National Consultant on Technical Support to the Ministry of Social Policy on CEDAW implementation (Ukraine Nationals only)

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.

UN Women work in Ukraine focuses on supporting the government and civil society in advancing gender equality and implementation of the national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Since 2015, UN Women has been focusing its interventions toward the realization of following strategic goals: women’s leadership and participation; implementation of women, peace and security agenda, including a humanitarian response, and gender responsive governance. UN Women works closely with the UN Country Team in integration of women’s rights and gender equality in all spheres of UN work. UN Women contributes to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development.

Ukraine has taken the key international commitments on gender equality. The country adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), joined the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action (BPfA) of the 4th World Conference for Women (1995) and ratified key human rights treaties, including Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1980) and its Optional Protocol. The Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, signed in 2014, entails a commitment to ensure equal opportunities for women and men in employment, education, training, the economy, and in society and decision-making. Gender equality is enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution. The new State Social Programme on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men for the period up to 2021 looks to strengthen the institutional mechanism for gender equality with an integrated approach to addressing the institutional barriers to gender equality. Ukraine’s policy and legislative framework on gender equality also includes the Human Rights Strategy and Action Plan adopted in 2015, which aims to ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men in all areas of public life. Adoption by the Government of the National Action Plan for Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 is also a commendable step towards implementation of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda in Ukraine.

In 2017, the Government of Ukraine submitted the 8th periodic report. The CEDAW Committee considered the eighth periodic report of state, UN Country Team report, analysed information from CSOs and coalitions, conducted the constructive dialogue with the state delegation, received information from NGOs and UN entities during the plenary session and issued a list of Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report (CEDAW COs) (1).

To support the Government with a comprehensive implementation of the CEDAW and Concluding Observations, including with raising awareness and knowledge about the Convection and its Optional Protocol, UN Women launched the project “CEDAW in Action!” in June 2017, which is funded by the Government of Canada. The project aims to promote stronger accountability for the obligations under the CEDAW by providing capacity building and technical support to the Government in effective implementation and monitoring of the Convention and COs, and to women, particularly those facing multiple forms of discrimination, in understanding and claiming their human rights. With UN Women’s technical support and policy guidance, the Government of Ukraine, in collaboration with women’s groups and CSOs drafted its first-ever Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations. Currently the plan is at the stage of finalization by the Government. Its adoption was prioritized in the 2018 Annual Plan of the Cabinet of Ministries (2) and Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. According to the CEDAW CO # 56 the Government of Ukraine should to provide in March 2019 the written information on the steps taken to implement the recommendations contained in COs 13 (a) and (f) and 29 (a) and (c).

The sixty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which took place in the United Nations Headquarters in New York during 12-23 March 2018 provided the governments with recommendations to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls and their human rights. UN Women supported the Governmental delegation of Ukraine to take part in the session. The CSW recommended to take the actions on strengthening normative and legal frameworks and eliminate laws and policies that discriminate against rural women and girls, implementation of economic and social policies for the empowerment of rural women and girls and strengthening their collective voice, leadership and decision-making (3). In the CEDAW CO #42 related the rights of rural women the Committee recommends Ukraine:

                (a)          Seek international assistance and cooperation, as appropriate, to improve infrastructure in rural areas and formulate policies to combat poverty among rural women to ensure their access to justice, education, housing, formal employment, skills development and training opportunities, income-generating opportunities and microcredit, and ownership and use of land, taking into account their specific needs, in line with general recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the rights of rural women;

                (b)          Pay due attention to the negative impact of the conflict on rural women and ensure that their specific needs are addressed and that they have equal access to basic services, infrastructure and new technologies;

                (c)           Study the impact of economic and social strategies for rural development on women’s human rights and improve the collection of specific, disaggregated data on rural women;

                (d)          Design specific interventions to leverage opportunities for the economic empowerment of rural women and ensure that they are involved in the design of those strategies and programmes, focusing on women not only as victims or beneficiaries but also as active participants in the formulation and implementation of such policies.

To support the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine on comprehensive monitoring of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW COs and recommendations of the CSW in achieving gender equality and empowerment of rural women and girls, as well as CEDAW COs on the rights of rural women, UN Women seeks to hire a National Consultant to develop an M&E Framework of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations and provide support to the Ministry on its application with a special focus on steps taken by the Government to implement the recommendations contained in paragraphs 13 (a) and (f) and 29 (a) and (c) of the CEDAW COs. Additionally, the National Consultant will develop recommendations for the Ministry of Social Policy to mainstream rural women rights in the state legislation and programs.

