Background

In April 2018, UN Women CO in Ukraine in cooperation with the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine (hereinafter, the MCTD) has started the implementation of project “Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment through decentralization reform of Ukraine”, generously funded by the Government of Canada. The main goal of the project is to support the Government of Ukraine in achieving transformative results for gender equality and women’s empowerment through the decentralization reform. The project contributes towards the implementation of the country’s commitments on gender equality[1] and creates an enabling institutional environment for improving regional and local governance through the application of a human rights-based approach and gender mainstreaming.

The Government of Ukraine proclaimed decentralization as one of the flagship reforms. Following the adoption of the State Strategy of Regional Development in 2014[2], the Concept of Reforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Structure of Power and the Action Plan[3], the reform was launched. The major package of legislation that was adopted has provided the legislative framework of the reform[4]. The process of decentralization entails also fiscal decentralization and enables local communities to collect local revenues and make own decisions on distributing the local budget, which creates opportunities for good governance and gender responsiveness in the planning of the local budgets and expenditures. 

While gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) initiatives are being supported by the Ministry of Finance and pilot municipalities, regional and local budgeting processes do not instructionally and operationally apply GRB framework. This leads to gender and human-rights-blind social and economic development planning which does not fully consider the potential of women and men living in communities, address needs of vulnerable groups and engage them into the process of sustainable regional development.

Despite the noticeable achievements and a priority of gender and human rights mainstreaming in strategic and budget processes, today there is a lack of effective and integrated national system of M&E at the national, regional and local policy development framework. Result frameworks and indicators of the SSRD, regional strategies and local socio-economic plans are not matching. The SDGs nationalization/localization principles and tools are not being fully applied in monitoring of sustainable regional and local development and decentralization reform. The lack of available cross-disaggregated data creates barriers to operationalization of evidence and results-based management, gender-responsive budgeting and ensuring effective national system of M&E of regional and local development based on the SDGs nationalization/localization principles and tools.

In 2020, UN Women supported the MCTD in the gender mainstreaming of the State Strategy of Regional Development 2021-2027 (SSRD), which resulted in the formulation of Operational Goal #5 on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men, preventing and combating domestic violence and discrimination. Operational Goal #5 among other includes the following GRD-focused tasks:

• Gender mainstreaming of the strategic planning and budgeting processes at the regional and local levels, engagement of local women's organizations, as well as persons who face multiple forms of discrimination.
• Collection of data disaggregated by gender, age, place of residence and other characteristics for their further use during the formation of regional and local development programs, plans and budgets.
• Creation of conditions for capacity development of the MCTD, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regional administrations, Kyiv and Sevastopol city administrations and local self-governments for gender mainstreaming of strategic and budget planning, as well as implementation, monitoring and evaluation of regional development policy.
• Introduction of a system for regional and local development monitoring and evaluation, focused on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men, respect for human rights, including through the calculation and application of the Gender Inequality Index and Regional Gender Development Index as corrective factors related to calculation of the Regional Human Development Index in Ukraine based on the UNDP methodology.

Reflective of the above, UN Women project “Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment through Decentralization Reform of Ukraine”, is seeking to recruit a National Consultant on Gender Responsive Budgeting to provide expert support to the MCTD and other national partners in addressing the gap in the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting commitments at the national, regional and local levels and to strengthening the capacity of the project beneficiary, recipients and partners in this field. 

[1] Laws on Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men (2005), the Principles of Prevention and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine (2012), the State Programme on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men, the NAP on implementation of CEDAW Committee Concluding Observations to the Eighth Periodic Report and the NAP on implementation of UN Security Council Resolution on WPS 1325;

[2] Ukraine, Ukraine State Strategy of Regional Development for the period until 2020 approved by Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 385 of 6 August 2014. Available at http://surdp.eu/uploads/files/SSRD_2020_approved_final_EN.pdf

[3] Ukraine, Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers # 688-p of 22 September 2016. Available at http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/688-2016-%D1%80/paran82#n82

[4] Ukraine, Law of Ukraine # 2621-VIII of 22 November 2018 “On Amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine”. Available at https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2621-19 ; Ukraine, Law of Ukraine # 157-VIII of 01 January 2019 “On Voluntary Amalgamation of Territorial Communities”. Available at https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/157-19 ; Ukraine, Law of Ukraine # 1508-VII of 17 June 2014 “On Cooperation of Territorial Communities”. Available at https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1508-18 ; Ukraine, Law of Ukraine # 156-VIII of 05 February 2015 “On Fundamental Principles of the State Regional Policy”. Available at https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/156-19 ; Ukraine, Law of Ukraine # 320-VIII, 09 April 2015 “On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine regarding the Decentralization of Powers in the Area of Architectural and Construction Supervision and Improvement of Town-Planning Legislation”.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative in Ukraine and a direct day-to-day supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist the National Consultant on Gender Responsive Budgeting will implement a set of tasks, including, but not limited to:

