National Consultant to support the National Network and Local Alliances of Women Councilors

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; the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development; human rights; as well as humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre 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.

In Albania, women’s role in public life remains largely un-recognized, and women’s full and equal participation in decision-making continues to be restricted due to pervasive stereotypes and discriminatory practices, which remain inherent in the public arena. However, with the inclusion of quotas in both the law “On Gender Equality in Society” (July 2008) and within the revised Electoral Code, the results of the 2009 and 2013 National Elections witnessed a systematic but yet slow increase of the number of women in Parliament (from 7% in 2005 to 16.4% in 2009 to 19.3% in 2013 and 28% in 2017). However, 30% quota is still not met at national level.

After many years of advocacy efforts by UN Women and several stakeholders, the changes in the Electoral Code (2015) for the 50% representation of women in local councils were also strongly advocated by the Alliance of Women Parliamentarians. These changes with the strong sanction of refusal of the list by the CEC and the zip system made the 2015 local elections witness an historical increase of women’s representation at the local level as councilors (35% up from 12,5 % in 2011) and as mayors (15% or 9 out of 61 Municipalities up from 1% in 2011).

The increased women’s representation as well as the support provided by UN Women have resulted into the establishment of eight Alliances of Women Councilors (AWC) and a National Network of Alliance of Women Councilors (National Alliance). The network has a total of 18 Alliances including from other municipalities supported by different donors and partners. There is an increased demand from other municipalities to be supported to establish Alliances of Women Councils and a need to strengthen the coordination, capacities and work of the National Network especially in the view of the upcoming local elections and future direction of Alliances.

Considering the above, UN Women is seeking support through a National Consultant to support the process of establishing Alliances of Women Counselors in at least five additional municipalities and support the coordination and strengthening of the National Network Alliance of Women Councilors before upcoming local elections and beyond.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women National Project Manager for the Women Political Empowerment Programme, the consultant will support with the below tasks:

1. Based on the situation analysis report of the existing AWCs, discussions with the Head of National Network of Alliance of Women Councilors and UN Women provide a detailed work plan for the consultancy including identification of potential Municipalities for establishing the local Alliances (1 day).
2. Establish contacts with at least five municipalities especially in the North (potentially Dibra, Tropoja, Has and two in south) and other regions that have not yet established alliances*. Support the establishment of AWC and organize at least five workshops and support the municipalities to officially launch the Alliances (6 days).
3. Support National Alliance in preparing its functioning documents such as the Statute and Rules of Procedure (2 days).
4. Prepare a full database on all established Alliances, providing details on each of the regions, results, capturing the best practices and achievements of the Alliances and recommendations for the future interventions and vision (10 days).
5. Identify different actors and donors that are or will be interested to support the work of National Alliance at the local level. Identify potential collaboration and advocate for potential support for future interventions. Include findings in the final database (5 days)
6. Jointly with UN Women, organize coordination meetings and events aiming at increasing visibility, advocacy and coordination efforts of National Alliance Agenda before local elections 2019 (8 days).

• Three one day meetings: One Board Meeting of the National Network, one meeting with the Alliance of Women MPs and one meeting with Political Parties Women Forums.
• Organize a two days event to advocate for women participation in upcoming local elections. First day of the event will share best practices and lessons learned amongst the newly and experienced AWCs as well as inform on opportunities and best practices by different partners as per the region. On the second day together with Alliance of Women MPs, an agenda to support women participation in upcoming local elections will be established.

Expected Deliverables

The following products and deliverables are expected to be completed by the local Consultant according to agreed schedule:

• Five workshops organized in five municipalities and five Alliances of Women Councilors established together with the workshop reports in English and Albanian.
• The Statute, Rules of Procedure of the National Network together with the final database on all established Alliances in Albanian.
• At least on coordination meeting with other organizations and support from at least one donor/stakeholder identified for future interventions (Task 5 above)
• Three meetings and one major event amongst alliances and increased coordination and focus of work for the upcoming local elections.
• Full database of all established Alliances in Albanian (Task 4 above)

Duration of the Work

The National Consultant will be contracted for a maximum of 32 working days for a period of September – November 2018 to perform specified tasks.

The Alliances of Women Councilors are established in 18 municipalities: Shkoder, Mat, Klos, Durres, Tirane, Elbasan, Prrenjas, Pogradec, Cerrik, Lushnje, Fier, Berat, Korce, Devoll, Vlore, Selenice, Himare and Gjirokaster.

*The Alliances of Women Councilors are established in 18 municipalities: Shkoder, Mat, Klos, Durres, Tirane, Elbasan, Prrenjas, Pogradec, Cerrik, Lushnje, Fier, Berat, Korce, Devoll, Vlore, Selenice, Himare and Gjirokaster.

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

Functional Competences

• Excellent knowledge of Albanian context, women participation in public processes;
• Ability to draft methodologies and strategic documents;
• Ability to lead processes, coordinate and conduct workshops or trainings;
• Proven ability to work within limited time constraints in the preparation of high quality documents;
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks;
• Strong teamwork and leadership skills.

Required Skills and Experience

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

Functional Competences

• Excellent knowledge of Albanian context, women participation in public processes;
• Ability to draft methodologies and strategic documents;
• Ability to lead processes, coordinate and conduct workshops or trainings;
• Proven ability to work within limited time constraints in the preparation of high quality documents;
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks;
• Strong teamwork and leadership skills.

Qualifications:

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in one of the following areas: human rights, international development, social sciences, gender studies or similar.

Work experience:

• At least 10 years’ experience working with local governance and related specific experience on women’s leadership and political participation;
• Proven experience in developing succinct reports from different work inputs and integrate into strategic reports and documents;
• Experience in coordination, facilitation and providing in depth training etc.
• Excellent knowledge of Albanian context, women participation in public processes would be an asset;

Language requirement:

• Fluency in English and Albanian (written and spoken);

The individual should submit a Statement of Good Health certifying that the individual is in good health. In addition, he/she should take the mandatory learning security course – details will follow before the commencement of the work.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the total lumpsum in Albanian Lek for the tasks and anticipated number of days specified in this announcement. 

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services including travel costs). The Consultant will have to travel at least twice in each of the regions where the Alliances will be established. Other travel costs different from the above will be covered by UN Women separately.

• Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iii) submission of and approval of final draft; and (iv) submission of the respective invoice.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 29 September 2018

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• UN Women Personal History Form (P 11) including past experience in similar assignment. Can be downloaded at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Links to previously developed reports
• Financial Proposal specifying the total lump sum in Albanian Lek for the tasks and anticipated number of days specified in this assignment, as per above requirement.

Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. 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 below defined technical and financial criteria.

Applications will be assessed according to the following Technical Criteria:                       

• Master’s degree in one of the following areas: human rights, management, social sciences, gender studies or similar and related to the ToRs (max 10 points);
• At least 10 years’ experience working with local governance and excellent knowledge of Albanian context and specific experience on women’s leadership and political participation (25 points);
• Proven experience in developing succinct reports from different work inputs and integrate into strategic reports and documents (20 points);
• Experience in coordination, facilitation and providing in depth training etc (15 points).

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (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. The calculation formula applied is as follow:

p = 30 (µ/z); where: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated; µ = price of the lowest priced proposal; z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

How to Submit the Application: 

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from UN Women Personal History Form (P11)  or http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment   
• Merge all the required documents above ( Cover letter, P-11, aggregated financial offer) 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
• Please enter the CV or Resume in the Resume Section of the online application format
• click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (indicated above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Note: Applications without the financial offer will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.