Antecedentes

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION

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 centre 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.

Over the past years, UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina has provided support to national and local stakeholders in strengthening democratic governance and advancing women’s rights through initiatives aimed at mainstreaming gender in policy planning and budgeting. Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) has been identified as an important tool for advancing gender equality in key national documents, in accordance with the existing BiH national policy documents on social inclusion and gender equality. In accordance with government priorities stated in the national and local plans and strategies, UN Women has been supporting government efforts in using GRB as a tool to advance gender equality and ensure that women’s needs are incorporated in policies and related budgets. The expected long-term result of these initiatives is the incorporation of gender equality principles, perspectives and priorities not only in policy making, but also in budgeting at the national and local levels, leading to greater accountability and transparency of public finances.

In order to strengthen the work hitherto done and ensure sustainability of the interventions on GRB, UN Women has initiated a regional programme with participation of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Serbia and North Macedonia on “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2024) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation. The main programme approach will be transformative financing as an enabling factor for policy and financing actions to accelerate implementation of existing national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Furthermore, the work in this regard is also implemented through support to sustainable development agenda of the country as many aspects of governance and economic development are addressed in national policy, planning, budgeting, and accountability frameworks. Those may be linked to SDGs, but such linkage may not be explicit or well-articulated. The SDGs bring into governance systems a more comprehensive, structured, and measurable dimension to assess public policies. In line with the growing need to align policies, strategies, and research with the SDGs, UN Women will be supporting the Ministry of Finance of Canton Sarajevo to enhance efficiency, quality and cost effectiveness, and particular focus will be dedicated to the SDG 5. Since SDG informed, and gender responsive strategic budgeting is central to these processes – recognizing the crucial role of budgets in implementing public policy – budget needs and resources for implementing necessary changes will be addressed as well.

In this context, UN Women seeks to recruit a National Expert on Public Finance Management to provide direct support to relevant institutions in integrating gender responsive budgeting in public finance management, incorporate gender analytical data in budget plans, implement trainings in programme budgeting, GRB and M&E across sectors to develop more socially responsive policies and legislation, contribute to capacity building of members of parliaments and parliamentary administration on gender and GRB, support UN Women follow up on GRB analysis of tax legislation and policies in BiH, as well as efforts to support supreme audit institutions (SAI) in BiH, and support development of a pilot model for a systemic SDG-linked platform for gender responsive planning and monitoring of public funds via simplified budget tagging.

DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of this consultancy is to contribute to integrating gender responsive budgeting in public finance management.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE

The immediate objective of this consultancy to provide direct support to relevant institutions in integrating gender responsive budgeting in public finance management, incorporate gender analytical data in budget plans, implement trainings in programme budgeting, GRB and M&E across sectors to develop more socially responsive policies and legislation, contribute to capacity building of members of parliaments and parliamentary administration on gender and GRB, support UN Women follow up on GRB analysis of tax legislation and policies in BiH, as well as efforts to support supreme audit institutions (SAI) in BiH, and support development of a pilot model for a systemic SDG-linked platform for gender responsive planning and monitoring of public funds via simplified budget tagging.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Under the supervision of the UN Women Governance and Leadership Coordinator, overall supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist, and in consultation with the Regional GRB Programme Specialist, the selected consultant is expected to deliver the following results:

