International expert to conduct a study on the impact of public investment in childcare and child and family allowance on poverty reduction, human development and gender equality in Albania

Background

NOTE: THOSE APPLICANTS WHO HAVE ALREADY APPLIED AND SUBMITTED ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS IN THE PREVIOUS ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE SAME POSITION, DO NOT NEED TO REAPPLY.

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. 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.

The Government of Albania has made national and international commitments to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in many different socio-economic aspects. Several international conventions and platforms, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action, demonstrate Albania’s commitment to the realization of women’s rights and the achievement of gender equality and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as women’s equality and empowerment is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, but also integral to all dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development.

Over the past years, UN Women, in cooperation with other UN Agencies have provided extensive technical and expert support to the GoA to strengthen the social protection system, working closely with central and local government institutions to address social inclusion and the needs of the vulnerable groups with a focus in women and girls.

Under the UN JP “Strategic policy options for SDG financing”, the UN Agencies aim to support the Government to strengthen Institutional capacities at national and local level to develop feasible solutions and identify fiscal space to progressively increase SDG-related spending for women, men, girls and boys in Albania.

This joint programme provides extensive technical assistance to the Government to identify and integrate in the national budgetary framework more equitable and adequate financing for SDGs.

The programme is contributing to SDG5 priority targets, and specifically recognizes the importance of reducing unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, social infrastructure and social protection policies.

The reduction and redistribution of women’s unpaid childcare responsibilities can be achieved through investments in improved quality of childcare services and social infrastructure. In addition to alleviating an important constraint that potentially limits women’s labour force participation, such investments would also generate decent employment opportunities and contribute to reduce gender disparities at the labour market.  

In this context, UN Women requires technical support of one International consultant to support with the develoment of a study for assessing the fiscal effects and impact of public investment in childcare and child and family allowance on poverty reduction, human development and gender equality.

The International consultant will work in close cooperation with a National consultant that will be responsible for providing support in designing the methodology for the assessment of costs, conducting interviews with various stakeholders (government officials in relevant line ministries, representatives of preschools and their associations, parents’ associations, teacher unions, women’s organizations, academics/researchers and the like) on the current status of childcare services and child and family benefits/allowances and its interactions with labor market engagement of parents, in collecting the relevant national and administrative data such as input/output tables, time-use surveys, existing household surveys.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of the assignment is to provide data and evidence on the costs and benefits in the institutionalization of social care, particularly childcare services and child and family benefits in the country. In order to do so, UN Women - through the work of the team of experts – will support the collection of data for cost estimation of childcare and the simulations of their fiscal revenue effects and impact on poverty reduction, human development and gender equality.

Under the supervision of the Program Manager on National Planning and Budgeting and the Head of Programme Unit at UN Women Albania and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE) and Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MoHSP), the International consultant is expected to conduct the following:

• Prepare a work plan for the assignment with clear timelines for the deliverables;

• Prepare a methodological proposal to guide the country level costing study. This methodology will allow for calculating the total cost of providing childcare, based on different proposed parameters and scenarios of coverage and quality; outline of all the specific items for analysis; the data needs for the calculations of costs and the simulations of employment and fiscal effects;

• Perform country–level calculations, with support from the national expert. The international expert should guide, support and review the national calculations as necessary, based on the data collected;

• Draft an assessment report based on the finding and validate it with national stakeholders. The report should elaborate on the methodology used, the consultations carried out, the estimated costs for the country as well as some reflections on the methodological and data challenges of arriving at such estimates.

• Develop final version of the report with inputs, feedback from UN Women and stakeholders from the validation meetings incorporated.

• Submit final individual report to UN Women for the assignment.

Expected deliverables:

• A consultancy work plan that includes timeline of activities and deliverables ( by 7 February 2021).
• Methodology for the assignment (by 20 February 2021)
• Country-level calculations and draft assessment report (by 15 April 2021);
• Final version of the assessment report with key conclusions and recommendations (by 15 May 2021);
• Final report on the assignment (by 30 May 2021).

Duration and remuneration:

The duration of the assignment will be up to 25 working days between January 2021 – May 2021. The payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of all tasks and deliverables in the assignment, and submission and approval by UN Women.

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: https://www.unwomen.org//media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource
• Strong presentation, facilitation, reporting and writing abilities in English.
• Proven ability to work within limited time constraints in the preparation of high-quality documents.
• Strong ability to interact effectively with various partners and stakeholders, with focus on government officials and public administration.
• Possesses the ability to work independently.
• Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point).

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

• Advanced s degree in economics, development studies, and/or gender studies or an area relevant to the requirements of the TOR.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of demonstrated professional experience in the area of economic research;
• Experience in conducting gender policy analysis in different areas, preferably in the areas of social policies, employment, women economic empowerment and unpaid care work;
• Previous experience in conducting similar costing studies on social services would be considered an asset;
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organizations is considered an asset.

Language:

• Fluency and proficiency in spoken and written English required.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the total fee in USD for the tasks specified above. 

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenes incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).

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 by UN Women; and (iv) submission of the certification of payment.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 20 January 2021:

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• UN Women Personal History Form (P11) including past experience in similar assignment. Can be downloaded at: UN Women Personal History Form (P11)  or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying the total lumpsum in USD for the tasks specified in this assignment.

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.

 Technical Evaluation –70 points:

• Advanced degree in economics, development studies, and/or gender studies or an area relevant to the requirements of the TOR.

 (max 10 points)

• A minimum of 10 years of demonstrated professional experience in the area of economic research; (max 20 points)
• Experience in conducting gender policy analysis in different areas, preferably in the areas of social policies, employment, women economic empowerment and unpaid care work; (max 20 points)
• Previous experience in conducting similar costing studies on social services would be considered an asset; (max 15 points) 
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organizations is considered an asset. (max 5 points)

Financial Evaluation – 30 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:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), the Financial Proposal, and Cover Letter 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, and then click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

• UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
• The consultancy post is open to local (Albanian) individuals or foreign individuals with valid temporary or permanent residence in Albania.
• Applications without the financial offer will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• The individual consultants should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.