National Consultant on Gender-Responsive Legal Framework in Decentralization and Recovery

Consultant

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.

UN Women’s work in Ukraine focuses on supporting the government and civil society in advancing gender equality and implementation of the national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s human rights. UN Women implements interventions on the following four thematic priorities: Peace and Security, Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction; Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and Women; Women’s Economic Empowerment; and Governance and Participation in Public Life. UN Women works closely with the UN Country Team in the integration of women’s rights and gender equality in all spheres of the UN’s work. The 2023 Strategic Note is aligned with the UN Transitional Framework covering the following areas: Humanitarian Response; Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus, and Early Recovery.

The full-scale armed invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022 is a grave violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the UN Charter. It caused untold destruction, displaced millions, and resulted in unacceptable violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and the greatest modern challenge to global peace and security.

Recovery, reconstruction and reform are the key next steps for Ukraine. These are going to be massive endeavors costing in the hundreds of billions of USD. In March 2023, according to the Ukraine Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment: February 2022 - February 2023 (RDNA/2), the WB, EU and UN estimated the cost for reconstruction and recovery at a staggering $411 billion.

The Government of Ukraine has developed a National Recovery Plan and put in place 24 working groups to plan for the sectorial recovery. In 2023, the Government identified five emergency early recovery priorities: housing, demining, energy, critical and social infrastructure, and support to the private sector.

In December 2022, the Government of Ukraine merged two ministries to establish the Ministry for Restoration (officially: Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development - Minifrastructure) and the Parliament of Ukraine appointed a Deputy Prime Minister to be responsible for the recovery policy. Moreover, in January 2023, a new Agency for Restoration (State Agency for Reconstruction and Development of Ukraine’s Infrastructure) was established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine under the Ministry to take over reconstruction projects implementation.

The impacts of war are uneven, with the greatest effects on women, children, and people with disabilities[1]. Women are most refugees and displaced from Ukraine, and they face significantly increased safety and protection risks, including multiple forms of gender-based violence. They also face a myriad of other challenges to accessing housing, food, sexual and reproductive health, and employment. To respond to these uneven impacts and perform early recovery in a way so that all diverse groups of men and women benefit equally, gender-responsive approaches should be mainstreamed in all phases of governance at all levels and early recovery processes.

UN Women considers its high priority to support the efforts of the government, and in particular the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, and women’s CSOs to ensure gender-responsive recovery, in particular through gender-responsive decentralization reform and support of gender-responsive communities’ development.

As part of its work on supporting gender-responsive recovery, UN Women Ukraine is looking for a National Consultant to provide the legal expertise to ensure that gender equality and human rights are mainstreamed in decentralization reform and recovery legal and policy frameworks.

[1] Rapid-Gender-Analysis-of-Ukraine-en.pdf (unwomen.org)

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist (Governance), the National Consultant will provide legal expertise for gender and human rights mainstreaming of legislation and policy framework in decentralization reform and community-based recovery. The assignment will include but not be limited to the following tasks:

1. Conduct a gender analysis of legislation/regulatory legal acts designed by the government, and in particular the Ministry for Restoration, specialized committees of the Parliament of Ukraine, and the Inter-Factional Union (Caucus) " Equal Opportunities" on the decentralization and local self-government reforms, regional and local development, community-based recovery to ensure compliance with international human rights and gender equality standards, as well as national policy and legal framework.
2. Develop gender-responsive propositions to the new legal initiatives/amendments to the current legislation on the decentralization and local self-government reforms, regional and local development, community-based recovery to ensure compliance with international commitments on gender equality and human rights, including the Beijing Platform for Action, SDGs, UPR, CEDAW and the other UN Human Rights Treaties, as well as EU acquis, and the other international and the national policy and legal frameworks.
3. Contribute to advocating gender recommendations for harmonizing and reforming legislation, as well as national and sectoral policies in line with international standards.
4. Prepare inputs and participate in meetings of joint working groups with representatives of the Ministry for Restoration, other central and local executive bodies, projects and programs of international technical assistance, and other institutions, organizations, and advisory bodies to address issues arising in the process of implementing decentralization reform, regional and local development and community-based recovery considering gender and human rights aspects.
5. In coordination with UN Women Office in Ukraine, perform capacity building of representatives of the Ministry for Restoration and other stakeholders on gender mainstreaming in legislation (minimum 1 training).
6. Analyze and share good practices on creating and implementing gender-responsive legal frameworks for decentralization reform and recovery processes (international and local).
7. Participate in multilateral, multisectoral, and interagency meetings, consultations, and discussions with the institutions of the National Mechanism for Gender Equality, other executive bodies, sectoral/legal experts, gender coordinators, regional and local authorities, development agencies, and CSOs about legal framework development/improvement for implementation of gender-responsive decentralization reform, regional and local development, and community-based recovery.
8. Provide contributions to the development of knowledge products, concepts of events, presentations, project reports, and tools on gender-responsive legal frameworks for decentralization reform, regional and local development, and community-based recovery.

