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.

UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality.

Women’s rights to economic equality and opportunities and their critical importance for sustainable development are enshrined in a number of multilateral normative frameworks, including CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, and in proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Agreed Conclusions of the 61st Commission on the Status of Women (2017) recognize that women's equal economic rights and economic empowerment are essential to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. The global consensus has been reached also on the fact that without the engagement of the private sector, which accounts for 90% of jobs in the developing countries, the Sustainable Development Goals will not be reached.

In Georgia, UN Women works with a wide array of actors to foster sustainable change and create an enabling environment for the economic empowerment of women, including by working with government institutions, private sector companies, UN agencies, development partners, trade unions, civil society and grass-roots organizations.

UN Women supports government and public institutions to develop and deliver gender-responsive programmes and public services for women’s economic empowerment that align with international labour standards, primarily focusing on the prospective ratification of the ILO Conventions on Maternity Protection (No. 183), Workers with Family Responsibilities (No. 156) and Domestic Workers (No. 189). UN Women’s key partners are the Parliament of Georgia; the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and its subsidiaries Enterprise Georgia, Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency and the Maritime Transport Agency; the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs; and the Rural Development Agency, a Legal Entity of Public Law (LEPL) under the Ministry of Agriculture. UN Women further works with the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GEOSTAT) to promote the availability of sex-disaggregated data and gendered analyses of available data to inform decision-making at the policy level.

To accelerate the pace of progress towards gender equality, UN Women mobilizes private sector companies to take concrete actions for women’s empowerment – both within and outside the workplace. Through the UN Women/UN Global Compact Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and the WEPs Gender Gap Analysis Tool, UN Women provides information on why gender equality is critical to business performance and helps companies identify what actions can be taken. The work is accomplished in partnership with business associations and the Public Defender’s Office. Equal pay policies, gender-sensitive recruitment practices, targeted job placement programmes and the adoption of marketing practices that challenge gender stereotypes are just a few examples from the menu of actions available for companies.

At the community level, UN Women works to increase the sustainable livelihoods of women, especially those from poor and socially excluded groups. With partners such as the Georgian Farmers’ Association and the civil society organizations Kakheti Regional Development Foundation and the Taso Foundation, UN Women supports women to improve their job skills and to access legal, financial and employment services. Women entrepreneurs who would like to start their own businesses are supported with skills and seed capital, while those who are already engaged in business and interested in scaling up their enterprises are linked to larger cooperatives and corporate value chains.

In Armenia, UN Women Georgia works through UNDP Armenia and in partnership with the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Development and Infrastructure (MTADI) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA) to support the government to develop gender-responsive policies and programmes. In cooperation with the National Statistical Service of Armenia (ARMSTAT), UN Women works towards improving sex-disaggregated data and analysis to inform gender-responsive policymaking.

At the community level, with UN Women support, UNDP Armenia works in the regions of Gegharkunik and Shirak to increase the sustainable livelihoods of women, especially those who are poor and socially excluded. The UN partners provide technical and financial support to women to start new or strengthen existing businesses, or to gain employment.

In Azerbaijan, UN Women Georgia works through UNDP Azerbaijan and in partnership with the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs to support women’s economic empowerment in three regions: Baku-Khazar, Gusar and Sabirabad. The primary mechanism to reach women in these regions are the Women’s Resource Centres (WRCs), first established by UNDP in 2013. UN Women has supported the establishment of the WRCs in Baku-Khazar and Gusar and has strengthened the operations of the oldest WRC in Azerbaijan in Sabirabad. Women in these three regions are supported to increase their skills to either start or strengthen their businesses or to find employment.

UN Women’s work towards women’s economic empowerment is implemented in partnership with and funded by the Governments of Norway (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Switzerland (the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) and Austria (the Austrian Development Cooperation). In order to support UN Women Georgia with the development of the next phases of project documents for programmatic work in the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment, UN Women Georgia is looking for a National Consultant.

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will work under the direct supervision of UN Women Georgia Country Representative ad interim and with benefit from technical and operational support of UN Women Country Office in Georgia. In more specific terms, the national consultant will be providing support to the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) team and will be responsible for the following tasks:

  • To collect and review relevant materials, such as reports, assessments, studies and evaluations related to and relevant for UN Women’s work in the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment
  • To take part in UN Women WEE team’s strategizing and planning workshops to shape the focus of programmatic interventions in the WEE thematic area
  • To engage with the donors, key partners and beneficiaries of UN Women WEE portfolio to shape the focus of programmatic interventions in the WEE thematic area
  • To prepare initial draft of the project documentation (with annexes) informed by the desk review and stakeholder consultations
  • To finalize the project document (with annexes) reflecting feedback and comments received from UN Women and other key partners

Deliverables

  • Desk review completed – 6 April 2021 (4 working days)
  • Key stakeholder consultations, including with UN Women WEE team completed – 13 April 2021 (5 working days)
  • Initial draft of the project document (with annexes) informed by the desk review and stakeholder consultations submitted to UN Women – 21 April 2021 (8 working days)
  • Final draft of the project document (with annexes) reflected UN Women and other key partners’ feedback submitted to UN Women – 26 April 2021 (4 working days)

The timeframe for the work of the national consultant is planned for 29 March 2021 – 10 May 2021 for a total of 21 working days.

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • At least a master’s degree in sociology, international development, gender studies or related area;

Experience:

  • At least five years of experience in gender equality and/or women’s empowerment issues;
  • At least two years in conducting/supporting project development and/or project evaluations (familiarity with Results’ Based Management principles will be an asset);
  • Excellent writing and reporting skills;

Language:

  • Proficiency in English and Georgian.

Evaluation Procedure

The candidates will be evaluated in three stages: according to minimum qualification criteria, technical and financial review.

The candidates must possess following minimum qualification criteria to be eligible for further technical review:

  • At least a master’s degree in sociology, international development, gender studies or related area;
  • At least five years of experience in gender equality and/or women’s empowerment issues;
  • Proficiency in English and Georgian.

Technical evaluation criteria (including minimum qualifications):

  • At least a master’s degree in sociology, international development, gender studies or related area (max 50 points)
  • At least five years of experience in gender equality and/or women’s empowerment issues (max 100 points)
  • At least two years in conducting/supporting project development and/or project evaluations (familiarity with Results’ Based Management principles will be an asset) (max 90 points)
  • Excellent writing and reporting skills (max 80 points)
  • Proficiency in English and Georgian (max 30 points)

Maximum total technical score amounts to 350 points. Only candidates who have passed over the minimum qualification criteria and have accumulated at least 245 points out of maximum 350 under technical evaluation will qualify for the next stage i.e. evaluation of their financial proposals.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 150

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 consideration.

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

Management Arrangements:

The national consultant will work under the direct supervision of UN Women Georgia Country Representative ad interim and will benefit from technical and operational support of UN Women Country Office in Georgia.

Financial Arrangements:

Payment will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women that the services have been satisfactorily performed as specified below:

•            Deliverable 1,2,3,4 (21 working days) – 100%

Application submission package:

**The applicants are required to submit an aggregated financial offer: “aggregated financial offer” is the total sum of all financial claims of the candidate, including travel costs (ticket, DSA etc.) for accomplishment of all tasks spelled out in this ToR.

How to Submit the Application:

  • Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558
  • Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), the Financial Proposal, A list of links or copies of any paperwork on social protection and /or capacity building designing 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.
  • 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.