International Consultant to Develop the UN Women Mozambique Strategic Note (2022-2026)

Contract

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Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) was established in July 2010 with the goal of contributing to the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. 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, 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 work of UN Women is focused around its three-fold mandate:

• Normative work: to support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the General Assembly, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms, as well as the translation of these norms at country level;
• Operational work: to help Member States to implement international standards and to forge effective partnerships with civil society; and
• Coordination work: entails work to promote the accountability of the United Nations system on gender equality and empowerment of women (GEEW), including regular monitoring of system-wide progress, as well as more broadly mobilizing and convening key stakeholders to ensure greater coherence and gender mainstreaming across the UN.

For UN Women, the Country Office Strategic Note (SN) is the main planning tool for the agency’s support to normative, coordination and operational work. The current UN Women SN cycle in Mozambique is 2017 – 2021 and a new SN is due to be developed for the period 2022-2026. In Mozambique, UN Women works in alignment with the Government Five-years Programme (2020-2025), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the CCA/CCF (ex-UNDAF) and Global UN Women Strategic Plans Areas of Work.

The new SN (2022-2026) will take into consideration the lessons learned from the Country Portfolio Evaluation (CPE) and current humanitarian nexus development trends; the United Nation Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF 2017- 2021) evaluations, the CCA, the UNSDCF (2022-2026), the SDGs and country PQG priorities, the Country Gender Equality Profile, among others and consider and/or redefine strategic areas of interventions.

The new SN (2022-2026) will be based on the following UN Women’s SN guiding principles:

• Is strategically aligned to national priorities/goals, the results of the Cooperation Framework (or equivalent) and member states’ expectations as set on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR);
• Is focused on and clearly aligned with UN Women’s SP areas of work;
• Is aligned with relevant intergovernmental frameworks on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;
• Highlights UN Women’s contribution to support the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security where relevant, and gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including the Leave No-One Behind (LNOB) principle;
• Is robust in development, peace, security, and humanitarian settings;
• Is consultative, developed through the engagement of key stakeholders within the country, including youth, groups that traditionally have been left behind and beneficiary populations to ensure ownership and appropriateness of the programme;
• Is based on evidence from:

1. Country Portfolio and United Nation Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF 2017- 2021) evaluations, the CCA, the UNSDCF (2022-2026), the SDGs and country PQG priorities, the Country Gender Equality Profile, among others;
2. SDG monitoring data, previous UN Women results performance and acceleration strategies, ensuring that all major findings in these, other evaluative evidence, and their subsequent management responses and/or implementation plans are reflected in the design and development of the SN document (including reference to national statistical data);

• is reflective of a review and understanding of existing and required human resources needs, ensuring sufficient capacity is available to safely implement the country programme in line with COs' typology and the financial resources of an office (projected and current);
• is reflective of UN Women’s added value and comparative advantage; and
• is guided by the principles of Results-Based Management (RBM), Sustainability and a Human Rights Based approach.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective

Formulate a new UN Women Mozambique Strategic Note (2022-2026), based on a context analysis and consultations with key stakeholders from different institutions to ensure continued relevance of UN Women’s interventions in response to national priorities and overall UN mandate.

Methodology

To develop the new SN the consultant is expected to use various methods to collect information such as desk review using the main documents (ex. SN 2017-2021 Mid Term Review Report, CPE Report, CF, CCA, PQG, UN humanitarian Strategy, Country Gender Profile etc) and consultations with key stakeholders inside and outside UN Women (CO and RO). Safety protocols and measures recommended by the United Nations Department for Security Services will be followed, including those related to COVID-19 pandemic related health measures (e.g., requirements related to quarantining, social distancing, etc.). The consultant is expected to review relevant documentation (both internal and external), conduct internal and external consultations using a consultative and participatory approach throughout the SN development process and draft the Strategic Note in line with UN Women corporate guidelines for developing country strategic notes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of UN Women Representative in Mozambique, the Consultant will be responsible for the following specific tasks:

