Background

UN Women (the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of 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.

Towards these goals, UN Women implements programmes and projects that aim to advance gender equality, improve women’s access to opportunities, rights and services in political, social and economic life and combat gender stereotypes, discrimination and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments. UN Women collaborates with numerous partners – central and local level government authorities, civil society organizations, including women’s organizations and platforms, academia, private sector companies, other UN agencies. It commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle, by supporting targeted actions to remove the obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women face in accessing their rights and to promote them as agents of change.

In Turkey, in line with its global Strategic Plan 2018-2021, UN Women works towards three overarching goals: 1) Women lead, participate in, and benefit equally from governance systems; 2) All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence; 3) Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. UN Women’s current programmes include Refugee Response Programme, Women’s Leadership and Political Participation, HeforShe, Gender-Responsive Planning and Budgeting, Ending Violence against Women and Girls, Ending Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM) and private sector initiatives, i.e. Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and Unstereotype Alliance. In the past years UN Women has developed tools, modules and materials for targeted audiences for capacity development purposes under its programmes. The capacity development tools, modules and materials include:

• Gender sensitive refugee response trainings
• Gender-based violence against women in humanitarian and emergency settings
• Trainings on preventing child, early and forced marriages (CEFM) and development of Local Action Plans
• Gender equality at local level guidebook
• Training kit for women candidates
• Gender equality trainings and kits for sports clubs and sports people
• WEPs implementation guide and training modules
• Gender responsive budgeting manuals
• Gender-based cyber-violence guideline
• Guideline for employers and human resources on ending domestic violence
• Guideline on promoting positive gender roles in marketing and advertising

Furthermore, in April 2018 UN Women embarked on a new three-year project `Strengthening civil society capacities and multi-stakeholder partnerships to advance women’s rights and gender equality in Turkey`, funded by the European Union. The overall objective of the project is to reduce gender inequalities by enhancing the ability of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Turkey to be agents of transformative change towards gender equality and women’s rights. The specific objective is “Women's rights groups, women-led CSOs and other relevant rights based CSOs more effectively influence the gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda at the national and local levels” In the context of the project UN Women will support the establishment of a ‘Gender Equality Academy’ to provide learning opportunities on a broad range of topics related to gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Academy will develop and strengthen knowledge on gender equality among different groups: university students, civil society activists, human rights activists, women’s CSOs, private sector representatives, social partners, expert trainers, academics, as well as professionals and other practitioners who aim to integrate gender awareness into their life and profession/business. The Gender Equality Academy will be established in partnership with an academic institution and will develop and offer certified trainings (face-to-face and online). As an important input to the training materials of the Academy, the online content of UN Women Training Centre[1] will be adjusted to the context in Turkey, which provides high-quality training courses, programmes and resources on key issues related to UN Women’s priorities as well as emerging topics. 

There is an emerging need for mapping, adjusting and standardizing the training materials developed within the specific programmes/projects of UN Women Turkey since there are intersectional areas of the materials, although they are developed for different target groups. UN Women will build upon its existing resources to form the basis of the “Gender Equality Academy”.

UN Women Turkey Country Office seeks a National Consultant for Gender Capacity Development and Training to support the mapping and consolidation of the existing capacity development tools, modules and materials in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment developed under UN Women’s different programmes/projects as well as for identifying gaps, adjusting/preparing modules, tools and materials based on the existing resources. The national consultant will also be expected to deliver basic gender equality trainings to targeted audiences such as CSOs, local authorities and private sector.

[1] For more information, see https://trainingcentre.unwomen.org

Duties and Responsibilities

Within the scope of the assignment, under the supervision of the Programme Specialist, National Consultant for Gender Capacity Development and Training is expected to provide consultancy services for the below listed generic tasks:

TASK 1: Carry out a desk review and consolidate the capacity development/training materials developed under the programmes implemented by UN Women Turkey Office (Refugee Response Programme, Women’s Leadership and Political Participation Programme, HeforShe, Gender-Responsive Budgeting, Ending Violence against Women and Girls, and Ending Child, Early and Forced Marriages and private sector initiatives i.e. Women’s Empowerment Principles and Unstereotype Alliance Turkey).

