Antecedentes

Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women 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 centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the efforts of the United Nations system to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. UN Women provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Women Peace and Security (WPS) is one of the strategic priorities for UN Women. The UN Security Resolution 1325 adopted in 2000 establish four pillars for WPS: prevention, protection, participation, building peace and recovery, to deal with fragile peace and fragile recovery. 2021 is a pivotal year to revitalize the commitment made two decades ago to promote women’s participation and influence in peace and security matters. WPS is imperative to not only to ensure respect for women’s rights and gender equality, but it is also fundamental to ensure a strong foundation for peaceful and just society.

UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) is fully committed to advance WPS in Asia and the Pacific. Notwithstanding the complexity and diversity of the region, UN Women ROAP has established a strong value addition and visibility of its contribution to the WPS agenda, especially the unique gender perspective and linkages with civil society to its partners in peace and security space. To enhance relevance and coherence, effectiveness and efficiency and sustainability of ROAP WPS portfolio, the Evaluation of Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Contribution to Women, Peace and Security was conducted covering the period from 2017-2020. The findings and recommendations of the Evaluation will support UN Women ROAP to sharpen its WPS portfolio to fully capitalize on its mandate and value addition with a sharper strategic focus and long-term approach.

In response to the key findings and recommendations of the Evaluation, one of the key management responses include co-creation of a vision for WPS in the region with UN Women offices across the Asia-Pacific region and key peace and security actors from across stakeholder types and identify UN Women’s value proposition in the Peace and Security sector. This includes prioritization where to focus based on sound analysis of the current situation, country needs, overall direction of UN Women WPS area and UN Women’s capacity to deliver on the ground.

In this connection, the ROAP Governance Peace and Security (GPS) unit seeks to hire an International Consultant to conduct an initial mapping of UN Women country office (CO) priorities on GPS in the Asia-Pacific region to provide the baseline for further consultation with COs and feed into strategic planning process to develop the ROAP SN 2022-2025. This exercise will also help to focus and streamline efforts to advance implementation and localisation of GPS in diverse and specific contexts of the Asia-Pacific region, including addressing emerging non-traditional security challenges to sustaining peace and social cohesion.

Objectives of the assignment

Under the overall supervision of the Regional Policy Advisor – Governance, Peace and Security, the main objective of this consultancy assignment is to conduct an initial baseline/mapping of CO priorities and budget allocation in governance peace and security pofolio. The mapping exercise will be based on desk review of the Global Strategic Plan on Governance, Peace and Security, ROAP programme priorities, and existing Strategic Notes (SN) and Annual Work Plans (AWP) of UN Women COs in the Asia-Pacific region as well as targeted key informant interviews with senior management of COs in the region. This initial exercise is part of the larger efforts to ensure alignment of CO priorities identified with the UN Women Global Strategic Plan (SP) 2021-2025 and regional programme priorities (including potential resource mobilisation opportunities at the regional and country levels). The findings from the initial mapping of CO priorities will also help to formulate the survey questions, which will be designed jointly with the Regional Advisor, Gender and Statistics and will be launched earlier next year.  

Deberes y responsabilidades

Scope of work and tasks

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Regional Advisor, Governance Peace and Security, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

Desk review of relevant UN Women’s strategies and work plans at the global, regional and country levels, including regional trends/priorities:

• Conduct a desk review of existing SN and AWP of UN Women COs and Programme Presence Offices (PPOs): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam; and Fiji Multi-Country Office. For PPOs, particular attention will be on Thailand, Philippines and Sri-Lanka which have a particular focus on Governance, Peace and Security.[1]
• Review of the UN Women Global SP 2022-2025 with a focus on Governance and WPS
• Review of recent evaluations/analysis related to regional trends/priorities in Asia and the Pacific as appropriate
• Identify thematic priorities of field offices under governance, peace and security (

Preliminary informant interviews with key staff on governance peace and security:

• To complement the initial desk review of the SN/AWP of field offices, conduct informant interviews with key staff in field offices on peace and security
• Develop and list of questions that can be included/considered for the next steps in the development of the CO survey to identify and validate initial desk review on the country office thematic priorities as well as functional support of the ROAP (menu of services) for field offices in the region (e.g. programme development, regional knowledge management/evidence creation, policy/technical advice, and advocacy, engagement with regional inter-governmental bodies, organizations, and/or multilateral institutions)

[1]SNs and AWPs of UN Women field offices can be found at UN Women Result Management Platform available at https://apps-oneapp.unwomen.org/RBM. Noted that this is the initial mapping of Afghanistan CO may involve further consultations with HQ/ROAP senior management/CO colleagues beyond this specific assignment to have a more accurate picture of the current situation and strategic direction of UN Women in the short to medium term. Nevertheless, the situation in Afghanistan remains very fluid and rapidly changing.

Competencias

Expected Deliverables

The consultant is expected to deliver the following:

All the deliverables, including annexes, notes and reports should be submitted in writing in English.

Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the first installment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with relevant background information and documents, and a list of stakeholders relevant for the assignment; and
• The Consultant is expected to work using his/ her own computer.

Scope of bid price and schedule of payments

The contract is based on fixed deliverable within the duration of the contract. Payment will be done once deliverables detailed in section II are submitted and approved by UN Women.

The lump sum costs should include a consultancy fee, administration costs, communication costs, and expenses related to the consultancy. All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes.

Performance evaluation

Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Required experience and qualifications

The Consultant should fulfill the following requirements:

Education

• Master’s degree in Political Science or Social Science, Gender Studies, International Development or in Monitoring and Evaluation.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of relevant professional experience in monitoring and evaluation and research at the national and international levels;
• Knowledge of and work experience on gender equality, governance and human rights with experience in the Asia-Pacific region are required
• Knowledge of the UN results-based management (RBM) and the application of RBM principles in programme management and implementation 
• Previous experience in conducting mapping exercise or prioritization work on governance women peace and security is an advantage
• Experience in the United Nations systems and/or UN Women would be an asset; and

Language and other skills:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Previous experience in facilitation and working in a multi-cultural environment

Submission of application

Interested candidates are requested to submit application no later than 25 October 2021.

Submission of package         

1. Cover letter;
2. Curriculum vitae including contact information of references;
3.  A sample of similar work done previously;
4. UN Women P-11 form, available via  http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs; and
5. A financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per each deliverable, including any administrative fees (internet cost, etc).

The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation

Evaluation

The candidates will be evaluated by comparing CVs on the basis of the following criteria: (i) educational background and relevant professional experience as reflected in their CVs; and (ii) writing sample iii) financial proposal, which includes daily consultancy rate as well as the breakdown for each deliverable and the proposed lump sum amount. The evaluation will be based on the combination of the weighted technical and financial scores (70 per cent technical and 30 per cent financial). The technical evaluation includes the knowledge/expertise in gender equality, governance and peace and security in Asia-Pacific, the strong professional experience/track record in M&E, project/programme development especially in the area of governance, women peace and security as well as relevant experiences in coordinating and facilitating among different stakeholders within and outside of the UN System. The evaluation methods include desk review and/or validation interview.

Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed.