Background

Please provide Offeror’s Letter and proposal together with your CV and cover letter in one single file while submitting application. And please note that the system will not accept the uploading of more than one document so please merge or scan all your documents into one prior to uploading., below is the download link of Offeror's Letter. Applications submitted without Offeror's Letter will be considered fail in evaluation.

Offeror's letter download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/174cnZW6CXFmENvX4pS31KD5b8G_KDTmP/view?usp=sharing 

The United Nations Theme Group on Gender (UNTGG) in China, was established to coordinate the combined efforts of UN agencies in achieving national goals on gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE). As part of the internal coordination structure of the UN, UNTGG is designed to advise the direction of the UN system in China on gender-related issues.

The overall objective of UNTGG is to develop a shared approach towards the achievement of national gender equality goals and support monitoring progress towards their achievement. To accomplish this, UNTGG is tasked with identifying areas of concern regarding GEWE in China, facilitating a shared understanding of situations, challenges and priorities, and mainstreaming gender in the work of all UN agencies in China.

UNTGG has the responsibility to regularly produce and update a Country Gender Equality Profile (CGEP). The purpose of the CGEP is to strengthen national understandings and data on the advancement of international, regional and national commitments towards GEWE. It will also be a primary source for evidence-driven advocacy and programming for national stakeholders, international development partners and the UN System to advance the gains and overcome bottlenecks at the national, regional and global level.

UNTGG is hiring a consultant to conduct a gender assessment of China and produce a CGEP which will examine the most current gender-specific and sex-disaggregated data, based on the country’s priority development strategy. The CGEP will also include a review of national reports in response to their normative commitments (CEDAW (1979), Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), UPR, 2030 Agenda and SDGs (2015)). Additionally, the consultant will review national and UN-led efforts aimed at addressing GEWE issues and any assessments or evaluations undertaken of the outcomes of these efforts.

The key issues raised by the CGEP will be referenced for operations (project and programme design) by UN Women and other UN agencies in China. National partners and other organizations in China can reference the profile for their own operations in advancing GEWE in the country. UNTGG hopes to utilize the CGEP to assist in integrating and mainstreaming gender concerns in UN China’s Common Country Analysis (CCA) development and the UNSDCF formulation process, for maximum impact on GEWE in China.  

Country Context

China is the world’s most populous country with a population of 1.4 billion (48.5% women). Since the implementation of economic reform in 1979, China has quickly become one of the world’s largest and strongest economies.

China has seen significant progress in gender equality, due in large part to the efforts of the Chinese government. In September 1995, Beijing hosted the Fourth World Conference on Women, which produced the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Twenty years later, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender and Women’s Empowerment in New York. At the meeting, President Xi pledged USD 10 million for the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the realization of the related goals in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In the Thirteenth Five-year Plan (2016-2020) China set the goal “to promote women’s development in all aspects of society”, which, for the first time, clearly mentioned women’s equal access to education, employment, property, etc., and the elimination of violence against women. 

Since the Global Leaders’ meeting in 2015, the Government of China has implemented its commitments to GEWE across various sectors. An Anti-Domestic Violence Law, drafted with technical support from UN Women and other UN agencies, went into effect in March 2016. 24 provinces and municipalities have established mechanisms to review gender equality in legal regulations and policies. The Women Entrepreneurship and Innovation Action was launched to help women start businesses in the emerging digital economy. Improved healthcare of women resulted in significant increases in cervical and breast cancer screenings in rural areas.

Despite remarkable achievement in poverty alleviation and extensive gains in development, the country still faces many economic and social challenges. Today, China is simultaneously straddling several development stages, including growing inequity, environmental challenges, climate and disaster risks, and an unprecedented societal shift characterized by a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce, mass urbanization, and a mobile but structurally disadvantaged migrant population. There is also growing pressure to find the appropriate balance between domestic reforms while assuming an increasingly active role in global collaboration.

Despite many impressive achievements in gender equality, GEWE still faces many cultural and systemic challenges in China. A 2018 survey revealed that while the gender wage-gap in China has decreased it remains significant. Other gender-based economic challenges including employment discrimination are still prevalent. A 2016 report on climate change in China found that women are more vulnerable than men to the adverse impacts of climate change, which in turn exacerbates rural poverty. Additional areas of concern are a lack of available sex disaggregated economic data and the need to strengthen national machinery to effectively coordinate and promote gender mainstreaming throughout all levels of government.

Objectives

The objective of this consultancy is to undertake an overall gender assessment of China, culminating in the development of a CGEP. The consultant will work collaboratively with the CCA development consultant and lead economist in analyzing data and identifying GEWE issues in the country. Specifically, the key objectives are:

• To undertake a review of existing gender analyses, country reports, and recently released gender disaggregated data.
• The development of a country gender profile, which will start with identifying key gender inequalities that constrain inclusive growth and development, then assess existing policy and legal frameworks from a gender perspective to recommend key areas for strategic actions;
• To examine the institutional and human resources capacity for advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in China;
• Provide concrete recommendations regarding existing gender gaps and inequalities and for accelerating the advancement of gender equality and the social and economic empowerment of women and their equal participation in decision-making; and
• To identify key sector priorities within China’s national development plan including but not limited to manufacturing, services, technology, climate change and agriculture, employment, security and justice, governance, health and nutrition and human capital development.

Duties and Responsibilities

The CGEP should combine desk review and secondary analysis of qualitative and statistical data in a manner that is useful for the planning of policies, programmes and projects that are gender-sensitive. In preparing the gender profile the consultant should:

• Gather, examine and analyze existing disaggregated data related to gender equality in China
• Collaborate with national and international development partners and the Chinese government in gathering and analyzing relevant statistics
• Examine the socio-cultural, economic, environmental and legal factors that hinder the efforts of gender equality in China;
• Assess the institutional capacity of government ministries and other stakeholders to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in China.
• Evaluate national policies and strategies from a gender perspective and identify good practices and shortcomings;
• Identify major needs and concerns regarding gender equality in China and the coverage of these by UN agencies and other development partners;
• Make recommendations to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in economic, social and decision-making processes; and

• Propose a number of clear tangible suggestions for the integration of gender in areas of intervention (e.g. sectors of concentration, thematic area), including from a programmatic perspective.

• The CGEP should be a substantive analytical piece that can complement the formation of UN China’s CCA. Due to time constraints, this consultancy will focus on producing a more condensed rather than comprehensive CGEP which can be used as the foundation for future analysis and assessment. 

  The profile should seek to follow the following outline:

  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• CONTEXT AND PURPOSE
  1. Country Context
  2. Purpose of the Country Gender Equality Profile
  3. Methodology and Structure of Country Gender Equality Profile
• POLICY, INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORKS
  1. Policy Environment, Macroeconomic policies
  2. Institutional Framework
  3. Legal Framework
• THE STATE OF GENDER EQUALITY IN CHINA
  1. Systemic Country Issues
• UN WOMEN AND OTHER PRINCIPLE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS IN CHINA
  1. Potential for action and priority areas
• RECOMMENDATIONS
• CONCLUSIONS
  Deliverables & Timeline
• Under the direct supervision of the UN Women Head of Agency (HoA), and in consultation with the UNTGG in China, the Consultant will be working in collaboration with the UNCT’s senior economist and consultant leading on the CCA and UNSDCF development, and be responsible for the following deliverables:

• Output/Deliverable	Activity	Date
  Complete document review	Review: Country Gender Equality Profile Guidance Note (2018); Example CGEPs from other countries in region; CEDAW Reports/other national assessments/National Gender Plans, etc.; Other documents provided by UN Women	2-3 days
  Finalize methodology framework and submit for review by: UN Women HOA  Lead Economist	Collaborate with CCA development consultant and economist on identifying key GEWE issues; Finalize methodology for structure and data collection and analysis; Submit for review	Week 1
  Finalize a desk review and preliminary findings analysis	Initial data collection, organization and analysis; meet and collaborate with relevant ministries and development partners	Weeks 2-3
  Submit annotated outline of CGEP for review by: UN Women HOA Lead Economist	Draft and submit an annotated outline of the profile for review	Week 4
  Submit first draft of CGEP for review by: UN Women HOA Lead Economist UNTGG members	Revise outline according to comments and suggestions; draft and submit first draft of the profile	Weeks 5-8
  Revise and prepare final CGEP	Consolidate comments and recommendations received; revise profile; prepare final submission	Weeks 8-10
  Submit final CGEP	Submit final version of the profile	Weeks 10-12

   

  The primary quality control rests with the UN Women HOA. The final version of the CGEP requires the UN Women HOA sign off, ensuring that the content aligns with the UN Women corporate standards on branding, research and quality assurance.

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity

• Demonstrate the values of United Nations and UN Women, act without consideration of personal gain, resist undue political pressure in decision-making, no abuse of power or authority, stand by decisions in the organization’s interest, and take action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behavior.

Professionalism

• Show pride in work and achievements, demonstrate professional competence and mastery of subject matter, conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments and achieving results, motivated by professional rather than personal concerns, show persistence when faced with challenges, and remain calm in stressful situations.

Respect for Diversity

• Work effectively with people from all backgrounds, treat all people with dignity and respect, treat men and women equally, show respect for and understand diverse opinions by examining own biases and behaviors to avoid stereotypical responses, and do not discriminate against any individual or group.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values

• Promoting Ethics and Integrity / Creating Organizational Precedents.

Organizational Awareness

• Building support and political acumen.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring

• Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation

Working in Teams

• Building and promoting effective teams;
• Able to work virtually using communication technologies.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

• Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
• Strong interpersonal skills;
• Able to write in clear and concise manner and to communicate effectively orally.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

• Creating an emotionally intelligent organization.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Advanced university degree in gender, economics, or other related discipline required; PhD in economics is an asset

Experience:

• At least 8 years of demonstrated extensive experience with research and development in the area of gender and economics and/or women’s economic empowerment at both a national and international level
• Proven record of publications on gender and economics, including publications in English with renowned institutions
• Analytical skills (quantitative and qualitative)
• Knowledge of socio-cultural, geopolitical, economic and environmental country context of China
• Excellent writing skills

Language: Excellent command of both written and spoken Mandarin and English.

Evaluation Criteria

The award of the contract will be made to the Individual Consultant who has obtained the highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions.  Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. The offers will be evaluated using the “Combined Scoring method” where:

• Technical evaluation - 70%; (includes 20% of Job Related Technical Expertise; 25% of Relevant working experience; 25% of Methodology & Approach to Assignment)
• Financial Evaluation - 30%.

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that will take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals. Qualified women and members of social minorities are encouraged to apply.