National Consultant to conduct costing of the National Strategy on Gender Equality (2021-2030) and the National Action Plan

Consultant

Overview

Conduct comprehensive costing of the National Strategy on Gender Equality (2021-2030).

You have:

• Master's degree in economics, finance, public policies, gender studies or any other related area of study.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in the field of public finance management, development or monitoring of public policies; experience in gender responsive budgeting and gender mainstreaming in national policies will be considered an asset.
• Experience in conducting policy analysis, assessments, costing of laws and policies, with focus on development, social or gender equality policies.
• Expertise in sectoral strategic planning, including medium term budget planning processes (MTBP).
• Fluency and proficiency in spoken and written Albanian and English required.

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. 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 Government of Albania has made national and international commitments to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in many different socio-economic aspects. Several international conventions and platforms, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action, demonstrate Albania’s commitment to the realization of women’s rights and the achievement of gender equality and SDGs as women’s equality and empowerment is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, but also integral to all dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development.

In 2007, the Government of Albania adopted the first National Strategy on Gender Equality which integrated the principle of gender mainstreaming in all sectors and areas, including in the National Strategy for Development and Integration as the main framework for public policies in Albania. As part of the long-standing efforts and commitments to advance gender equality, two subsequent NSGE- (2011-2015 and 2016-2020) were adopted, which further advanced gender mainstreaming across sectoral policies and programmes. UN Women in close cooperation with other UN Agencies, through the Joint UN Gender Theme Group, has provided continued technical advice and support to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in the development and the implementation of the Strategy and the National Action Plan.

Furthermore, UN Women has established a longstanding cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and Economy to support integration of gender perspective in the overall public finance management and in the preparation of Medium-Term Budgeting Programme (MTBP). Under its ongoing regional programme on Gender Responsive Budgeting, UN Women is extending technical and expert support to the MoFE and coaching line ministries on integration of gender principles in budgetary programmes across-sectors, thus enabling a continued and progressive increase in budgetary allocations for GEWE.

Reinforcing its national and international commitments to advance gender equality, the MoHSP has initiated the process of drafting a new National Strategy on Gender Equality (2021-2030) and has established a dedicated inter-institutional working group for the development of the new strategy. The process will be complemented by a detailed costing of the Action Plan for the implementation of the NSGE, as an important exercise to support more effective and efficient planning and allocation of resources.

In the frame of the regional project “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2024) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation, UN Women is supporting the Government of Albania and its line ministries to institutionalize GRB as a tool across sectoral policies and programmes.

In this context, UN Women Albania CO requires technical support of one national consultant to conduct comprehensive costing of the Action Plan for the implementation of the new NSGE (2021-2030). The consultant with work in close cooperation with UN Women and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection , and coordinate the efforts with other line ministries, local government units and the MoFE.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager on National Planning and Budgeting, and in close cooperation with the Head of Programme Unit at UN Women Albania and the General Director of Health and Social Protection Policies at the MoHSP, the national consultant is expected to conduct the following:

• Prepare a workplan and detailed methodology for the costing of the NSGE, in consultation with the MoHSP, MoFE and Prime Minister’s Office, focusing on:

- Identifying the gender equality measures foreseen in the NSGE and its Action Plan

- Collecting data from relevant stakeholders and responsible institutions

- Review relevant materials on the integrated strategic planning information system (IPSIS) and financial management system AFMIS

- Calculate the needed resources for achieving gender equality commitments and actions foreseen in the Action Plan for the Implementation of the strategy

• Arrange meetings and conduct interviews with the budgeting and monitoring offices in line Ministries and work with designated personnel therein using the Action Plan for the implementation of the strategy;
• Maintain close cooperation and consult with MoHSP and MOFE at all stages of the costing exercise process;
• Liaise with the UN Gender Thematic Group and integrate obtained inputs in the costing exercise process;
• Produce a detailed costing report for the activities and measures set in the NSGE Action Plan based on the analyses of data and estimation of resources, with recommendations for ensuring adequate government resource allocation and effective implementation of the Action Plan;
• Conduct bilateral meetings with relevant donors to get information on potential external support to the NSGE Action Plan;
• Present the costing information in stakeholder consultation meetings organised by MHSP as needed;
• Produce a consultancy report in English and Albanian language upon completion of consultancy work.

Expected deliverables:

• A consultancy work plan that includes timeline of activities and proposed methodology for the costing exercise (by 20 January 2021).
• Draft costing plan for the NSGE 2021-2030 and the National Action Plan (by 20 February 2021).;
• Revised costing plan for the Strategy and its action plan, with consolidated feedback from consultations with stakeholders and institutions (by 15 March 2021).;
• Summarised presentation of the costing methodology and findings to be used for validation meetings and future trainings (by 15 March 2021);
• Final costing report on the NSGE (2021-2030) and the National Action Plan (by 25 March 2021)
• Final report on the assignment (in English, by 30 March 2021).

Duration and remuneration:

The duration of the contract will be up to 30 working days between January 2021 – March 2021. The payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of all tasks and deliverables in the assignment, and submission and approval by UN Women.

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/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Thorough knowledge of public policy making and financial management processes.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, reporting and writing abilities in English and Albanian.
• Diverse organizational skills in various settings.
• Proven ability to work within limited time constraints in the preparation of high-quality documents.
• Strong ability to interact effectively with various partners and stakeholders, with focus on Government institutions.
• Possesses the ability to work independently.
• Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point).

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

• Master’s degree in economics, finance, public policies, gender studies or any other related area of study.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in the field of public finance management, development or monitoring of public policies; experience in gender responsive budgeting and gender mainstreaming in national policies will be considered an asset;
• Experience in conducting policy analysis, assessments, costing of laws and policies, with focus on development, social or gender equality policies;
• Expertise in sectoral strategic planning, including medium term budget planning processes (MTBP);
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organizations is considered an asset.

Language:

• Fluency and proficiency in spoken and written Albanian and English required.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the total fee in Albanian Lek 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; and (iv) submission of the certification of payment.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Please submit your application as indicated below no later than 22 December 2020:

• A Letter of Interest including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• UN Women Personal History Form (P11) including past experience in similar assignment (link or copies of similar documents should be included in the application)****. Can be downloaded at: UN Women Personal History Form (P11) or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying the total lumpsum in Albanian Lek for the tasks specified in this assignment.

Evaluation of the application:

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:

• Master’s degree in economics, finance, public policies, gender studies or any other related area of study (10 points)
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in the field of public finance management, development or monitoring of public policies; experience in gender responsive budgeting and gender mainstreaming in national policies will be considered an asset; (max. 20 points)
• Experience in conducting policy analysis, assessments, costing of laws and policies, with focus on development, social or gender equality policies (max. 20 points)
• Expertise in sectoral strategic planning, including medium term budget planning processes (MTBP) (max. 15 points)
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organizations is considered an asset (max. 5 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.

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11) link http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Merge your completed and signed UN Women Personal History Form (P11), the Financial Proposal, and the letter of interest into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

• UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
• The consultancy post is open to local (Albanian) individuals or foreign individuals with valid temporary or permanent residence in Albania.
• Applications without the financial offer will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• The individual consultants should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.

Apply now

Potential interview questions

Added 5 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org