Background

Since the Libyan revolution and the removal of the Gadhafi regime, Libya continues to experience turmoil associated with political contestation over the control of the state, the fragmentation across geographic, ethnic and tribal lines as well as a surge in violent extremism.

For women, the negative impacts on the post 2011 period have been marked. Women have found their freedom of expression constrained by the threat of violence as the country witnessed a number of assassinations of women’s rights activists. Freedom of movement has also been affected through calls for women to be accompanied by a male guardian when travelling out of the country.

Freedom of movement and expression are human rights; they are also instrumental to citizenship and to effective political, economic and social participation. In this moment of Libyan political transition and the reconstitution of the state, (given the proposed constitutional referendum and national and local elections in 2018), securing women’s empowerment to participate fully and with agency on public life has become urgent.

UN Women and UNHCHR are therefore interested to understand more comprehensively the forces, causes and consequences of restrictions of women’s freedom of movement and expression and how they obstruct women’s effective presence in the public space and participation/engagement in shaping Libya’s future. This knowledge will contribute to the formulation of an advocacy and programmatic agenda to address women’s safe, informed and active participation in this moment of nation building in Libya.

Objective of the Assignment:

The overall objective is to provide documentation and analysis of the forces and causes of restrictions of women’s freedom of movement and expression in Libya and the consequences for women’s effective presence in the public space and participation/engagement in shaping Libya’s future.

Scope of the Assignment:

Based on a) literature, legal and document review, b) interviews with key informants (including political actors at national and municipal level and governmental authorities) and a diversity of women and men who have experienced restrictions in movement and expression and c) focus groups of women and men, the Consultant will:

  • Document and analyse:
    • The history of laws, policies and edicts, whether by state, quasi-state or non-state actors, which speak to women’s freedom of movement and expression over the last 30 years (or other relevant time period);
    • The stated and/or implied sources, motivations and justifications (security, political, religious, cultural, social, economic) for restrictions and/or expansions of women’s mobility and expression rights;
    • Evidence of how recent restrictions are being implemented and by whom (militia, immigration, police, community leaders, family, etc.);
    • Direct or indirect discriminatory targeting of women facilitated by such laws, policies and/or edicts;
    • Direct and/or indirect impacts on women of such restrictions, with reference to impacts on livelihoods, political participation, recreation, family responsibilities, economic activity etc. This could include, if possible an indicative calculation of the percentage of women at a sample of UN meetings in Tunis over the last 12 months;
    • cultural and political responses to the restrictions, including by women’s organizations, religious organizations and political actors;
    • Strategies of resistance, if any, to these restrictions, including by state actors and other persons of influence.
  • Make recommendations:
    • To the UN, on a rights-based approach to securing the presence of women at all UN meetings, balancing the concerns for women’s participation with the concern to avoid reinforcing edicts and cultures which limit women’s autonomy;
    • On the entry points and feasibility of engagement with state, quasi-state and non-state actors to build a vocal and forceful alliance against these restrictions of women’s political and civil liberties;
    • Strategies for building arenas of solidarity to ensure women’s freedom of movement and expression;
    • Strategies for awareness raising campaigns on the importance of respecting women’s freedom of movement and expression, as integral to the development of a peaceful and stable future.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will have the following duties and responsibilities:

  • Document and analyze each aspect mentioned in the above section;
  • Make recommendations at four levels:  to the UN on how best to engage; on entry points with the different actors; on developing solidarity and awareness raising campaigns.

Expected Places of Travel:  

  • Travel inside Libya will be required for this assignment.

Deliverables:

  • Technical note with proposed methodology and report outline;
  • Preliminary report with key findings;
  • Final report after integration of UN Women’s comments and suggestions.

Monitoring and Reporting Requirements:

  • The progress of the work will be delineated and supervised by the UN Women Regional SDG Advisor.  The consultant will submit a monthly report on the progress of work.

Competencies

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.

Functional Competencies:

  • Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;
  • Excellent organization and planning skills and high attention to detail;
  • Excellent command of oral and written English (knowledge of Arabic is a plus);
  • Ability to meet deadlines and respond positively to feedback;
  • Ability to diplomatically handle sensitive situations with target audiences and cultivate productive relationships;
  • Thoroughly and methodically collects, verified and records data, demonstrating attention to detail and identifying and correcting errors on own initiative; maintains databases;
  • In-depth knowledge of Office software applications relating to word processing, data management, presentation and databases.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Advance University Degree in gender, social sciences, or another related field.

Experience:

  • A minimum of seven (7) years’ experience in the area of human rights, particularly in conflict-affected countries;               
  • Experience from research work in the Arab states;
  • Demonstrated ability to work in an independent manner; ability to organize, work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks.
  • Experience working on human rights issues in the Arab States, including experience in developing research tools & generating analysis.
  • Experience with the design and implementation of qualitative and quantitative research;
  • Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights and related instruments;
  • A proven ability to liaise with a myriad of stakeholders and partners, including, international organizations, civil society organisations and grassroots organizations.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in Arabic and English.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria Weight: 70%

  • Criteria:  A minimum of seven (7) years’ experience in the area of human rights, particularly in conflict-affected countries (20%);
  • Criteria:  Experience from research work in the Arab states (10%);
  • Criteria:  Demonstrated ability to work in an independent manner; ability to organize, work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks (10%);
  • Criteria:  Experience working on human rights issues in the Arab States, including experience in developing research tools & generating analysis (10%);
  • Criteria:  Experience with the design and implementation of qualitative and quantitative research (20%);
  • Criteria: Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights and related instruments (15%);
  • Criteria:  A proven ability to liaise with a myriad of stakeholders and partners, including, international organizations, civil society organisations and grassroots organizations (15%).

Financial: Lowest financial proposal: 30%.

Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combines score (financial and technical). The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

(Lowest Bid Offered*) / (Bid of the Consultant) x 30.

*"Lowest Bid Offered" refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in technical evaluation.

 Applications:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal: To be included as part of the proposal:

  • A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work;
  • A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (limit to under 1,500 words);
  • UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; and
  • Personal CV, work portfolio as well as three (3) references.

Financial Proposal:

  • Financial proposal against deliverables above.

The above-mentioned documents (Cover letter, Methodology, UN Women P11, Personal CV and financial proposal) should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

Note:  Please be informed that the selected candidate will need to submit prior to commencement of work a statement from a medical doctor of ‘good health and fit for travel’.