National Coordinator - To be Seconded to Support Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation on coordination of the Fiji National Action Plan To Prevent Violence Against Women

Background

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

The incidence of violence against women and girls in the Pacific Islands is amongst the highest rates in the world. For example, 64% of women in Fiji who have ever been in an intimate relationship have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a husband or intimate partner over the course of their lifetime[1]. Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) is a central barrier to gender equality and a cause of widespread violation of human rights across the Pacific[2].

In Fiji, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre in partnership with women’s organisations and the women’s rights movement have led the work on prevention and responding to violence against women and girls for over the past 30 years and have been crucial in advancing local understanding of women’s and girls’ rights, getting the issue onto the public agenda, and providing much-needed services.

To respond to the rates of violence in the Pacific, UN Women has developed a comprehensive EVAWG programme which takes a transformative approach to prevent violence against women and girls at multiple levels (regional, national and community), and to improve survivors’ access to quality response services. 

UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office’s (MCO) EVAWG programme is implemented primarily under the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (hereafter referred to as ‘Pacific Partnership’).  The Pacific Partnership brings together governments, civil society organizations, communities and other partners to promote gender equality, prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG), and increase access to quality response services for survivors. The programme aims - through innovative approaches to education, access to essential services, and policy development - to transform the social norms that allow violence against women and girls to continue and to support national and regional institutions meet their gender equality commitment. The EUR 22.7 million programme is funded primarily by the European Union (EUR 12.7m) with targeted support from the Governments of Australia (EUR 6.2m) and New Zealand (EUR 3.2) and cost-sharing with UN Women (EUR 0.6m).

The Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation[3] (MWCPA) is the Fiji Government’s agency that administers services and programmes aligned to the empowerment, care and protection of women and children, provision of income support to families, who fall within the category of the poorest of the poor and promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women. The role of the Ministry is to:

• Provide care and protection for children through programmes as stipulated under the relevant legislations.
• Alleviate poverty through social protection programmes for the disadvantaged
• Administer the poverty alleviation programmes
• Empower women and mainstream gender 

Both UN Women Fiji MCO and the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation of Fiji are guided by the United Nations Pacific Strategy which is a multi-country sustainable development framework.

UN Women Fiji MCO has been providing extensive support to MWCPA towards the implementation of the Women’s Plan of Action, National Gender Policy and the National Development Plan, through the EVAW Task Force, including work on the Service Delivery Protocol, and shelter standards. Within this joint partnership, multiple projects have been delivered together, including the Women’s Expo, GBV trainings and consultations, and humanitarian response work as part of the GBV sub-cluster.

In 2020 Fiji embarked on a historic mission to develop a National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls, making it the first Pacific Island Country, and one of the only two countries globally along with Australia, to have whole of government, inclusive, evidence-based approach to prevent violence against women and girls.

The five-year National Action Plan will set out short, medium- and long-term measures to prevent violence against women and girls by challenging its underlying root causes. It will influence social norms, promote community leadership and set a much stronger culture of equal and respectful relationships between men and women.

MWCPA plans to complete the development of the National Action Plan by December 2021. The National Action Plan is coordinated by the Secretariat, which comprises of MWCPA, UNW and the CSO Rep, currently held by Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre. UN Women, as part of the Secretariat, is the primary technical partner to the MWCPA in developing the National Action Plan. UN Women’s technical and financial support is provided through the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls.

[1] Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre. (2013). Somebody’s Life, Everybody’s Business. Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre. Suva, Fiji.

[2] The Situation of Women in Fiji, Governments 2nd, 3rd and 4th report to the CEDAW Committee

[3] http://www.mwcpa.gov.fj/index.php/about-us/vision-and-mission.html

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective

UN Women Fiji MCO is looking for an individual to support MWCPA to coordinate National Prevention Framework Development and act as focal point for the Secretariat team to support and coordinate the development of the National Action Plan associated with the National Framework.

For this purpose, the selected consultant will work under the overall coordination of the Senior Women’s Interest Officer, Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation  and direct supervision of the UN Women EVAWG Technical Specialist - Prevention to coordinate and support the development of the National Action Plan in a participatory and transparent manner.

The consultant will work closely with the communication consultant that UN Women will also be recruiting to join the Secretariat.

Duties and responsibilities

Specifically, the following major tasks shall be undertaken by the national consultant:

Tasks and activities	Estimated workload (workdays)
Organize periodic coordination meetings to the planning of the National Action Plan for Prevention of VAW at national level, including logistical arrangements for all activities set out in the workplan;	Up to 35 days
Collect and analyse contributions from the stakeholders and ensure quality inputs to the Action Plan development;	Up to 35 days
Documentation and record keeping of all the processes, meetings and correspondences	Up to 35 days
Provide direct support to the Secretariat to manage workplans in relation to the development of the National Action Plan	Up to 35 days
Coordinate with the Communications and Media Consultant on communications strategy and plan	Up to 20 days
Support the Secretariat in national working groups and coordination meetings	Up to 40 days
Build and maintain strong relationships with key inter-agency and partner stakeholders at national levels;	Up to 20 days
Total	220 days

 

Deliverables

The assignment should be carried out within a period of 12 months, not exceeding 220 working days, with the incumbent being responsible for delivering the following outputs:

• Monthly reports on major tasks performed and the results, including related to support provided to MWCPA in Action Plan Development and Coordination, inputs collection, data analysis and other as per above description of tasks;
• Final report on carried out activities, achievements and challenges.
• Information, analytical work papers, relevant to the assignment.  