• Review the national context and political developments in Mozambique;
• Conduct a desk review of the current UN Women programme in Mozambique, the trends/issues related to GEWE in the country and how the UN has been engaged in advancing the same, with practical and substantial recommendations for improved programme cohesion and coherence within the framework of the proposed Strategic Note;
• Analyse the PQG (The Government 5 Year Plan), the Country Cooperation Assistance (CCA) and adopt the United Nations System Development Assistance (UNSDCF 2022-2026) outcomes to which UN Women contributes and detail UN Women’s programme priorities through SN outputs;
• Engage in stakeholder’s consultation to formulate the draft SN as guided by national priorities; UNSDCF, UN Women SP and International Normative Framework;
• Explore the key lessons learned from the SN 2017-2021 MTR and CPE and audit of UN Women Mozambique, address key challenges and responses;
• Use the specific outputs from the CF (Cooperation Framework Outputs) for outputs where UN Women is the lead or contributing agency to form the SN’s outputs;
• Use the CF Theory of Change as the foundation for the SN ToC;
• Lead and provide advice to the CO in the development of the Draft Strategic Note 2022-2026 office based on UN Women’s global guidance and requirements for the Strategic Note Development;
• Conduct final consultation in Mozambique, including the Regional Office to validate preliminary analysis, results framework, and the key element of the Strategic Note;
• Develop the Strategic Note (including the narrative section and mandatory documents as per the guidelines for development of strategic notes 2021) with: - a ToC; - an Integrated Results Framework; - an estimate of total financial resources per output per year; - management processes such as Direct Implementation Modality (DIM) of National Implementation Modality (NIM) to ensure effective implementation; - an outline of key partnership strategies and joint modalities to achieve the results stated in the SN; - monitoring and evaluation activities and period with its dedicated resources through a monitoring and evaluation plan; - Knowledge Management Work Plan; Risk Register and all the required documents based on UN Women’s global guidance/requirement for SN in consultation with relevant thematic and functional leads in the Mozambique Office and the Regional Office.

Deliverables

The international consultant will work under the overall direct supervision of UN Women Country Representative in Mozambique. The payment will be made in three instalments upon satisfactory receipt and approval of the following deliverables:

1. Inception Report with outline of methodology, consultation and validation process, documents for review

• Develop a workplan for consultancy, including mission dates where applicable.
• Conduct a desk review and the analysis of the key relevant documents and references for Strategic Note development.
• Lead the internal thematic unit consultations in determining the key priority areas, corresponding ToCs, results, indicators mapping, programme/operations risk assessment.
• Support the review of resource flows and budget projections.
• Support the stakeholder mapping and comparative analysis including stakeholder mapping for consultations.
• In consultation with UN Women CO in Mozambique, lead the external strategic partner consultations including the Government, Development partners, CSOs, UN, identify and document priorities moving forward based on lessons learned, gaps and challenges from the last period of the current SN.
• 2. Draft Strategic Note (2022 - 2025) Narrative, Result Framework, and annexes according to the guidelines for development of strategic notes by Country Offices
• Draft of SN Narrative and Results Framework for both DRF and OEEF (2022 - 2025) based on desk review, internal and external consultations.
• The SN Narrative section explains the strategic direction and priorities for the SN period and consists of the following sections:

• Context and Situation Analysis

• Lessons Learned

• Proposed Programmes
• UN System Coordination
• Strategic Partnerships
• Programme Sustainability including Exit Strategy.
• Programme Management & Operations
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Research and Knowledge Management
• Resource Mobilization Strategy
• Communication & Advocacy
• Key Risk and Mitigation Strategy
• 3.Final Strategic Note
• Draft final Strategic Note with budget including annexes, ensuring all feedback from UN Women ESARO, RCO in Mozambique, UN Women HQ has been integrated and tracked for transparency.

Work Schedule

Activities/Deliverable

Deadline

Draft Inception Report with outline of methodology, consultation and validation process, documents for review.

(12 days)

Conduct Stakeholder’s consultation to formulate the draft SN as guided by national priorities; UNSDCF, UN Women SP and International Normative Framework;

(3 days)

Draft Strategic Note (2022 - 2025) Narrative, Result Framework, and annexes according to the guidelines for development of strategic notes by Country Offices.

(17 days)

Final Strategic Note

(8 days)

Competencies

Competences

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity

• Integrity

• Professionalism

Core Competences:

- Awareness and Sensitivity to Gender Issues

- Accountability

- Creative Problem Solving

- Effective Communication

- Inclusive Collaboration

Interpersonal skills.

- Leading by Example

Functional Competencies

• In-depth knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues in Mozambique and in the region;
• Experience in Strategic Policy and Programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings.
• Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to details.
• Ability to use ICT based solutions.
• Strong analytical and presentation skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Preferably holders of PhD or master’s degree in social sciences, - economic and/or development studies; gender studies, public administration, public policy, or a related field.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in the international development field for PhD holders and 15 years for master’s degree holders;
• Demonstrated experience in developing Strategic Notes within the UN, especially for UN Women Country Offices;
• Advanced knowledge of results-based planning, including planning of monitoring & evaluation work including demonstrated experience of UN results-based management standards and guidelines, and UN planning processes (UNDAF/UNSDCF and/or UN Country Program Documents);
• Advanced knowledge of gender analysis and experience working on GEWE issues, preferably within the UN system;
• Familiarity with human rights concepts and approaches and GEWE normative frameworks;
• Demonstrated experience in project management, conducting research and writing strategic documents, and proposals preferably within the UN system;
• Knowledge and experience of the development, humanitarian, and human rights context is essential.
• Familiar with countries prone to disasters, conflict, and violent extremism.

Required Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is essential. Portuguese is an asset.

Application Procedure:

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

Cover letter to include a brief overview about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position.

P11 including past experience in similar assignments ; can be downloaded at https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558.

UN Women is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are also encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence****.