NATIONAL CONSULTANT TO DEVELOP GUIDANCE NOTE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MEN IN LOCAL LIFE

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 in Georgia supports state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policy and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls.

As a part of its Governance & Participation in Public Life (G&PPL) portfolio, UN Women Georgia Country Office is implementing a second phase of the “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia” (GG4GEGII) project. The overarching goal of the project is to ensure that governance systems are gender-sensitive and enable gender equality in Georgia. In order to contribute to this transformative change, inter alia, UN Women in cooperation with the National Association of Local Authorities in Georgia (NALAG) provides technical support to local governments in Georgia to enhance compliance with gender equality and mainstreaming obligations in line with the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life (hereinafter referred to as the Charter).

The Charter is a framework for action addressed to the local and regional governments of Europe, who are invited to sign it, to make a formal public commitment to the principle of equality of women and men, and to implement, within their territory, the commitments set out within the Charter. To assist in the implementation of these commitments, each signatory authority undertakes to draw up an Equality Action Plan, which sets out its priorities, actions and resources to this end. In addition, each signatory authority undertakes to engage with all of the institutions and organizations in its territory, in order to promote the achievement of substantive equality in practice. The Charter was drawn up by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions in 2006.

In Georgia, UN Women along with NALAG has played a significant role in promoting the Charter and its agenda among local governments. As a result of this work, 21 municipalities have acceded to the Charter and 49 municipalities have adopted municipal gender equality action plans as a part of the 1st phase of the GG4GEG project in 2020-2023. To further support popularization of the Charter and promote its adoption among local governments in Georgia, UN Women plans to develop a Guidance Note on the implementation of the Charter. To carry out the above-mentioned work, UN Women is seeking to contract a national consultant. The objective of the consultancy is to develop a Guidance Note on the Implementation of the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life in Georgian and to support the capacity development of local government representatives on key principles and implementation of the Charter.

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will be responsible for the following tasks and deliverables:

• To conduct desk review and consultation meetings on best practices and methodologies on the implementation of the Charter;
• To develop detailed guidelines on the implementation of the Charter capturing key concepts, principles, frameworks and best practices;
• To provide capacity development trainings to the representatives of local governments representatives on the implementation of the Charter To prepare a final report to UN Women about the work carried out, analyzing participant feedback and summarizing key reflections and recommendations.

Deliverables:

1. Outline of the Guidance Note on the Implementation the Charter developed and submitted to UN Women (4 working days) – 17 October 2023
2. Draft Guidance Note capturing key concepts, principles, frameworks and best practices developed and submitted to UN Women (10 working days) – by 06 November 2023.
3. UN Women feedback incorporated, and the final version of the Guidance Note submitted to UN Women (3 working days) – by 17 November 2023
4. Relevant training materials/handouts prepared and two 2-day capacity development trainings conducted for national stakeholders on the implementation of the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life – ( 6 working days) by 29 March 2024.
5. Final training reports measuring training results and capturing participant feedback developed and submitted to UN Women (2 working days) – by 12 April 2024

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

Technical/Functional Competencies:

• Excellent analytical and research skills.
• Strong understanding of and commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment
• Excellent writing skills.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Proficiency in IT skills demonstrated.

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

Education:

• At least BA degree in Gender Studies, Human Rights, Sociology, Law, or related field

Experience and competencies:

• At least three years of professional experience in gender equality and women’s rights
• At least three years of demonstrated experience in developing capacity development tools/modules/manuals and delivering capacity development trainings
• Previous working experience with the local governments on local planning, policy development and capacity building will be strong asset

Language and other skills

• Fluency in Georgian and in English

Evaluation Procedure

The candidates will be evaluated in three stages: according to minimum qualification criteria; technical and financial evaluation.

The candidates must possess following minimum qualification criteria to be eligible for further technical evaluation:

• At least BA degree in Gender Studies, Human Rights, Sociology, Law, or related field
• At least three years of professional experience in gender equality and women’s rights
• At least three years of demonstrated experience in developing capacity development tools/modules/manuals and delivering capacity development trainings
• Fluency in Georgian and in English

Technical evaluation criteria (including minimum qualifications):

• At least BA degree in Gender Studies, Human Rights, Sociology, Law, or related field (max 70 points)
• At least three years of professional experience in gender equality and women’s rights (max 90 points)
• At least three years of demonstrated experience in developing capacity development tools/modules/manuals and delivering capacity development trainings (max 90 points)
• Working experience with the local governments on local planning, policy development and capacity building will be strong asset (max 70 points)
• Fluency in Georgian and English (max 30 points)

Maximum total technical score amounts to 350 points. Only candidates who have passed over the minimum qualification criteria and have accumulated at least 245 points out of maximum 350 under technical evaluation will qualify for the next stage i.e. evaluation of their financial proposals.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 150

S – score received on financial evaluation;

Fmin – the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;

F – financial offer under consideration.

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

Management arrangements:

The contractor will report to and work under direct supervision of UN Women Governance & Participation in Public Life (G&PPL) Programme Specialist and under the overall supervision of the UN Women Deputy Country Representative.

Financial arrangements:

Payment will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women Programme Analyst that the services have been satisfactorily performed as specified below:

• Deliverables 1, 2, 3 - 68 %
• Deliverable 4,5 – 32 %

Application submission package:

Duly filled in Personal History Form PHF11 that can be downloaded from

• https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process

• CV including examples of the previous work.

• Financial Proposal - lump sum proposal/offer* in USD (including breakdown of this lump sum amount indicating all necessary costs to complete this assignment).

*The applicants are required to submit an aggregated financial offer: “aggregated financial offer” is the total sum of all financial claims of the candidate, including travel costs (ticket, DSA etc.) for accomplishment of all tasks spelled out in this ToR.

How to Submit the Application:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), CV and the Financial Proposal 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.
• 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 the assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.

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.)