Background

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.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997. UN Women Palestine Office focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely, to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal, and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the Palestinian context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions towards the realization of following strategic goals: Mainstreaming gender in governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

Building on UN Women’s goal in Palestine to ensure women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, and ILO’s Decent Work strategy in Palestine, UN Women and ILO are implementing the regional joint programme “Promoting Productive Employment and Decent Work For Women” in Palestine, Jordan and Egypt, funded by Sweden, in partnership with the Ministry of National Economy (MoNE), Ministry of Labour (MoL), Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) and the Federation of Palestinian chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (FPCCIA). The Joint programme aims to promote productive employment and decent work for women in Palestine by promoting equitable laws and policies, engaging public, private and community actors, and reducing the uneven burden of unpaid care work.  

Within the framework of the Joint programme and in line with the MoNE’s Sectoral Strategy and ongoing efforts to enhance economic development, investment conditions and job creation, especially during COVID-19 crisis and beyond, MoNE, through its gender unit, is aiming to implement the newly developed Gender Action Plan, with the support of UN Women, establish and implement a grants mechanism targeting women-led MSME’s to promote and advocate for advocate for women’s economic security and rights. To achieve this, MoNE reiterates the importance of having gender responsive policies, procedures and strategies in place, including gender responsive budgets, that are also in line with the 2030 Agenda, to eliminate inequalities as a priority for the Government of Palestine.

For this purpose and as part of UN Women and MoNE ongoing partnership, UN Women is seeking to recruit a national consultant, to support the Ministry of National Economy in mainstreaming gender in programming, planning, budgeting, and policy making.

Purpose of the Assignment:

Provide technical guidance, capacity building and support to MoNE Gender Unit (GU) team and the gender committee (GC) to:

1. Implement the newly developed MONE Gender Action Plan.
2. Establish and implement the grants mechanism targeting women-led MSME’s who are mostly hit by the Pandemic.
3. Reach out to various stakeholders in the economic sector to promote and advocate for women’s economic security and rights.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Special Representative in the State of Palestine, and the direct supervision of UN Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme Manager, the consultant will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities:

• Support MoNE’s Gender Unit (GU) team and the gender committee (GC) at MONE in the implementation of the newly developed MONE Gender Action Plan and continuously updating/customizing it, as needed.

This entails providing the gender unit and gender committee at MONE with gender mainstreaming technical guidance and oversight, capacity building and on-the-job training, based on the provision of the below detailed duties and responsibilities:

• Design and conduct a capacity building needs’ assessment with the aim to develop a tailored capacity building program, containing at least 4 comprehensive training modules on gender mainstreaming tools at the levels of 1) policies and program development 2) planning 3) GRB and 4) Monitoring and Evaluation.
• Provide on-the-job coaching and advice to support establishing and capacitating the gender committee at MoNE. This includes regular provision of technical guidance for mainstreaming gender in the National Economy Strategy and Action Plan through the implementation of the MoNE Gender Action Plan.
• Design and guide monthly team workshops, (at least 10 during the assignment’s duration), to assist and advise MoNE’s GU and GC teams in developing gender responsive procedures, tools and services to be adopted by the Ministry, as applicable.
• Assist the MoNE GU and GC teams in launching national multi-stakeholders’ events to enhance mainstreaming gender in the national economy, including the following:
• In close collaboration with MoNE and UN Women, assist the GU and GC teams in designing and delivering a national event for launching of the gender analytical review of “MoNE policies, procedures, tools, and initiatives” and the policy paper on “the role of MoNE in enhancing women’s economic participation during COVID-19”. This includes assisting in developing and implementing the concept note, agenda, invitations, event’s inputs such as presentations, materials to be distributed, etc., as well as summarizing and drafting the event’s reporting and recommendations for future action, and finally following up in the results with the ministry’s team.
• Support MoNE in the establishment of and implementation of the grants mechanism targeting women-led MSME’s.

