opportunities for women and men in full realization of their potential; effective implementation of state policy on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men; zero tolerance to gender-based discrimination.

To ensure comprehensive gender mainstreaming, as well as to institutionalize implementation of the gender equality and women’s empowerment commitments, including Women, Peace and Security agenda through the NAP 1325  and other national gender related policies like the State Social Programme on Equal Rights and Opportunities  till 2021, National Action Plan on implementation of the recommendations provided in the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to the 8th Periodic Report of Ukraine on CEDAW implementation till 2021, Annual National Programme under the auspice of Ukraine-NATO Commission the Ministry of Interior has adopted the Gender Equality Action Plan till 2021 with respective monitoring and evaluation framework.

To support the Ministry of Interior to further integrate and implement the gender equality and women’s empowerment commitments, including Women, Peace and Security agenda, in particular a new NAP 1325, and the NATO-Ukraine partnership goal “Gender perspectives” within its work  and the work of the State Border Guard, National Guard, Emergency Service, National Police, and other central executive bodies under the remit of MOI, UN Women will provide expert support through the National Consultant on Gender Mainstreaming for further institutionalization of WPS agenda in the Ministry and its coordinated bodies. 

Therefore, UN Women is looking for a gender expert experienced in gender mainstreaming in security sector and implementation of the Women, Pease and Security agenda. The National Consultant on Gender Mainstreaming will focus on the following areas of responsibility: providing support with gender analysis and policy advice on  implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Ministry’s Gender Equality Action Plan and a new NAP 1325,  methodology development and conducting gender-related research initiatives (including but not limited to audits, assessments, questionnaires), design and implementation of information awareness raising initiatives and supporting with institutionalization of capacity building initiatives in the Ministry.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist, the National Consultant will provide expert support to the Deputy Minister of Interior of Ukraine and specialized gender unit through technical advice and expertise on implementation  of activities of the MoI Gender Equality Action Plan till 2021 and the new NAP 1325. The assignment will include but not be limited to the following tasks developed in coordination with the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and UN Women:

1. Under direct supervision of the Deputy Minister of Interior, develop a results-based work plan for the provision of advisory services, including tasks, indicators for measuring progress, as well as timeline;
2. Provide support with gender analysis and policy advice on coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the gender-related obligations of MoI (including but not limited to Gender Action Plan, NAP 1325);
3. Provide gender analysis and elaborate gender-responsive propositions to the new draft and current legal and normative acts developed by the Ministry and its coordinated central executive bodies;
4. Advise on the methodology development and conducting gender-related policy and institutional research initiatives (including but not limited to audits, assessments, questionnaires), organized by MoI and its coordinated central executive bodies;
5. Contribute to the design and implementation of information and awareness raising gender related initiatives and community outreach of MoI and its coordinated central executive bodies;
6. Provide expert support with organizing and conducting capacity building initiatives within the Ministry’s system with the purpose to institutionalize gender equality trainings for the staff of MoI and its coordinated central executive bodies.

Assignment Deliverables:

*All reports should be submitted in English language and include the full set of supporting documents, such as developed documents, elaborated propositions, organized events’ agendas and methodologies, handouts, lists of participants, etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian.

Inputs

• UN Women and the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment.
• The Ministry of Interior will provide the consultants with the space and access to the internal institutional documents.
• The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer.

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 to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

• Payment will be disbursed in five instalments upon receipt of the deliverables (as per above matrix) and their certification by UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Competencies

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

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in social sciences, law, public policy/administration, economics, development studies, gender studies or similar.

Experience:

• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience providing gender mainstreaming policy advice and technical support to the government, parliament, civil society, and/or international organizations on Women, Peace and Security agenda;
• Proven experience in conducting gender analysis, gender researches and assessments of legislation, policies and institutions;
• Proven knowledge of UN SCR 1325 and gender perspectives in security sector;
• Proven experience with organization and facilitation of learning sessions, like trainings, workshops and round tables with multiple stakeholders’ participation;
• Previous professional experience with the United Nations would be considered an asset.

Languages and other skills: 

• 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 utilised 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. Total 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 50 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).

Application and submission package:

The candidate’s application should include:

1. P11 with indication of relevant experience in line with the ToR requirements.  Completed and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) form can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558  
2. Financial proposal (sample is provided below): The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days, travel costs (daily subsistence allowance and other in-country travel costs) and other related costs (e.g. tele-communication).

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 11:59 pm 04 December 2020 by submitting applications to the following e-mail address: hr.ukraine@unwomen.org  with a subject “National Consultant on Gender Mainstreaming  to the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine”.

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.