International Consultant to design CHANGE Baseline Report for North Macedonia

Background:

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is implementing a "Capitalizing on Human Dimension Mandate to Advance Gender Equality (CHANGE)” project. The CHANGE project is designed as a policy and innovation project. It attempts to address the status quo where the desired change in advancing gender equality has not yet materialized fully. Further considerable advances depend on gender transformative approaches. Thus, the CHANGE project integrates the most prominent elements and approaches from across ODIHR's mandate required to address the existing obstacles to gender equality. It is an intervention that creates opportunities for individuals and institutions to actively challenge gender norms, promote positions of social and political influence for women in communities, and address power inequalities between persons of different genders in five project target countries. 

The project activates CHANGE at the individual, collective and institutional levels. At the individual level, the project will target both women and men to shift discriminatory attitudes and stereotypes, in particular toward women's leadership and empowerment. At the collective level, CHANGE will be promoted by supporting women's networks, movements and human rights organizations. It will reach out to government bodies, religious, community-based and other organizations that can have a positive impact on de jure and de facto gender equality. Coming together, women and male allies will be able to formulate strategies for change, channel their voices and challenge existing power structures. At the institutional level, the project will support policy making and strengthening democratic institutions to make them (more) gender responsive and inclusive in decision-making. Such institutions will be able to better formulate and deliver on OSCE commitments related to gender equality and women's human rights standards.

CHANGE Baseline Report provides a starting point for the project in each of the project target countries against which progress in the operating environment for the CHANGE project will be measured. The Baseline Report findings will inform the finalization of the project logframe and will contribute to accomplishments in Outcome 4 (assessment level): Evidence base to better inform strategies for progress in gender equality is strengthened in target participating States (pSs) with ODIHR’s support.

ODIHR is currently looking for a Consultant to design the Baseline Report for North Macedonia. 

Objectives:

The overall objective of this assignment is to design Baseline Report for North Macedonia.  The Baseline Report will be designed based on desk review and acquisition of additional data and evidence from key stakeholders, as needed.  The CHANGE baseline reports will serve as a basis for fine-tuning the design of capacity building programs and tools in the CHANGE project. They will also help ODIHR to better mitigate risks and to address possible challenges in project implementation. Finally, the Baseline Report will serve as a key input in finalization of the CHANGE monitoring and evaluation (M&E) Plan. 

The specific objectives are:

•    To assess the baseline conditions in the operating environment for the CHANGE project; 
•    To fill out the Baseline Report template provided by ODIHR;
•    To identify key stakeholders in the realm of gender equality in the target country; 
•    To provide essential inputs for the CHANGE M&E tools, including the Benchmarking  Tool and the CHANGE Matrix, which measure target country’s progress against the select indicators of gender equality. 

Tasks and Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of ODIHR’s Project Co-ordinator and in close collaboration with ODIHR’s Project Officer at the Project Co-ordination Unit (PCU) and ODIHR programmatic departments, the Consultant will perform the following tasks: 

1. Collect publicly available data indicating status of implementation of key international frameworks contributing to gender equality, gender equality commitments, gender equality policy, gender equality machineries and human rights. 
2. Conduct target country situation analysis identifying any political, economic, social, public health and/or other crises or risks that can impact the project implementation, briefly assess status of ongoing reforms and/or contextual issues that could affect the CHANGE project outcomes. 
3. Provide summary overview of the position of underrepresented women and men. 
4. Provide a summary overview of the main advances and main concerns in the realm of gender-based violence.
5. Provide concise information on the status of networks and civil society organizations (CSOs) working on gender equality, empowerment of women, human rights and non-discrimination.
6. Design three annexes using the templates provided by ODIHR: the first one focusing on gender statistics; the second to contain inputs for the CHANGE Benchmarking Tool; and the third proposing main contacts working on gender equality in the target country. These templates are attached to the ToR.     
7. Design all chapters of the Baseline Report in the format indicated in the Baseline Report Template. 
8. Design and deliver a power point presentation of key findings for each chapter for ODIHR staff lasting up to 90 minutes with Q&A. 
9. Incorporate oral and written feedback received from ODIHR on the draft versions of documents listed above.
10.  Provide final versions of the Baseline Report.

Qualifications:

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications: 

• Master degree in gender studies, international affairs, sociology, social or political science, public administration or another related field;
• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in gender data analysis, gender equality policy design and/or analysis;
• Proven experience of designing at least three gender analyses, research studies and/or policy analyses in the realm of gender equality in North Macedonia. 
• Proven experience in gender equality work and diversity inclusion, preferably in target country or from multiple OSCE participating States; 
• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective  into tasks and activities;
• Professional fluency in English with good drafting and presentation skills; 
• Demonstrated ability to produce concise analytic information and evidence-based reports in English;
• Ability to work under minimum supervision; experience in working as part of a team is highly desirable;
• Ability to work with people of different nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds.

Deliverables and performance indicators

1. Drafted and submitted Annex 1, Gender balanced representation and gender data in line with the guidance provided in the Baseline Report Template - 7 days upon contract signing
2. Drafted and submitted CHANGE Baseline Report for North Macedonia in line with the guidance provided in the Baseline Report Template - 15 days upon contract signing
3. Drafted and submitted Annex 2, Inputs for Baseline Benchmarking Tool and Annex 3, Main contacts on gender equality in line with the guidance provided in the Baseline Report Template - 20 days upon contract signing
4. Designed and delivered a virtual presentation of key findings to ODIHR - 25 days upon contract signing
5. Submission of final versions of deliverables 1 through 3, based on the feedback received from ODIHR - 30 days upon contract signing

Consultancy period: 25 October 2021 – 31 December 2021 

The number of working days envisaged: 25 working days 

Location: Home based

If you have portfolio presenting relevant projects you developed available online, please kindly provide a link in the cover letter, when applying for this position.
 

Remuneration Package:

Remuneration will be based on the selected consultant’s/expert’s qualifications, experience, the tasks and deliverables for this position and in accordance with the OSCE established rates.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://jobs.osce.org/vacancies.

If you are not a national of a participating State, you must apply by submitting an offline application form which can be found under https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/offline-application-form.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment or to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the Organization. 

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.