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 centre 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.

Women’s leadership and political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work as mandated in its inception, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. Through its Leadership and Governance section, UN Women works to implement Output 4 of the Entity’s Strategic Plan 2018-21 “More women of all ages fully participate, lead and engage in political institutions and processes”. To promote the leadership and participation of women in all levels of decision-making processes, UN Women works with a range of stakeholders including women leaders and aspiring candidates, national parliaments and parliamentarians, political parties, media, civil society organizations, and electoral management bodies, in coordination with UN partner Entities.

It its efforts to mainstream gender within different legal frameworks, in 2015 UN WOMEN supported the Ministry of Local Governance with technical expertise in its preparation of the new organic draft law “On organization and functioning of local government in the Republic of Albania”. Thanks to a fruitful collaboration several recommendations were integrated in the law 139/2015 approved by the Parliament, ensuring integration of gender equality and women’s representation at local level by ensuring the full compliance of the provisions of this law with the international obligations of Albania, Albanian law on gender equality (2008) and the commitments of Albania toward the European Integration. The law, constituted a step forward in the effective promotion of women in local self-government and empowerment of women in local communities.

Before upcoming local elections and after three years of the law being approved, UN Women in collaboration with the office of the Commissioner for Protection Against Discrimination (CPAD) will review the law implementation from a gender perspective to identify the challenges and successes of implementation and inform key decision makers and Alliances of Women Councilors.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women National Project Manager for the Women

Political Empowerment Programme and in collaboration with CPAD the consultant will support with the below tasks:

1. Review the data collected from the office of the CPAD with specific reference to the gender related articles in the law. Identify any lacking information and agree on timing and relevance of collecting it with UN Women and CPAD (1 day).

2. Prepare a zero draft of the report and organize meetings (focus groups) with beneficiary groups, stakeholders, government officials (agreed in advance with UN Women and CPAD) with the objective to (10 days):

• obtain key information for substantiating the report
• identify specific issues and problems of concern and recommend action
• validate the data analysis and update as necessary with Alliances of Women Councilors and Women MPs and key decision makers
• Conduct at least three field visits as necessary and as agreed with UN Women and CPAD for data validation and understanding of best practices and challenges.

3. Present initial findings and an outline of the report for initial feedback from UN Women and CPAD (2 days).

4. Prepare and submit the final quality gender sensitive report on the Law on Self-Government implementation, findings and recommendations in Albanian and English. – (8 days) and support for its publishing.

5. Prepare a presentation of the report and deliver it during the conference that will be organized in partnership with CPAD (1 day).

6. Provide a brief paper on what future interventions are needed to ensure enforcement of the law on self-governance and support advocacy with government and donors to support the process (1 day).

Expected Deliverables

The following products and deliverables are expected to be completed by the local Consultant

according to agreed schedule:

• Presentation on the initial findings and outline of the report for initial feedback

• Finalized report in the Albanian and English language (including: situation analysis complete with legal and institutional framework; measures taken and relevant implementation mechanisms, identification of loopholes and shortfalls, and recommendations on how to improve enforcement of law, etc.).
• Presentation of the findings to be delivered at the CPAD and UN Women Conference
• A brief paper in Albanian and English for future interventions and stronger mechanisms to ensure enforcement of the law on self-governance and a list of potential donors and stakeholders to support the process.

Duration of the Work

The National Consultant will be contracted for a maximum of 23 working days for the period of November – December 2018 to perform specified tasks.

The consultant will have to travel to three municipalities and the financial offer shall include the travel as per the specifications in Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments.

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

Functional Competences

• Excellent knowledge of Albanian context, women participation in public processes;
• Ability to draft methodologies and strategic documents;
• Ability to lead processes, coordinate and conduct workshops or trainings;
• Proven ability to work within limited time constraints in the preparation of high quality documents;
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks;
• Strong teamwork and leadership skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in law, human rights, international development, social sciences, gender studies or similar areas.

Work experience:

• Experience in local government functioning and gender mainstreaming in governance processes with strong knowledge of legal framework;
• A minimum of 4 years’ experience in continuous monitoring activities or reports on human rights and/or gender equality;
• Previous experience in establishing monitoring tools and methodologies;
• Excellent knowledge of Albanian context, women participation in public processes would be an asset.

Language requirement:

• Fluency in English and Albanian (written and spoken);

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the total lumpsum in Albanian Lek for the tasks and anticipated number of days specified in this announcement. 

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account 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 including travel costs).

The Consultant will have to travel to three municipalities, hence the lumpsum financial offer should include travel costs for distances of 50km, 100 km and 200 km.

• 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 within the deadline.

• 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 including past experience in similar assignment. Can be downloaded at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying the total lump sum in Albanian Lek for the tasks and anticipated number of days specified in this assignment (as per above note).

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 evaluation of technical criteria will include interviews with the candidates, to confirm their experience in the areas of local government functioning and gender mainstreaming in governance processes, monitoring activities as well as their knowledge of Albanian context and women participation in public processes. 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:                                                                                                                                             

• Master’s degree in law, human rights, international development, social sciences, gender studies or similar areas (5 points).
• Experience in local government functioning and gender mainstreaming in governance processes with strong knowledge of legal framework (30 points);
• A minimum of 4 years’ experience in continuous monitoring activities or reports on human rights and/or gender equality (15 points);
• Previous experience in establishing monitoring tools and methodologies (10 points);
• Excellent knowledge of Albanian context, women participation in public processes would be an asset (10).

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) 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 = 30 (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.

Important Notes:

• The consultancy post is open to local (Albanian) individuals or foreign individuals with valid temporary or permanent residence.
• Applications without the financial offer will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• The individual is supposed to travel in the country, hence he/she should submit from a recognized physician a Statement of Good Health certifying that the individual is in good health and is fit to travel. In addition, the individual should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of travel – details will follow before the commencement of the work.