International Consultant to support gender responsive humanitarian action in Ukraine
Kyiv
- Organization: UN WOMEN - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
- Location: Kyiv
- Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
-
Occupational Groups:
- Women's Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
- Humanitarian Aid and Coordination
- Closing Date: Closed
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.
The invasion by the Russian Federation of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has resulted in loss of life, injuries, and mass displacement of the civilian population, both internally and to neighboring countries. The ongoing violence has also resulted in widespread destruction and damage to residential housing stock and civilian infrastructure, including health centers and schools, and the consequent disruption to essential lifesaving services across Ukraine. This escalation in fighting has exacerbated existing humanitarian crisis—already present for the past eight years in conflict-affected Oblasts in Eastern Ukraine—and amplifies pre-existing gender inequalities as well creating new ones.
According to OCHA figures nearly 18 million people – 40 per cent of the country’s population – need humanitarian assistance and the situation is expected to deteriorate further in the winter months and a new wave of displacement is expected, particularly from the east and heavily destroyed towns, where people have no access to gas or electricity, or are living in damaged houses. Over the 7 months of war, one-third of Ukrainians have been displaced so far -making this one of the largest human displacements in the world today. According to UNHCR, 6. 8 refugees from Ukraine have been displaced across Europe and 6.6 million are IDPs. Most displaced persons are women and children.
In response to a rapid scale-up of humanitarian response in existing and new areas of Ukraine, a Flash Appeal of $4.3 billion was launched in March 1, 2022, revised in April covering the period March-December 2022. Women’s group`s and women led civil society organizations (CSOs) have been quick to react to the immediate priorities of their communities, but face many challenges as they attempt to provide support to large numbers of internally displaced people, host-communities and those directly affected by violence and insecurity. The HNO and the HRP 2023 is currently being launched.
Within this rapidly shifting dynamics, UN Women is reconfiguring it programming within humanitarian-peace -development nexus, with a particular focus on scaling up UN Women, Gender in Humanitarian Action mandate through–strategic and technical level engagement with the humanitarian architecture in country, as actual programming.
Under the Gender in Humanitarian Action mandate, UN Women provides UN system wide leadership on gender responsive humanitarian action. In Ukraine, UN Women has an observer status in the HCT and is the co-lead of the Gender in Humanitarian Action sub- group, providing technical, advisory and programmatic support to the HCT and the Inter Cluster Coordination Group. The GIHA sub- group is comprised of gender focal persons from the clusters and sub clusters and provide critical support to ensure gender analysis, and advocacy is adequately coordinated, disseminated, and utilized, through the ICCT coordinated by OCHA, including for strategic planning purposes such as HNO and HRP.
Currently UN Women GiHA portfolio is supported by a Gender in Humanitarian Action Advisor, seconded by MSB, with prime function to lead the coordination mandate, and the programming staff who serve as focal points in the various clusters and sub clusters. This CO structure is supported by the Gender and Humanitarian Action Specialist in the ECARO. An IASC Gencap adviser is hosted by OCHA and works closely with UN Women CO.
Currently UN Women Ukraine CO is located in Kyiv, with hubs in Dnipro, Lviv, Zaporizhzhya and Uzhhorod.
The coming months are very significant for the Ukraine CO, as the humanitarian strategic planning documents- Humanitarian Needs Overview and Humanitrain Response Plan 2023, and the UN Transitional Framework for Ukraine (September 2022-December 2023. It is essential that UN Women leverages these opportunities and is operational to fully respond to the specific needs and priorities of women in girls through its twin approach of a) elevating support to the humanitarian response architecture; b) develop direct targeted programming.
It is in this context, that the Ukraine CO is seeking an International Consultant to provide immediate technical support to enhance its internal capacity in order to support the strategic engagement in the HRP 2023, and support evidence based programming. Working closely with the GenCap Adviser, the GIHA Advisor, the GiHA Specialist in ECARO; GiHA Specialist (IC) and under the supervision of the CR a.i, the specialist will perform the following tasks.
