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.

Following its establishment in 2010, UN Women’s partnership with civil society has been strategic and innovative and aimed at strengthening political solidarity and feminist movement building. This relationship is founded on the principle of leaving no one behind and premised on the reality that women and girls suffer intersectional discrimination. Placing the progress of the most marginalized communities first is a critical component of this vision.

In Arab States UN Women partners with civil society organizations to advance the implementation of international normative frameworks towards the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights. This includes, inter alia, the advancement of the 2030 Agenda, CEDAW, UNSCR 1325 and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, its monitoring and promoting an inclusive, “whole of society” approach throughout these processes. The Beijing+25 review process, the Generation Equality Forum - a global gathering for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France in partnership with civil society— and the establishment of Action Coalitions are crucial platforms in this regard, and are gathering momentum, with public conversations expected to start in September 2020. The Action Coalitions will deliver concrete and transformative change for women and girls around the world in the coming five years.

In March 2020, ROAS supported the establishment of the Arab States CSOs and feminist Network with the purpose of ensuring a gender responsive COVID-19 Response and Recovery as well as facilitate the participation of women in the region in the global feminist movement, regional and global convenings, the Generation Equality Forum, and the Action Coalitions.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women Regional Advocacy & Innovation Specialist/ Civil Society Engagement Coordinator and in coordination with the co-leaders and coordinator of the Arab States CSOs Network, the researcher will be responsible of conducting an analysis of the feminist movements and feminist movement building across the Arab world to capture the diversity of women’s CSOs insights and movements experience working towards enacting egalitarian family laws; explore obstacles, challenges, opportunities and provide recommendations for advancing the influence of this feminist movement within the Arab region.

The researcher will take into account the specific political and economic context in different countries of the Arab region, the consultant shall:

• Conduct a desk review on the feminist movement, broadly and honing in to those working on Family laws across the Arab region.
• Generate new evidence, analysis and insights on existing and emerging feminist movements working on family laws across the Arab region and the barriers, opportunities and dynamics that are shaping the growth of the feminist movement more broadly.
• Provide a situational context about the enabling factors shaping women’s movements and CSOs, particularly those working on family laws, existing capacities to change the prevailing discriminatory laws, sensitivity of governments and religious institutions, availability of safe spaces, and the processes of feminist movement building.
• Conduct online and other distant consultations with Feminist movements, including those working on Family laws, networks and CSOs and other actors in the region identified during the desk research;
• Explore opportunities, highlight, and suggest pathways, frameworks, approaches, and synergies for women’s movements to flourish and achieve common goals.
• Provide recommendations on how to overcome barriers and propose the appropriate mechanisms for supporting CSOs’ working on family laws involvement in the process of the regional women’s movement building and involvement in the global movement.

* This assignment will involve close engagement with the interim Steering Group of the Network and entail a participatory process with feminist CSOs and selected partners. 

The following list of deliverables are foreseen during the current consultancy:

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: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies

• Excellent  network and relationships with CSOs and feminist movements;
• Sensitivity and adaptability regarding cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age;
• Strong organizational and communication skills, ability to work in a team;
• Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills;
• Ability to use information technologies as a tool and resource;
• Commitment to UN values;
• Excellent organizational skills;
• Ability to work under pressure on multiple projects whilst maintaining high-quality and timeliness;
• Self-management.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, gender studies, international relations, development studies, public administration or management.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of experience in research on gender issues preferably with experience on feminist movements
• Experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection methodologies and gender methodologies, including in the field of feminist movements building and activism
• Experience in analyzing research data and findings through inclusive approaches
• Experience of coordinating and liaising with regional feminist movements, CSOs, women leaders/activists and multi stakeholder environment.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic is required.
• Proficiency in French will be a plus.  

Evaluation Criteria

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of 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.

Technical Evaluation (70%, 70 points) split such as:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, gender studies, international relations, development studies, public administration or management: 20 points
• At least 7 years of experience in research on gender issues preferably with experience on feminist movements: 20 points
• Published research focused on gender equality or women empowerment topics including in the field of feminist movements building and activism and prove expertise in quantitative and qualitative data collection methodologies: 30 points.

Financial Evaluation (30%, 30 points): The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Financial proposal - Proposed inclusive lump-sum rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be submitted together, incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.