In collaboration with MoNE and UN Women, the expert is expected to provide overall technical support for the design, establishment and delivery of the first and second batches of grants to women grantees, which will include the following detailed tasks:

• Support the MoNE in designing the grant mechanism, and developing a framework for its institutionalization, including the terms of reference for the grant’s advisory group, conducting and documenting its meetings, (at least 5 during the assignment’s duration), designing and launching the grant kit including the grant making manual, the grant mechanisms and tools, selection criteria of grant’s target recipients, visibility materials, simplified and user friendly materials to applicants (in Arabic), among others, and training provided to MoNE staff on the grants mechanism as seen necessary by MoNE and UN Women.
• Support the MoNE in the launching event of the grant mechanism, and drafting the event report, highlighting the main recommendations and results, pictures etc.
• Deliver sensitization and training and awareness sessions (at least 5 during the assignment’s duration) on the grant mechanism for the MoNE staff and focal points, as well as other stakeholders from government, civil society and private sector, in different directorates and governorates in WB and GS, as service providers.
• Assist MONE in the selection of the first batch of beneficiaries and conducting the grant awarding ceremony in coordination with the Ministry.
• Develop a concept paper on three consultation meetings between the Ministry of National Economy, the government and private sector institutions to develop mechanisms for procurement practices and purchasing women's products.
• Develop a concept paper on strengthening the partnership between the Ministry of National Economy and CSOs, to implement awareness raising meetings for 80 women in the areas of Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip, who will benefit from the ministry’s grants regarding the procurement and grants mechanisms, in cooperation with CSOs and the government sector.
• Assist MONE in reaching out to partners in the economic sector to promote and advocate for women’s economic security and rights.

The consultant is expected to provide the guidance and skills development needed for the MoNE assigned staff on gender tools and concepts to enable them to strengthen partnerships with various stakeholders in the economic sector through the following:

• Support the MoNE in conducting at least 3 consultations and networking sessions with relevant private and public institutions to promote and advocate for prioritizing, establishing, and implementing gender-responsive procurement practices, in addition to preparing all needed concept papers, MoUs and frameworks for the institutionalization of these mechanisms.
• Support MoNE in creating partnerships with public, private and civil society partners for conducting awareness and capacity development sessions and developing concept notes and MoUs with these institutions to ensure targeting at least 80 women-led MSME’s on how to access procurement opportunities, while engaging relevant stakeholders from private and public institutions.
• Support MoNE in cooperating with national partners from public, private and civil society for developing and disseminating specific policy tools, guidance notes or policy briefs on gender responsive procurement targeting women entrepreneurs to be adopted by national partners, as relevant, and disseminated/upscaled widely at the national level.

All deliverables will be submitted on a monthly basis in a form of reports with related annexes, assessments, tools developed, grants mechanism, training materials, surveys, action plans, etc (in English and Arabic).

• Deliverable 1: An action plan to carry out the required tasks, including the methodology, tools and draft grant mechanism and framework (in Arabic) (Expected delivery date: November 2021).
• Deliverable 2: A Monthly progress report, including the developed/delivered training programs and a specialized training module on gender mainstreaming in programs and M&E and a workshop report on the grants mechanism launching event (Expected delivery date: December 2021).
• Deliverable 3: A monthly progress report, including the delivered training on gender responsive planning and budgeting, the ministry’s reviewed budget and sectoral plan from a gender perspective, reports of the advisory group meetings and the list of first patch of women grantees (Expected Delivery Date: January 2021).
• Deliverable 4: A monthly progress report, including the delivered trainings, MoNE gender-responsive M&E matrix, report on the CSO consultations on the grant mechanism and results of awareness meetings targeting women entrepreneurs and the second patch of women grantees (Expected Delivery Date: February 2022).
• Deliverable 5: A monthly progress report, including the delivered trainings and results of facilitated awareness workshops on procurement procedures (Expected Delivery Date: March 2022).
• Deliverable 6: A monthly progress report, including the list of all women grantees and preparations for awarding ceremony, results of awareness workshops and consultations with partners on policies related to gender responsive procurement (Expected Delivery Date: April 2022).
• Deliverable 7: A monthly progress report, including the updated MoNE Gender Action plan with related M&E framework and indicators and documentation of results and recommendations of the grants mechanism and prepare a follow up action plan.(Expected delivery date: May 2022).
• Deliverable 8: A monthly progress report, including the developed and conducted awareness plan for purchasing women’s products targeting the private and public and private institutions (Expected delivery date: June 2022).
• Deliverable 9: A monthly progress report, including the developed and adopted gender responsive policy tools, procedures, services, among others and delivered trainings.(Expected delivery date: July 2022).
• Deliverable 10: A monthly progress report, including the delivered trainings and  progress on the MoNE Gender action plan implementation.(Expected delivery date: August 2022).
• Deliverable 11: A monthly progress report, including progress on the MoNE Gender action plan implementation and developed gender responsive policy tools, procedures, services, among others (Expected delivery date: September 2022).
• Deliverable 12: A final report summarizing the assignment achievements, including recommendations and lessons learned, adopted policies, mechanisms, procedures, manuals and tools.(Expected delivery date: October 2022).

