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. Placing women’s rights at the center 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.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV), particularly Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) is a violation of human rights, which endures under many forms in the Arab States region. WHO estimates that 37% of ever-partnered women in the eastern Mediterranean region have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence at some point in their lives. Apart from a few countries where comprehensive prevalence surveys were conducted, data remains limited and not comparable. Where available, in countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq, the data is alarming. In the many countries facing violent conflicts in the Arab States region, various forms of violence, ranging from domestic violence or coerced child marriage to sexual exploitation and trafficking are alarmingly prevalent, affecting the lives millions of women and girls. VAWG negatively affects women and girls’ wellbeing and can lead to potentially fatal outcomes. In addition, VAWG has important economic costs that negatively impact national budgets and overall development.

The high prevalence is linked to the lack of legal frameworks to protect women from violence. Apart from Sudan and Somalia, all Arab States have signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). However, many countries have entered reservations to core provisions of the Convention and have not ratified its optional protocol, which is an important instrument to reinforce the response to VAWG. Also, Egypt and Tunisia are the only two countries that have included constitutional provisions to protect women from violence, though some countries have enacted laws to protect against or criminalize domestic violence. Still, more efforts are needed to amend existing laws and to enforce their implementation.

Another significant factor contributing to the high prevalence of VAWG in the region is the persistence of attitudes and behaviors of men and women that perpetuate negative stereotypes, discrimination, and gender inequality. Hence, addressing these structural causes lies in the core of prevention work. The lack of essential multi-sectoral and coordinated services to adequately respond to victims/survivors of VAW also adds to the magnitude of the problem in the region.

In order to facilitate effective evidence-based programming on VAWG, it is important and necessary to set the comprehensive baselines by conducting country situation analyses that include the mapping of laws, policies, data system and services for survivors that exist; collection of lessons learnt and good practices; and the identification of gaps and obstacles. For this purpose, UN Women is seeking to publish Comprehensive Country Profiles on Violence Against Women (Country Profiles) for 6 countries in the Arab States region (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco). Country Profiles will contain the following: 1) country mapping of existing legislation, national policies, and action plans that address VAWG (currently being finalized by UN Women, UNDP and UNFPA); 2) mapping of available services addressing VAWG with focus on services available to vulnerable and marginalized women (currently being finalized by UN Women and UNFPA); 3) existing data collection tools available through a variety of service delivery points, namely police, health, and justice systems (being finalized by UN Women and UNFPA); 4) existing prevalence data on VAWG (including attitudinal data on VAWG); 5) past and current VAWG related programmes implemented by Government, UN agencies and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs); 6) lessons learnt and good practices from past VAWG related programmes; and 7) gaps, obstacles and recommendations for future programming in each country, respectively.

UN Women is thus seeking to engage a consultant to draft Country Profiles for 6 targeted countries in the Arab States region, share Country Profiles with relevant stakeholders, incorporate proposed changes into final versions of Country Profiles and ensure that they are completed for publication.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The overall objective of this assignment is to ensure that English versions of Country Profiles (approximately 40 pages) for 6 countries in the Arab States region are finalized and ready to be published.

The specific deliverables of this assignment are:

1. Conduct a desk review to draft Country Profiles for 6 countries, respectively, and submit draft profiles upon completion of each Country Profiles will contain the following:

1. country mapping of existing legislation, national policies, and action plans;
2. mapping of available services addressing VAWG;
3. existing data collection tools available through a variety of service delivery points, namely police, health, and justice systems;
4. existing prevalence data on VAWG (including attitudinal data on VAWG);
5. past and current VAWG related programmes implemented by UN agencies and CSOs;
6. lessons learnt and good practices from past VAWG related programmes; and
7. gaps, obstacles and recommendations for future programming in each country, respectively.

2. Ensure that feedback provided by relevant stakeholders are incorporated into the final versions of Country Profiles.

3. Conduct final editing and produce final updated versions of 6 Country Profiles in English.

4. Participate in the national workshop meetings in targeted countries (TBC).

The expected deliverables are outlined in the below table:

The consultant will be contracted by UN Women Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS). All deliverables submitted by the consultant will have to be cleared by UN Women ROAS before processing any payment.

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

Functional Competencies

• Excellent editing skills;
• Ability to consolidate information from multiple sources;
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team;
• Excellent time management and ability to produce outputs as per agreed deadlines.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Law, Gender, Human Rights, or other relevant academic degree.

Experience

• At least 7 years of professional experience producing analytical work, in particular, that which is related to Human Rights, Gender and VAWG.
• At least 5 years of professional experience working on VAWG related legal/policy/social issues with governments, UN agencies, human rights bodies, civil society, development partners and community-based organizations.
• Experience publishing high-quality reports related to legal/policy frameworks, essential services for survivors, prevalence data on VAWG and knowledge management in the area of VAWG.
• Experience working in the Arab States region.

Language

• Excellent written communication skills in English and Arabic.
• French would be an asset.

Presentation of Offer

The following documents are required to be submitted:

1. Cover Letter detailing why you consider yourself as the most suitable for the assignment;
2. Personal CV and UN Personal History form (P11) (P11 can be downloaded at UN Women website: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment), indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, including travel costs, if any.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Applications will be screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Law, Gender, Human Rights, or other relevant academic degree;
• Fluency in English and Arabic (written and oral);
• Mandatory submission of UN Personal History form (P11);
• Brief description of why you consider yourself as the most suitable for the assignment;
• Competencies and qualifications based on the P11 form submitted by each candidate.

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%

Shortlisted Candidates will be interviewed and assessed against the following evaluation criteria (70 points):

• Relevant education requirements (7 points).
• Previous experience in working in Arab States region on similar assignment (21 points).
• Experience in conducting desk reviews and in-depth communication (21 points).
• Verified experience on producing high-quality publications (21 points).

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30%

• 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.

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.

UN Women is applying a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Consultants as well as their price proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores.