Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination and violence 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, programs and services needed to implement these standards.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) progress in recent years respecting and promoting Gender Equality is highlighted in a series of international commitments and in national legal and policy frameworks. The main achievements in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment reside in BiH institutional capacity development for the work on gender equality. Indeed, the legal provisions guaranteeing women’s rights and gender equality are largely in place. As mentioned above, the Gender Equality Law, the two Gender Action Plans, the Election Law amendment instituting quotas, the adoption and implementation of two Action Plans for the implementation of UNSCR 1325, and the ratification of the Istanbul Convention are normative achievements that influence the institutional practice in promoting gender equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

However, BiH still copes with deep-rooted, patriarchal stereotypes regarding the role and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society at large. Women in BiH face a particularly precarious reality – they are excluded from the political and decision making processes, they have disproportionately limited access to employment and many of them are subjected to violence. Gaps in the policy development and slow implementation of the adopted legislation constitute important structural obstacles to achieving gender equality. The complex division of roles and responsibilities within the different levels of the government presents a significant challenge to applying uniform, holistic approach to gender mainstreaming across the different sectors. Further, the absence of statistics and analytical research creates gaps and inconsistencies in the policy and legislative work. Improvements are needed in both strengthening institutional capacities and enhancing cooperation between the gender mechanisms and the key ministries and the civil society organizations in order to increase gender mainstreaming in all aspect of government work, primarily policy development and budgeting as the means for achieving gender equality.
As the Government of BiH prepares itself to align with the broader EU Acquis in a wide range of sectors it is prioritizing investment in particular sectors with specific areas of social and economic reform, providing for adoption of a comprehensive sector-based approach to development. BiH is currently in the very important stage of the EU candidacy. The country has been asked to fill out comprehensive questionnaire, based on which the next stages of the integration process will be crafted, IPA programming process is becoming more intensive and structured, and harmonization with the EU acquis.

Duties and Responsibilities

To support gender mainstreaming in this context, UN Women has planned to conduct a two-day training in Gender Mainstreaming in IPA programming in the context of Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina in European Union .
Training Objectives:

• Provide knowledge on gender mainstreaming in development of policies and programmes;
• Provide practical skills and experiences required to successfully include gender perspective in IPA II programming and other aspects of EU integration processes;
• Provide an interactive and participatory approach to the training creating an environment where participants are encouraged to use real life examples on gender mainstreaming in IPA and working in smaller, manageable groups;
• Encourage participants to share their own knowledge and experiences from ongoing initiatives in other contexts and support them in articulating gender sensitive measures, indicators and activities.

Outputs:

• In co-operation with the international consultant, deliver a two-day training for EU Gender focal points and IPA II Sectoral  and Sub-sectoral co-ordinators in Gender Mainsteraming and IPA programming

ACTIVITIES, DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

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

Tasks / Deliverables/Days estimate

• Provide a Methodology to be used in the development of the consultancy tasks incorporating detailed assignment workplan and timelines (11th March), 1;
• Draft  final agenda of the trainings including training materials (15th March), 4;
• Draft Pre- and post- assessment questionnaire that will be used to measure the change of participants` knowledge as the result of the training (17th March), 2;
• Deliver and facilitate two Two-day trainings in Sarajevo, BiH (18th  - 22nd  March) 5;
• Prepare and submit a short report on the training including a summary evaluation  that should include an overview of training goals achieved, and proposals for nest steps in institutionalizing gender mainstreaming in the process of IPA programming, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation (27th March ), 3.

The consultancy will last for 15 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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf
 

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Batchelor’s Degree or equivalent in economics, social science or related field, international development, gender studies or similar field supported by relevant experience;
• Master;s Degree would be considered an asset.

Skills and Experience:

• Batchelor’s Degree or equivalent in the social sciences or a related field;
• At least 7 years of professional development-related experience working at the international and national levels;
• Professional experience  in addressing European integrations and gender mainstreaming.Knowledge and experience working in the development context in the Region with the particular focus on gender equality and process of pre-accession assistance (ie. IPA);
• Knowledge of stakeholders in the country, including the national institutions, CSOs, and the international organizations working in the field of gender mainstreaming and development is an asset;
• Track record of work relevant to the assignment;
• Excellent writing skills in English language.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents:

1. Expression of interest
2. Detailed financial proposal inclusive of all costs (which includes consultancy fees, travel, accommodation, subsistence etc.)
3. UN P11 form

Please note: All documents have to be uploaded in 1 single file.

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 qualifications and 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 below defined technical and financial criteria.

Criteria:

• Technical Evaluation (80%),
• Financial Evaluation (20%)

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.

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

Qualified women and men and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. 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.

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.