Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) 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. Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life.

Gender equality is an important priority for the Government of FYR Macedonia and so is the elimination of the barriers that hamper its achievement. Central to devising national policies that would enable women’s empowerment and inclusion is the availability and use of gender data and evidence which would inform policy and decision-making processes. With support from the European Institute for gender Equality (EIGE), the Government initiated the development of a Gender Equality Index, led by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Department for Equal Opportunities, in partnership with the State Statistical Office.

Based on Government demand, UN Women is engaging a local expert that would support the drafting of the Gender Equality Index report, based on statistical data and evidence provided by the SSO and guided by the MLSP. 

The expert will work under supervision of the UN Women office in Skopje and in close consultation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and key experts from the SSO.

Scope of work

The main objective of the assignment is to create the narrative report for the country Gender Equality Index, based on the data provided by the SSO, as well as to develop short explanatory note/guidance for the development of the narrative report for each of the domains. In line with the EIGE methodology, the SSO has calculated the scores of the Gender Equality Index, coverning six domains: knowledge, work, money, health, time, power, and two satellite domains: violence and intersecting inequalities. The report will be used to provide contextual understanding of the results of the Gender Equality Index.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working in close coordination with the MLSP/DEO, the SSO and UN Women team and under direct supervision of the UN Women Head of Office, the national expert will have the following tasks and responsibilities:

• Conduct consultations with relevant departments and officials at the MLSP and the SSO, including other stakeholders, if necessary.

• Gather and classify the available information necessary for drafting the report contextualizing results of the national Gender Equality Index.
• Use the methodology of the European Institute for Gender Equality for drafting the report.
• Use the data, calculations and information that the State Statistical Office has gathered to prepare the report.
• Prepare a draft version of the Report and later incorporate suggestions provided by relevant stakeholders for the purpose of finalizing the report.
• Prepare presentation of the key points of the Report for the public presentation of the report.
• Participate in the public presentation of the results of the Gender Equality Index
• Prepare explanatory note with instructions for the interpretation/analysis of gender data and preparation of narrattive report for each of the domains.
• Submit final report to UN Women for the assignment.

Key deliverables, activities and timeframe

Reporting

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Head of Office and in close coordination with the Programme team and the MLSP, the national Consultant will deliver the above listed outputs in accordance with the indicative timeframe.

All deliverables of an acceptable standard and quality should be submitted to the UN Women and in languages as specified above.

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 Competencies

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
•  Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
• Development and Operational Effectiveness
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
• Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach/advocacy
• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource

Leadership and Self-Management

• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Remains calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications

Master’s degree in gender studies, sociology, political studies, development economics, statistics, development, or social studies.

Experience

• A minimum of 7 years of demonstrated professional experience in social, economic and/or development research;
• Experience in gender equality issues, preferably with special focus on the country context
• Experience in statistics, data collection and data processing
• Experience in writing reports and contextualizing data in the field of gender equality
• Experience in drafting similar studies or reports at the country or international level
• Experience in research in a relevant field

 Language

Fluency in Macedonian and English is required.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Technical criteria – 70% of total evaluation – max 70 points:

Criteria A – Relevant education (Max points: 15)

Criteria B – Expertise in the area of social, economic and/or development researchand analysis with gender perspective included (Max points: 20)

Criteria C – Experience in statistics, data collection and data processing (Max points: 20)

Criteria D – Experience in writing reports and contextualizing data in the field of gender equality (Max points: 15)

Only candidates who have passed over the mandatory criteria obtain at least 49 points under the technical evaluation will qualify to the next round of financial evaluation.

Financial Evaluation – 30% of total evaluation – max 30 points

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.

Duration and remuneration: 

The duration of the contract is 20 working days in the period from 17 December until 28 February 2019.  UN Women will process the payment of consultancy fee upon satisfactory completion of all tasks in the assignment, submission and approval of final report by UN Women.

Application

Interested candidates are requested to apply online through this site no later than 7 December 2018.

The application should contain:

• Short Letter of interest, including financial proposal in local currency (MKD), indicating a total lump sum for the delivery as per above description. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (consultancy fee, travel and any other possible costs).
• Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form, that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
• 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.