Historique

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 centre 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.

The Government of Albania has made national and international commitments to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in many different socio-economic aspects. Several international conventions and platforms, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action, demonstrate Albania’s commitment to the realization of women’s rights and the achievement of gender equality and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as women’s equality and empowerment is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, but also integral to all dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development.

Over the past years, UN Women, in cooperation with other UN Agencies have provided extensive technical and expert support to the GoA to strengthen the social protection system, working closely with central and local government institutions to address social inclusion and the needs of the vulnerable groups with a focus in women and girls.

Under the UN Joint Programme “Improving Municipal Social Protection Service Delivery” (IMSPSD), the UN Agencies aim to support the Government  towards implementation of the newly shaped vision of the social sector, in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the country’s aspirations towards European Union (EU) integration. This joint programme supports the Government to translate the policy intent into proper actions so that men, women, girls and boys living in poverty have access to integrated, quality social care services. The programme is contributing to SDG5 priority targets, and specifically recognizes also the fact that women and girls have been disproportionately negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, from employment losses and income insecurity to an increase in their unpaid care work.[1] Such a crisis threatens the hard-won progress made over decades towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. The crisis can actually reverse gains made towards gender equality, and roll-back progress needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Given the disproportionate adverse impacts that the crisis has on women and girls, it is imperative that gender equality concerns are embedded in national fiscal spaces as well as in the design of national social policy responses. In this context, UN Women requires technical support of one International Consultant to support with the develoment of an assesment to Conduct expenditures and fiscal space analysis, including gender and child sensitive budgeting on establishing adequate social protection floor in Albania.

The International Consultant will work in close cooperation with a National Consultant that will be responsible for providing support in conducting the assessment of  expenditures and fiscal space analysis through a comprehensive financial assessment on expenditure of gender gaps of the social protection program and proposal for a social protection floor that addresses these gaps.

For this analysis UN Women will cooperate closely with UNICEF in ensuring the  fiscal space analysis is gender and child sensitive. Also  work will be closely coordinated withMinistry of Health and Social Protection, Ministry of Finance and Economy and will be accompanied by consultation and validation processes with various stakeholders including government officials in relevant line ministries and INSTAT.

[1] Rapid gender Assessment- UN Women Albania https://albania.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/12/the-impact-of-covid-19

Devoirs et responsabilités

The main objective of the assignment is to provide data and evidence on expenditures and fiscal space analysis, including gender and child sensitive budgeting in order to propose establishment of social protection floor in Albania that addresses gender gaps.

Under the direct supervision of the Program Manager on National Planning and Budgeting at UN Women Albania and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE) and Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MoHSP), the International consultant is expected to conduct the following:

• Prepare a work plan for the assignment with clear timelines for the deliverables;

• Prepare a methodological proposal to guide the country-level fiscal space analysis, including gender and child sensitive budgeting.  This methodology will allow for assessing current fiscal space with the view to establishing social protection floor in Albania that is considerate of women and girls’ needs.

• Perform country–level analysis with support from the national expert as follows:

• The international consultant should guide, support and review the national calculations as necessary, based on the following data to be collected but not limited to: Demographic indicators as per DHS recently conducted in the country; Macroeconomic indicators and impact on women and girls; Labour market indicators as related to women (referring to informality, undeclared work, unpaid carework at home); household income and poverty profile by sex through disaggregated data; Data from SILC and SILC + will be utilized.
• Conduct gender analyses of the Social Protection System in Albania by appraising key features of the existing social protection programmes and women and identify the gaps and challenges; inclusion/exclusion and financing;
• Analyze current government budget allocations, encompassing  budgets for MTBPs 2020-2023 and 2021- 2024  for social protection programs and develop detailed analysis on expected fiscal requirements for the implementation of national polices that are gender and children aware and provide initial considerations on the fiscal space to be opened up to finance and close the observed gender gap in social protection programs;

• Draft a policy brief and Op-ed with technical proposals in financing social protection floor for vulnerable women and girls in Albania;
• Submit final individual consultancy report to UN Women for the assignment.

Expected deliverables:

• A consultancy work plan that includes timeline of activities and deliverables (by 30 march  2021).
• Methodology for the assignment (by 20 April 2021)
• Country-level analysis (by 20 June 2021);
• Policy brief and Op-ed (by 30 July 2021)
• Final report on the assignment (by 30 September 2021).

Duration and remuneration:

The duration of the assignment will be up to 25 working days between March 2021 – September 2021. The payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of all tasks and deliverables in the assignment, and submission and approval by UN Women.

Compétences

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:

• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource
• Strong presentation, facilitation, reporting and writing abilities in English.
• Proven ability to work within limited time constraints in the preparation of high-quality documents.
• Strong ability to interact effectively with various partners and stakeholders, with focus on government officials and public administration.
• Possesses the ability to work independently.
• Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point).

Qualifications et expériences requises

Academic Qualifications/Education:

• Advanced degree in economics, development studies, social and/or gender studies or any related areas.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of demonstrated professional experience in the area of economic research;
• Experience in conducting gender policy analysis in different areas, preferably in the areas of social policies, employment, women economic empowerment and unpaid care work;
• Previous experience in conducting similar fiscal analysis studies on social services would be an advantage;
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organizations is considered an asset.

Language:

• Fluency and proficiency in spoken and written English required.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the total fee in USD for the tasks specified above. 

Please note that Please note that the finacial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).

Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iii) submission of and approval by UN Women; and (iv) submission of the certification of payment.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 16 March 2021:

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• UN Women Personal History Form (P11) including past experience in similar assignment. Can be downloaded at: UN Women Personal History Form (P11)  or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying the total lumpsum in USD for the tasks specified in this assignment.

Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ 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 points:

• Advanced degree in economics, development studies, social and/or gender studies or any related areas.

 (max 10 points)

• A minimum of 10 years of demonstrated professional experience in the area of economic research; (max 20 points)
• Experience in conducting gender policy analysis in different areas, preferably in the areas of social policies, employment, women economic empowerment and unpaid care work; (max 20 points)
• Previous experience in conducting similar costing studies on social services would be considered an advantage; (max 15 points) 
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organizations is considered an asset. (max 5 points)

Financial Evaluation – 30 points

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. The calculation formula applied is as follow:

p = 30 (µ/z); where: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated; µ = price of the lowest priced proposal; z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

How to Submit the Application: To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), the Financial Proposal, and Cover Letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

• UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
• The consultancy post is open to local (Albanian) individuals or foreign individuals with valid temporary or permanent residence in Albania.
• Applications without the financial offer will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• The individual consultants should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.