Gender and Humanitarian Specialist - National ONLY

Contract

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

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. Placing women’s rights at the center 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 Lebanon hosts one of the largest humanitarian operations globally. The country is grappling with an economic meltdown, facing world’s highest inflation rate, as it continues to deal with the disastrous impact of the Beirut Port explosions and protracted Syria refugee crisis. Not to mention, Lebanon remains embroiled in the global the COVID-19 pandemic, and a devasting shadow pandemic, where sexual and gender-based violence has continued to harm women, girls and marginalized groups in high numbers. Some 2.2 million Lebanese, 208,000 Palestinian refugees, and 78,000 migrants need humanitarian aid in the country. Meanwhile, 89% of the 1.5 million Syrian refugees live in extreme poverty.1The humanitarian needs for migrant women2, and other marginalized groups, such as women and girls with disabilities, elderly women and LGBTIQ+ communities3 are increasing. Gender equality and issues concerning women and girls’ specific needs remain central to Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis.

Since 2016, UN Women has worked with national and international stakeholders to address gender inequalities and strengthen women’s empowerment in across Lebanon’s humanitarian response. UN Women’s Humanitarian Strategy has three key objectives:

1. Increase Gender Accountability in the Coordination and the Implementation of the Humanitarian Response
2. Strengthen Comprehensive Protection and Livelihood support to Crisis Affected Women and Girls
3. Advance Women´s Voices and Leadership in Humanitarian and Crisis Response and Recovery

This position aims to support increased gender accountability in the coordination and implementation of humanitarian action.

Duties and Responsibilities

Support advocacy on gender issues in humanitarian action through inter-agency coordination

• Co-chair strategic advocacy forums on issues of inclusive gender equality across the humanitarian- development-peace nexus (HDP): the Gender Working Group, and its sub group, the LGBTIQ+ Task
• Work closely with and provide advice to national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to humanitarian action,with a focus Lebanon’s two humanitarian response plans: the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP) and the Emergency Response Plan (ERP).
• Actively engage and contribute to the efforts of humanitarian coordination bodies including the Emergency OperationsCell(EoC),with a focus on the following sectors: Protection,PSEA,andSGBV.
• Coordinate specific efforts in mainstreaming gender and social inclusion into Lebanon’s response plans.
• Participate in and provide support to joint inter-agency UN planning processes and similar
• Advocate for the engagement and participation of local organizations and civil society networks in humanitarian coordination mechanisms, with a focus on feminist and women’s rights organizations- in all their diversity

Provide gender technical support, analysis and capacity building to the humanitarian response

• Prepare briefing materials for the country office and country office management on issues related to gender and humanitarian action in Lebanon.
• Provide technical support to actors,as requested,in the HCT and UNCT in monitoring and and prepare analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences.
• Implement and monitor capacity building initiatives,particularly related to gender in humanitarian action, inclusive of SOGIESC, SGBV, and PSEA.
• Provide technical support to partners on implementation of humanitarian

Manage the design and development of relevant research, assessments, and knowledge products on gender responsive humanitarian action

• Provide inputs to policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on humanitarian action with a strategic focus on gender equality,including sexual orientation and diverse gender identity issues.
• Research and develop analytica lreports,research papers,briefing notes,background papers, summaries, correspondence, and knowledge products on humanitarian action.
• Identify promising practices in humanitarian action,highlighting Lebanon’s field
• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with country
• Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among the country office.

Support the development of programmes on related to the humanitarian response

• Provide technical inputs to programme proposals from the Lebanon
• Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products.
• Coordinate proper monitoring and reporting for humanitarian action in collaboration with programme teams.

Deliverables

Timelines

4 knowledge products (research, briefs or guidance notes) on gender in humanitarian action

As guided by supervisor at the start of the assignment

8 monthly meeting minutes for Gender Working Group

8 monthly meeting minutes for LGBTIQ+ Task-force

4 training / capacity building initiatives rolled out

Monthly Reports Detailing Work Done

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

• Substantial knowledge and understanding of gender equality, women’s rights, feminism, and protection, particularly as related humanitarian crisis and refugees and migrants.
• Technical skills to bring issues of gender and social inclusion into practice.
• Demonstrated leadership ability and technical ability to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing.
• Ability to work flexibly and collaborative on own initiative and as part of a team.
• A positive problem-solving approach and supportive management approach.
• Research experiences utilizing a participatory and feminist approach.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights, gender and women’s studies, international relations, sociology, anthropology, 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:

• Minimum 6 years of relevant experience in gender, protection, and/or social inclusion issues in humanitarian or development settings.
• Relevant training experience in Lebanon.
• Experience in inter-agency coordination forums, previous experience chairing or leading forums is a plus.
• Computer skills, internet communication and command of MS Office.

Language Requirements:

• Proficiency in oral and written English and Arabic is a must.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of 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%) split such as:

• Education: 20%
• Professional Experience: 40%- Minimum 6 years of relevant professional experience on gender related issues.
• Language: 10%

Financial Evaluation (30%): The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points):

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to portfolio of work;
• UNWomen Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.