TASK 2: Design an online questionnaire and conduct interviews to identify capacity development, training and learning needs of civil society organizations, public institutions, local authorities, private sector and other actors in the field of women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment and report the results of the online survey and interviews.  

TASK 3: Adjust the training modules of the UN Women Training Centre to be translated to Turkish to the Turkey context.

TASK 4: Based on the existing training modules, tools and materials, consolidate a standardised training module on gender equality composed of gender equality concepts, gender mainstreaming tools and gender responsive monitoring as well as the needs specified by UN Women Turkey Office to be delivered to different target audiences. The training module is expected to comprise of a concept note, agenda, training materials, exercise kit and an assessment tool such as pre-/post-training test.

TASK 5: Provide cross-cutting and substantive support to UN Women Turkey Office to conceptualise the Gender Equality Academy, as well as in the preparation of new training materials and modules and support the review and alignment of all the new modules to be developed under UN Women’s programmes.

TASK 6: Deliver up to ten basic gender trainings to targeted audiences including CSOs, municipalities and private sector companies, youth groups and report on the results of the trainings. Trainings will be organised online or offline, depending on the COVID-19 related measures.

TASK 7: Facilitate and/or participate in and report from events and conferences hosted by UN Women and/or present the work done under the assignment during working and high-level events and meetings as requested by the UN Women Turkey Office.

All the capacity development/learning/training modules shall form the basis of the ‘Gender Equality Academy’ to be established by UN Women in partnership with an academic institution in Turkey.

Duration of the assignment is from 1 July 2021 to 31 July 2022. The Consultant is expected to spend up to 100 working days on non - consecutive basis throughout the assignment.  

Expected Deliverables and Payment Schedule:

The following table summarizes the main activities and expected deliverables against the targeted submission deadlines and indicative working days to be invested by the Consultant.

All deliverables shall be received and cleared by UN Women in Turkey. All deliverables shall be presented in English, in electronic version, unless indicated otherwise in the deliverables.

Note: The mentioned number of working days has been estimated as being sufficient/feasible for the envisaged volume of work to be completed successfully and is proposed as a guideline for the duration of the assignment. It cannot and shall not be used as criteria for completion of work/assignment. The provision of envisaged deliverables approved by the UN Women in Turkey shall be the only criteria for the Consultant’s work being completed and eligible for payment/s.

Payment Schedule:

The amount paid to the Consultant shall be gross and inclusive of all associated costs such as travel, social security, pension and income tax etc. Payments will be made upon submission and approval of deliverables and timesheets above and certification by the UN Women supervisor that the services have been satisfactorily completed.

The Consultant’s payments will be carried out on the basis of deliverables and timesheets presented to and approved by the supervisor, as per the above ‘expected deliverables table’. Payment shall be affected only if all the deliverables and/or timesheets in this TOR are submitted to UN Women within the timeframes stipulated in the TOR and they are approved by the supervisor. Without submission and approval of the deliverables, the Consultant shall not receive any payment even if s/he invests time for this assignment.

Mandatory Training Courses:

The Consultant shall complete all the mandatory and other required UN training courses and modules on time. The certificates shall be submitted to the supervisor.

Key Performance Indicators

• Adherence to UN Women mandate, standards and rules.
• Timely and quality delivery of the strategic advisory services and technical support as stipulated under Part II.
• Provision of quality content and reports.
• Positive feedbacks from UN Women’s partners and stakeholders regarding the substantive support provided by the Consultant.

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 be strategic and analytical
• Knowledge of gender and human rights issues
• Programme formulation and implementation skills
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings
• Good knowledge of technical area
• Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to detail
• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies

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.

UN Women does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Required Skills and Experience

Travel

The Consultant will be responsible for all travel arrangements and expenses and daily subsistence allowances associated with undertaking this assignment. All travels shall be coordinated with UN Women Turkey Office and shall be included in the total contract amount of the Consultant.

