National Consultant Lead Researcher - Development of a Technical Paper Assessing Women with Disabilities’ Access to Essential Services (Open for Egyptian Nationals and Residents 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. In line with UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2023-2027, the UN Women Egypt office is contributing to three interdependent and interconnected outcomes:

• Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems.

• Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy.

• All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence.

With heavy focus on reaching women at greatest risk of being left behind – rural women, women at risk of poverty, women living with disabilities, and young women from these groups. UN Women Egypt Country Office (ECO) uses the following key strategies: fostering nationally owned, positive social norms including through the active and continuous engagement of men and boys; supporting all women’s equitable access to services, goods and resources, including women at risk of being left behind; advocating for women’s leadership and voice; supporting the production, analysis and use of nationally-owned gender statistics, sex-disaggregated data, and knowledge.

Under the principle of “leaving no one behind”, including women with disabilities, UN Women partnered with the Egyptian National Council for Women, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, UNDP and UNFPA, to develop Egypt’s first national study on Violence Against Women with Disability launched in 2022. The national study generated a series of recommendations to enhance institutional support to women and girls living with disabilities who experience violence or harmful practices; as well as to create an overall enabling environment to empower women overall.

This gendered and intersectional experience of disability is underexamined globally and interventions on the rights of persons with disabilities have historically neglected aspects of gender equality. Similarly, interventions and policies addressing gender equality may not address the specific needs of women and girls with disabilities. The lack of user input propagates systems and spaces that are not accessible or relevant. People with disabilities and reduced mobility are often not involved in the design, planning, and implementation process of infrastructure projects. In order to create safe, accessible and effective public spaces and services, there is a vital need for all stakeholders to understand the nature and the prevalence of this phenomenon and the needs of users. This is particularly true in the provision of essential services responding to gender-based violence against women and girls.

Building on the findings the national study on women living with disabilities who experienced violence, and specifically on the recommendations related to access to essential services in this regard, working with the National Council for Women UN Women is recruiting a lead researcher, supervised by a Technical Expert to develop a technical paper on actionable interventions to address the different kinds of barriers and discrimination that women and girls with disability face in the essential services which respond to gender-based violence against women and girls... The purpose of the technical paper is to inform future programming and policy design.

Objective of the Assignment:

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Ending Violence Against Women Specialist and the day -to-day supervision of the Technical Expert tasked with leading the technical paper’s development, UN Women seeks to contract lead researcher to support this work.

Duties and Responsibilities

In consultation with the NCW and UN Women, and as per the workplan, desk top review, methodology and tools developed by the Technical Expert, the Lead Researcher will be responsible for delivering the following:

• Support the identification of national stakeholders to be consulted in the development of the technical paper.
• Using the agreed-upon tools and methodologies:

a) Conduct focus group discussions with women with disabilities to understand barriers and enablers of access to essential services and its effect on the well-being and opportunities.

b) Conduct meetings and interviews with the relevant stakeholders and NGOs working with women with disabilities to identify the services and areas of support needed to support women with disabilities access essential services.

• Develop a summary paper to synthesize qualitative research findings on accessibility of essential services to women with disabilities.
• Contribute feedback and inputs into the draft technical paper being developed by the technical expert.
• Participate in the dissemination of results at a seminar led by the NCW and UN Women.

Deliverables

Timelines

Based on the methodology and tools developed by the Technical Expert, support the development and finalization of focus group and interview tools approved by UN Women and the Technical Expert.

2 Working Day

Using the agreed upon methodology, tools and national stakeholder consultation list, conduct focus group discussions and one on one interviews with women with disabilities and relevant stakeholders to assess the current barriers and enablers of their access to essential services.

8 Working Days

Develop and submit a report that synthesizes the inputs gleaned from the consultations.

2 Working Days

Provide input and feedback to the draft technical paper which is to be prepared by the Technical Expert.

1 Working Day

Support the conducting of a seminar and dialogue to present the findings of the paper and raise awareness to the situation of women with disabilities.

2 Working Days

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.

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

• Demonstrated knowledge of rights of women with disabilities and related human rights frameworks.
• Advanced analytical problem solving.
• Familiarity with statistical analysis and indicators.
• Ability to self-organize research work, plan, prioritize and deliver the required tasks on time.
• Capacity to engage and communicate with partners.
• Knowledge and use of computer office tools.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Science or equivalent, is required.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of work experience with persons with disabilities is essential.
• Experience in working with governmental, is required.
• Work experience and knowledge on women’s studies, human rights, disability law and health, is required.
• Excellent research and analytical skills, both oral and written, is required.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in written and spoken Arabic and English is required.

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.

Technical Weight Criteria: 70% (70 points)

• Criteria 1: A bachelor’s degree in social science or equivalent (10 Points)
• Criteria 2: 5 years of work experience with persons with disabilities (35 Points)
• Criteria 3: Experience in working with governmental entities (5 Points)
• Criteria 4: Work experience and knowledge on women’s studies, human rights, disability law and health (10 Points)
• Criteria 5: Excellent research and analytical skills, both oral and written (10 Points)

Financial Proposal

Financial Weight Criteria: 30% (30 points) – Lowest Financial Daily Rate Proposal

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 in English to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Completed and Signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications, and
• Financial proposal; Daily Rate in EGP inclusive of all the travel and other related costs.
• Education Certificates; a copy of bachelor’s degree certificate.

IMPORTANT: The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all of them, since the online application submission only permits one file upload per application. Incomplete submission can be grounds for disqualification.

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.)