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. Placing women’s rights at the center 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.
The objective of the Assignment:
Over the past few decades, many efforts have been undertaken by civil society organizations and other national stakeholders to amend Lebanon’s 1925 Nationality Law to allow Lebanese women married to foreign spouses to confer their nationality to their husbands and children. During the past two years, several political parties submitted draw bills to amend Law No. 15 on Lebanese Nationality in addition to parliamentarians and ministers. In May 2019, the National Commission for Lebanese women (NCLW) also submitted a draft law on nationality to recognize gender equality between Lebanese men and women. UN Women, in partnership with NCLW, seeks a legal and/or research consultant to develop a study that outlines all national policies and initiatives to support the passage of amendments to the nationality bill to date. The study will also document the negative effects of discrimination on the economy (non-investment of families living abroad), on political participation, and on the lives of families of Lebanese women married to foreign spouses (access to basic needs including health, school, work prohibitions, etc.). The study will also gather additional evidence on the demographics of these families in addition to their realities to provide counterclaims to support ongoing advocacy efforts. The consultant will report to UN Women head of office, under the overall supervision of NCLW’s Administrative Director.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Conduct desk review of relevant national efforts, argumentation for and against the passage of amendments to the nationality law.
• Document the negative impacts of discriminatory practices related to the nationality law on Lebanon’s economy, political participation, and on the families of Lebanese women married to foreign spouses.
• Produce a report that outlines all argumentation in addition to concrete evidence to counter claims that have been used to hinder legislative reform to the nationality bill.
• Present findings to NCLW and UN Women to move advocacy efforts forward.

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:https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637 

Functional Competencies

• Demonstrated experience in conducting research on gender issues and knowledge of international and national legal frameworks.
• Strong knowledge and familiarity with national institutions and civil society organizations.
• Ability to communicate complex information and ideas in a simplified manner;
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English and Arabic;
• Ability to work under pressure and to deliver on time.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Development Studies, or equivalent work experience.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

• At least 6 years of increasingly responsible experience in research 
• At least 4 years’ experience in research that focuses on gender/development/human rights-related work
• Experience in strategic analysis and report writing.
• Familiarity with nationality issues in Lebanon and/or broader legislative issues in the country is essential;
• Familiarity with UN work is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Proficiency in oral and written English and Arabic is a must.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

• Education: 20 points
• Professional experience and skills:  40 points
• Language proficiency in Arabic and English: 10 points

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points)

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• The contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to the portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
•  Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

Note:

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.