UN WOMEN Jobs - 63627- Re-advertisement - National Consultant to Formulat

Re-advertisement - National Consultant to Formulate an Exit Strategy for SIWPSAN Project (Open for Nepalese Nationals Only)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Kathmandu, NEPAL

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

25-Feb-2016

Application Deadline :

12-Feb-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 days spread over three months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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 will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of National priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with government, civil society and other relevant actors.

In Nepal, UN Women's programme focus on women's leadership in peace, security and humanitarian action, economic empowerment of women, and gender responsive national planning and budgeting processes, to contribute to achieving the goal of gender equality and empowerment of women. The Women Peace and Security (WPS) Unit of UN Women Nepal is responsible for providing technical support to government, development partners and civil society organizations in the areas of women, peace and security including implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) on United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1325 and 1820 in line with the Nepal Country Office Strategic Note and Annual Work Plan (AWP) 2014-2017. In order to reinforce the ongoing efforts especially with respect to the implementation of the NAP on UNSCRs 1325 and 1820, UN Women Nepal has been implementing “Strengthening Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Nepal: Towards Implementation of National Action Plan on UNSCRs 1325 and 1820 (SIWPSAN)” project funded by the Government of Finland. UN Women’s WPS works focuses on the implementation of the frameworks of UNSCRs 1325, 1820 and its subsequent resolutions, Convention of Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), Secretary General (SG)’s Seven Point Action Plan on Gender Responsive Peacebuilding, UN Peace and Development Strategy for Nepal, and the Nepal United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2013-2017 (UNDAF).

The overall goal of the SIWPSAN project is 'Women lead and participate in peace, security and governance process at the local level in the Far West Region. The specific objectives of the project area: (i) to enhance the collective capability of national and local level government and other relevant stakeholders to implement and monitor the NAP on UNSCRs 1325 and 1820; (ii) to economically and socially empower conflict affected women and former combatants in three districts through comprehensive assessment of their needs and their operating environment, and innovative programmes and (iii) to enhance the leadership and participation of women in key decision-making structures in the project districts. The project duration is June 2012 to May 2016 and is executed by UN Women and being implemented through a number of partners such as Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW), Training Centre Nepal (TCN), Saathi, Krishna Consultancy (KC), Search for Common Ground (SFCG), Local Development Training Academy (LDTA), and three local partners such as Backward Society Education (BASE) in Kailali district, Community Development Society (CDS) in Doti district, Dalit Help Society (DHS) in Bajhang district.

In line with the approved project document of SIWPSAN, UN Women has carried out a Mid -Term Evaluation(MTE) to determine if the project is towards achieving its stated outputs and assess whether the outputs are leading towards expected outcomes; and to provide recommendations to UN Women for improvement in the project implementation to maximize its impact. One of the recommendations of the MTE is to formulate an exit strategy that would include engagement of its partners to ensure that the beneficial impact of the project continues after the project ends, identifying potential institutions, and mechanism, assigning clear roles and responsibility with action points and timeline to further promote the project gains, embedding skills in local institutions. It is important that the strategy stipulates how resource management can be put in place to enable further support to the Conflict Affected Women and Girls (CAW/G), Inter-Party Women Alliance (IPWA), women ex-combatants and victims of violence against women. Similarly, the exit strategy should include provisions for follow-up orientation to project beneficiaries, provisions for market linkages, access to finance, linkages with existing relevant Government of Nepal (GoN) structures and other district level business entities.

In light to above mentioned context, UN Women is recruiting a local consultant to formulate an exit strategy for SIWPSAN project. She/he will be based in Kathmandu and will visit project districts (Kailali, Doti and Bajhang) and selected Village Development Committees to hold discussions/consultation with local project stakeholder including IPWAs, CAW/G groups, women ex-combatants and victims of violence against women and District Coordination Committee to capture local context and reflect in the exit strategy.

The main objective of this SSA is to support sustainability of the SIWPSAN project through the formulation of an exit strategy.

A programme exit strategy is a plan describing how the programme intends to withdraw its resources while ensuring that achievement of the programme goals(relief or development) is not jeopardized and that progress towards these goals will continue, Rogers and Macias.

Note: The project is being implemented in 15 VDCs of the three project districts. The VDCs include Masuria, Thapapur, Bauniya and Narayanpur VDCs and Lamki-Chuha municipality in Kailali, Sanagaun Kadamandau, Laxmi Nagar, Barchain and Ghangal VDCs in Doti; and Ritthapatha, Subeda, Majhigaun, Rayal and Bajh VDCs in Bajhang.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under overall supervision of Unit Manager of WPS Unit, the consultant will be responsible for formulating an exit strategy for SIWPSAN project. The consultant will work in close collaboration with the programme and operations team of UN Women Nepal, project implementing partners, other agencies working in WPS issues including UN agencies.

