National Gender Statistics Consultant to support the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Albania in improving rural gender statistics production, collection and use

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 center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world.

Through its programmes and projects, UN Women in Albania is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life. According to its mandate, UN Women works in five thematic areas, such as leadership and participation, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, women peace and security and governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments. UN Women is also the lead Agency in coordinating the UN Country Team on gender equality and is chairing the UN Group on gender equality.

Rural women in Albania face many challenges to their economic security, such as: lack of financial support, a weak access to secure land rights, a limited understanding of which businesses are profitable, limited availability to enter the labor force due to disproportionate engagement in unpaid activities and, high dependence from family members. Women’s contribution to agriculture in Albania is vital, with 54 percent of employed women working in this sector. However, such contribution often remains invisible because of the high levels of informality, which often leaves them without protection or social benefits.

To address some of these challenges UN Women, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Albania, and with the support of the Government of Italy, is implementing the Gender Rural Equality and Tourism (GREAT) project, a three-year initiative that will contribute to rural women’s empowerment in Albania and will strengthen women’s roles and contribution to rural development. The project will contribute to sustainable economic development of rural women in three targeted regions and their communities by increasing their income and ability to obtain work.

The project aims to develop the capacities of rural women to develop their own business, to self-organize and register as local groups and to improve their access to finance. Simultaneously, GREAT will support targeted municipalities to prioritize and promote rural women’s businesses, rural tourism and value chain development. Furthermore, it will promote a policy and legislative environment to strengthen women’s economic empowerment and their access to and control over productive assets.

The project GREAT was developed based on the needs identified by UN Women and FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, following recommendations of different studies and country assessments undertaken by these entities. Its main goals are aligned with the priorities of the Government and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS Tirana), in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its core principle of leaving no-one behind. UN Women is the implementing agency for this project with FAO as the main responsible party that will implement specific components. UN Women will engage relevant staff and expertise to ensure overall coordination, quality assurance, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the project.

In this context, UN Women GREAT Project is planning to provide technical expertise to the Ministry of Agriculture and INSTAT of Albania through a National Consultant who will work in close collaboration with staff of these institutions on the improvement of production, collection and use of sex disaggregated administrative data and gender statistics of the agriculture and rural development sector.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women GREAT Project Manager, in collaboration with government institution experts and staff, and in close coordination with other UN Women partners/contractors, the national consultant is responsible for performing the below key indicative tasks:

• Prepare a work-plan in consultation with UN Women for the delivery of planned activities;

• Engage in the review of information available and conduct a desk review and mapping of key statistics and administrative data documentation, level of disaggregation, processes and procedures for the collection and exchange, in the Ministry of Agriculture and INSTAT, using gender lenses and best practice as guiding principles;

• Provide inputs and comments in the new law to be drafted for the census planned to be conducted by INSTAT in 2024;
• Identify key gaps in sex-disaggregated data needed to monitor and report on key national and international (including SDG) indicators related to GEWE;
• Conduct consultations with, and provide recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture and INSTAT on the potentials for improving the production, availability and use of gender statistics and disaggregated administrative data in line with national and international GEWE commitments;
• Monitor the implementation of the Strategy for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries 2021 – 2027 of the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Strategy of Gender Equality 2021-2030 f based on key gender-related indicators, in the ministry and its dependent government institutions;
• Provide inputs and capacity building for gender mainstreaming in all Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) phases; Provide technical support to MoARD for engendering of state subsidy programmes prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as in the annual mid-term budget programs related to data for key performance indicators related to GEWE in line with the gender-responsive budgeting obligation;
• Prepare and deliver training and coaching sessions on gender statistics and indicators for the sector for relevant representatives;
• Prepare short briefs, presentations and inputs to reporting processes upon request by UN Women;
• Participate in meetings, working groups, consultations and other fora upon request by UN Women.

Main expected outputs/deliverables:

• A consultancy work plan that includes a timeline and a proposed outline and methodology for the consultancy (to be consulted with and approved by UN Women).
• Prepare and submit a list of suggested statistics and indicators which need engendering from the approved new strategy of the Ministry of Agriculture.
• Prepare and submit recommendations for the engendering of FADN and Ministry of Agriculture subsidy programmes;
• Prepare and submit recommendations for the engendering of agriculture and rural related statistics of INSTAT;
• Monthly/bi-monthly reports to UN Women on the technical support provided to INSTAT and Ministry of Agriculture;
• Meeting/mission reports as requested.
• Training modules and other related materials as needed.
• Technical inputs and on-demand reports on specific initiatives upon request

Duration

The national consultant will be contracted for up to 110 (one hundred and ten) working days to perform the specified tasks over the period 1 April 2022 – 31 December 2023.

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Strong skills in developing, designing and preparing well-structured, logically organized guidance materials, overviews, briefs, and similar knowledge products.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to synthesize straightforward and clear content from a range of complex background documents.
• Ability to produce knowledge and information materials tailored to the specific target-audience and fine-tuned to the purpose and country context.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (both oral and written).
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with team members.
• Strong initiative-taker.
• Focuses on impact and results.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive, problem-solving attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

The national Consultant will have the following qualifications:

Education/Academic qualification:

• Advanced degree in one of the areas of statistics, economy, agriculture, rural development;
• Studies or trainings in gender field would be an asset;

Work experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in conducting research, policy advice, implementation and monitoring on gender equality and women’s empowerment, preferably in the agriculture and/or rural development sector;
• experience in gender statistics and data production, dissemination and use supporting government institutions at central and local level /or;
• Experience in designing training modules and organizing and delivering trainings and other capacity building activities. Experience in working for similar assignments with international organizations is an asset.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English, both oral and written. All deliverables to be prepared and submitted in English.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the daily fee in ALL (Albanian Leke) 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 of final draft; and (iv) submission of the certification of payment.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are required to apply online: [email protected] no later 18 March 2022****.

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest including a brief description explaining why the individual considers her/himself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• Completed and signed UN Women Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded at link: UN Women Personal History Form (P11) or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about- us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying the total lump sum in ALL (Albanian Leke) for the tasks specified in this assignment, following the instructions under the above section on Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments.

Evaluation of applicants:

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:

• Advanced degree in one of the areas of statistics, economy, agriculture, rural development; studies or trainings in gender field would be an asset – 10 points;
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in conducting research, policy advice, implementation and monitoring on gender equality and women’s empowerment, preferably in the agriculture and/or rural development sector – 25 points;
• experience in gender statistics and data production, dissemination and use supporting government institutions at central and local level – 20 points;
• Experience in designing training modules and organizing and delivering trainings and other capacity building activities. Experience in working for similar assignments with international organizations is an asset – 15 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.

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.)