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; the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development; human rights; as well as 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 areas of life. Several international conventions and platforms, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Beijing Platform for Action, demonstrate Albania’s commitment to the realization of women’s rights and the achievement of gender equality. Albania is signatory of CEDAW and has committed to the UN Beijing Platform for Action.

Issues related to social inclusion are closely related to Albania’s longer-term economic and social development goals. National policies such as the National Social Protection Strategy, Social Inclusion Policy Document and National Strategy for Gender Equality 2016-2020 reinforce Government attention and priority on women’s and other vulnerable categories social and economic integration.  Social innovation through Social Enterprises development is at the heart of such interventions. Preliminary assessments in Albania show that there are in-country capacities that could establish up to 500 social enterprises, able to employ in particular, youth, women and disadvantaged people. UN Women  has supported Ministry of Health and Social Protection to create an enabling environment for the development of Social Enterprises as a growing sector and agents for positive change defined by their social missions. Social and economic reintegration of vulnerable categories, including women and girls is the final purpose.

In 2016, UN Women supported the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to draft the Law on Social Enterprises which was adopted in June 2016. This marked a step forward on setting the legal arrangements and mechanisms for the establishment and functioning of the social enterprises, which nowadays is regulated by law. With adoption of the law, the Government aims at ensuring the social protection and inclusion of the vulnerable groups through employment for the economic and social integration of individuals facing difficulties for an active employment due to age, health of family situation circumstances. UN Women has supported the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to complete the legal framework on social enterprises, including the set of sub-legal acts and pertinent administrative rules and regulations.  However, the legal framework remains incomplete without a funding mechanism to enable operationalization for the law. To that purpose UN Women and the Ministry will work to develop a suitable funding mechanism and related bylaw to ensure the Law becomes implementable and operational.

In light of this need, UN Women in Albania is recruiting one national consultant to support the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to design a financial framework for the efficient operation of social enterprises and related bylaw. In doing so the consultant will have to carefully consider legal framework that needs to be regulated or introduced; design the most appropriate financing instrument as per the country’s economic model for reintegration vulnerable categories.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Program Manager of National Planning and Budgeting at UN Women Albania, the national consultant is expected to conduct the following:

• Prepare a consultancy work-plan in consultation with Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Ministry of Finance and Econonomy and UN Women on the steps to be taken in advising and supporting the finalisation process of the bylaw for developing a suitable funding mechanism for social enterprises;
• Review all existing relevant legislation, policies, studies and reports with a view to identify potential links and synergies, gaps and shortcomings on development of a financial framework for the opertionalization of social enterprises;
• Review EU relevant laws and legal practices, studies and analyses conducted on financial instruments for social enterprises to feed recommendations related to the drafting of by law for the albanian fiancial framework for social enterprises;
• Connduct a series of consultation meetings with relevant departments of MoHSP, MoFE, inter-ministerial working group for social enterprises, and all key actors/stakeholders involved in the process;
• Cooperate closely with the budget department within MoHSP wit the view to link the upcoming preparation of MTBP 2019-2020 to the  funding mechanism.
• Assist the inter-ministerial working group in revising the draft by law in the light of comments and recommendations provided by the stakeholders, actors and those introduced in the consultative meetings;
• Finalize the draft by law in Albanian, as specified in the list of the deliverables below, to be further considered by MoHSP and MoFE

Expected deliverables:

• A consultancy work plan that includes timeline and a proposed outline and methodology for the consultancy (to be consulted with and approved by UN Women and MoHSP representatives).
• Final revised draft by law on financial instrument for social enterprises, in Albanian.
• Briefing notes and/or presentations on the draft by-law  for consultations with line ministries and key stakeholders
• Final consultancy report in English.

Duration and remuneration:

The duration of the contract will be up to 15 working days in the period between March–April 2018. The payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of all tasks and deliverables in the assignment, and submission and approval by  UN Women.

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:

• Substantive knowledge of law making, women’s human rights and social enterprises/business environment.
• Substantive knowledge of Albanian legislation on social rights, equality, social enterprises, international and national commitments in this regard; familiarity with legal framework related to human rights would be an asset.
• specific knowledge and expertise with regards to financing mechanisms
• Excellent skills and experience in facilitating legal-drafting processes.
• Previous experience in cooperating with line ministries is an asset.
• Possesses the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Possesses the ability to work independently;
• Solid analytical, writing and communication skills in both Albanian and English;
• Strong analytical skills

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualification:

• Master’s degree in law, human rights, or related discipline.

Work Experience:

• At least 10 years of relevant work experience, particularly in the area if human rights, preferrably in the public administration and development programmes;
• Familiarity with gender issues and challenges or previous experience in these areas would be desirable;
• Experience in drafting laws, by-laws and regulatory documents related to social and economic issues.
• Preferably experience and expertise in economic and public financing instruments
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organizations is considered an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent written and oral English and Albanian communication skills are required.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the total fee in Albanian Lek for the tasks (15 days). 

Please note that the financial 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). Other travel costs different from the above will be covered by UN Women separately.

• 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 of final draft; and (iv) submission of the respective invoice.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 9 March 2018:

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• 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 daily fee in Albanian Lek 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.

Applications will be assessed according to the following Technical Criteria:                                           

• Master’s degree in law, human rights, or related discipline. (max 10 points);
• At least 10 years of relevant work experience, particularly in the area of human rights, preferably in the public administration and development programmes (max 10 points);
• Experience in drafting laws, by-laws and regulatory documents related to social and economic issues (max 15 points);
• Preferably experience and expertise in economic and public financing instruments (max 15 points);
• Familiarity with gender issues and challenges or previous experience in these areas would be desirable (max 10 points);
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organisations is considered an asset (max 10 points);.

How to Submit the Application: 

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from UN Women Personal History Form (P11)  or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Merge all the required documents above 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.

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.