National Consultant to support Ministry of Women and Children Affairs for the 9th CEDAW Periodic report

Consultant Human Rights

Overview

Support the development of Bangladesh's 9th CEDAW Periodic Report.

You have:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in international law, human rights law, gender studies or related disciplines.
• At least 5-7 years’ direct work experience on women’s human rights and gender equality.
• Experience teaching/training on the CEDAW Convention.
• Experience supporting UN Treaty Body report preparations.
• Experience providing technical support to the Government.
• Strong understanding of Gender Equality issues of Bangladesh, particularly in the areas such as gender and legislation, violence against women, women’s economic empowerment etc.
• Excellent report writing skills in English.
• Excellent command of English.

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 has been working in Bangladesh since 2006, supporting the Government of Bangladesh and Civil Society Organizations and platforms to implement their gender equality commitments.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), often referred to as the international women’s bill of rights, provides a powerful framework and legal obligation for countries to move towards the achievement of Gender Equality and Women’s Rights. Bangladesh ratified CEDAW in 1984 and its optional protocol in 2000. The government submitted its 8th Periodic CEDAW report in 2015 and attended the 65th CEDAW session held in Geneva in 2016. Based on the State party report and face to face presentation by the State, CEDAW committee shared their recommendations in the form of Concluding Observations in November 2016. CEDAW Concluding Observations provides specific recommendations to implement CEDAW effectively in the country. The government of Bangladesh accepted the Concluding Observations and committed to implement the recommendations in Bangladesh. The next cycle CEDAW reporting is due in November 2020, the ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) being the National Women machinery would lead the process and would develop a national report with support from UN Women.

UN Women is seeking services from a highly qualified national consultant to support the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to develop the next cycle CEDAW report. As part of the process, the consultant will be supporting the Ministry to organize orientation sessions for the WID focal points and Gender Desk Officers of different ministries to develop their capacity to contribute to the reporting process.

Objectives and scope of the Consultancy:

• Provide overall technical support to MOWCA through a capacity building programme for key ministries on the CEDAW Convention, its reporting requirement and guidelines, and Concluding Observations from the 65th session.
• Support MOWCA design and implement a structured process to draft the 9th Periodic CEDAW Report with inputs from key ministries.

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will closely work with UN Women and MOWCA on the following.

1. Design an information/data collection methodology and tool to support preparation of the 9th Periodic Report in line with reporting guidelines and taking into account the CEDAW Committee recommendations to Bangladesh in the Concluding Observations from review of the 8th Periodic Report
2. Design a series of 3 online orientation sessions for WID focal points and Gender Desk Officers from line ministries to achieve the following objectives.
   • Participants understand the key principles and content of the CEDAW Convention and State Party obligations.
   • Participants understand the CEDAW Committee recommendations to Bangladesh in the Concluding Observations from review of the 8th Periodic Report.
   • Participants understand the CEDAW reporting requirements and guidelines, and the information/data collection tool for 9th Periodic Report (designed by the consultant).
   • Participants understand their information/data collection responsibility for the 9th Periodic Report and the timeline for preparation and finalization of the report.
3. Facilitate the 3 online orientations designed above. (September and October 2020)
4. Support MOWCA facilitate periodic follow-up meetings with line ministries to review information and data collected and drafts of the report prepared by MOWCA. (September -November)
5. Support MOWCA with finalization of the report. (November)

Expected Deliverables and Time Frame:

Key deliverables:

• Prepare the report preparation methodologies, tools and reporting outline in consultation with MOWCA and UN Women.
• Design and facilitate a series of 3 CEDAW reporting orientation sessions involving key government ministries.
• Support follow-up meetings convened by MOWCA to review information and data collected and drafts of the report.
• Support to MOWCA on drafting and finalization of the 9th Periodic Report.

I. Indicative timeline

Stage 1: Preparation Stage (2 days)

Task

Responsible Party

Number of days

Remarks

Prepare the report preparation methodologies, tools and reporting outline in consultation with MOWCA and UN Women.

Consultant

5

Home-based

Stage 2: Orientations for the key government ministries (13 days)

Task

Responsible Party

Number of days

Remarks

Design and facilitate a series of 3 CEDAW reporting orientation sessions involving key government ministries.