1) United Nations, "Concluding observations on the 8th periodic report of Ukraine: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women" (CEDAW/C/UKR/CO/8), Adopted by the Committee at its 66th session (13 Feb.-3 Mar. 2017), Available at https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1286284?ln=en (accessed on 19 July 2018)

UN Women Europe and Central Asia, "Translation of the Concluding observations on the 8th periodic report of Ukraine: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women into the Ukrainian language", Available at http://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2017/12/concluding-observations-on-the-eighth-periodic-report-of-ukraine (accessed on 19 July 2018)

2) Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Decree # 244-p of 28 March 2018 "On approval of Priority Actions Plan for the Government of Ukraine for 2018", Governmental portal - Unified web-portal of executive bodies of Ukraine, Available at https://www.kmu.gov.ua/ua/npas/pro-zatverdzhennya-planu-prioritetnih-dij-uryadu-na-2018-rik (accessed on 19 July 2018)

3) Commission on the Status of Women, Report on the sixty-second session, (24 March 2017 and 12–23 March 2018). Available at http://undocs.org/E/CN.6/2018/20 (accessed on 19 July 2018)

Commission on the Status of Women Agreed conclusions on “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls” on 23 March 2018. Available at http://undocs.org/en/E/CN.6/2018/L.8 (accessed on 19 July 2018)

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Country Programme Manager, technical guidance of the Programme Analyst and day-to-day supervision of the Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine for European Integration, the Consultant will implement a set of tasks, including, but not limited to:

• Development of an M&E Framework of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations;
• Provision of support to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine with application of the M&E Framework of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations with a special focus on steps taken by the Government to implement the recommendations contained in paragraphs 13 (a) and (f) and 29 (a) and (c) of the CEDAW COs;
• Development of recommendations to the Government of Ukraine to mainstream rural women issues in the legal framework and state programs:
• Make analysis of the existing legislation and policy frameworks, economic and social programs of the Government of Ukraine on protection of the human rights of rural women;
• Develop recommendations to improve the legislative and policy frameworks, economic and social programs on protection of the human rights of rural women, their leadership and participation in decision-making based on the CEDAW COs and agreed conclusions of the 62th session of the CSW on “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”.

Assignment Deliverables

1.                   Plan of the activities submitted – 5 days, by 5 September 2018

2.                   M&E Framework of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations developed and submitted to the Ministry of Social Policy and UN Women – 20 days, by 05 October 2018

3.                   Support to the Ministry with application of the M&E Framework of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations with a special focus on steps taken by the Government to implement the recommendations contained in paragraphs 13 (a) and (f) and 29 (a) and (c) of the CEDAW COs provided to the Ministry of Social Policy. Monitoring report submitted to the Ministry and UN Women – 20 days, by 02 November 2018

4.                   Recommendations to the Government of Ukraine to mainstream rural women issues in the legal framework and state programs developed and submitted to the Ministry and UN Women – 25 days, by 07 December 2018. Final report about the progress and achievements.

• All reports should be submitted according to the provided format in English (supporting documents, such as meeting minutes, agenda etc., could be provided in Ukrainian).

Total – 70 days

Inputs

• The Consultant is expected to work in the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine 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.

Performance evaluation:

• Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the Programme Specialist after receiving and accepting deliverables reports which will also be the basis for payment on a monthly basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

• Payment will be disbursed by instalments according to the above schedule of deliverables upon receipt of the progress reports and their certification by the UN Women Programme Manager, UN Women Programme Analyst, Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine for European Integration 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

Please, visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in Human Rights, Political Science, Gender Studies, Social Sciences or related field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in gender, development or another relevant field;
• Proven experience of writing technical documents on gender equality and governance;
• Experience of working in/with government institutions;
• Understanding of the national legislation and policy frameworks and the governance systems;
• Experience with participation in organization of dialogues, consultations, workshops including with the members of government, Parliament, CSOs, etc.;

Languages and other skills: 

• Fluent Ukrainian; basic knowledge of English;
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable.
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria 70% of total evaluation – max 70 points:

• The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Technical Evaluation Criteria

Criterion A – Relevant education – max. 10 points

Criterion B – Language skills – max. 5 points

Criterion C – Relevant Experience with total for all stated criteria:

•         At least 5 years of relevant experience in gender, development or another relevant field – max. 10 points;

•         Proven experience of writing technical documents on gender equality and governance – max. 15 points;

•         Experience of working in/with government institutions – max. 10 points;

•         Understanding of the national legislation and policy frameworks and the governance systems – max. 10 points;

•         Experience with participation in organization of dialogues, consultations, workshops including with the members of government, Parliament, CSOs, etc. – max. 10 points;

Total Obtainable Score for technical criteria  – max. 70 points;

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

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).

Application and submission package:

The candidate’s application should include:

• Brief Letter of Interest containing the statement on candidate’s experience in the field of recruitment. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) form, that can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.
• Proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount in UAH with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (telephone, etc.).

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 23:59 (EET)  16 August 2018 by submitting 2 attachments: 1) technical (P-11 and a Letter of Interest) and 2) financial proposals to the following e-mail address: procurement.ukraine@unwomen.org with a subject “UN Women Ukraine – National Consultant on Technical Support to the Ministry of Social Policy on CEDAW implementation”.

Applications without financial proposal will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

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.

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown on the following tables is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal

Cost Breakdown per Deliverables*(Lump Sum, All Inclusive)

Deliverables - # of days and Percentage of Total Price (Weight for payment) -   Price, UAH

1   

2   

3   

4   

 Total max. # of working days (100%)     UAH ……

*Basis for payment tranches