National Consultant for the Development of Local Gender Action Plans

Background

NOTE: Signed Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability - http://www.ba.undp.org/content/dam/bosnia_and_herzegovina/docs/Operations/Jobs/Offerors%20Letter%20to%20UNDP%20Confirming%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability.docx - to be sent to e-mail ba.shared.hr@undp.org  with Subject: Job ID 87315.

Purpose

The main purpose of this consultancy is to support the process of transformational change by anchoring gender equality in municipal endeavours and strengthening women’s agency, leadership and participation in public and political life– through the development of local gender action plans in ten (10) participating municipalities of the Women in Election (WiE) project.

Objective

Creation of local gender action plans is an important structural intervention that aims to foster institutionalisation of gender equality principles in municipalities. This has manifold benefits. Firstly, it will provide a sustainable institutional framework against concrete measures and implementation timelines to address the key obstacles that hinder more avid participation of women in public and political life. Secondly, it will strengthen institutional cooperation on gender equality issues within and between municipalities, entity gender centres, municipal gender commissions, civil society organisations and citizens. Thirdly, gender action plans will be co-created by providing a platform in the form of consultations and public discussions- in order to hear and validate diverse voices of women and create a springboard for diffusion of gender equality principles in a wider community. Hence, gender action plans design will be done in inclusive and participatory manner and directly guided by the principles to be outlined in the methodology to be designed in cooperation with project team and Entity Gender Centres,  and more  broadly by 6 Steps in Elected Office as a holistic approach aiming to bring in, and to keep, more women in politics and the decision-making arena.

Creation of gender action plans is based on premise that in the long run, the progressive change of BiH society critically depends on activation of women’s engagement and resources. High level of gender equality will improve overall quality of life and contribute to the economic and democratic development of BiH. To that end, gender equality is seen not only as a human right issue, but also as a key development issue. Gender equality is taken as an essential precondition for redefining political and development agenda on the local and state levels. To this end, empowerment of women locally to identify, strengthen and nourish the next generation of women leaders is a must. Therefore, creation of local gender action plans is an important structural intervention that aims to foster institutionalisation of gender equality principles in municipalities by addressing the key obstacles that hinder more avid participation of women in public and political life.

Background Information

The main objective of the Women in Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina project is to strengthen women’s leadership and participation in political life. Guided by the strict observance of the highest standards of political neutrality, the project will apply the UNs Gender Equality in Elected Office approach to help secure an enabling environment for getting more women elected across board, in all spheres of decision-making in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It will foster women’s engagement in public life and their position in the decision-making and ensure they are given a realistic and equal chance as their men counterparts in the forthcoming general elections (2018), and in the longer term, the next local elections in 2020 by advocacy for women’s equal rights and political participation.

Strengthening women’s leadership and participation in political life will apply the two-pronged approach- vertically by proposing structural adjustments to accommodate greater numbers of women in politics, as well as horizontally by nourishing the next generation of women leaders in communities through tailored networking and capacity building initiatives.

To this end, the project will utilise the “entry points”, contextual enablers, and programming opportunities to open up spaces for women’s leadership and strengthening their participation in political life. UN support will be provided equally across the political spectrum with no political favouritism.

The following outputs/project components are foreseen within this project:

• Output 1: Strengthening Women’s Leadership. This output support building the new generation of capable women leaders from all spheres of social and economic life, to broaden up the resources pool, by strengthening women’s leadership and participation in political life, specifically through empowerment women leaders, and increase in women’s political participation in partner LGs.
• Output 2: Fostering Political Participation of Women. The work under this output will be based on contextualising and applying the UNs Gender Equality in Elected Office approach, with the aim of getting more women elected across board, in all spheres of decision-making in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This project is funded by the Government of Sweden and implemented by UNDP BiH, in partnership with BIH institutions (Agency for Gender Equality BiH, Central Election Commission BiH, Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Committee on Gender Equality) and UN Women as responsible party for the activities under the output 2.

The project activities at the local level will encompass 10 partner LGs: Stari Grad - Sarajevo, City of Zenica, Tešanj, Laktaši, Gracanica, City of Banja Luka, Olovo, Nevesinje, Ljubuški, City of Bijeljina. The idea is to start with the municipalities which currently offer the best contexts for women’s leadership, and then to spread to other municipalities in the future.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant is expected to develop, in a consultative process, methodology for creation of gender action plan that will provide the most appropriate modus for elaborating a set of strategic, appropriately structured, implementable measures that respond to the local context, with assigned stakeholder responsibilities benchmarked against sound timelines and budget– in order to design local gender action plans in 10 participating municipalities.

The tasks will be performed through desk review of relevant documentation, discussions with WiE project team and relevant actors in participating municipalities, entity gender centres, and civil society, conducting public discussions with all relevant stakeholders in participating municipalities, while taking into consideration the findings from project Baseline Study and comparable best practices in the field.

The Consultants assignment will consist of the following three key tasks:

Task 1: Design Methodology for local Gender Action Plans

Under this task, the Consultant will:

1. Conduct desk review of the available relevant documentation, including existing methodologies
2. Identify key stakeholders and constituencies in participating municipalities,
3. Conduct consultations with the key stakeholders;
4.  Draft methodology for gender action plan creation and detailed plan of activities for the assignment workplan, and timelines;
5. Produce the draft of the methodology for review and comments and
6. Integrate stakeholders’ comments into final draft of methodology and submit it for verification

It is envisaged that this task will be delivered in end-September 2019 and the level of effort will not exceed 10 expert days.

