Historique

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.

Adopted in 1995, The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) calls on Governments, the international community, and civil society, including NGOs and the private sector, to take strategic action in the following 12 critical areas of concern: poverty, education, and training, health, violence, armed conflict, the economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, human rights, media, the environment, and the girl child.

In 2020, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), the Member States from the region submitted national reviews; and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in partnership and close collaboration with UN-Women’s Regional Office for the Arab States (UN Women ROAS), League of Arab States (LAS) and the Arab Women’s Organisation submitted a regional review and appraisal of progress made in the implementation of the BPfA since the previous five years.

The BPfA reports demonstrated positive gains on gender equality and women’s empowerment across the region particularly on gender policies, laws, and strategies, as also outlined in the Arab Declaration on Progress in the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action after 25 years (Amman, 28 November 2019). Examples include continuous revision of legislation to ensure eliminating discrimination based on sex, the adoption of National Action Plans on Security Council Resolution 1325, and an increased number of women in political positions especially positions not traditionally held by women, such as Trade and Industry, Planning and Economic Development, Defense, Foreign Affairs and Speaker of the House. Furthermore, some countries, such as Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the UAE have started to adopt gender quotas (voluntary parity quotas, reserved seats, and legislated gender quotas) to increase women’s political representation.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has however exacerbated the gendered impacts of the crisis by increasing women’s economic and social insecurity, unpaid care work, and domestic violence while limiting women’s access to social and institutional support and services. Some of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic are feminized sectors characterized by low pay and poor working conditions, including lack of basic worker protections like paid sick and family leave. The accommodation and foodservice sectors, for example, have been devastated by job losses. In most countries, women are over-represented in these sectors, often with a tenuous hold on their jobs. COVID-19 is therefore exposing vulnerabilities in social, political, and economic systems.

Consequently, Member States have rapidly adjusted their development plans and budgets to respond to the pandemic and reprioritized their commitments and timelines.  Adjustments are informed by some of the unexpected positive outcomes of the pandemic such as a reframing and adjusted understanding of the burden of unpaid care work where fathers are contributing more to childcare than the pre-pandemic period. Yet, due to women losing a higher rate of employment, it is critical for economic stimulus packages to identify measures to protect women’s employment and to facilitate women’s access to land, financial capital, and other assets, so they can weather a crisis and rebuild their small businesses.  

Objective of the Assignment:

For that reason, UN Women in partnership with ESCWA seeks to support a regional interactive South-South learning Dialogue amongst the Member States to share details of actions taken to adjust BPfA implementation in the COVID-19 context that seeks to accelerate implementation in four BPfA areas that were previously identified by the Member States in the Arab Declaration on Progress in the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action after 25 years (Amman, 28 November 2019): 

• Develop the work of National Women’s Machineries and equip them with the necessary tools and resources (Article I); 
• Develop gender-disaggregated data and data systems for national strategies (Article J); 
• Continue effective monitoring of progress in the implementation of the Beijing Platform (Articles G and L); and 
• Continue joint action, regional partnerships, and programmes to improve the status of women (Article K). 

 Scheduled in October 2021, the Interactive South-South Dialogue will comprise of #4 virtual dialogues over two days showcasing 2 representatives from different Member States; who will be invited to share experiences and highlight lessons learned, good practices, and opportunities including potential for joint collaboration across States.  

Devoirs et responsabilités

The International Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the UN Women Regional Policy Advisor on organizing, facilitating, and reporting on the interactive dialogue.

The Interactive South-South Dialogue will comprise of #4 virtual dialogues over two days. Each dialogue will be facilitated around one of the priorities outlined above to respond to a set of questions that will help in identifying constraints and opportunities and lessons learned. 

 To achieve this objective, the International Consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Prepare presentation materials or PowerPoints, practical exercises and/or case stories based on the objectives of the Dialogue and facilitate the virtual sessions of the Interactive South-South Dialogue
• Prepare a regional brief documenting all key discussion points and priorities from each of the four Dialogues, lessons learned, good practices, and opportunities for accelerated BPfA implementation.
• Deliverables of the International Consultant include the following listed below:

Compétences

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

• Ability to lead qualitative data collection through consultation with stakeholders;
• Sound practical knowledge on women’s political participation and EVAW programming including on prevention and mitigation of violence against women in elections/politics;
• Previous experience in field-based women’s political participation/EVAW programming in a variety of cultural and political contexts, particularly in developing countries, is an asset;
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds, demonstrating excellent interpersonal communication skills;
• Ability to produce well-written reports and/or programme documents demonstrating analytical ability;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Experience in working with UN Women or UN or international NGOs on women’s political participation or electoral assistance.

Judgement/Decision-Making

• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or Ph.D.) in Gender, Political Science, Sociology, International Relations, Economics, Law or relevant field;
• 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 5 years of professional experience in the field of gender equality and gender analysis particularly in the area of capacity building;
• At least 2 previous assignments related to facilitating training or sessions, preferably in the area of women’s rights, women’s economic empowerment, or gender justice, and preferably remotely;
• At least 3 previous assignments related to preparing analytical reports and assessments, in the field of gender, or women’s rights, or women’s economic empowerment;
• Experience in the field of monitoring and evaluation of programmes is desired;
• Experience with the UN system or/and International Organizations is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required;
• Knowledge of French, a UN official working language, is an asset;
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, including Zoom, ability to use Internet and email.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (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 the following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points (i.e., 49 points) will be considered as a technically qualified candidate.

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 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 cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to a portfolio of work (no more than one page);
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
• Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate (in USD).

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all of them since the online application submission does only permit uploading one file per application. 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.