1. Provide policy advice on operationalization of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) tools, gender-responsive fiscal decentralization, and ensure day-to-day technical support and guidance to the MCTD;
2. Provide policy advice to the national partners on strengthening GRB at national, regional and local level, including institutionalization of disaggregated data collection and analysis, gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation of budget implementation;
3. Provide technical and advisory support to the project partner organizations involved in development of GRB tools and analysis and provision of assistance to pilot regional state administrations and ATCs:
4. Conduct gender monitoring of legislation and policy implementation on institutionalization of GRB, fiscal decentralization and develop recommendations for stakeholders in this area;
5. Facilitate  gender analysis of minimum one budget programme of the MCTD from GRB perspective and develop recommendations to ensure that gender aspects are fully integrated;
6. Facilitate gender analysis of minimum one budget programme of 4 pilot regional state administrations and 13 pilot territorial communities in Chernivtsi, Volyn, Sumy and Kherson regions from GRB perspective and develop recommendations to ensure that gender aspects are fully integrated;
7. Provide input to the policy documents, laws and regulations related to GRB and gender-responsive fiscal dementalization developed by project experts and partner organizations;
8. Develop capacity of the national partners on institutionalization of GRB at national, regional and local levels (minimum 6 training sessions for representatives of pilot regional state administrations, ATCs, women’s CSOs);
9. Provide technical support on implementation of GRB-related policy recommendations of Rapid Gender Analysis of COVID-19 Implications in Ukraine conducted by UN Women;
10. Conduct gender monitoring on budget allocations to respond the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery at national level and in 4 pilot regions (Chernivtsi, Volyn, Sumy and Kherson regions) and 13 pilot territorial communities. Develop recommendations on ensuring GRB principles in formulation and implementation of budget measures to address socio-economic impact of the pandemic;
11. Undertake regular travels to 4 pilot regions to facilitate the regular meetings, trainings and the other project events;
12. Participate in the national and regional gender equality policy meetings and events related to decentralization and regional development and present project elaborations related to GRB and gender-related fiscal decentralization;
13. Participate in multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral and inter-ministerial meetings, consultations and interviews with the institutions of the national mechanism on gender equality, Ombudsperson and Parliamentary Caucus on Equal Opportunities, sectoral gender focal points, as well as oblast and local authorities, development agencies and civil society organizations in order to jointly analyze gaps and collect information on needed changes in the policy framework to ensure gender-responsive financial and fiscal decentralization.

Assignment Deliverables:

• All progress reports and final report should be submitted in Ukrainian and English languages (the supporting documents, such as meeting minutes, analytical papers, workshop agendas etc. can be submitted in Ukrainian language).
• The Consultant is expected to work remotely using her/his own computer but may access the UN Women office for printing of relevant documents or should he/she be required to work on-site at any point during the assignment.
• The Consultant is expected to undertake regular travels to 4 pilot regions of Ukraine.

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment.
• The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer.

Performance evaluation:

• The Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager after receiving and accepting monthly reports which will also be the basis for payment on a monthly basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

• Payment will be disbursed upon receipt of the deliverables (as per above matrix) and their certification by UN Women Project Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Competencies

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

Qualifications Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in social sciences, law, public policy/administration, economics, finances, development studies, gender studies or similar

Experience:

• At least 3 years of relevant experience on promotion of implementation of GRB and gender-responsive fiscal decentralization at national, regional and local levels
• Experience in drafting of policy documents, laws and regulations related to GRB and gender-responsive fiscal decentralization on state, regional and local levels
• Proven knowledge of international GRB practices and instruments, as well as best practices implemented and case studies in Ukraine
• Proven professional experience in capacity building of the state institutions on GRB at national, regional and local levels
• Experience with participation in high-level dialogues, consultations, including with the members of parliament, government etc.

Languages and other skills: 

• Proficient Ukrainian, working knowledge of English
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable.
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria - 70% of total evaluation. Total max 70 points:

• The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.
• Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30
• (S - score received on financial evaluation; F min - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round; F - financial offer under the consideration).

Application and submission package:

All applications must include as one attachment:

1. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558
2. Financial proposal (sample is provided below): The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days, travel costs (daily subsistence allowance and other in-country travel costs) and other related costs (e.g. tele-communication).

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 23:55 01 March 2021 by submitting applications to the following e-mail address: hr.ukraine@unwomen.org with a subject “National Consultant on Gender Responsive Budgeting”.

Applications without P11 and financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown on the following tables is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal

1. Cost Breakdown per Deliverables*

*Basis for payment tranches

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.