Consultant

6

Home-based

Stage 3: Support next cycle report writing (10 days)

Task

Responsible Party

Number of days

Remarks

Support MOWCA convene follow-up meetings to review information and data collected by ministries and drafts of the report with ministries

Support MOWCA on drafting and finalization of the 9th Periodic Report.

Consultant

14

Home-based

II.****Expected Deliverables and Payment Schedule

No.

Deliverables

Indicative

Delivery Date

Payment Schedule

1

Prepare the report preparation methodologies, tools and reporting outline in consultation with MOWCA and UN Women.

10 September 2020

2

Design and facilitate a series of 3 CEDAW reporting orientation sessions involving key government ministries.

By 15 October 2020

100 % of the total contract amount shall be paid upon submission to and acceptance of deliverables 02 and 03 by the UN Women contract administrator.

3

Support MOWCA convene follow-up meetings to review information and data collected by ministries and drafts of the report with ministries

Support MOWCA on drafting and finalization of the 9th Periodic Report.

By 30 November 2020

****Payment will be made upon submission of deliverables with all acceptance and Certified by the UNWOMEN contract administrator*

Duration of Assignment and Duty Station:

The task is expected to be completed in 25 days in between September and November 2020.

Supervision and performance evaluation

The consultant will be under the direct supervision of the Gender Responsive Governance Programme Analyst of UN Women.

Inputs:

UN Women will provide strategic guidance to the consultant to develop the methodology, necessary tools and also for the reporting process.

Travel and DSA:

No DSA will be paid at the duty station. If unforeseen travel outside the duty station not required by the Terms of Reference is requested by UN Women, and upon prior agreement/approval, such travel shall be UN Women expenses and the individual contractor/SSA shall receive a per-diem not to exceed United Nations daily subsistence allowance rate in such other location(s).

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission of the UN;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in international law, human rights law, gender studies or related disciplines.

Experiences:

• At least 5-7 years’ direct work experience on women’s human rights and gender equality.
• Experience teaching/training on the CEDAW Convention.
• Experience supporting UN Treaty Body report preparations.
• Experience providing technical support to the Government.
• Strong understanding of Gender Equality issues of Bangladesh, particularly in the areas such as gender and legislation, violence against women, women’s economic empowerment etc;
• Excellent report writing skills in English;

Language

• Excellent command of English.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the SSA's duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the SSA in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages

Evaluation Method and Criteria: Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Cumulative analysis-

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant up on Cumulative Analysis/evaluation and determined as: 1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and 2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation; Only candidates obtaining a minimum 100 mark in technical evaluation will be considered eligible for financial evaluation. Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points out of 100)

Criteria-01; Educational Qualification- Max Point 10 Criteria-02; Working experience and proven track record on similar task on CEDAW with UN agencies and the government.-Max Point 25 Criteria-03; Working experience in writing high quality reports for the government on different normative issues on gender equality and women’s empowerment.- Max Point 20

Criteria-04; Fluency in English (written and spoken) and high quality report writing experience in English- Max Point 10

Criteria-05; Working experience with the UN and/or NGO is an asset.- Max Point 05

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

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points (70) will be considered as technically-qualified candidate.

Interested candidates will submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

To be included as part of the proposal: • A brief expression of interest: a brief narrative presenting your suitability for this assignment and proposed action plan for carry out of this assignment; • UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment • Sample work; • Personal CV (of no more than 4 pages); • Financial proposal: The financial proposal shall specify a daily rate and total fees; Financial proposal all inclusive (technical fees and living cost at Dhaka both together) in lump basis per day. For travelling outside of Dhaka, UNW will reimburse cost of air ticket.

Only applications including all items mentioned above will be considered.

NOTE: Documents required before contract signing:

UN Personal History Form; Full medical examination and Statement of Fitness to work and travel for consultants with travel involved. (This is not a requirement for RLA contracts); Security Certificate BSAFE: EN: https://agora.unicef.org/course/info.php?id=17891; Individual subscribers over 65 years of age are required to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays at their own cost and obtaining medical clearance from the UN Medical Director prior to taking up their assignment; Release letter in case the selected consultant is government official. Only applications will all items mentioned above will be considered

All applications must include (as an attachment) the CV and the financial proposal. Applications without financial proposal will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. “Personal History Form - P 11” can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employme

Note: The individual consultant who does not meet the above eligibility criteria shall not be considered for further evaluation. Necessary documentation must be submitted to substantiate the above eligibility criteria

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Potential interview questions

Added 6 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org