National Consultant to Develop Guidelines for Gender Equality Plans for Academic and Research Institutions in Georgia

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (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 policies 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.

In July 2023 UN Women, with the generous support of the Government of Norway launched the second phase of “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia” (GG4GEG II) project. The impact-level goal of the project is to ensure that women and girls in all their diversity fully and equally participate in decision-making and benefit from gender-responsive governance in Georgia. In order to contribute to the achievement of this impact-level goal, the project sets forth two interlinked outcomes, which are as follows - outcome 1: Gender-responsive legislative and policy frameworks are adopted and implemented to promote gender equality and women’s meaningful participation in decision-making and leadership at all levels; and outcome 2: Women are empowered economically and access entrepreneurial and employment opportunities through a gender-sensitive private sector and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Georgia.

Under outcome 1, the project strives to realize the following three outputs:

• Output 1.1: Laws, policies and capacities for gender mainstreaming in public policymaking and implementation and public finance management are developed and sustained at all levels
• Output 1.2: Public sector institutions and their human resource management policies and practices integrate gender equality and promote women’s participation and leadership at the national and local levels
• Output 1.3: More and better-quality data and analysis are available to promote and track the progress of gender equality and women’s empowerment

Under the third output, the project will engage with academic and research institutions to strengthen their capacities on gender equality and gender mainstreaming. This work will be guided by Gender Equality in Academia and Research (GEAR) tool developed by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE,2022. Gender Equality in Academia and Research - GEAR tool. Available at: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/toolkits/gear).

Many countries, including Georgia, face significant challenges related to gender inequalities in academia and research. These challenges range from low numbers of women students in STEM disciplines to an under-representation of women in top academic positions (full professors - UN Women, 2021. Country Gender Equality Profile of Georgia. Available at: https://georgia.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/11/country-gender-equality-profile-of-georgia_georgia). Moreover, gender analysis is not mainstreamed in academic programmes and research initiatives, resulting in gender-blind research and knowledge products. To address these and other challenges related to gender equality in academia and research, Horizon Europe – the key funding programme for Research and Innovation introduced a new eligibility criteria in 2021: Organizations applying for Horizon Europe funds are required to have a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) in place. This change has put GEPs at the top of the agenda of academic and research institutions across Europe. To meet the growing demand for guidance on how to develop and implement a GEP in accordance with this eligibility criterion, EIGE developed GEAR tool and step-by step guide for its implementation (EIGE, 2022. Gender Equality in Academia and Research GEAR tool step-by-step guide. Available at: https://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/20220795_pdf_mh0922276enn_002.pdf).

In this context, UN Women is planning to hire a National Consultant to support localization of EIGE’s GEAR step-by-step guide in Georgia.

Duties and Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the national consultant are:

• Carry out initial assessment (through survey and/or focus groups and/or semi-structured interviews) of academic and research institutions in Georgia to explore their internal policies and resources dedicated to gender equality as well as availability of gender data and their needs and readiness to have GEP in place.
• Based on the assessment results and GEAR step-by-step guide prepare a brief and practical guideline on: 1. what is GEP 2. why is GEP needed for academic and research institutions in Georgia 3. How GEP can be developed, implemented and monitored for a. academic institutions, b. research institutions c. research funding bodies
• Based on the assessment results and GEAR step-by-step guide develop two templates of GEP for academic institutions and research institutions with specific instructions
• Validate and discuss the guideline and the GEP template with selected academic and research institutions in Georgia
• Finalize guideline for GEP in line with feedback received from academic and research institutions and UN Women
• Conduct trainings for academic and research institutions separately (2 days in total) to explain what a GEP is, why it is needed and how it can be developed, implemented, and monitored by theses institutions and present detailed templates.

Deliverables:

• Detailed work plan, specifying scope of assessment and methodology (including research instruments) and timeline developed and submitted to UN Women by 2 October, 2023 (4 working days)
• Assessment of education and research institutions conducted and a brief report containing main results as well as amin contact points per each institution submitted to UN Women by 23 October, 2023 (8 working days)
• A brief and practical guideline document on: 1. What is GEP 2. Why is GEP needed for academic and research institutions in Georgia 3. How GEP should be developed, implemented and monitored for a. academic institutions, b. research institutions c. research funding bodies including templates of GEP developed in close cooperation with academic and research institutions and submitted to UN Women for review by 13 November, 2023 (10 working days)
• Updated document in line with feedback received from UN Women and research and academic institutions by 27 November, 2023 (4 working days)
• Training agenda and materials developed and agreed with UN Women by 10 December, 2023 (2 working days)
• Trainings conducted for academic and research institutions by 15 December, 2023 (2 working days)

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills
• Familiar with human rights terminology
• IT literacy
• Flexibility

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• University degree (at least Masters) in human rights, education, demography, sociology, social sciences, or other relevant area.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of experience of working on gender equality issues (max 100 points);
• At least 2 years of experience of preparing academic papers, situation analysis, methodological guidelines, assessments and research reports on GEWE issues (max 100 points);
• Familiarity with international GEWE frameworks, such as CEDAW, SDG, BPfA is a strong asset (max 35 points);
• Experience of working with higher education institutions is a strong asset (max 35 points);

Language:

• Excellent command of written and spoken Georgian and 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:

• University degree (at least Masters) in human rights, education, demography, sociology, social sciences, or other relevant area.
• At least 3 years of experience of working on gender equality issues.
• Excellent command of written and spoken Georgian and English.

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

Technical evaluation criteria (including minimum qualifications):

• University degree (at least Masters) in human rights, education, demography, sociology, social sciences, or other relevant area (max 50 points);
• At least 3 years of experience of working on gender equality issues (max 100 points);
• At least 2 years of experience of preparing academic papers, situation analysis, methodological guidelines, assessments and research reports on GEWE issues (max 100 points);
• Familiarity with international GEWE frameworks, such as CEDAW, SDG, BPfA is a strong asset (max 35 points);
• Experience of working with higher education institutions is a strong asset (max 35 points);
• Excellent command of written and spoken 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 selected candidate will report to and work under direct supervision of the Governance & Participation in Public Life programme analyst and UN Women Gender Data Specialist.

Financial arrangements:

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

• Deliverable 1,2 (12 days) - 40 %
• Deliverable 3,4,5,6 (18 days) - 60 %

Application submission package:

• CV;
• Duly filled Personal History Form PHF11 that can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process
• Samples of academic papers, situation analysis, assessments and research reports on GEWE issues;
• Financial Proposal - lump sum proposal/offer* in GEL

*The applicants are required to submit an aggregated financial offer: “aggregated financial offer” is the total sum of all financial claims of the candidate for accomplishment of all tasks spelled out in this ToR

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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, samples of previous work 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:

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.)