Re-Advertised: National Consultant to support development of the Country Gender Equality Brief for Belarus

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.

As part of the UN System-wide investments, and leveraging UN Women’s three-pronged mandate—supporting strengthened global norms and standards; promoting effective coordination, coherence and commitment across the UN System towards gender equality; and supporting Member States to translate global norms and standards into national policies and action—the  UN Women’s global Strategic Plan 2018-2021 commits to increased national-level knowledge and strengthened national systems to monitor international, regional and national commitments to Gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEWE).

In support of the above, effective 2019, UN Women regional offices (ROs) and country offices (COs) are supporting UN Coordination on gender through developing Country Gender Equality Briefs (CGEB). CGEB serve to capture up-to-date state of the gender equality in the country; they summarize the existing sex-disaggregated data and map the data gaps, provide up to the date information on the country’s compliance with internationally agreed commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment (CEDAW, UPR, SDGs. etc.), and map GEWE policies, analyze institutional mechanisms, capacities and partnerships upholding national and local level work towards achieving gender equality.

In countries working towards the new UN Frameworks Agreement with the governments (United Nationals Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks), the CGEB provide valuable inputs in the preparatory work of new UNSDCFs. Belarus is among the countries that are working towards the new UNSDCF, that is expected to come in effect in 2021.

Goal and Objectives

As part of the UN System in Belarus, UN Women (a non-resident UNCT member) is seeking the services of an experienced national consultant (in each country one national consultant) to support, the development of the Country Gender Brief. The document will inform Common Country Assessment exercise, and the development of the UNSDCFs in Belarus; it will also serve as a baseline and a basis for regular updates on progress towards GEWE and SDGs. The national consultant will be working under the overall supervision of the lead international expert, who will provide guidance and ensure high quality and timely delivery of inputs from the national consultant, as specified in the national consultant’s Terms of Reference.  The consultant will support the international consult to liaise with the Resident’s Coordinator Offices, UNCTs and the Gender Them Groups (as appropriate), to ensure access to information, data and other sources necessary to fulfill the task.  

UN Women ECA RO Programme Specialist will ensure the overall quality assurance of joint work of the lead international and national consultant, support a peer review of the draft CGEB, as well as validation of its key findings and recommendations by UNCT members and the national partners.

The development of the Country Gender Briefs (CGB) should be guided by the following principles:

• the focus and nature of the qualitative analysis is to be driven by a national context, GEWE needs, and priorities;
• go beyond quantitative data and analysis and include qualitative analysis framed around root causes of existing gender inequalities, and international norms and standards for gender equality and the empowerment of women;
• the CGB should generate findings and recommendations that target national policies and their implementation, guided by the Concluding Observations of the CEDAW Committee, the findings of the PFA national reviews, and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations and aligned to gender-related SDG indicators;
• the findings and recommendations should aim at a gender transformational and behavior change;
• if resources allow, the process of generating the CGEBs—and associated advocacy and outreach— should include a focus on closing some national statistical gaps; etc.
• The CGB should not exceed 30 pages without annexes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the lead international experts the national consultant will support the development of the CGEB for Belarus, which will include, but will not be limited to the following tasks:

• Under the overall supervision of lead international expert to develop a detailed work plan in support of the development of the Country Gender Brief in line with the detailed outline for CGEB (to be provided by the International consultant);
• Based on the instructions of the lead expert, collect the key national GEWE policies, plans and initiatives (ideally available in English) and provide an overview, including their implementation in line with the country’s international commitments to GEWE;
• Compile and provide an analysis of the statistical data related to GEWE from reliable sources, including qualitative date from CSOs, local think-tanks, etc., based on guidance from UN Women Gender Data Specialist;
• Organize and lead consultations with key informants and national partners as well as UNCT/GTG as agreed in the work plan with the lead expert;
• Provide inputs in a draft and a final CGEB and its sectoral parts, based on findings of review and feedback provided by UNCTs and/ or the Gender Theme Groups;
• Support validation of the CGEB, including organization of workshop (as appropriate).
• Conduct any other related work as agreed with the lead expert in the individual work plan.

Expected deliverables 

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

Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in international development or development studies with focus on gender/women’s rights, public administration or other social sciences fields relevant to the requirements of the TOR.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of experience in women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment or any related field, including analytical and research experience;
• At least 3 years of experience of advocacy related work with gender equality and women’s empowerment issues in the country; and
• Previous professional experience with development agencies and/or the United Nations is an asset.

Languages and other skills: 

• Proficient in written and oral English and the local language;
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use computers, including advance Excel skills and standard applications for concise communication and development of complex written documentation;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Strong writing skills – English language.

 Application Process 

The application should include:

• Personal History Form (P-11 form) - including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted;
• Financial Proposal: Specify a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (per deliverable, all travel costs, per diem any other possible costs as relevant); 
• Candidates should have the ability to quickly produce degree certificates and medical certification (of good health) should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy post.

Management and financial arrangements

The contractor will report to and work under direct supervision of UN Women ECA RO Programme Specialist.

Payment will be disbursed in four installments upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women ECA RO that the services have been satisfactorily performed as specified below:

• Deliverable 1 – 10% of contract amount
• Deliverable 2 – 35% of contract amount
• Deliverable 3 – 25% of contract amount
• Deliverable 4 – 30% of contract amount

Please note that travel costs and accommodation cost should be covered by the consultant and included in the financial offer.

Evaluation process

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal.

The candidates must possess following minimum qualification criteria to be eligible for further technical evaluation:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in international development or development studies with focus on gender/women’s rights, public administration or other social sciences fields relevant to the requirements of the TOR;
• Proven experience in women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment; 
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use computers, including advance Excel skills and and/or knowledge of related analytical software (SPSS, Stata etc.) and standard applications for concise communication and development of complex written documentation;
• Fluency in English (speaking and writing) and local language.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

Qualified women 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 large number of applications received, UN Women will inform only the successful candidate about the outcome or status of the selection process.