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 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.

Over the past years, UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina has provided support to national and local stakeholders in strengthening democratic governance and advancing women’s rights through initiatives aimed at mainstreaming gender in policy planning and budgeting. Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) has been identified as an important tool for advancing gender equality in key national documents, in accordance with the existing BiH national policy documents on social inclusion and gender equality. In accordance with government priorities stated in the national and local plans and strategies, UN Women has been supporting government efforts in using GRB as a tool to advance gender equality and ensure that women’s needs are incorporated in policies and related budgets. The expected long-term result of these initiatives is the incorporation of gender equality principles, perspectives and priorities not only in policy making, but also in budgeting at the national and local levels, leading to greater accountability and transparency of public finances.

In order to strengthen the work hitherto done and ensure sustainability of the interventions on GRB, UN Women has initiated a regional programme with participation of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Serbia and North Macedonia on  “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2024) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation. The main programme approach will be transformative financing as an enabler factor for policy and financing actions to accelerate implementation of existing national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The program is highly relevant for Bosnia and Herzegovina particularly during current and post COVID-19 Pandemic, a time when it is crucial for governments in BiH to receive technical support while reviewing public budgets to ensure space and financial allocations for the new measures. The Covid-19 pandemic has had great impact in BiH socio-economic life and particularly more on vulnerable women. COVID-19 has been disproportionately affecting women compared to men, and risks to deepen gender inequalities . The governments in BiH have taken immediate actions to combat and respond to Covid-19. UN Women will cooperate with the governments in BiH while drafting such socio-economic reforms to ensure that foreseen interventions take into account, the different needs of women and men, girls and boys, while handling the emergency situation. UN Women in BiH will work with relevant institutions in guiding  and supporting them to apply gender responsive budgeting in the new planning cycle and consider carefully measures needed for excluded women and girls and ensure that  women and men, girls and boys in BiH benefit equally from all social, health, financial and non-financial support schemes, and No One is left behind from the support provided at all levels in facing the actual emergency situation, as well as in long-term plans for recovering from this pandemic.

In this context, UN Women seeks to recruit two National Junior Economist Consultants based in Bosnia and Herzegovina to engage in an intensive, collaborative learning, mentoring program facilitated by UN Women and National Consultant in Gender Responsive Budgeting (mentor), in order to gain skills and knowledge in gender responsive budgeting through practical work and provision of direct support to relevant institutions by conducting analyses of the impact of COVID-19, collecting and incorporating analytical data, and policy development.

DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of this consultancy is to contribute to development of a systematic integration of gender analytical data in budgeting procesesses and development of gender-responsive plans and budgets in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE

The immediate objective of this consultancy is to further develop local expertise in gender responsive budgeting and public finance management in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by engaging junor experts in an intensive, collaborative learning, mentoring program, in order to gain skills and knowledge in gender responsive budgeting through practical work and provision of direct support to relevant institutions by conducting analyses of the impact of COVID-19, collecting and incorporating analytical data, and policy development.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UN Women National Consultant in Gender Responsive Budgeting and overall supervision of UN Women GRB Coordinator, the consultant is expected to deliver the following results:

• Attend an induction session to set the scope of the mentoring programme and gain introductory knowledge for skilled, quality and timely delivery of tesks outlined in this TOR and mentoring programme curriculum;
• Attend 1-on-1 consultations with National Consultant in Gender Responsive Budgeting to receive guidance related to junor consultant’s tasks outlined in the curriculum;
• Conduct tasks as outlined in the curriculum, including but not limited to:
  • Conducting background research of budget and public finance documentation;
  • Collecting relevant socio-economic data, processing and analysing collected data;
  • Conceptualizing and implementing consultations with relevant government institutions, expecially gender mechnisms, in integrating gender component in budgeting process;
  • Drafting two policy papers on topics relevant to  gender responsive budgeting and public finance management to include clear priorities and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) recommendations;
  • Drafting gender budget analysis of FBiH, RS and BiH level Budgets;
  • Assisting UN Women GRB Coordinator and National Consultant in Gender Responsive Budgeting in facilitating capacity building processes for relevant stakeholders, that would include conceptualizing and organizing workshops and training sessions, selecting participants, preparing engaging presentations, drafting meeting conclusions and recommendations, etc.
  • Engaging in collaborative learning on gender responsive budgeting and public finance management with guidance from National Consultant in Gender Responsive Budgeting;
  • Drafting of a 1-2 pages progress report in English outlining advancements and challenges in conducting tasks to be shared with supervisors by 30 November 2020;
  • Drafting of a 1-2 pages final report in English outlining achievements in terms of learning, conclusions, suggestions and key performance indicators of the learning plan for follow-up to be shared with supervisors by 17 December 2020;

DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

The Consultant will be expected to complete the tasks within the indicative timeframe:

REPORTING

All deliverables should be submitted to the UN Women National Consultant in Gender Responsive Budgeting and UN Women GRB Coordinator in English:

• Two policy papers on topics relevant to gender responsive budgeting and public finance management to include clear priorities and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) recommendationsclear priorities and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) recommendations;
• Gender budget analysis of FBiH, RS and BiH level Budgets;
• 1-2 pages progress report in English outlining advancements and challenges in conducting tasks to be shared with supervisors;
• 1-2 pages final report in English outlining achievements in terms of learning, conclusions, suggestions and key performance indicators of the learning plan for follow-up to be shared with supervisors.

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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
• Development and Operational Effectiveness
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
• Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach/advocacy
• 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

Leadership and Self-Management

• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners

Required Skills and Experience

I. Academic Qualifications:

• University Degree (BA) in finance, economics, business, public policy or related areas;
• Master’s degree (MA, MSc, MBA) in the same areas will be considered an asset.

II. Experience:

• A minimum of 2 years of demonstrated relevant professional experience;
• Relevant experience in working with government institutions;
• Interest and/or experience in gender work, data collection, reporting;

EVALUATION OF OFFERS

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of potential consultants as well as the financial proposals submitted in support of consultant applications. Candidate applications will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of applicant experience, qualifications and a financial proposal. The 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 technical and financial criteria defined below.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for an interview. Top 3 candidates (with highest number of points in the technical evaluation) will be interviewed. The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal will be allocated to the lowest price proposal among those candidates who have reached at least 5 points in the interview. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion.

Criteria:
Technical Evaluation – documents based (70%)
Out of which:
Bachelor’s degree degree in finance, economics or related areas – 10 points
A minimum of 2 years of relevant professional experience – 20 points
Experience in working with government institutions – 20 points
Interest and/or experience in gender work – 20 points

Financial Evaluation (30%)
Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 20
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 the consideration
DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALSInterested individual consultants must submit the following documents:

1. Expression of interest
2. Detailed financial proposal (which includes consultancy fees, travel, accommodation, subsistence etc in a form of a lump-sum)
3. UN Women Personal History (P11) form http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered (all documents indicated above need to be uploaded).

For any additional information, please contact unwomen.bih@unwomen.org.

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 Expression of Interest 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.

Please note that travel and accommodation costs should be covered by the consultant.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would consider the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.