Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, UN Women, among other issues, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, empowerment of women and achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

EU candidate countries are expected to support political reforms and to fulfill the obligations stemming from EU membership by supporting alignment with the European Union Acquis in terms of the protection of women´s and human rights, anti-discrimination policies and gender equality. The EU Gender Equality Acquis consists of a body of EU laws, rules, resolutions, declarations, regulations, directives, and treaties on gender equality.  Compliance with EU gender law requires the transposition of the gender equality requirements of EU law into national legislation and the application of the rules by duty bearers, including the enforcement of the rules by public authorities, if gender equality criteria and targets are not met.

The actual process of adopting the EU Gender Equality Acquis entails establishing the specific procedures, structures, and institutional mechanisms necessary for the implementation of gender equality criteria, and ensuring their actual effectiveness based on indicators defined on the EU level. Moreover, actions are in line with the EU Council conclusions on the Gender Action Plan 2016-2020, launched by the Commission and the EEAS, and endorsed by the Council, and EC Joint Staff Working Plan for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016-2020, which are mandatory for EC and for the Member States working in development, neighbourhood, and enlargement countries, including in fragile and emergencies situations.

The Gender Equality Facility is a unique initiative specifically designed by UN Women to support EU candidate countries in adopting existing EU legislation and directives on GE.  It was designed for replication and local customization but requires extensive technical expertise on EU laws, rules, resolutions, declarations, regulations, directives, and treaties on one hand and on the other, in-depth knowledge on GEWE within the national context.

The Gender Equality Facility initiative has started implementation in Serbia, is awaiting signature of agreement for implementation in Albania (in 2019) and there are ongoing discussions related to implementation of the initiative in Bosnia-Herzegovina and FYR Macedonia.

Objective:

To continue national efforts to mainstream gender in ongoing reform and policy processes, UN Women is seeking to engage an International Expert on gender mainstreaming through sector-wide approaches experienced in mainstreaming gender in sector-wide approaches, within the policy making cycle at both central and local level of EU Enlargement and Partnership countries. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Director and Deputy Regional Director of the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, and in close coordination with UN Women colleagues at the national level in the region, the International Expert on gender mainstreaming through sector-wide approaches will:

• Provide ongoing advice and technical support to the UN Women Regional Office on strategic and practical opportunities to advocate for and promote gender mainstreaming and gender equality and empowerment of women through the Gender Equality Facility (based on the models developed for Albania, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina);
• Advise the Regional Office on resource mobilization efforts to secure the roll-out of the gender Equality Facility in different countries of the region;
• Support Regional Office efforts for the start-up of implementation of the “Gender Equality Facility in Albania, Phase II”
• In consultation and agreement with the Regional Office, develop EU-specific proposal(s) to enable UN Women and gender equality mechanisms to support the transposition and adoption of the EU Gender Acquis in countries where the Gender Equality Facility initiative may be developed.
• Support UN Women’s dialogue with EU Delegations, national gender equality machineries/mechanisms, selected line ministries, as well as relevant international organizations as needed.
• Undertake a critical review of policy and programming documents promoting gender mainstreaming in targeted countries.
• Conduct, as required, assessments for the adoption of good practices in gender mainstreaming to inform and support civil servants and partners alike as practitioners in embedding gender equality analysis and concerns in their routine operations.
• When requested, support the review of UN Women documents, project proposals and publications prior to dissemination.
• Update and maintain essential documentation for the Gender Equality Facility initiative and the EU GE acquis,
• Provide support to strategic partnership meetings;
• Conduct field visits as needed.

III. Expected deliverables

IV. Duration and remuneration:

UN Women will fund the costs of the consultancy work and maintain overall oversight and monitoring of the consultancy work. The duration of the consultancy will be from November 2018 – February 2019 with an estimated 50 working days.

Payments will be made upon evaluation of the satisfactory performance from the direct supervisor upon the approval of monthly workplans/reports.

Competencies

Core values:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards;
• Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

Core Competencies:

• Communication: Excellent communication skills, including the ability to pose questions, listen, evaluate and capture opinions, suggestions and comments, both orally and in writing, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different stakeholders;
• Client orientation: Ability to establish and maintain productive partnerships with national partners and pro-activeness in identifying of beneficiaries and partners’ needs, and matching them to appropriate solutions;
• Demonstrated analytical skills on issues related to gender, public oversight mechanisms, reform of public sector entities, human rights, etc. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in one of the following areas: law, human rights, international development, social sciences, gender studies or in a similar area relevant to the requirements of the TOR;

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years’ experience engaged on human rights and/or gender equality mainstreaming in implementation by government through different sectors;
• At least  5 years’ proven expertise in developing and applying monitoring tools and methodologies and drafting and conducting evaluations and/or monitoring of internationally funded Gender Mainstreaming projects
• At least 5 years’ professional experience in institutional development and capacity building in the public sector
• Knowledge of EU laws, rules, resolutions, declarations, regulations, directives, and treaties considered an advantage;
• Experience within the Western Balkan countries’ context
• Previous works similar to the assignment

Language requirement:

• Fluency in English (written and spoken)

Other skills:

• Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point)

1. Application Process 

The application should include:

• Personal History Form (P-11 form) - including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted;
• Financial Proposal:  Specify a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference. The financial proposal shall include a per diem breakdown of this lump sum amount for 50 days work needed to complete all deliverables and include all related costs.

As specific travel will be confirmed with monthly review of work plan, any travel will be paid

separately by UN Women; 

• Candidates should have the ability to quickly produce degree certificates and medical certification (of good health) should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy post.

I.Payment Schedule

Consultant will be paid upon submission and the acceptance of deliverables.

II.Evaluation process

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. The contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation. The hiring manager may choose to carry out interviews to ensure technical ability in addition to the technical/financial evaluation.

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points:

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. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated