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.

The Arab Region has been witnessing deep political, economic and social changes under conditions of continuing terrorism, instability, armed conflicts, internal displacement and refugee situations that have deeply affected the conditions of women and girls who bear the brunt of negative impacts of armed conflicts, insecurity, and occupation. Women and girls are exposed to physical, psychological, and sexual violence under armed conflicts, making them more vulnerable to marginalization, poverty, and suffering. At the same time, women and girls are largely absent from decision making, and despite their agency and voice, not equally represented in peace processes. These implications are further aggravated in light of the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 pandemic that is jeopardizing the risk of rolling back the gains made in the past decade.

Due to the magnitude of challenges, it is imperative to undertake measures to protect women and girls from violence, especially during armed conflicts and post-conflict situations. Periods of insecurity also must be addressed since the risks and negative impacts on women and girls are especially acute in such situations.

The League of Arab states has given considerable attention to the protection and empowerment of Arab women in the region, including through the adoption of Regional Strategy and Executive Plan of Action “Protection of Arab Women: Peace and Security” by LAS’s Ministerial Council during the 144th Ordinary Session in September 2015. These strategic documents serve as a comprehensive framework to address the women, peace, and security efforts, and to ensure peacebuilding in post-conflict times. Furthermore, to 

support member states’ efforts in developing National Action Plans (NAPs) that are in line with United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) on women, peace, and security to strengthen the role of the regional mechanism that monitors progress achieved in implementing all relevant regional and international WPS commitments.

In recognizing the importance of a regional oversight mechanism, the Ministerial Council for Ministers of Foreign Affairs has endorsed the establishment of an Emergency Committee for Protection of Women During Armed Conflicts (ECfPW) and entrusted the Women Family and Childhood Department (WFCD) as its secretariat.

The committee membership targets key women, peace, and security leaders, experts and supporters with the capacity to act at the regional and international levels and is expected to convene at times when violence against women in conflict areas occur.

The main responsibilities of the Committee: 

• Provide consultations to the Arab Women Committee as well as document obstacles that women and girls face experience in armed conflict zones and present its findings and recommendations to the Arab Women Committee.
• Issue periodic progress data and reports and to contribute to developing preventive and relief programs as well as legal measures to counter violations and ensure accountability.
• Put forward recommendations on the urgent humanitarian needs of women and girls, taking into account best practices and innovative solutions to develop humanitarian aid in times of crisis.
• Act as an Arab Women Committee mechanism that serves to strengthen and increase the committee’s participation in areas of crisis as well as in countering-terrorism.
• Facilitate research and policy modifications in key areas of concern, such as asylum seeking, displacement, irregular migration, human trafficking, sexual violence against women and girls and means of protection, and countering terrorism.
• Align and partner with all international, regional , and local organizations and donors working in the field of protection, prevention and all forms of humanitarian action in order to ensure the provision of the necessary assistance and facilitate the response to the urgent needs of women in conflict areas and secure access.
• Support and strengthen diplomatic efforts to deliver aid to residents of conflict areas.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the WPS-HA Regional Advisor at UN Women and the Women, Family and Childhood Director at League of Arab States to draft a 15-20 pager strategy for the “Emergency Committee for Protection of Arab Women During Armed Conflicts”, taking into consideration:

• The Strategy and Executive Action Plan “Protection of Arab Women: Peace and Security”
• The relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions including UNSCr 1325 (2000)

The mandate adopted by the League of Arab States for the committee

1. Illustrate how the establishment of an (ECfPW) could contribute to the protection of women in conflict settings and in advancing the implementation of women, peace, and security commitments in the region.
2. Develop a strategy, indicating how LAS can effectively support the committee to engage in members states efforts to support women in conflict settings, individually and collectively.
3. Lead a capacity building training for ECfPW’s members in gender-responsive conflict prevention and peacebuilding. 

Submit the final strategy (the body of the text not exceeding 20-30 pages).

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:

• Substantial knowledge and understanding of women, peace, and security agenda.
• Demonstrated leadership ability and technical ability to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing.
• Experience drafting research findings and recommendations.
• Ability to lead the development of clear strategies and to provide strategic advice to senior management.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

• Advanced degree in social sciences, gender studies, law, public policy/administration, economics, development studies, or similar.
• 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 10 years of relevant experience on promotion of gender equality women's empowerment and women, peace, and security into national legislation and policy documents.
• Proven knowledge of international practices and instruments on the protection of human rights/women's rights.
• Experience with participation in high-level dialogues, consultations, including with the members of parliament, government etc.
• Experience undertaking research in/on the Arab States.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English, Arabic language is an asset

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.

Evaluation Criteria:

Technical Evaluation (70%) split such as:

• Relevant Education: 20%
• Language Skills: 15%
• Professional Experience & background: 35%; should detail work experience, specifically experience which is relevant to the consultancy requirements indicated above;

Financial Evaluation (30%): 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 the portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
•  Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

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