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 (GE) and gender mainstreaming translate into action globally. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Since 2010, the European Union and UN Women have developed a close partnership. Working in concert, the European Union and UN Women have made great strides to promote gender equality through shared dialogue, advocacy, and cooperation programs.

The European Union Gender Equality Facility (GEF) in BiH is based on the Action Document for the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) for the year 2018 “EU Gender Equality Facility”. The project is funded and jointly implemented by the European Union and UN Women, through the Project Team. It aims to strengthen the effective implementation of domestic and international/European Union legal frameworks concerning gender equality and women’s rights; mainstreaming gender into European Union integration and planning processes for pre-accession assistance; and strengthen institutional mechanisms for gender equality in line with the European union standards.

The European Union Gender Action Plan III: An ambitious agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment in European Union’s external action was adopted on 25 November 2020. It reaffirms the European Union centrality of gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout European Union’s external action at all levels and in all sectors.

To support the implementation of the European Union Gender Action Plan III and also to enable the timely integration of its objectives and targets in the programming, the European Union Delegation to BiH, in cooperation with Member States, is to update the Gender Country Profile for Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 2014. Also, in coordination with Member States and in consultation with stakeholders, a GAP III country level implementation plan (CLIP) for the years 2021-2025 is to be prepared.

The UN Women Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina is seeking to recruit an National Consultant to provide update the Gender Country Profile for Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 2014 and prepare the EU GAP III country level implementation plan (CLIP) for the years 2021-2025.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of this consultancy is to enhance the implementation and monitoring of the EU Gender Action Plan.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE

The specific objectives of the assignment are:

1. Update the Gender Country Profile for Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 2014 in line with the European Union Gender Action Plan III.
2. Prepare the EU GAP III country level implementation plan (CLIP) for the years 2021-2025 for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SCOPE OF WORK

The EU Gender Action Plan (GAP) III should serve as reference document to ensure an enhanced and strategic EU engagement at national level.  The six thematic areas of engagement of GAP III will provide guidance to ensure that EU priorities are addressed.  For that to be possible, it is required that an updated sector wise Gender Country Profile (GCP) be formulated that would help identifying the needs and gaps that should be addressed in our future actions. The identification of these needs and gaps would thereafter be translated into a country-level implementation plan (CLIP) for reference over the next four years.  The GCP and the CLIP would be the two key referenced document for IPA Programming of gender equality and women’s empowerment activities.

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women GEF Project Manager, the overall supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist and the EUD Programme Manager and in close coordination with the relevant stakeholders, the National is expected to undertake the following tasks:

• Review existing background literature, including reports, analyses and assessments etc.

• Conduct consultations with the UN Women GEF Project team, EUD Programme Manager and EU gender equality team, EU member states, ALTHEA mission in BiH, relevant stakeholders, national counterparts, women’s organisations and other CSOs and international bodies/partners.

• After initial consultations, develop, in English, a methodology and workplan that will include a timeline of consultations and type of inputs needed from the EU gender equality team and stakeholders.

• Develop an updated the Gender Country Profile for Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 2014 in line with the European Union Gender Action Plan III.

• Suggested table of contents:
  1. Gender Glossary, List of Acronyms, List of tables
  2. Executive Summary
  3. Introduction (purpose, overview, methodology)
  4. The country context

4.1 Political, legal and human rights situation, status of ratification of international treaties related to gender equality, including SRHR; legal and human rights frameworks and the differences in how women and men, in all their diversity, can enjoy and exercise their human rights and can   seek redress policy and legal frameworks status and implementation of national gender equality policies, strategies and plans (including policies on Women Peace and security and  GBV/SGBV); and the extent to which those are gender mainstreamed and implemented; institutional framework for gender equality, e.g., equality body; incidence of gender-based violence,

4.2 Key gender equality issues, barriers and challenges, presented by GAP III engagement areas (covering also the sectors selected for the multi-annual indicative programme). Include gender statistics and sex-disaggregated data.

