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; the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development; human rights; as well as humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the center 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.

UN Women recognizes equality between women and men as a fundamental aspect of a just and democratic society and is committed to promoting equal opportunities for the full participation of women in all aspects of political and public life. UN Women's mandate includes promoting women's political participation, particularly through elections and electoral assistance. While women make up roughly half of the world's population, they are still underrepresented as voters, candidates especially for the national elections and elected officials.

As a result, gender inequality must be addressed throughout the electoral processes if gender issues are to be addressed in society at large. These issues affect all aspects of an election and are therefore important to be monitored, analyzed and shared with stakeholders and a wide public, while understanding how legal, political, and social structures affect women as well as men in the electoral process. That is why it is important to analyze women's participation as voters, candidates, and elected representatives; the participation of women in leadership roles within state institutions, electoral commissions, and political parties; and how the legal framework and media structures affect women as well as men. Gender sensitive analysis helps providing appropriate conclusions on how national structures and practices affect women's political participation and is key to identify challenges women face in elections.

UN Women has conducted monitoring and gender sensitive analysis of elections in different regions of Albania since with introduction for the first time of Gender Quota in Electoral Code in 2008.  The close monitoring and gender sensitive observation has helped in addressing several challenges and issues that affect women participation in elections as voters, candidates and commissioners as well as related issues such as family voting. Several monitoring reports and national studies have been conducted over the past years and have helped to better understand and address the context, challenges and opportunities for women participation in politics. (See more of the relevant publications:  http://www.un.org.al/subindex.php?faqe=details&id=64&mnu=32)

Following its previous initiatives, and publications, the UN Women in Albania is seeking to develop an Index of Perception on Women Participation in Elections (PoPE Index), measuring the perceived role that women play in the electoral process. The main goal of the PoPE Index will be to provide a blueprint of the situation of women's participation in the upcoming parliamentarian elections of 2017 in Albania, allowing comparison between years and regions. One of the most important challenges of this initiative is the establishment of a sound monitoring and comparison methodology. A solid methodology would be key in analyzing the progress (or regress) of women participation in elections, since the establishment of the gender quota, and to provide concrete recommendations on future interventions. The report will focus on women's role in elections, including women's participation as voters, political candidates, campaign managers, or elections administration body.

Duties and Responsibilities

The International Expert is expected to work in close collaboration with UN Women National Programme Manager and National Expert contracted by the UN Women to develop the PoPE Index. More specifically, the International Expert, assisted by the National Consultant and UN Women, will lead the work in carrying the following tasks:

Desk work: 

• Consult previous UN Women publications and relevant monitoring reports in taking methodological decisions about the PoPE Index, preparing a list of assessment indicators and designing assessment instruments (5 days);
• Collaborate closely with the National Expert and provide guidance on the data collection process (1 day);
• Write a short review on the PoPE Index report (1 day);
• Propose a strategy on sustainability and viability of the PoPE Index (2 days);

Advocacy:

• Lobby at a national and international level aiming to promote internationally the PoPE INDEX, and integrate it with similar international initiatives such as ‘Electoral Integrity Project’ (3 days);
• Advocate for international support of this initiative, aiming to ensure at least one case of commitment/agreement from a national/international body (2 days);
• Present the PoP index in a public event and explain it to the media, experts and other stakeholders (1 day).

Expected deliverables: 

• A description of the methodological decisions, a list of indicators to be measured and the necessary instruments:
• A review paper on the final report of the Index
• Participation in a round of meetings with potential donors and a final report reflecting commitments of recommendations
• Public presentation of the PoP Index.

Institutional Arrangement

The International Expert will work under the overall supervision of the National Project Manager for Women Political Empowerment and will collaborate closely with the National Expert on the PoPE Index.

The contractor is required to submit Deliverables in a highly responsive manner and as agreed with UN Women.

Duration of the Work

The International Consultant will be contracted for a maximum of 15 days for a period of 6 months to perform specified tasks from May – October, 2017

Duty Station 

The duty station will be home based with one travel mission to Tirana possibly in September 2017.

Competencies

Core Values/ Guiding Principles:

• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity

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 Competences:

• Proven skills in research design and research methods;
• Advanced knowledge in statistical analysis;
• Good knowledge of the Eastern European Politics;
• Good global reputation and rich professional network, which can be helpful to ensure an international support for this initiative;
• Knowledge in legal frameworks related to elections in Albania, similar countries or in the region.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Post-graduate degree in political sciences, law or relevant fields;
• Academic qualifications in research methods.

Work experience:

• At least 10 - years of relevant professional experience;
• Sound and practical experience in conducting consultation processes and preparation of clearly outlined documents;
• Experience in legal frameworks related to elections in Albania, similar countries or in the region will be considered an asset;
• Experience on women’s political participation and particularly in electoral processes;
• Experience in working with international networks experts, boards, committees, or academic networks.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English (spoken and written).

The scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal is specifying the overall lump sum amount in USD for the tasks and anticipated number of days specified in this announcement together with one travel mission to Albania. 

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall consider various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).

• Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iii) submission of and approval of final draft; and (iv) submission of the respective invoice.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 10th May 2017. Applications should include:

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• P11 Form including past experience in a similar assignment. Can be downloaded at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.
• A list with links and titles of research documents/papers/publications produced by the applicant.
• Financial Proposal specifying the overall lumpsum amount in USD for the tasks and an anticipated number of days specified in this announcement together with one travel mission to Albania.
• A draft proposal explaining the methodological approach that is going to use to construct the Index.

Note: Failure to submit financial proposal will result in automatic disqualification.

Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants' 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 and financial criteria.

Applications will be assessed according to the following Technical Criteria:

• Post-graduate degree in political sciences, law or relevant fields (max. points 10);
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience (max. points 20);
• Draft proposal of methodology; (max. points 30);
• Knowledge/experience in legal frameworks related to elections in Albania, similar countries or in the region will be considered an asset max. points 10);
• Experience in working with international networks experts, boards, committees, or academic networks (max. points 10);

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 80% in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

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. The calculation formula applied is as follow:

p = 20 (µ/z); where: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated; µ = price of the lowest priced proposal; z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

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,  the draft proposal explaining the methodological approach, the list with links and titles of research documents/papers/publications, and Cover Letter 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.

UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.