Background

FYR Macedonia is a signatory to a number of important and binding international documents, which guarantee the equality of women and men and prohibit gender based discrimination. Despite the legal and policy framework, gender inequalities are present in all spheres of political and socio economic life and impact access to opportunities and resources. The National Strategy on Gender Equality and other sectoral strategies, such as the Strategy for Prevention and Protection from Domestic Violence, the National Strategy on Gender Responsive Budgeting, the National Strategy on Employment, NAP on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 set up country priorities on gender equality.
Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life.
Since 2010, UN Women has been implementing the regional project “Promoting Gender Responsive Polices in South-East Europe and the Republic of Moldova” covering Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia) and the Republic of Moldova. The project is financially supported by the Austrian Development Agency and the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development. Its overall goal is to support the advancement of implementation of national and international commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment in line with national Sustainable Development Goals priority targets.
In 2017, the project entered its third phase of implementation, which aims to contribute to the following two outcomes:

1. Governments in targeted countries promote gender responsive fiscal laws, policies and national action plans to enable specific budgetary allocations for gender equality.
2. Gender advocates and MPs demand accountability from national and local governments on policies and budgetary allocations for GEWE.

The country component of the project includes wide-range of activities focused on enhancing the institutionalization of GRB at central level and an extensive component for introducing gender responsive budgeting at local level.

At central level UN Women is working closely with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, extending technical and expert support to advance institutionalization of GRB. The MLSP is playing a lead role in the process of implementation of the Strategy for introducing GRB and the gender provisions set in the budget instructions issued by the Ministry of Finance, by facilitating the application of GRB by other line ministries and state institutions.

The implementation of the above commitments and the operationalization of the entire institutional process of gender responsive budgeting are led by the MLSP, which acts as the central gender equality mechanism and leads the initiatives on GRB.

To support the MLSP and other line ministries and state institutions to implement the obligations under the Government Strategy on GRB and the provisions set in the budget instructions issued by the Ministry of Finance, UN Women is seeking to recruit a local consultant to extend expert support and mentor state institutions, including Members of Parliament on gender responsive budgeting.

Scope of work

The objective of the assignment is to strengthen the capacities of the state administration and members of Parliament on gender responsive programme planning and budgeting. More specifically, the aim is to further strengthen the capacities of key civil servants to implement the Government Methodology on GRB, by assisting the state administration to analyze specific sectoral programmes and budgets and develop gender output indicators, as well as to support them in following and reporting on the progress and the impact of their programmes.

Further, support would be extended to members of Parliament to strengthen their capacities for gender review of policies and budgets and improved oversight on the implementation of those policies. Finally, the expert will work closely with the Parliamentary Institute and provide assistance in mainstreaming gender perspective in the Institute’s research and analytical work in support of the MPs’ work.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under direct supervision of the GRB Regional Project Manager, and working in close coordination with the UN Women GRB project team and the MLSP, the local consultant will have the following tasks and responsibilities:

• Work closely with the MLSP and extend expert support and technical advise to the implementation of the MLSP project on Gender Responsive Budgeting at central level;
• Support the pilot Ministries (nine) that have developed and submitted Gender Budget statements to the Ministry of Finance to assess progress using the gender indicators developed for their programmes and to develop reports on the progress and the impact of their programmes for submission to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy;
• Train and Mentor three new pilot Ministries to carry out GRB analysis of selected programmes and develop output indicators based on the Methodology for gender responsive budgeting, and guide them in the preparation of gender budget statements;
• Coach the MoF officials in identifying the entry points for application of GRB and strengthen their capacities to monitor the levels of application of gender responsive budgeting;
• Design and deliver GRB training and mentoring sessions for the Members of the Parliament and Parliamentary Institute, specifically tailored to the training needs of the research, education and communications departments;
• Write a final report on the assignment with recommendations for UN Women.

 Key deliverables, activities and timeframe

Reporting

Under the overall supervision of the GRB Regional Project Manager and in close coordination with the GRB Project team, the Local Consultant will deliver the above listed outputs in accordance with the indicative timeframe.
All deliverables of an acceptable standard and quality should be submitted to the GRB Regional Project Manager and in languages as specified above.

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

Academic Qualifications

• A university degree in public administration, social studies, development studies, gender studies and/or international relations, or any other degree relevant to the requirements of the TOR. A Master’s degree is considered as asset.

Experience

•     A minimum of 7 years of demonstrated professional experience in the area of gender equality with focus on gender responsive budgeting and/or public policy and budget monitoring with gender lenses;
•     Previous experience in designing and delivering training and/or mentoring programmes on gender equality and gender mainstreaming in policy making and budgeting;
•     Knowledge on gender equality and gender responsive budgeting concepts and commitments, including the entry points for gender responsive budgeting in decentralization, local policy and budget development process in FYR Macedonia;
•     Familiarity with country and regional context on gender equality;
•     Demonstrated ability to work in diverse teams;
•     Previous experience working with international organizations;
•     Strong writing, communication and presentation skills in Macedonian and English;
•     Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Power Point, Word, Excel).

 Language

• Fluency in English and Macedonian is required.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Technical criteria – 70% of total evaluation – max 70 points:

• Criteria A – Relevant education (Max points: 15)
• Criteria B – Expertise in the area of gender equality with a focus on gender responsive budgeting and/or public policy and budget monitoring with gender lenses (Max points: 20)
• Criteria C – Experience in designing and delivering training and/or mentoring programmes on gender equality and gender mainstreaming in policy making and budgeting (Max points: 20)
• Criteria D – Knowledge on gender equality and gender responsive budgeting concepts and commitments, including the entry points for gender responsive budgeting in decentralization, the local policy and budget development process in FYR Macedonia (Max points: 15)

Only candidates who have passed over the mandatory criteria obtain at least 49% of the points under the technical evaluation will qualify to the next round of financial evaluation.
Financial Evaluation – 30% of total evaluation – max 30 points
Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30
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.

Duration and remuneration:
The duration of the contract is 40 working days in the period from 10 September 2017 until 25 March 2018.  
UN Women will divide the payment of consultancy fee in the following installments:
I installment - 40% upon submission and approval of deliverables 1-5 (15 December 2017).
II installment - 60% upon submission and approval of deliverables 6-11 (25 March 2018).

Application
The candidate will be requested to send the confirmation of availability and financial offer to UN Women.
The application should contain:

•     Short Letter of interest, including financial proposal in MKD, indicating a total lump sum for the delivery as per above description. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (consultancy fee, travel and any other possible costs).
•     Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form, that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment/
•     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.