Duties and Responsibilities
Coordinate and provide support to strategic planning process
- Technical support to UN Women CO engagement with the HRP 2023
- Liaise with the relevant CO cluster/sub cluster/sub -group focal points to the drafting of the HRP priorities
- Support linking UN Women programming to relevant clusters and integration into HRP 2023
- Lead and coordinate the GiHA sub group and identify opportunities to strengthen the GiHA coordination architecture in discussion with cluster/subclusters and relevant actors
- Strengthen the meaningful engagement with women CSOs as key partners in the huamnitrian response, including through GiHA sub group
- Regularly review the clusters’ analysis documents (i.e. Need Assessments, Plans, reports, briefs etc ) to ensure that gender content and SAAD are systematically included;
Programme development
- Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products,
- Identify areas for support and intervention related to the humanitarian programme
- Support the coordination of the call/request for proposals, including the organization of technical review committees, and capacity assessment of partners
- Contribute to the review and evaluation proposals from partners
- Support in coordination and monitoring of the submission of implementing partner financial and narratives
Provide technical assistance and capacity development humanitarian programme partners
- Provide technical and policy support to the country office in developing and strengthening projects/programmes in humanitarian action
- Maintain relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the humanitarian programme
- Identify opportunities for capacity building of partners and facilitate technical/programming support and trainings to partners, as needed
- Participate in capacity assessment to identify capacity building needs of stakeholders
Advocacy and Resource mobilisation
- Provide inputs to policy recommendations, guidance and assessments on humanitarian action with a thorough focus on gender equality;
- Work with women’s organizations and other partners on the production of data driven analytical reports, and knowledge products on gender in humanitarian action;
- Develop key advocacy messages to bring to the attention of the HCT and relevant stakeholders.
- Support the drafting of strategic notes, talking points, key messages for internal UN Women leadership highlighting the imperative of GIHA across the spectrum of Ukraine response with the aim to inform internal and external policy and decision making
- Support drafting of concept notes and proposals to scale up UN Women Ukraine CO humanitarian programming, in line with the HRP 2023 and Ukraine - UN Transitional Framework.
- Contribute to identifying opportunities-programming and partnerships, including through discussion with clusters, UN entities, INGO, women CSOs and other stakeholders to develop targeted programming across the humanitrain – development nexus
Key performance Indicators:
- Timely and quality technical advice and support
- Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner
- Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders
- Contributions to resource mobilization
- Timely and quality knowledge products
Expected deliverables
Deliverables | Timeframe |
Summary report of tasks performed under expected duties and responsibilities | On a monthly basis, by 25th of every month |
Final consolidated report with indication of key achievements and handover notes | 22 March 2023 |
*All reports should be submitted in English language and include the full set of supporting documents, such as analytical briefs, developed documents, elaborated recommendations, organized events’ agendas, lists of participants and reports etc.
Inputs
- UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment.
- The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer.
Performance evaluation:
- Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, efficiency, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager which will also be the basis for payment on a delivery by delivery basis to the consultant.
Financial arrangements:
- Payment will be disbursed once per month upon receipt of the deliverables and their certification by UN Women Country Representative, or relevant delegated staff that the services have been satisfactorily performed.
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:
- Strong knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of gender equality, protection and humanitarian action, including humanitarian coordination;
- Strong knowledge of the region
- Strong networking skills
- Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising
- Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research
- Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
- Strong analytical skills;
- Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
- Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results based management and reporting
Required Skills and Experience
Education and certification:
- Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights, gender, international relations, international development, international law or other social science fields is required.
- A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience:
- At least 2 years of progressively responsible experience in designing and managing humanitarian programmes, with a particular focus on gender targeted programming across the humanitrain -development nexus;
- Technical experience in inter-agency coordination, preferably protection, livelihoods cluster coordination, and/or ProCap/GenCap in conflict /emergency setting;
- Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning;
- Ability to coach and train partners and humanitarian actors on gender equality concepts
- Proven experience of working with partners, working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
- Experience in complex conflict context is a strong asset;
- Experience working with the UN is an asset;
Language requirements:
- Fluency in English is required;
- Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset
Evaluation of Applicants:
Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
- Responsive/compliant/acceptable.
- Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical criteria - 70% of total evaluation. Total max 70 points:
- The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:
Technical Evaluation Criteria |
Maximum obtainable Points
|
| Criterion A – Relevant education Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights, gender, international relations, international development, international law or other social science fields is required. (Masters – 4 pts, PhD – 5 pts) | 5 |
| Criterion B – Language skills
| 5 |
Criterion C – Relevant Experience with total for all of the following criteria | 60 including: |
| 15 |
| 10 |
| 5 |
| 5 |
| 10 |
| 10 |
| 5 |
Total Obtainable Score | 70 |
Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:
- Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
- The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
- The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.
- Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30
- (S - score received on financial evaluation; F min - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round; F - financial offer under the consideration).
| Application and submission package: All applications must include as one attachment:
Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.
Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 23:59 EEST 17 October 2022 by submitting online applications. Applications without P11 and financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment. |
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.
At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.
If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.
UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)