Background

*The candidates who have previously applied to this position need not to reapply

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, the 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 Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Based on UN legislative mandates and the UNW Strategic Plan, the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is tasked with providing strategic programme development, policy / technical advisory services and quality assurance support to Multi Country Offices and Country Offices. It undertakes or coordinates regional research and data analysis; advises on norms, policies and strategies for achieving the internationally and regionally agreed goals related to gender equality and women’s empowerment issues. It acts as a knowledge hub at the regional level, collecting evidence on progress and emerging issues and sharing knowledge on innovative approaches and lessons learned in implementation.

Building on over fifteen years of experience in the area of women, peace and security (WPS), including conflict prevention and resolution, peacebuilding, security sector reform and access to justice, UN Women Asia Pacific Regional Office has been working to ensure a gender sensitive and gender responsive approach to understanding and preventing violent extremism (PVE) at the regional level. UN Women’s approach to preventing radicalization and violent extremism is firmly based on the empowerment of women to build resilient, cohesive and peaceful communities – with particular attention to those that are most marginalized and in particularly vulnerable situations. Taking especially into consideration the growing threat of violent extremism in Asia and the Pacific, UN Women is seeking to expand its efforts in the area of prevention of radicalization and violent extremism through empowered women’s influence in building resilient communities. UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is integrating this focus on prevention of violent extremism with its ongoing women, peace and security priorities including conflict prevention, peacebuilding and National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security (NAPs-WPS).

In this context, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific seeks to hire a consultant to support regional and Asia-Pacific country offices on Women, Peace and Security initiatives with particular attention to Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE).

The Security Risk Management Consultant will report directly to the Governance Peace and Security Advisor, with a technical reporting line to the UN Women Global Security Adviser.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

  • Collect, update, analyze and communicate security information, related to the delivery of UN Women PVE/CVE programmes within the Asia Pacific Region;
  • Research and develop internal guidance and advisories on UN Women PVE/CVE programming that incorporates Security Risk Management and assist in its implementation.

Expected Deliverables:

  • Coordinate security programmatic evaluations of PVE/CVE programmes. Development of mission plan for gathering, verification, and analysis of security information. Deliverables: Mission plans and mission reports as relevant by 30 June 2017;
  • Gathering, verification, and analysis of security information. Deliverables: Draft evaluation and mission report/s by 31 July 2017;
  • Gathering, verification, and analysis of security information. Deliverables: Final security programmatic evaluations of PVE/CVE programmes by 31 August 2017;
  • Conduct research and liaise and coordinate with relevant stakeholders (units, divisions and sections internally as well as UN Agencies Funds & Programmes, Implementing Partners, Civil Society, Host Country Agencies) to identify and develop specific prevention and mitigation measures aligned to security supported PVE/CVE programmes. Deliverables: Report detailing stakeholders consulted with recommendations by 30 September 2017;
  • Development of security risk management guidelines for UN Women PVE/CVE programmes in the Asia Pacific Region including recommendations on risk management to enable programme delivery. Deliverables: Draft security guidelines by 31 October 2017;
  • Development of security risk management guidelines for UN Women PVE/CVE programme. Deliverables: Final security guidelines by 30 November 2017;
  • Development of training materials for dissemination of security guidelines. Deliverables: Training materials by 31 December 2017;
  • Dissemination of guidelines and training to relevant stakeholders. Deliverables: List of stakeholders, mission reports by 31 January 2018;
  • Evaluate achievements, lessons learned and recommendations for way forward. Deliverables: End of consultancy report by 28 February 2018.

*Payment will be made upon submission of deliverables with an approval of Regional Policy Adviser – Governance, Peace and Security.

Contract period and work location:

  • The consultant will be based in Bangkok, Thailand and working at UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific as required. Round trip airfare from consultant original country to Bangkok, Thailand will be paid by UN Women. The consultant will be required to travel on mission for which travel costs and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) will be provided. Travel Authorization will be granted to the consultant prior to the travel date.

Competencies

Essential knowledge and experience:

  • Excellent grasp of security issues both from a programming and a policy point of view
  • Operational knowledge of United Nations Security Risk Management processes and UN Programmes, particularly those with a gender focus;
  • Ability to conduct data collection using various mediums, apply judgment in the context of prioritization, plan work and manage conflicting priorities;
  • Ability to communicate complex issues to clients and supervisors, clearly present research and analytical findings and formulate useful security guidance and advisories;
  • Possesses an array of good communication skills, spoken, written and visual, including the ability to draft/edit in a clear concise style.

Corporate Competencies:

  • Shows pride in work and in achievements, demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter;
  • Ability to identify issues, analyze and develop measures to resolve obstacles that may impede the communication and delivery of corporate strategies;
  • Ability to apply persistence and overcomes challenges; 
  • Ability to plan and organize work to meet imposed deadlines, conflicting priorities, changes in focus;
  • Working under pressure, using resources and time efficiently to ensure the completion of deliverables;
  • Demonstrates the ability to act independently whilst delivering with limited managerial oversight.

Required Skills and Experience

Education (20%) :

  • An Advanced Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) with a focus on international relations, political science, Security or Risk Management. A knowledge of the United Nations Security Management System (UNSMS) and gender together with associated training and education. 

Experience and skills (70%):

  • A minimum of two years of progressively responsible experience in Security Risk Management, with an understanding of United Nations risk management and programmatic processes and understanding of gender based programmes;
  • Experience working in a field location an asset.

Language (10%):

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
  • Excellent command of written English, other UN languages an asset.

Evaluation:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis:

  • Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
  • Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the applications, with evaluation of the technical application being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria. Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically-qualified candidates who may be contacted for validation interview.

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

  • Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated;
  • The total number of points allocated for the price component is 100;
  • 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 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Submission package includes:

  • Updated CV;
  • Personal History Form(P11);
  • Writing sample;

Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify a lump sum amount breaking down the professional fee for each deliverable, and travel related cost (i.e. round trip airfare from consultant original country to Bangkok, Thailand, visa fee. Please see the financial proposal template as below:

  • Lump Sum fee (equivalent to daily fee x no. of days): Mission plans and mission reports as relevant; Draft evaluation and mission report/s, Final security programmatic evaluations of PVE/CVE programmes, Report detailing stakeholders consulted with recommendations, Draft security guidelines, Final security guidelines, Training materials, List of stakeholders, mission reports, End of consultancy report (Amount in USD);
  • Round trip airfare from original country to duty station (Amount in USD);
  • Others (please provide details as applicable) (Amount in USD);
  • Total Financial Proposal (Amount in USD).

Payments:

  • Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.