Assignment Deliverables:

#

Deliverables

Number of working days

Deadlines

1

Results-based progress report on expert advice on gender-responsive recovery.

10 days

By 29 September 2023

2

Results-based progress report on expert advice on gender-responsive recovery.

10 days

By 31 October 2023

3

Results-based progress report on expert advice on gender-responsive recovery.

10 days

By 30 November 2023

4

Results-based progress report on expert advice on gender-responsive recovery.

10 days

By 31 January 2024

*All reports should be submitted in English language and include the full set of supporting documents, such as analytical briefs, meeting notes, concept notes and agendas, handouts and lists of participants, etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian.

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment.
• The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer.

Performance evaluation:

• Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, efficiency, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager which will also be the basis for payment on a delivery-by-delivery basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:

• Payment will be disbursed in four installments upon receipt of the deliverables (as per the above matrix) and their certification by UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Competencies

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

Required Skills and Experience

Experience:

• At least 3 years of relevant experience on gender analysis of national legislation and policy documents;
• Proven knowledge of international practices and instruments on the protection of human rights/women’s rights;
• Proven experience with conducting gender mainstreaming within governance at the national and/or local level, decentralization reform;
• Experience with participation in high-level dialogues, consultations, including with the members of parliament, government, etc.;
• Previous professional experience with development agencies and the United Nations would be considered an asset.

Languages and other skills:

• Fluency in verbal and written English and Ukrainian is required.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications (including an interview) and a financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with the evaluation of the technical proposal (including an interview) being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable.
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria - 70% of total evaluation. Total max 70 points:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Technical Evaluation Criteria

Maximum obtainable Points

Criterion A – Relevant education

• Advanced (Masters) degree in law, gender studies or similar (Masters – 4 pts, PhD – 5 pts)

5

Criterion B – Language skills

Fluency in verbal and written English and Ukrainian is required.

5

Criterion C – Relevant Experience with total for all of the following criteria

60 including:

• At least 3 years of relevant experience on gender analysis of national legislation and policy documents

15

• Proven knowledge of international practices and instruments on the protection of human rights/women’s rights;

10

• Proven experience with gender mainstreaming to the governance at the national and/or local level, decentralization reform;

15

• Experience with participation in high-level dialogues, consultations, including with the members of parliament, government, etc.;

10

• Previous professional experience with development agencies and the United Nations would be considered an asset.

10

Total Obtainable Score

70

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation****:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technically qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.
• Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30
• (S - score received on financial evaluation; F min - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round; F - financial offer under consideration).

Application and submission package:

All applications must include one attachment:

1. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unwomen.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FHeadquarters%2FAttachments%2FSections%2FAbout%2520Us%2FEmployment%2FUN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK
2. Financial proposal (sample is provided below) completed and signed: The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (e.g., telecommunication, etc.).

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 23:59 EEST 28 August 2023.

Applications without P11 and financial proposals may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown in the following table is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal

1. Cost Breakdown per Deliverables*

Deliverables

# of days and Percentage of Total Price (Weight for payment)

Price, UAH

(Lump Sum, All Inclusive)

1

2

3

4

Total

max. # of working days (100%)

UAH ……

*Basis for payment tranches

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.

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 8 months ago - Updated 8 months ago - Source: jobs.undp.org