The consultant will be responsible for:

Reviewing the project document including Result and Resource Framework (RRF), partners’ progress report, Mid-term Evaluation report, donor report to gain understandings on progress and results achieved so far;
Visiting project districts(Kailali, Doti and Bajhang) and project VDCs (at least two VDCs from each three project district) to hold discussion/consultation with DCCs, District Development Committee(DDCs), VDCs, IPWAs, CAW/G groups, local project partners, local financial institutions and conflict affected women entrepreneurs on post-project scenario and possibility of promoting project gains beyond the project period. The average number of participant in each district consultation will be 30;
Holding a national level discussion/consultation with the representative from Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR), Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW), Department of Women and Children (DWC), Embassy of Finland, UN Women, CSOs and conflict affected women on possibility of promoting project gains beyond the project period. The average number of participant of the national discussion/consultation will be 30;
Drafting an exit strategy including the post-project scenario, possible exit options suggesting timely and effective completion of all the activities, clear roles and responsibility of each partner with action points and timeline to further promote the project gains. Further, the strategy includes a clear timeline for delivery and reporting and identify clearly the responsible persons/units for each action. The draft strategy should include the different components outlined in the exit/handover strategy template available at http://www.commdev.org/userfiles/SCI%20Exit%20and%20Handover%20Strategy%20Template.pdf;
Submitting a draft exit strategy with UN Women, MoWCSW/Department of Women and Children (DWC), local partners (BASE, CDS, and DHS), TCN, Saathi, LDTA, and SFCG for review and feedback;
Finalizing the exit strategy addressing the inputs and comments from UN Women, MoWCSW/DWC local partners (BASE, CDS, and DHS), TCN, LDTA, and SFCG;
Providing orientation to MoWCSW/DWC, BASE, CDS, DHS, LDTA and TCN on newly formulated exit strategy and also supporting each agency to develop action plan with clear roles, and time line.

Expected Deliverables:

A clear work plan with precise actions, timeline and specific tools and techniques in line with the scope of work and specific tasks;
At least four; 3 district (Kailali, Doti and Bajhang) level and 1 national level one day workshops/interactions with the stakeholders including government officials, DCC members, local partners, CAW/G groups, IPWA in each project district. The average number of participants in workshop/consultation will be 30;
An exit strategy (detail strategy in English and summary in Nepali) including the post-project scenario, clear roles and responsibility of each partner with action points and timeline to further promote the project gains;
A progress report on orientation to MoWCSW/DWC, BASE, CDS, DHS, LDTA and TCN on exit strategy;
Action plan of MoWCSW/DWC, BASE, CDS, DHS, LDTA and TCN on the implementation of newly formulated exit strategy.

Methodology

The consultant will develop a detail methodology to collect information from the field (project districts and VDCs). The methodology may include Key Informant Interview (KII) with CAW/G group members, IPWAs, victim of violence against women, women ex-combatants, local partner, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with conflict affected women, consultation with DCC members including other relevant officials, and desk review of relevant documents. During the data collection the consultant also look at any possibility of aligning project gain with the existing governance system and procedure.

Principles to guide the strategy:

Gender equality and social inclusion;
Participation of (conflict affected) women;
Transparency, accountability and good governance;
Human rights based approach;
Conflict Sensitivity including Do-no Harm.

Schedule of payments:

Upon completion of an inception report presenting a clear work plan with timeline and specific tools and techniques to be utilized followed by clearance of Unit Manager, WPS Unit (10% of total budget) (within a week of signing of the contract);
Upon submission of report on district level consultation/discussion and field visit followed by clearance of Unit Manager, WPS Unit (40% of total budget) (within three weeks of signing of the contract);
Upon submission of an exit strategy (detail strategy in English and summary in Nepali) including the post-project scenario, clear roles and responsibility of each partner with action points and timeline to further promote the project gains and action plan of MoWCSW/DWC, BASE, CDS, DHS, LDTA and TCN followed by clearance of Unit Manager, WPS Unit. (50% of total budget) (Last week of the contract period).

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Promoting Ethics and Integrity / Creating Organizational Precedents.

Organizational Awareness:

Building support and political acumen.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation.

Working in Teams:

Building and promoting effective teams.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements.

Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Functional Competencies:

Proven ability to write reports, briefs and concept notes;
Proven ability to coordinate with Nepal government ministries;
Ability to multi task, work on many concepts at once, and work in a team.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in Economics, Sociology/Anthropology, Gender and Development, Social Science, Business Management, Law, Media or any other related fields.

Experience:

Minimum 5 years’ proven experience and demonstrated knowledge on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, including peace and security;
Experiences in conducting similar assignments with agencies;
Experiences working with local governance system and procedure;
Excellent command of written and oral English and Nepali;
Excellent communication skills and intercultural sensitivity;
Good knowledge of computer applications especially Microsoft Office applications such as word and excel together with a good presentation skills.

Language:

Fluent in English.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents:

Expression of interest containing earliest starting date;
UN P11 form (blank form can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment/)
A lump-sum financial proposal including consultant fee, field travel cost, workshop/consultation cost and all other relevant cost.

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. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

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 qualifications and 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 below defined technical/interview and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for further evaluation process. The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal will be allocated to the lowest price proposal among the qualified candidates. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion.

Criteria:

Technical Evaluation – documents based/interview (70%);
Financial Evaluation (30%).

Technical Evaluation Criteria:

Qualification (20 points);
Experience of developing strategic plans of the organization, and exit strategy, etc. (30 points);
Experience working in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, including peace and security. (20 points);
Experience working with government system including local governance. (30 points).

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.

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.

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.