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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Despite women in Lebanon gaining the right to vote in 1952, and despite a vibrant feminist movement, women remain grossly under-represented in public and political life. Out of 76 Lebanese governments formed since 1943, only 13 have included women. Despite the fact that women currently represent 30% of the caretaker cabinet, Lebanon still ranks 149th out of 153 countries in the 2020 World Economic Forum Gender Gap in the female political representation index. Despite a record number of women candidates prior to the 2018 parliamentary elections, only 6 women candidates made it into parliament, which represents 4.6 percent of the 128 elected Members of Parliament. Women are also underrepresented at the local governance, where women make up 5.4 percent of Lebanon’s municipal councilors and 1.9 percent of mukhtar’s.

While the Electoral Law has been an area of debate in the country, substantial work can be undertaken to improve women’s representation at the political level by alternatively working on empowering, lobbying, advocating for, and technically supporting women to improve their chances of being elected.

As such, UN Women is working to support women’s participation and representation in the 2022 parliamentary elections, with the aim of having more women run, vote, and represented as Members of Parliament.

To accomplish the above, UN Women is looking to contract a Gender & Elections Expert, with strong experience and understanding in Lebanese Electoral challenges and Women’s Political Participation, to conduct mapping and analysis of stakeholders, parties and processes, identify potential candidates and aspirants, and develop a tailored package of technical support to be provided to identified women candidates.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective is to provide

1. Develop roadmap for 2021 election support, including workplan;
2. Map out required data to offer support to stakeholders and women candidates;
3. Identify and recruit potential women aspirants looking to partake in both 2022 elections;
4. Develop a tailored package of technical support to be provided to identified potential candidates at both levels. 

Responsibilities and Tasks:

The main objectives to be completed within this consultancy are five-fold, as follows:

1. Develop a roadmap of support leading into the 2021 parliamentary elections, including a workplan and suggested activities and milestones;
2. Conduct a thorough mapping of potential stakeholders for the election, including electoral processes of parliamentary elections, local governance leaders, political parties (emerging and established), potential independent candidates, and possible voluntary special measures;
3. Map out and identify potential aspirants and candidates to be split by governorate and electoral constituency, including actively analyzing electoral seats available;
4. Recruit and list potential identified candidates, split among identified constituents;
5. Develop a package of support to be provided to identified candidates, including financial management, media display, campaign budgeting, campaign agenda, electoral plan, areas of focus.

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

Functional Competencies:

• Substantial knowledge and understanding of Gender Responsive Budgeting.
• Demonstrated leadership ability and technical ability to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing.
• Experience in analysis, drafting research findings and recommendations.
• Familiarity with processes and thematic issues related to the SDGs.
• Ability to lead development of clear strategies and to provide strategic advice to senior management.
• Ability to communicate effectively both in written and oral

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in international Affairs/Development, Sociology, Political Sciences, Public Administration, Gender and Women’s Studies, with strong knowledge of gender issues, or related discipline
• 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:

• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in areas of political science, public administration, elections, and research & analysis;
• Expertise on gender issues in elections in Lebanon;
• Experience working in electoral processes, promoting women’s advancement in Lebanon or the region.
• Computer skills, internet communication and command of MS Office is required

Language Requirements:

• Written and oral English and Arabic is a must, French is an asset. 

Evaluation Criteria:

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Technical Evaluation (70%) split such as:

• Education: 15%
• Professional Experience & background: 30%; should detail work experience, specifically experience which is relevant to the consultancy requirements indicated above.
• Cover note: 25%; cover note should clearly state the availability and method of engagement to deliver on key outputs, while clearly explaining how the candidate meets the requirements and their ability to deliver in due time.

Financial Evaluation (30%): 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

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and previous work portfolio, and ability to meet the requirements, method of engagement and other relevant information;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily and lump-sum rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be submitted together, incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.