• Develop a detailed workplan with timeline, outline and methodology to conduct the tasks outlined in this TOR, and revise the workplan in early 2023 by also outlining challenges and opportunities in implementation of the tasks
• Continuously support (throughout 2022 and 2023) ministries of finance (MOFs) and line ministries to mainstream gender in budgetary procesess and to integrate gender considerations into the core of their work and provide continuous technical assistance and advise the MOFs on the overall implementation of gender equality commitments in the  public expenditures by line ministries
• Continuously follow up (throughout 2022 and 2023) with MOFs and line ministries on further developing Gender Budget Statements (GBS) and identify and support additional institutions in this regard – develop detailed guidance for MOFs for preparation of GBS (only in 2022); provide continuous support to conducting expenditure tracking and submission of GBS, for information to the parliaments and discussion with the parliamentary committees
• Prepare and facilitate 2 basic and 4 advanced GRB trainings across sectors to develop more gender responsive policies and legislation (3 trainings to be delivered in 2022, another 3 in 2023)
• Provide GRB methodological guidance for conducting sectoral analyses (only in 2022)
• Prepare and facilitate a presentation of GRB analysis of tax legislation and policies in BiH (only in 2022)
• Prepare an extended GRB analysis of tax legislation and policies in BiH (only in 2022)
• Provide support in assessing the needs and priorities of supreme audit institutions (SAI) in BiH to inform future programmatic interventions to support SAIs on mainstreaming gender in their work, to include support to consultations with SAI and further exploration of possibilities for engagement (only in 2022)
• Provide support in development of a pilot model for a systemic SDG-linked platform for gender responsive planning and monitoring of public funds via simplified budget tagging (only in 2022)
• Provide technical support in defining the scope of work of external experts to provide support in specialized areas related to GRB, public finance management, gender auditing, support to GRB at the local level or another similar area (only in 2022)
• Prepare and facilitate 1 GRB training to selected members of parliaments and parliamentary administration (only in 2023)
• Prepare and facilitate 3 orientation sessions on GRB for members of BiH, FBiH and RS parliaments and parliamentary committees (only in 2023)
• Provide regular updates, quarterly reports and social media messages (in English) to UN Women on the implementation of activities as it will be specified in the consultancy workplan (throughout 2022 and 2023)

DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

The Consultant will be expected to complete the tasks within the indicative timeframe:

The consultancy will last 195 days in the period from 1 April 2022 to 15 December 2023. The assignment will not require presence on UN Women premises.

REPORTING

All deliverables should be submitted to the UN Women Governance and Leadership Coordinator in English, unless differently specified. The final deliverable should be completed by 1 December 2023. Approval time required to review the deliverables before authorizing payments is 7 days

Competencias

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in economics, public finance or other relevant field.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of relevant professional experience with public finance management
• A minimum of 3 years of professional experience in taxation policy
• Specific expertise related to government public finance policies and processes - including budgetary process and gender responsive budgeting methodologies and approaches, and familiarity with program based budgeting and budget laws
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in gender equality
• Working/consulting experience with government institutions and international organizations/projects will be considered an asset

Languages Requirements:

• Fluency in B/C/S and English

Other skills:

• Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communication and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point), Zoom and MS Teams

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

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:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
•  Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
• Development and Operational Effectiveness
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
• Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach/advocacy
• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource

Leadership and Self-Management

• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners

EVALUATION OF OFFERS

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of potential consultants as well as the financial proposals submitted in support of consultant applications. Candidate applications will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of applicant experience, qualifications and a financial proposal. The 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 technical and financial criteria defined below.

Based on a desk technical evaluation, only candidates receiving a minimum of 50 points at technical evaluation will be considered for interview.

Criteria:

Technical Evaluation (70%) – 70 points

• Master’s degree in economics, public finance or other relevant field - mandatory
• A minimum of 7 years of relevant professional experience with public finance management – 20 points
• A minimum of 3 years of professional experience in taxation policy – 15 points
• Specific expertise related to government public finance policies and processes - including budgetary process and gender responsive budgeting methodologies and approaches, and familiarity with program based budgeting and budget laws – 25 points
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in gender equality – 5 points
• Working/consulting experience with government institutions and international organizations/projects – 5 points

Financial Evaluation (30%)

• Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30
• S - score received on financial evaluation;
• Fmin - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;
• F - financial offer under the consideration.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents:

1. Expression of interest and confirmation of immediate availability
2. Detailed financial proposal in BAM inclusive of all costs (which includes consultancy fees, travel, accommodation related to the assignment)
3. Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form, that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

Applications that are not complete will not be considered.

Please note that travel and accommodation costs should be covered by the consultant.

For any additional information, please contact unwomen.bih@unwomen.org

How to Submit the Application - to submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), the Financial Proposal, Expression of Interest into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of?qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.