Task 2: Provide technical support to participating municipalities in developing of Gender Action Plans

Following the verification of the methodology Under this task, the Consultant will:

1. Conduct field visits and grassroot consultations with the key stakeholders;
2. Based on the above, where appropriate organise public discussions in participating municipalities to solicit input for creating gender action plans;
3. Collate findings, conduct follow up work and summarise the key findings to be shared with the Project team.
4. Facilitate verification workshop with the municipal stakeholders
5. Prepare draft local gender action plans and submit it for validation

It is envisaged that this task will be delivered in mid-November 2019 and the level of effort will not exceed 30 expert days.

Task 3: Produce Final Version of Gender Action Plans

Under this task, based on the comments received from the participating municipalities, the Consultant will:

1. Carry out an additional round of consultations with the stakeholders, incorporating all adjustments and modifications;
2. Produce final version of local gender action plans

It is envisaged that this task will be delivered by end December 2019, and the level of effort will not exceed 15 expert days.

Deliverables and Timeline

Consultant is responsible for the following deliverables:

#	Deliverables / outputs	# of days per task	Due date	Percentage
1	Develop Methodology for Gender Action Plans Conduct consultations with the key stakeholders; Draft methodology for gender action plan creation and detailed plan of activities for the assignment workplan, identify key stakeholders and constituencies in participating municipalities, and timelines; Produce the final draft of the methodology and integrate stakeholders’ comments.	10 expert days	End of September 2019	18%
2	Task 2: Provide technical support to participating municipalities in developing of Gender Action Plans Conduct field visits and grassroot consultations with the key stakeholders; Based on the above, organise public discussions in participating municipalities to solicit input for creating gender action plans; Collate findings, conduct follow up work and summarise the key findings to be shared with the Project team. Facilitate verification workshop with the municipal stakeholders Prepare draft local gender action plans;	30 expert days	Mid-November 2019	55%
3	Produce Final Version of Gender Action Plans Carry out an additional round of consultations with the stakeholders, incorporating all adjustments and modifications; Produce final version of local gender action plans.	15 expert days	End of December 2019	27%

Competencies

Corporate Responsibility and Teamwork:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Plans, prioritizes and delivers tasks on time;
• Strives for and promotes excellence in performance continually;
• Participates effectively in a team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;
• Generates ideas and seizes opportunities to support corporate strategic objectives.

People Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Recognizes and responds appropriately to the ideas, interests, and concerns of others;
• Builds trust and engenders morale by displaying open, transparent and credible behaviour;
• Respects individual/cultural differences; utilizes diversity to foster teamwork;
• Ensures others’ understanding of, involvement in, and adaptation to a change process.

Partnering and Networking:

• Communicates sensitively and effectively across different constituencies;
• Ability to work as a member of a team as well as work autonomously;
• Results-Orientation;
• Plans and procedures quality results to meet established goals.

Communication:

• Technical writing skills, formulates written information clearly and persuasively;
• Strong communication skills;
• Shares information openly with co-workers and partners while using discretion to protect confidences;
• Presents information in a clear and articulate manner.

Job Knowledge and Expertise:

• Strong analytical skills;
• Knowledge in strategic planning and methodology development;
• Demonstrates substantive knowledge on security issues and activities with an emphasis on local communities;
• Executes day-to-day tasks systematically and efficiently;
• Initiative and sound judgment.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

• Master`s degree in law, sociology, political sciences, gender equality or other relevant social sciences;
• At least 5 years of relevant  professional experience in the area of gender equality;

Experience:

• Demonstrated hand-on experience in stakeholder engagement for the purpose of creating strategic documents, preferably previous experience in preparing gender action plans.
• Experience in developing and conducting grassroot consultations with various levels and types of stakeholders within BiH;
• Experience in engaging various levels and types of stakeholders and assessing institutional and individual capacities and needs; 
• Familiarity with key public documents, strategies, trends and practices related to gender equality;
• Proven writing credentials  and research capacity: ability to both plan and undertake analysis and research, relying on both quantitative and qualitative methods;
• Experience in the field of gender equality and women empowerment;
• Previous experience with UNDP, UN Agencies and International organisation;

Languages Requirements:

• Fluency in B/H/S and English languages.

Other Requirements:

• Excellent computer skills (MS Office applications) and ability to use information technologies as a tool and resource.

Long/Shortlisting Criteria	YES/NO
Relevant Education: Master`s degree in law, sociology, political sciences, gender equality or other relevant social sciences;
Relevant professional experience:  At least 5 years of relevant  professional experience in the area of gender equality;
Technical criteria	Max 100 points
Relevant professional experience: Demonstrated hand-on experience in stakeholder engagement for the purpose of creating strategic documents, preferably previous experience in preparing gender action plans.	Max 15 points
Experience in developing and conducting grassroot consultations with various levels and types of stakeholders within BiH;	Max 15 points
Experience in engaging various levels and types of stakeholders and assessing institutional and individual capacities and needs;	Max 15 points
Familiarity with key public documents, strategies, trends and practices related to gender equality;	Max 15 points
Proven writing credentials  and research capacity: ability to both plan and undertake analysis and research, relying on both quantitative and qualitative methods;	Max 15 points
Experience in the field of gender equality and women empowerment;	Max 15 points
Previous experience with UNDP, UN Agencies and International organisation	Max 10 points

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points would be considered for Technical Evaluation.

Technical Evaluation Criteria

Criteria	Weight
Rating based on Technical Criteria	50%
Interview	50%

Only candidates obtaining a score of 80% would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

EVALUATION

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, andb) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

• * Technical Criteria weight-70%
• * Financial Criteria weight- 30%

Applicants are required to submit an application including:

• Personal CV including relevant experience and contact details of at least 3 references;

Please scan all above mentioned documents and upload as one attachment only online through this website.

Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.