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.

In 2017, with funding from the Government of Sweden, UN Women launched the project “Enhancing accountability for gender equality and women’s empowerment in national reforms, peace and security”. The aim of this project, which will be implemented during 2017–2021, is to support the consolidated efforts of the Ukrainian Government, Parliament, women’s groups and civil society organisations (CSOs) to meet State commitments on gender equality and women’s rights through the reforms, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (including UNSCR 1325) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project will also support the Government and other important stakeholders, including civil society, to establish or strengthen adequate mechanisms for financing, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of gender equality commitments.

In order to achieve these objectives, the project will provide the Government, and specifically the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, with technical support and capacity development to mainstream gender and women’s human rights, especially in State planning and budgeting, to ensure that policies and programmes address the conflict’s profound impact on gender relations and roles and the specific needs and priorities of women affected by the conflict.

The Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons has demonstrated continued openness to the integration of a gender equality perspective in their State programmes and strategies and specific actions targeting the concerns of women IDPs. UN Women has successfully supported the Ministry on a number of different initiatives, including providing technical expertise in formulating the gender-responsive objectives and actions of the State Programme on Recovery and Peacebuilding. To achieve this objective, UN Women mobilized 65 women IDPs in 2016 from seven regions and facilitated the collection of their recommendations for inclusion in the Ministry’s State Programme.

Based on this successful experience, UN Women would like to continue this collaboration by supporting the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons to mainstream gender in its programmes, strategies, policies, plans and budgets. UN Women, therefore, seeks to hire a National Consultant on Gender Equality to serve in the role of gender advisor to provide technical assistance, policy advice and capacity-building to ensure that gender is mainstreamed in the institutional structures, policies and mechanisms of the Ministry. This support will include mainstreaming gender in the development and implementation of the Action Plan for the “Strategy of integration of IDPs and implementation of long-term decisions concerning IDPs for the period to 2020” to ensure the Plan accurately reflects the needs and priorities of women IDPs throughout Ukraine.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Country Programme Manager/Head of Office, technical guidance by the Programme Specialist, direct supervision of a designated supervisor at the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, and in coordination with the Deputy Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, the consultant will implement a set of tasks, including, but not limited to:

1. Develop a work plan for the provision of advisory services, including tasks, indicators for measuring progress, and a timeline of deliverables.

2. Provide day-to-day technical and policy advice to the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons to ensure the Ministry’s policy and legislative framework is in line with international human rights and humanitarian standards and Ukraine’s international, regional and national commitments on gender equality and women’s human rights.

3. Support the Ministry to ensure gender and the needs and priorities of women IDPs and women affected by the conflict are integrated in the development, implementation and monitoring of the Action Plan of the “Strategy of integration of IDPs and implementation of long-term decisions concerning IDPs for the period of to 2020”; support the Ministry to align the Action Plan with other key Government policy documents and action plans on gender equality.

4. Facilitate engagement with women’s groups, including internally displaced women, and civil society organizations to increase their understanding of the

5. Coordinate and participate in multi-stakeholder and inter-ministerial learning workshops and study tours abroad, on best practices and tools to analyse, formulate and execute gender-responsive policies, reforms, plans and budgets, and support the Ministry to institutionalize these practices.

6. Provide a set of recommendations on gender mainstreaming in legislation, policies, programmes, plans and budgets of the Ministry.

7. Conduct an institutional/functional gender analysis, which would help to identify entry points for mainstreaming gender in the work of the Ministry and in staff competencies.

8. Conduct a capacity needs assessment to identify the gaps in staff understanding of key issues of gender equality.

   Based on the needs assessment, develop a capacity-building plan for delivering necessary trainings on gender mainstreaming for the staff to increase awareness of issues related to gender equality, the women, peace and security normative framework including UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the subsequent resolutions, the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the UNSCR1325, as well as tools for monitoring and implementing the Action Plan for the “Strategy of integration of IDPs and implementation of long-term decisions concerning IDPs for the period of to 2020”.

9. Contribute to strengthening the Ministry’s efforts to increase social cohesion of women IDPs and host communities by coordinating activities between the Ministry and a consulting company hired by UN Women to increase advocacy, dialogue and awareness-raising among women IDPs, host communities and the Ministry. Initiatives will facilitate joint brainstorming on policies, programmes and actions that can be taken, both by women affected by the conflict and the Ministry, to ensure their rights are upheld and their needs and priorities are met.

10. Take part in working groups, learning sessions and trainings on Women, Peace and Security, including those organized by UN Women.

Assignment /Deliverables

• All monthly reports and final report should be submitted according to the provided template in English language (the supporting documents, such as meeting minutes, analytical papers, workshop agendas etc. can be submitted in Ukrainian language).

• The Consultant is expected to work in the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs using her/his own computer, but may access the UN Women office for printing of relevant documents or should he/she be required to work on-site at any point during the assignment.

  Inputs

• UN Women and the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment.

• The Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons will provide the consultant with the space and access to internal institutional documents.

• The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer.

Performance evaluation:

• Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager which will also be the basis for payment on a month by month basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

• Payments will be disbursed by monthly instalments based on time-sheets and brief monthly progress reports certified by the designated supervisor at the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons and UN Women Programme Manager. Payment for deliverable 2 will be disbursed upon submission of the final report certified by the supervisor at the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons UN Women Programme Manager that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

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

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

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in Human Rights, Political Science, Gender Studies, Social Sciences or related field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in humanitarian, development, human rights, gender equality or another relevant field;
• Proven experience of conducting institutional and policy analysis, drafting policy and briefing documents on gender equality, women’s empowerment or women, peace and security issues, as well as provision of capacity building for government officials;
• Proven knowledge of international humanitarian, human rights, gender equality, women’s empowerment and women, peace and security frameworks;
• Understanding of national legislation and policy frameworks and governance systems, including Ukrainian legislative framework related to IDPs;
• Experience with organizing and participating in high-level dialogues, consultations and workshops, including with Members of Parliament, Government, CSOs, etc.;
• Previous professional experience with development agencies and the United Nations would be considered an asset.

Languages and other skills: 

• Fluent Ukrainian; knowledge of English and Russian is an asset
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable.
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria and interview, 70% of total evaluation – max 45 points for technical criteria and max 25 points for interview. Total max 70 points:

• The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 45. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
• 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 49 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

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).

Application and submission package:

The candidate’s application should include:

• A brief Letter of Interest containing the statement on candidate’s experience in the field of recruitment. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) form, that can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.
• Proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (telephone, etc.).

• Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 25 December 2017, 9 am EETby submitting 2 attachments: 1) technical (P-11 and a Letter of Interest) and 2) financial proposals to the following e-mail address: procurement.ukraine@unwomen.org with a subject “UN Women Ukraine National Consultant on Gender Equality to the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs”.

• Applications without financial proposal will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown on the following table is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal

1. Cost Breakdown per Deliverables*

*Basis for payment tranches

UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.