Consultant to support ECARO to implement subregional initiatives in Central Asia

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) is grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and 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.

Achieving Planet 50-50 by 2030 requires collective leadership at all levels - global, regional and national; civil society is a fundamental part of this collective effort. UN Women needs the strong leadership of civil society to achieve Planet 50-50 as much as civil society needs UN Women to influence the global gender equality agenda.

To appropriately align with its Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and Strategic Note (SN) for the same period, ECA Regional Office intends to cultivate a vision that prioritizes the strengthening of multistakeholder allyship models with civil society at the core, to contribute to a networked, people-centered multilateral system that more effectively supports the rights of women and girls.

Partnerships have the greatest potential to enhance the relevance of UN Women interventions, making a strong case for leveraging strategic and catalytic partnerships at all levels as a prerequisite for UN-Women to achieve and scale up results. UN Women ECARO will leverage its potential as a bridge or convener in joint efforts with civil society partners and support capacities and knowledge of women’s CSOs, in critical areas where gaps exist, such as the gender dimensions of climate change, disaster risk reduction, data literacy, and analysis and use of gender statistics. UN Women ECA RO intends to facilitate, catalyze and enable broad civil society and public engagement by providing platforms, alliances, networks, and forums to exchange experiences at the regional level and amplify CSO voices while helping to boost their participation in inter-governmental and international conferences and processes.

ECA RO recognizes a need and aims to bring a clear and realistic vision on what knowledge UN Women wants to be known and what UN Women can focus on in ECA region. The Knowledge Management (KM) plan for ECA was developed and informed by findings of consultations with its offices and partners, including the consultations undertaken by ECARO for SN development. It aims to create an enabling environment for the efficient production, use and exchange of knowledge among the staff and stakeholders for increasing the use of data, evidence, and research for policy making and implementation.

In 2022 ECARO launched AziaFem initiative to support the sharing of expertise, innovation and good practice to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in Central Asia. AziaFem is a series of conversations based on a participatory approaches to policymaking, bringing together duty bearers and rights holders including decision makers, government representatives, civil society organizations , local authorities, gender equality and human rights advocates, media and the private sector.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women ECARO Programme Specialist and in close coordination with UN Women colleagues at the regional and country levels in the Central Asia sub-region, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Support ECARO on implementation of KM plan for 2022, tracking a progress and identifying possibilities for engagement with the relevant regional partners – OSCE, EIGE, etc.
• Support ECARO to organize next events/actions in a frame of AziaFem for Central Alia by compiling background information, drafting thematic parts, supporting to organize consultations, etc. Support to organize WPS events in Central Asia in a frame of AziaFem for Central Asia and MOU with OSCE.
• Support to finalize ECARO roadmap on GEF and CSW67 and document key results.

Expected Deliverables:

Deliverables****Timeframe****Working daysBrief on key results for ECA KM plan implementation 30 November5Two events by ??????? organized and summary of key findings of the events developed and shared with partners25 December 20Brief on 2021 findings for Generation Equality commitments enforcement in ECA region prepared and shared with partners25 November5Roadmap for regional engagement into GEF and CSW67 is developed and shared with UN Women offices.10 November10Notes:

• All written deliverables will be submitted in English
• Most of this consultancy is home-based. Consultant is expected to provide written and verbal technical support using Zoom or Teams/email/phone as needed.

Duration and remuneration

UN Women will fund the costs of the consultancy work and maintain overall oversight and monitoring of the consultancy work. The duration of the consultancy will be from 1 November 2022 till 31 December 2022.

Payments will be made upon evaluation of the satisfactory performance from the direct supervisor upon the approval of the deliverables.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent oral and written skills in English and Russian
• Able to communicate effectively with and relate to people of different cultures, demonstrating an ability to see issues from other perspectives
• Ability to use critical thinking, conceptualize ideas, and articulate relevant subject matter clearly and concisely
• Good inter-personal skills
• Able to lead, manage, work independently and in a team
• Good planning, goal setting and prioritization skills
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
• Adheres to a human rights approach in engaging with all persons
• Strong ability to adapt and manage challenges and changes as they arise
• Proven track record of delivering on commitments

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education****:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women’s studies, international development, business management, or a related field is required
• An undergraduate university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional experience in policy development, legislation and/or human rights/advocacy areas
• Demonstrated experience with regional, sub-regional or national women’s organizations and networks, concerned with matters within the UN Women mandate.
• Demonstrated experience in design, implementation, and facilitation of participatory consultation meetings
• Demonstrated experience with CSO engagement approaches, especially design and system thinking and behavioural insights
• Demonstrated connection to regional, sub-regional, national, non-governmental or academia networks concerned with matters of sustainable development;
• Experience in UN system is an asset

Languages****:

Fluency in written and spoken English and Russian is required.

Other skills:

Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point)

Application Process

The application should include:

• Personal History Form (P-11 form) - including experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted
• Cover letter outlining the submitter’s qualifications and interest in the consultancy
• Financial Proposal: Specify a monthly amount (daily rate should be included in the Offer) for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference and considering 20 days for every month expected as working days

Candidates should have the ability to quickly produce degree certificates and medical certification (of good health) should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy post.

Note: As specific travel will be confirmed with monthly review of work plan, any travel will be paid separately by UN Women

Evaluation of applicants:

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process. Applicants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications/skills and their financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive to and compliant with the TOR, and
• Having received the highest score out of below combined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria****Total Points****Max. pointsTechnical Evaluation (70%)70 At least 5 years of professional experience in policy development, legislation and/or human rights/advocacy areas particularly at the regional/international level 20Demonstrated experience with regional, sub-regional or national women’s organizations and networks, concerned with matters within the UN Women mandate 20Demonstrated experience in design, implementation, and facilitation of participatory consultation meetings

15Demonstrated connection to regional, sub-regional, national, non-governmental or academia networks concerned with matters of sustainable development; 10Experience working with UN system is an asset 5Financial Evaluation (30%)30 TOTAL****100****Application:

• Short Letter of interest, including financial proposal in local currency (USD), indicating a total lump sum for the delivery as per above description. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (consultancy fee, travel and any other possible costs).
• Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form, that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
• 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.)