All the deliverables should be agreed with the UN Women’s counterpart at the MWCPA and UN Women and be provided in English hard and electronic copy.

Duration of this Assignment

The duration of this assignment will up to 12 months, starting August 2020.

Management arrangements

The National Consultant will work under the overall coordination of the Senior Women’s Interest Officer, Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation  and direct supervision of the UN Women EVAWG Technical Specialist - Prevention to coordinate and support the development of the National Action Plan in a participatory and transparent manner. S/he will work in coordination with the communications and media consultant who will be recruited to be part of the secretariat team, as well. The National Consultant will be provided by the MWCPA with the necessary information, materials and logistics, as well as office space. Selected candidate is expected to have her/his own laptop, while MWYPA will provide access to other equipment for the fulfillment of his/her tasks (such as printer, copier).

Travel

The position is based at the MWCPA, Suva. The Consultant will be responsible for all administrative and travel expenses associated with undertaking this assignment to be based in Suva. No outside Suva travels are envisaged under the current assignment. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between MWCPA and UN Women and the National Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Performance evaluation

Consultant’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Financial arrangement

Payment will be disbursed on a monthly basis, upon submission and approval of deliverables and timesheets with actual days worked and certification by the Senior Women’s Interest Officer, MWCPA and UN Women Technical Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Payment will be made within 30 (thirty) days after receipt and acceptance of the specified deliverable and corresponding invoice but only after UN Women have certified that the services have been satisfactorily performed 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 think conceptually, strategically and analytically;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Results oriented, flexible and problem-solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Required skills and background

Education:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required;
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in similar fields with combination of additional 5 years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree
• Other formal education relevant for the assignment will be an advantage;

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of proven experience working/collaborating with national stakeholders in coordinating/facilitating/assisting/supporting and/or drafting action plans/policy recommendations/ or programmes;
• Minimum 3 years of proven work experience in the area of social protection or gender equality, human rights and development
• Minimum 2 years of experience in the EVAWG area
• Experience working with diverse group of people with sensitivity and inclusivity
• Experience with project management, report writing and documentation is an asset;
• experience in working with international organizations (successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset)

Language skills:

• Excellent verbal and written English.
• Working knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Fiji is an asset.

Evaluation procedure

Initially, individual consultants will be short-listed based on the following minimum qualification criteria:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required or
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in similar fields with combination of additional 5 years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree
• Minimum 5 years of proven experience working/collaborating with national stakeholders in coordinating/facilitating/assisting/supporting and/or drafting action plans/policy recommendations/ or programmes;

The short-listed individual consultants will be further evaluated based on a cumulative analysis scheme, with a total score being obtained upon the combination of weighted technical and financial attributes. Cost under this method of analysis Is rendered as an award criterion, which will be 30% out of a total score of 500 points.

Evaluation of submitted offers will be done based on the following formula:

where:

T	is the total technical score awarded to the evaluated proposal (only to those proposals that pass 70% m 350 points obtainable under technical evaluation);
C	is the price of the evaluated proposal;
C low	is the lowest of all evaluated proposal prices among responsive proposals; and
X	is the maximum financial points obtainable (150 points)

Technical evaluation will be represented through desk review of applications and a written test of shortlisted applicants.  Interview will be organized only if needed, depending on the short-listed candidates’ qualifications and written test results.

 

A. Technical Evaluation: The technical part is evaluated on the basis of its responsiveness to the Terms of Reference (TOR).

#	Criteria for technical evaluation	Scoring	Max. points
1	An advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required; A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in similar fields with combination of additional 5 years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree Other formal education relevant for the assignment will be an advantage;	PhD – 60 pts Master’s - 55 pts University degree with additional (10years) of experience in coordination work – 55 pts Additional relevant trainings – 10 pts	70
2	Minimum 5 years of proven experience working/collaborating with national stakeholders in coordinating/facilitating/assisting/supporting and/or drafting action plans/policy recommendations/ or programmes;	(5 years – 60 pts, each year over 3 years – 10 pts, up to a max of 80 pts)	80
3	Minimum 3 years of proven work experience in the area of social protection or gender equality, human rights and development	3 years –40 pts, each year over 3 years –5 pts, up to a maximum of 50 pts	50
4	Minimum 2 years of experience in the EVAWG area	2 years –50 pts, each year over 2 years –10 pts, up to a maximum of 70 pts	70
5	Experience working with diverse group of people with sensitivity and inclusivity	up to a maximum of 30 pts	30
6	Experience with project management, report writing and documentation is an asset;	Up to 10 pts	10
7	experience in working with international organizations (successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset)	Up to 10 pts	10
8	Excellent verbal and written English. Working knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Fiji is an asset	20 pts for English Additional 5 points for knowledge of each of additional and relevant to Fiji language	30
	Total Technical Scoring		350

 

B. Financial evaluation:

In the Second Stage, the financial proposal of candidates, who have attained minimum 70% score in the technical evaluation (at least 245 points), will be compared.

 

WINNING CANDIDATE

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

 

Application Process and submission package

Interested candidates must submit via online submission system the following documents/ information to demonstrate their qualification:

• Letter of Intent with justification of being the most suitable for the work, vision and working approach, specifically indicating experience of carrying out consultative evaluation and in producing out analytical reports
• Duly filled Personal History Form (P11) and/or CV, including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and specific outputs obtained;
• Financial proposal (in USD) - specifying an all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs as per template provided.

Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted and will have to pass a written test.

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