International Consultant to Support Multistakeholder Consultations to Inform Intergovernmental Processes (3 Consultants)

Consultant Human Rights

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.

UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025 aims to “Achieve Gender Equality, the Empowerment of all Women and Girls, and the fulfilment of their Human Rights,” in service of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Plan is anchored in the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, UN Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, and other global normative frameworks. Aligned with its Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and Strategic Note (SN) for the same period, UN Women’s work in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is informed by independent evaluations of regional initiatives and country programmes, and extensive consultative processes with a range of partners at country, sub-regional and regional levels. One of the key lessons learned is the need to deepen strategic partnerships to increase synergies across multistakeholder networks of gender equality advocates, especially in the delivery of normative, coordination and operational results across the region.

This includes engagement of partners in key inter-governmental and multi-stakeholder forums at regional and global levels, including with civil society organizations/women’s rights groups, the UN and other multilateral mechanisms, governments, youth networks and movements, and international financial institutions and regional development banks. This approach aims to contribute to a networked and people-centered multilateral system that better advances the rights of women and girls.

In 2025, the global community will commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). A five-year milestone will be reached towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 2025 is therefore, a pivotal year for the accelerated realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, everywhere.

The annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is seen as the preeminent space to discuss and advocate for women’s rights. It is the foremost global intergovernmental body where leaders come together and make decisions that provide direction on the gender equality agenda and impact women all over the world.

The UN Women ECA Regional Office will harness its potential as the region's focal point for normative work and engagement of partners in regional and global intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder fora, including in relation to the SDGs, CSW and other relevant international platforms and processes.

The RO will also act as a bridge and convener in collaborative efforts with all civil society partners. It will provide support to the capacities and knowledge of women’s civil society organizations, particularly in areas where gender-related gaps persist. Furthermore, the UN Women ECA RO will facilitate, catalyze, and enable broad civil society and public engagement by establishing alliances, networks, and forums. These platforms will serve as spaces for sharing experiences at the regional level, amplifying the voices of civil society organizations, and increasing their involvement in inter-governmental and international conferences and processes.

UN Women ECARO seeks to hire an international consultant to provide substantive and technical support to conceptualize, facilitate and document muti-stakeholder consultations, dialogues spaces and convenings, and facilitate effective, on-going and structured consultations between civil society and UN Women.

Duties and Responsibilities

Within the scope of the assignment, under the direct supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist and in close collaboration with the Programme Associate and UN Women staff, the international consultant will be responsible for the below listed generic tasks:

• Support for the organization, facilitation and documentation of subregional and regional multistakeholder dialogues, convenings and consultations (virtual and in person) to inform intergovernmental processes;
• Develop key principles/norms to ensure for safe/secured space for discussion in agreement with the UN Women team;
• Develop list of participants in communication with UN Women, and support communication with the suggested participants to secure their attendance;
• Coordinate the logistical preparations such as drafting and sending out invitations, following-up on attendance and contributions;
• Follow up on actions during the meeting to ensure all participants contribute equally and meaningfully to consultations;
• Suggest and elaborate the format and agenda for the consultation with the roles and expected results;
• Identify opportunities/topics and conceptualize possible activities of UN Women to maintain strong links between civil society and women’s rights organizations ;Support to engage with civil society within and beyond the regional CSAG widely, and in different spaces and constituencies;Provide guidance and substantive support to ensure CSOs’ meaningful participation at the key regional, events, conferences international events, such as annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, Generation Equality global meetings, and other relevant events
• Provide substantial inputs to UN Women’s work and key knowledge products

Key deliverables

• Consolidated monthly progress report with indication of key achievements

Notes:

• 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.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent oral and written skills in English
• 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 and diplomacy 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 7 years of professional experience in policy development, legislation and/or human rights/advocacy areas
• At least 3 years of experience working at a regional or international level for the UN or a similar organisation is considered an advantage.
• Demonstrated experience with regional, sub-regional or national women’s organizations and networks, concerned with matters within the UN Women mandate.
• Demonstrated experience in the 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;

Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge of local languages of the ECA region is an asset

Other skills:

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

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. Points

Technical Evaluation (70%)

70

At least 7 years of professional experience in policy development, legislation and/or human rights/advocacy areas particularly at the regional/international level

15

At least 3 years of experience working at a regional or international level for the UN or a similar organisation is considered an advantage.

10

Demonstrated experience with regional, sub-regional or national women’s organizations and networks, concerned with matters within the UN Women mandate

10

Demonstrated experience in design, implementation, and facilitation of participatory consultation meetings

15

Demonstrated experience with CSO engagement approaches, especially design and system thinking and behavioural insights

15

Demonstrated connection to regional, sub-regional, national, non-governmental or academia networks concerned with matters of sustainable development;

5

Financial Evaluation (30%)

30

TOTAL

100

Application:

• Short Letter of interest, including financial proposal in local currency (USD), indicating a daily fee as per above description. (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.

Schedule of Payments:

Payment in full upon satisfactory services and deliverables in accordance with specified requirements.. Payments will be made after the outputs/products are reviewed and approved by the Regional Office’s Programme Specialist.

The time needed to complete all work will be agreed with the ECA RO Programme Specialist prior to being carried out. The Consultant needs to fill out a timesheet, provided by the ECA RO, that would detail the work that was completed in a day and will be paid based on a daily fee.

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 October 2023 – 31 December 2024 up to maximum 10 days/month, 150 days during the contracting period.

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

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 daily rate in the financial Offer for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference and considering 150 days for the duration of the contract.

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

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.)

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Added 7 months ago - Updated 7 months ago - Source: jobs.undp.org