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.

The Ukrainian Constitution, policy and legal frameworks guarantee equality for men and women in Ukraine in all sectors. The country adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), joined the ?eijing Declaration and the Platform for Action (BPfA) of the 4th World Conference for Women (1995) and ratified the main international instruments on gender equality and women’s rights, including the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol. Nevertheless, implementation and efficient mechanisms for enforcement, accountability, monitoring and evaluation are not fully in place.

To further support the consolidated efforts of the Parliament, Government, women’s groups and civil society organisations (CSOs) to meet the State commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, including CEDAW, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325) and SDGs, through governance reforms and peace and security processes, UN Women in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration launched the project “Enhancing accountability for gender equality and women’s empowerment in national reforms, peace and security”, funded by the Government of Sweden.

The project goal is to achieve transformative results for gender equality and women’s empowerment in Ukraine by integrating gender equality and women’s human rights commitments into the national reforms and the peace and security processes, and by putting mechanisms in place for adequate financing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

The project aims to: consolidate the efforts of government, parliament and civil society to remove structural barriers to gender equality and women’s human rights; ensure accountability of national governance, reforms, planning and budgeting for commitments and priorities in the areas of gender equality and women, peace and security; strengthen cross-sectoral coordination and oversight for gender and women’s rights commitments; strengthen coalitions between government, parliament, media and civil society for evidence-based advocacy in Ukraine; strengthen the capacity of gender advocates and women’s groups to effectively demand gender equality in reforms and peacebuilding.

As part of the national institutional mechanism for gender equality, the Parliament Inter-Fractional Cause on Equal Opportunities (hereinafter – the Caucus) was established in 2011, by the 6th convocation of the Parliament (and re-registered by each new Parliament). The Caucus activity is aimed at facilitating legal implementation of policy on equal rights and opportunities of women and men in different areas of life. Presently, the Caucus consists of more than 90 MPs and is chaired by five Co-Chairs, representing different political parties.

The main directions of the Caucus work include:

1. Expanding political participation and representation of women in the civil service.
2. Strengthening the capacity of women in the economic sphere.
3. Implementation of international obligations in the field of equal rights for women and men.
4. Ensuring the principles of equality between women and men in the security and defence sector and law enforcement.
5. Implementation of equality and non-discrimination policy in education.
6. Introduction of gender-oriented budgeting.
7. Ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men in health care.

Under the Caucus, there is a Public Expert Council, uniting 37 gender experts from the civil society and academia. The areas of work of the Public Expert Council correspond to the Caucus Directions of work.

Therefore, UN Women seeks to hire a National Consultant to provide gender analysis of legal initiatives, undertaken by the Parliament Inter-Fractional Caucus on Equal Opportunities, as well as advocacy and knowledge building support to the Caucus. The National Consultant is expected to contribute to strengthening of the national normative framework in line with endorsed Directions of the Caucus Work and in full compliance with international and national commitments on gender equality and women’s rights (80 days).

Under the overall guidance of the Representative of UN Women in Ukraine, technical guidance by the Programme Specialist and supervision of the Co-Chairs of the Parliament Inter-Factional Caucus on Equal Opportunities, and in close cooperation and coordination with the Caucus Secretariat, the consultant will implement a set of tasks, including, but not limited to: 

Task 1: Gender analysis of legal initiatives  of the Parliament Inter-Factional Caucus on Equal Opportunities, and development of gender-responsive propositions to ensure a comprehensive mainstreaming of gender equality in the normative framework of Ukraine, in line with international and national commitments:

• Provide gender analysis of the current legislation, proposed amendments to the legislations and draft laws, developed by the Caucus (in line with endorsed Directions of the Caucus Work and ad hoc requests) in order to ensure a comprehensive gender equality mainstreaming in the normative framework,
• Elaborate gender-sensitive propositions to the draft laws, current legislation to be in line with international gender equality and women’s empowerment commitments;
• Keep abreast of new legislative initiatives, policy developments and strategies, in order to ensure a timely analysis of gender-differentiated impacts, addressing potential gender gaps and providing targeted gender-responsive interventions.

Task 2: Advocacy support to the Parliament Inter-Factional Caucus on Equal Opportunities and facilitation of knowledge building and management on gender equality issues:

• Develop analytical notes, policy briefs and position papers on a variety of gender equality topics, desk reviews of international experience of gender equality policies and affirmative actions, including building gender-responsive parliaments,
• Provide expert support for planning, coordination and conducting research activities, initiated by the Caucus, including gender-responsive assessments and evaluations undertaken by the Parliament;
• Proactively and substantively support and implement relevant, high-impact advocacy activities and campaigns, initiated by the Caucus, in close cooperation with key institutions of the national women’s machinery and development partners.
• Contribute to cooperation and facilitate engagement with the civil society, women’s groups and gender advocates, including providing expert support to the Public Council under the Parliament Inter-Fractional Caucus on Equal Opportunities;
• Provide expert support and facilitate multi-stakeholder meetings on gender equality issues, organized by the Caucus.

Assignment /Deliverables

TOTAL – 8O DAYS

*All reports should be submitted in English language and include the full set of supporting documents, such as gender analysis of (draft) legal acts, elaborated gender-responsive propositions to the (draft) laws, analytical papers, event agendas and methodologies,  etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian.

Inputs

· UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment.

· The Consultant is expected to work in the Office of the Parliament Inter-Fractional Caucus on Equal Opportunities using her/his own computer.

Performance evaluation:

· Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager which will also be the basis for payment on a delivery by delivery basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:

· Payment will be disbursed by three instalments upon receipt of the deliverables (as per above matrix) and certification by a representative of the Parliament Inter-Fractional Caucus on Equal Opportunities and UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

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

Qualifications and Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in in Human Rights, Political Science, Gender Studies, Social Science, Law or related field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in human rights, gender, development or another relevant field;
• Proven experience in conducting gender analysis of legislation, gender-responsive research, institutional analysis of gender equality policies and mechanisms;
• Previous professional experience of work with the Government and the Parliament on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Proven knowledge of international human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment mechanisms and instruments;
• Experience with participation in organization of high-level, multi-stakeholder consultations and capacity-building workshops, including with representatives of the Parliament, government agencies and CSOs;Previous professional experience with development agencies and the United Nations would be considered an asset.

Languages and other skills: 

• Fluent Ukrainian and English
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria, 70% of total evaluation – max 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 desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

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).

Application and submission package:

All applications must include as one attachment:  

1. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from?https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558  

1. Financial proposal (sample is provided below): The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days, travel costs (daily subsistence allowance and other in-country travel costs) and other related costs (e.g. tele-communication). 

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.  

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 12:00 am 10 December 2020 by submitting applications to the following e-mail address: hr.ukraine@unwomen.org  with a subject “National Consultant on Gender Analysis of Legal Initiatives, Advocacy and Knowledge Building Support to the Parliament Inter-Fractional Caucus on Equal Opportunities”.

Applications without P11 and financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment. 

Sample of Financial Proposal 

The format shown on the following tables is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal 

1. Cost Breakdown per Deliverables* 

*Basis for payment tranches 

UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.