National Consultant - Gender Equality and Human Rights Advisor

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; empowerment of women; and 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 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.

UN Women Albania recently began implementing its newest Strategic Note (SN) 2022-2026 which aims to ensure that “All Women and girls enjoy and exercise their human rights in a gender equal society and meaningfully contribute to Albania’s sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development and EU integration”. To achieve such result, UN Women will focus on three outcomes, which mirror verbatim the areas of focus of the United Nations Albania(1):

1. Increased and more equitable investment in people to remove barriers and create opportunities for those at risk of exclusion.
2. Innovative and integrated policy solutions that accelerate sustainable, productive and inclusive development.
3. Gender-responsive governance that strengthens equality and non-discrimination.

Across its interventions, UN Women Albania will address key thematic area of focus in line with the Global Strategic Plan 2022-2025:(2) ending violence against women; women’s economic empowerment; gender-responsive budgeting; gender responsive governance; as well as promoting cross-cutting principles including the adoption of a human rights and Leaving No One Behind.

This approach aims to support the Government of Albania to implement its commitments on human rights and gender equality, in line with its National Strategy on gender Equality (NSGE) 2021-2030, and the EU Acquis Communautaire. All interventions undertaken by the Country Office aim to address structural causes of gender inequality, addressing discriminatory practices and reach women and girls who are at greatest risk of being left behind.

As part of the implementation of its new Strategic Note, UN Women will continue support the Government of Albania to align its national legal and policy framework with international human rights standards on gender equality, as well as facilitating networking and exchanges of good practices and advocate for women’s rights in all areas of life. Several ongoing initiatives support strengthening national policies and legislations, improve institutional capacities to implement international commitments, and promote the production of knowledge and information on the status of gender equality in the country. In addition, during this SN period, the country office will continue supporting the upcoming CEDAW Committee session (2022), the UPR reporting (2024), the Beijing +30 review (2030) and possibly the submission of a Voluntary national Review by the Government of Albania. UN Women will also follow up on the implementation of other key recommendations proposed by international instruments such as GREVIO and the Committee of Parties in Albania.

In this context, the country office is seeking to hire a national consultant who will advise on and support the implementation of activities related to gender equality and human rights in Albania, across the thematic areas covered by the office, including by providing expert-level support to relevant project managers. This will include support to the normative and inter-governmental work of the Country Office and as part of the UNCT as well as implementation of the “EU for Gender Equality project”, the “Earthquake recovery” project, the “GREAT” project, the UNJP on EVAW and existing and upcoming interventions targeting ending violence against women, where the consultant will be requested to provide inputs related to human rights and gender equality in key national strategic documents and planning processes.

(1) See UN Albania UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework: https://albania.un.org/en/153115-government-albania-united-nations-sustainable-development-cooperation-framework-2022-2026

(2)See UN Women Global Strategic Plan here: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/09/un-women-strategic-plan-2022-2025

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Head of Programmes the gender and human rights advisor will be requested to provide technical assistance to the UN Women country office to include a human rights perspective across national policies and legal documents pertaining to gender equality. Every assignment under the long-term retainer contract will be guided by a specific assignment clearly stipulating the nature and scope of work, list of deliverables, timeframe and the outcome.

Possible duties and responsibilities include (non-inclusive list):

• Undertake reviews and provide recommendations for strategic documents and EU IPA planning documents and/or gender mainstreaming guidance notes on issues related to justice/human rights/gender equality/violence against women upon request.
• Draft inputs for the programme progress reports and UN Women quarterly and annual reports for the programme area as well as relevant contributions to the Programme of Cooperation for Sustainable Development mid-year and annual reports on human rights related issues.
• Conduct research and assist in collecting and analyzing data related human rights and gender equality in Albania.
• Prepare legal reviews and analyses related to required legal changes and new legislation.
• Prepare short briefs, articles and presentations on the programme results and impact or any other related documents relevant to human rights across programmatic interventions.
• Participate and contribute in programme meetings online and in person (when requested) as well as major programme-related events.
• Support country office inputs to the annual updates of the Common Country Analyses (CCA) document related to human rights and normative standards on gender equality.
• Support the country office for the preparation of inputs for UNCT and other partners’ reporting to treaty bodies, EU annual progress reports as well as inputs to UN Women project documents.
• Support the country office to revise and provide input relevant to human rights and gender equality to reports/publications and other knowledge products developed by the office or its partners.
• Support the UNCT/CO in following up to CEDAW concluding observations
• Prepare and deliver trainings for government and non-government partners related to the international and national human rights framework on gender equality.

Expected deliverables:

• Copies of reports, technical inputs and other on-demand reports on specific initiatives requested.
• Drafting of assigned sections of reports and provision of comments and inputs from a human rights/women’s rights perspective to other sections drafted by other colleagues/lead agencies.
• Final versions of the assigned sections.

Quality of deliverables:

• Technical inputs and other on-demand reports on specific initiatives when requested will be evaluated by peer review for quality.
• Quality of relationships with UN Women team and partners is central to success and will be assessed.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Proven research, analytical and drafting skills,
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with various public and non-public stakeholders including in the areas of gender equality and violence against women;
• Excellent writing skills in English and Albanian;
• Strong interpersonal skills;
• Strong initiative-taking;
• Focuses on impact and results for the partner;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education

• Advanced university degree in development-related disciplines (human rights, law, international development, gender and social studies, public administration or any other related discipline ).

Work Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience, particularly in the areas of human rights, social inclusion, non-discrimination and gender equality and addressing violence against women;
• At least two years of experience in designing and implementing initiatives on issues related to gender-based violence and services for victims of gender-based violence and engagement with civil society organizations working in the areas of gender equality or end of violence against women;
• Specific experience with treaty body monitoring and reporting processes;
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or other international organizations.

Language requirement

• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Albanian

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the daily fee in ALL (Albanian Leke) for the tasks specified above. Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services
• Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iii) submission of and approval by UN Women of final draft; and (iv) submission of the certification of payment.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are required to apply online: [email protected] no later 18 March 2022****.

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest including a brief description explaining why the individual considers her/himself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• Completed and signed UN Women Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded at link: UN Women Personal History Form (P11) or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about- us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying a daily fee in ALL (Albanian Leke) for the tasks specified in this assignment, following the instructions under the above section on Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments.

Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ 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 points:

• Advanced university in human rights, law, gender studies, or related discipline (max 10 points);
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience, particularly in the areas of human rights, social inclusion, non-discrimination and gender equality and addressing violence against women; (20 points);
• At least two years of experience in designing and implementing initiatives on issues related to gender-based violence and services for victims of gender-based violence and engagement with civil society organizations working in the areas of gender equality or end of violence against women; (15 points)
• Specific experience with treaty body monitoring and reporting processes; (15 points);
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or other international organizations (max 10 points):

Financial Evaluation – 30 points

• Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.
• The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. The calculation formula applied is as follow:

p = 30 (µ/z); where: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated; µ = price of the lowest priced proposal; z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

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.)