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity.
• Integrity.
• Professional.

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:

• Strong knowledge of international standards on women economic security and rights, decent work and gender equality tools and frameworks.
• Ability to liaise with a variety of stakeholders and partners, including government and international organizations.
• Strong analytical, dialogue, training, policy development, consultation, analysis and communication skills.
• Maturity, ability to take decisions under pressure and ability to deal with matters that are politically and culturally sensitive;Ability to work as a member of a team.
• Demonstrated experience in timely delivering of quality products, including knowledge products, and in contributing to complex processes within the women’s economic empowerment area of work.
• Demonstrated coordination, training, facilitation and presentation skills.
• Results oriented, flexible and problem-solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master degree in socio-economic studies, gender studies, law or any related development fields.

Experience:

• At least six years of extensive experience in research and analytical work, including assessments, analyses, surveys and policy development in gender equality and women’s economic empowerment is required.
• At least six years of professional experience in working in the domain of gender, decent work, development issues, including integrating gender in programs and plans is required.
• At least three years of experience in designing and delivering capacity building programs and awareness materials.
• At least 2 years of previous experience in working with Palestinian public sector, including MoNE, and UN agencies is a strong asset.

Lanaguage Requierement:

• Arabic and English.

This SSA modality is governed by UN Women General Terms and Conditions. UN Women will only be able to respond to applicants who meet the minimum requirements.

Candidates should clearly indicate how they meet the above-mentioned criteria in their applications.

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

• UN Women P11 including experience in similar assignments; the P11 form can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted; and
• At least two previous similar samples of work, including assessments, analyses or studies from a gender perspective.

Note: Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Please upload as one attachment of the documents as mentioned above online through this website.

Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) expression of Interest (EoI).

Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications mentioned above, and a financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Evaluation (70%) – max. 70 points:

Education:

• Master degree in socio-economic studies, gender studies, law or any related development fields. (max 10 points).

Experience:

• At least six years of extensive experience in research and analytical work, including assessments, analyses, surveys and policy development in gender equality and women’s economic empowerment is required. (max 10 points).
• At least six years of professional experience in working in the domain of gender, decent work, development issues, including integrating gender in programs and plans is required.  (max 10 points).
• At least three years of experience in designing and delivering capacity building programs and awareness materials. (max 10 points).
• At least 2 years of previous experience in working with Palestinian public sector, including MoNE, and UN agencies is a strong asset. (max 10 points).
• Samples of previous similar work: including trainings, analyses or policies from a gender perspective. (max 10 points).
• An interview (max 10 points).

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated.
• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal.
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Only long-listed candidates will be contacted.

Financial proposal. The shortlisted candidate will be requested to submit a financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount breaking down a daily professional fee, proposed number of working days and any related expenses, i.e. travel and communications expenses in USD.