Background

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.

The UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office has four main thematic areas:

• Ending Violence against Women and Girls (EVAWG);
• Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE);
• Gender and Protection in Humanitarian Action; and
• Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership (WPEL)

Under the WPEL programme are the ‘Inclusive Governance of Natural Resources for greater social cohesion in the Solomon Islands’ (IGNR) project (December 2019 to December 2021) is the third of the UN’s Peacebuilding Fund (UNPBF) programme in the Solomon Islands.  It is a project jointly implemented by UNDP and UN Women and aims to support partners to reduce actual or potential conflicts triggered by deficient legislative frameworks, private interest and lack of inclusivity with regards to decision on the use of land and natural resources and traditional governance in the Solomon Islands.

Inequitable Land resource management is a key driver of conflict at many levels in Solomon Islands society.  There is a lack of inclusiveness in natural resource governance especially of women and youth to reduce conflict in Solomon Islands.  The IGNR project provides technical assistance through timely reform of Solomon Islands’ legislation and policy with regards to private sector land ownership for natural resource exploitation.  The project also builds capacity of community leaders to ensure processes determining customary land ownership do not override or dismiss traditional land rights especially of women and youths which may lead to more conflict.   

The negative structural and cultural arrangements that deny women and youth full rights and decision-making authority in both the matrilineal and patrilineal guardship of land continues to marginalize large sections of Solomon Islands society, fomenting conflict and unrest.  The project facilitates the engagement between the people, the government and private sectors at the national and provincial levels and promotes women and youth to be at the centre of decision-making processes. 

Traditional Governance Bill (TGB):

Both previous and current Solomon Islands governments have made it a priority to pass the Traditional Governance Bill which aims to restore authority of community leaders and chiefs to exercise traditional, informal laws and rights over customary land ownership and its further use.  The TGB has the potential to either enhance and restore the rights of traditional leaders, especially women leaders and youths, or if implemented inadequately, deny such leaders, women and youth their rights to manage customary land altogether. Deficiencies drafting the first TGB were identified by the parliamentary committee and a list of recommendations was compiled to address these concerns.  The main recommendation from the parliamentary committee on the TGB were:  to withdraw the Bill until further consultation and research was carried out, a more thorough anthropological study was required to on the dynamics of customary land concepts of traditional custodianship, the judiciary and the Bar Association should be further consulted, marginalized groups, women, youth and churches should be meaningfully consulted, previous consultations were not rigorous so a more concerted approach is required.

Duties and Responsibilities

Overall Objectives

• provide technical support on the facilitation of preparatory sessions for consultations on the Traditional Governance Bill (TGB) for the inclusion of women and youth

Specific Objectives

The specific objective of the assignment is to:

• Develop a concept note and program for the preparatory sessions
• Support the facilitation of the preparatory sessions for women and youth in the targeted provinces on TGB
• Document and consolidate feedback and recommendations from women and youths received during the preparatory and actual TGB consultations in the targeted provinces.
• Support the international consultant to conduct an analysis and review of the TGB with the view to capture women and youth voices in the draft TGB.
• Provide logistical support to the international consultant.

Scope of Work/Duties and Responsibilities        

The national consultant will support UN Women and the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs (MWYCFA) with the development of a preparatory session concept note and program including facilitation of preparatory sessions, documentation and consolidation of recommendations from TGB consultations to inform the review of the Bill. The preparatory sessions will cover the four targeted provinces, Guadalcanal, Malaita, Choiseul and Western Province. An additional national consultation will be held in Honiara for representatives from 6 other provinces including Honiara.

Duration of the assignment

The assignment will require 30 working days including field missions.

Under the overall guidance of the National Programme Coordinator and working in collaboration with the Programme Specialist Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and Governance, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks as outlined in Section V.

Expected Deliverables

The following are the key deliverables of the assignment:

• Inception report
• Submission of the first draft report addressing the objectives outlined in the ToR
• Final Report

• All the documents, including the interview tools and reports should be submitted in written in English language.
• The Consultant will submit drafts of all reports and documents to UN Women for review and comment. UN Women will review all documents and reports within one week of submission.
• The Consultant will then submit final documents that incorporate and respond to UN Women feedback.
• Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the installment, the deliverables, related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women within one week of submission.

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials for the desk review.
• UN Women will also cover the costs of daily subsistence allowance (DSA) to target provinces as per standard UN rate, as well as the costs of in-country.
• The consultant is expected to work remotely 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. A 5-day working week is envisaged.
• UN Women will also cover the costs for translation of printed materials as required throughout the duration of the assignment.

Management Arrangements

• The Consultant will work under the overall guidance and direct supervision of UN Women Fiji Programme Specialist – Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and Governance (GEWRG) and in close collaboration with the National Programme Coordinator who will be coordinating and supporting the process.
• The consultancy envisages extensive work with Government and CSO partners in Solomon Islands.
• The selected Consultant shall sign a contract with UN Women for stipulated assignment, as stated above.

Performance evaluation

Contractor’s performance will be evaluated based on timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Travel

• This assignment is mostly in Honiara, with at least 1 mission to the selected provinces (Malaita, Choiseul, Guadalcanal and Western Province).
• Throughout the assignment, the Consultant is expected to conduct at least 1 mission to each of the provinces each mission tentatively for a period of 3 days which needs to be factored in the proposal, with the rest of the time working days to be spent in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
• Any additional travel (beyond 1 mission per province) will be ensured by UN Women Fiji MCO with prior coordination. Other travel, including international as well as local travel, must be covered by consultant. 

Financial Arrangement

• Payment will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by the project managers 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.

Functional Competencies

• Ability to think conceptually, strategically and analytically;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Results oriented, flexible and problem-solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Qualifications and Experience

The Consultant should fulfill the following requirements:

Education

• Master’s degree is required in a relevant field such as Gender, Development Studies, Women, Peace and Security or other related fields.
• Bachelor’s Degree may be accepted in lieu of provided at least 2 years on top of the minimum 10 years.

Experience and Skills

• At least 5-10 years of work experience in working on traditional governance Solomon Islands and gender related issues;
• At least 5-10 years of experience facilitating consultations/workshops at the community level;
• Strong communication and writing skills - with clear and concise writing style – please provide examples of similar work undertaken;
• Ability to produce well written documents demonstrating analytical ability and communication skills;
• Experience of working with different stakeholders and communities in Solomon Islands would be an asset;
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.

Language Requirements

• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Fluent in Tok Pidgin

Evaluation

Initially, individual consultants will be short-listed based on the following minimum qualification criteria:

1. Master’s degree is required in a relevant field such as Gender, Development Studies, Women, Peace and Security or other related fields.  Bachelor’s Degree may be accepted in lieu of provided at least 2 years on top of the minimum 10 years.
2. At least 5-10 years of work experience in working on traditional governance Solomon Islands and gender related issues.
3. At least 5-10 years of experience facilitating consultations/workshops at the community level.
4. Experience of working with different stakeholders and communities in Solomon Islands would be an asset.

The short-listed individual consultant will be further evaluated based on a cumulative analysis process, with a total score being obtained upon the combination of weighted technical and financial attributes.  Cost under this method of analysis is rendered as an award criterion, which will be 30% out of a total score of 100 points.

Evaluation of submitted offers will be done based on the following formula:

where:

Technical evaluation will be represented through desk review of applications. Interviews and/or written tests will be organized if needed only, depending on the short-listed candidates’ qualifications.

Technical Qualification Evaluation Criteria: The technical part is evaluated on the basis of its responsiveness to the Terms of Reference (TOR).

Financial Qualification Evaluation Criteria: In the Second Stage, the financial proposal of candidates, who have attained minimum 70% score in the technical evaluation (at least 49 points), will be compared.

Winning Candidate

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.  The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact.  It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.?