• Ensuring freedom from all forms of gender-based violence
• Promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Promoting economic and social rights and empowering girls and women
• Promoting equal participation and leadership
• Integrating the women, peace and security agenda
• Climate change and environment and Digitalisation

4.3 Mapping of support by EU actors and international actors

4.4 Entry points and opportunities  general and sector-specific for EU political and operational support and dialogue in the context of GAP III

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

Organised around the GAP III engagement areas and include gender specific information concerning the sectors selected for the multi-annual indicative programme (MIP). The recommendations will inform the formulation of the country level Implementation Plan (CLIP).

6. Annexes

List of interviews, workshop participants, source documents, survey questionnaire if used, etc.)

• Develop the GAP III country level implementation plan (CLIP) for the years 2021-2025. The CLIP should build on the country profile, be concise and strategic, cover both the programmatic and political commitments, and propose specific actions and initiatives for gender equality. When preparing the CLIP, special attention is to be paid to consultations outlined under bullet item two above.

Throughout the assignment, the Consultant is expected to:

• Maintain communication and good working relations with institutions relevant for the assignment.
• Organize briefings with the UN Women GEF Project Manager, EUD Programme Manager and EU gender equality team to provide status updates/reports.

To facilitate the delivery of the above outputs, UN Women will provide the  Consultant with the following:

• Project related documents and contacts;
• Other documents as necessary.

DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

The consultant will be expected to submit the following deliverables within the indicative timeframe:

The consultancy will last 20 days in the period from 04 May 2021 to 30 July 2021. The assignment will not require presence on UN Women premises.

REPORTING

All deliverables should be submitted to the UN Women GEF Project Manager in English. Approval time required to review the deliverables before authorizing payments is 7 days. All deliverables must satisfy the UN Women and EU visibility requirements.

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:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women;
• 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 humored 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 (or equivalent) in Social Sciences, Gender/Women’s Studies, Development Studies, Public Administration, Law, Economics or related fields

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in gender analysis and social development;
• Specific experience and expertise on gender analysis, gender mainstreaming, and women’s rights work;
• Specific experience and expertise on key sectors selected for EU support;
• Knowledge of EU external relations policies and instruments;
• Knowledge of EU Gender Action Plans II and III;
• Working experience with the EU, international organizations and/or UN System would be desirable.

Language requirement:

• Fluency in English (written and spoken)
• Fluency in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian

Other skills:

• Strong analytical and writing skills.
• Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communication and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point), Zoom and MS Teams;

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of potential consultants as well as the financial proposals submitted in support of consultant applications. Candidate applications will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of applicant experience, qualifications and a financial proposal. The contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• having received the highest score out of technical and financial criteria defined below.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for an interview. Top 3 candidates (with highest number of points in the technical evaluation) will be interviewed. The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal will be allocated to the lowest price proposal among those candidates who have reached at least 5 points in the interview. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion.

Criteria:

Technical Evaluation (70%) – 70 points

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in gender analysis and social development – 20 points
• Specific experience and expertise on gender analysis, gender mainstreaming, and women’s rights work - 15 points
• Specific experience and expertise on key sectors selected for EU support – 10 points
• Knowledge of EU external relations policies and instruments – 10 points
• Knowledge of EU Gender Action Plans II and III – 10 points
• Working experience with the EU, international organizations and/or UN System would be desirable – 5 points

Financial Evaluation (30%)

• 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.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents:

1. Expression of interest and confirmation of immediate availability
2. Detailed financial proposal in BAM (which includes consultancy fees, travel, accommodation, subsistence etc. in the form of a lump-sum)
3. Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form, that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered (all documents indicated above need to be uploaded).

For any additional information, please contact unwomen.bih@unwomen.org 

How to Submit the Application: To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), the Financial Proposal, and Expression of Interest into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Qualified women and men and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. 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.

Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.