Indicatively 5 domestic travels are expected to take place within Turkey. Each mission is expected to last two to three days. There may be different number of days required for accommodation. The financial proposal template is explanatory in this regard. The taxi fees for attending the meetings are also under the responsibility of the Consultant. In case of unforeseeable travel exceeding the travel budget of the Consultant, such costs should be agreed upon between UN Women and the Consultant prior to the travel, and will be reimbursed, in line with the UN Women travel policy.

In the context of the assignment, wherever possible, the meetings should be carried out through online conferencing such as Skype, Zoom, MS Teams, etc.

For the all travels under this assignment, the Consultant is required to provide the relevant project staff with the requested travel documentation in a timely manner, both before and after the travels. Please note that failure to do so may result in no entitlement.

Application Procedure

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

• Cover letter to include a brief overview about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised assignment.
• CV in English containing the relevant educational and professional experience.

• Signed UN Women Personal History (P11) Form including past experience in similar assignments which can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

• Financial proposal to be sent via e-mail to turkey.procurement@unwomen.org  indicating the name of the position applied in the subject line of the e-mail no later than the application deadline - Please see Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template and Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form.

When applying; the Cover Letter, CV and the signed P11 Form should be merged into one (1) single PDF document since the system will allow only to upload maximum one document. Therefore, please combine these forms and documents into one (1) single PDF document and upload them to the system.

As for the Financial Proposal, please send it separately via e-mail to turkey.procurement@unwomen.org indicating the name of the position applied in the subject line of the e-mail.  Since it is to be submitted separately via e-mail, the Financial Proposal should not be uploaded to the system or be included in the merged PDF which shall consist of the applicant’s Cover Letter, CV and Signed P11 Form. Please make sure not to include the Financial Proposal in the merged PDF document.

Should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy, candidates should be able to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certifications or any other requested document.

Incomplete applications such as applications without a financial proposal may not be considered. Applicants are responsible to make sure to have provided all the requested application materials before the deadline.

Evaluation of Applicants

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. The contract will be awarded to the Consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

An interview/written test may be used as part of the evaluation procedure.

Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template

The prospective Individual Consultant should take the following explanations into account during submission of his/her price proposal.

1.Daily fee

The daily price proposal should indicate a "lump sum amount" which is "all-inclusive"; All costs (professional fees, communications, consumables during field related missions, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor needs to be factored into the proposed price.

UN Women will not withhold any amount of the payments for tax and/or social security related payments. UN Women shall have no liability for taxes, duties or other similar charges payable by the Individual Contractor in respect of any amounts paid to the Individual Contractor under this Contract, and the Contractor acknowledges that UN Women will not issue any statements of earnings to the Individual contractor in respect of any such payments.

2.Travel costs

The Consultant will be responsible for all travel expenses associated with undertaking this assignment. All travels shall be coordinated with UN Women in Turkey Programme Specialist and shall be included in the total contract amount of the contractor. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs should be agreed upon, between UN Women in Turkey and the Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed, in line with the UN Women travel policy.

3.Daily Subsistence Allowance

Not applicable.

4.Currency of the price proposal

The applicants are requested to submit their price proposals in Turkish Liras. 

Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form

To: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Ref: National Consultant for Gender Capacity Development and Training

Dear Sir / Madam,

I, the undersigned, offer to provide professional consulting services to UN Women within the scope of the referred Assignment.

Having examined, understood and agreed to the Terms of Reference and its annexes, the receipt of which are hereby duly acknowledged, I, the undersigned, offer to deliver professional services, in conformity with the Terms of Reference.

My maximum total price proposal for the assignment is given below:

I confirm that my financial proposal will remain unchanged for 120 days. I also confirm that the price that I quote is gross, and is inclusive of all legal expenses, including but not limited to social security, income tax, pension, etc., which shall be required applicable laws.

I agree that my proposal shall remain binding upon me for 120 days.

I understand that you are not bound to accept any proposal you may receive.

[Signature]

Date:

Name:

Address:

Telephone/Fax:

Email: