UN Women: Senior Gender Mainstreaming and Local Governance consultant, Tirane, Albania, SSA

Consultant

Overview

Provide expert guidance on gender mainstreaming and local governance.

You have:

• Master's degree in Human Rights, Social Sciences, Gender, Public Policy, Political Science, Public Administration or related fields is required.
• Minimum of 17 years of national or international development experience, focusing on gender mainstreaming into national policies and governance.
• At least 7 years providing technical guidance to municipalities in Albania on gender equality.
• Fluency in English and Albanian, both spoken and written, is required.
• Solid experience in applying the European Charter for Equality in assignments with local governments and international actors is required.

Contract

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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 Albania is currently implementing its Strategic Note (SN) 2022-2026 which aims to ensure that “All Women and girls enjoy and exercise their human rights in a gender equal society and meaningfully contribute to Albania’s sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development and EU integration”. To achieve such result, UN Women will focus on three outcomes, which mirror verbatim the areas of focus of the United Nations Albania1:

1. Increased and more equitable investment in people to remove barriers and create opportunities for those at risk of exclusion.
2. Innovative and integrated policy solutions that accelerate sustainable, productive and inclusive development.
3. Gender-responsive governance that strengthens equality and non-discrimination.

Across its interventions, UN Women Albania will address key thematic areas of focus in line with the Global Strategic Plan 2022-2025:2 ending violence against women; women’s economic empowerment; gender-responsive budgeting; gender responsive governance; as well as promoting cross-cutting principles including the principle of Leaving No One Behind, and engagement of new and emerging partners such as the private sector to advance gender equality in the country. This approach aims to support the Government of Albania to implement its commitments on human rights and gender equality, in line with its National Strategy on gender Equality (NSGE) 2021-2030, and the EU Acquis Communautaire. All interventions undertaken by the Country Office aim to address structural causes of gender inequality, addressing discriminatory practices and reach women and girls who are at greatest risk of being left behind.

UN Women Albania is currently initiating implementation of two recently developed projects: the “Empower Women for Rural Development in Northern Albania”, funded by AICS Tirana, and the “EU for Gender Equality II – Gender Equality Facility in Albania” funded by the European Union. Both interventions have a strong local level component which foresees supporting the Government of Albania in its efforts to align local frameworks with international and European.

The EU for Gender Equality II – Gender Equality Facility in Albania project has four main components, one of which fully focused at the local level. This component aims to provide technical assistance and guidance to municipalities for operating in line with the articles of the European Charter for Equality of women and men in local life, thereby localizing national gender policy and laying the ground for alignment with EU Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) at local level, and develop Local Gender Action Plans, translating SDGs, the EU Gender Equality acquis, and international and national commitments on gender equality and women’s rights into concrete action at local level, targeting at least 14 municipalities as part of the project. Similarly, the “Empower Women for Rural Development in Northern Albania” project has a specific output dedicated to supporting target municipalities to develop, monitor and cost a Local Gender Action Plan in line with the CEMR guidelines, in at least other two municipalities. Both interventions foresee to provide advice and guidance for local planning, monitoring and costing, with specific focus on strengthening equal opportunities for women and men, girls and boys, women’s economic resilience, and on supporting services that are particularly important for women notably for those facing the greatest risk of being marginalized, excluded, and left behind.

The overall goal of this work at local level is to increase long term capacities of operating structures and local government institutions to mainstream gender equality at across municipal responsibilities and sectors.

In addition, the EU for Gender Equality Phase II – Gender Equality Facility in Albania project, funded by the European Union, aims to strengthen gender mainstreaming capacities and available resources and tools at central level. This will be done, inter alia, with the development of gender mainstreaming guidance notes that will address gender equality across EU integration sectors, and by providing inputs to relevant policy and strategy documents.

In this context, UN Women Albania is seeking to recruit a National Senior Gender Mainstreaming & Local Governance Expert. The Expert will work closely with LGU staff to prepare, update, monitor and cost Local Gender Action Plans, in line with CEMR regulations, guidance and EU standards. The consultant will also provide overall gender mainstreaming support for the development of gender mainstreaming guidance notes and other relevant documents that merit feedback and inputs from a gender perspective. The consultant will work in coordination with relevant international and national experts that maybe engaged to contribute to specific aspects of the project and under the leadership and guidance of the International Project Manager, the National Programme Officer/Head of Programme and the UN Women Representative.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

1. Advice on an approach for prioritizing the selection of target municipalities to develop a Local Gender Action Plan (LGAP) in Albania and possible new signatories of the European Charter of Equality;
2. In line with the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) Guidance on the Charter implementation process, facilitate the synthesizing of gender-responsive elements and activities, alignment with the European Charter, and drafting the individual Local Gender Action Plan including structuring, prioritisation, responsibilities, indicators, budget, timeline, and partners. The consultant will be expected to coordinate and liaise closely with the local government officials across all steps of the process and mentor/coach the municipal staff as needed;
3. Review and undertake quality control of the final Local Gender Action Plans;
4. Provide technical support, guidance and advice to municipal staff for introducing, applying and promoting gender-responsive governance tools and methods in partner municipalities on an ongoing basis and based on requests from the municipality;
5. Engage in coaching and mentoring of Gender Equality Officers (GEOs) on gender mainstreaming and on outreach to administrative units;
6. Provide input and advice for peer-to-peer networking and exchange in partner municipalities in Albania and in the region, including for identification of relevant collaboration;
7. Contribute to preparing communication materials on core gender and local governance issues; and to making them available to the local administration and the wider public;
8. Support the development and piloting of a monitoring tool for the LGAP and provide coaching and assistance to the municipalities to monitor the LGAP’s implementation, development of a monitoring report and publishing of the report on the municipalities’ web pages. The tool should be aligned with the global tool and platform developed by CEMR and will be done through excel reporting, which the municipality can further develop in a digital publication and/or dashboard;
9. Facilitate timely follow-up on procedural steps related to the Charter;
10. Present main elements, insights and recommendations resulting from the assignment in events with LGUs, relevant stakeholders, and Development & Integration Partners;
11. Support knowledge building efforts;
12. Support various gender analysis for the central and local level including thematic guidance note on gender mainstreaming;
13. Prepare contributions and inputs for integration into relevant sections of strategic national planning and policy documents;
14. Other tasks as assigned by the Project Manager within the scope of the above duties and responsibilities/key results expected.

Consultant’s Workplace

This is a home-based consultancy for a total of up to 100 working days with travel to selected municipalities as needed.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Proven networking skills, demonstrating ability to build strategic partnerships by maintaining a network of contacts for collaboration and information sharing, and by being up-to-date on partnership-related issues;
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with team members;
• Strong negotiating skills;
• Strong skills in developing detailed gender-responsive work plans, with budgets and indicators for monitoring development results;
• Ability to produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Ability to support strategic networks and partnerships with local actors and partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy and technical advice;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (both oral and written);
• Strong organizational and time management skills;
• Strong analytical skills and team building skills;
• Ability to handle conflict and sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner; and
• Capacity to work under pressure and to meet strict deadlines.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in Human Rights, Social Sciences, Gender, Public Policy, Political Science, Public Administration or related fields is required.

Experience:

• Minimum of 17 years of national or international development experience with particular emphasis on providing technical expertise on, and inputs for, gender mainstreaming into national policies and governance; gender responsive budgeting; and gender-sensitive planning, programming, and monitoring.
• Minimum of seven years in providing hands-on technical guidance, coaching and capacity development to municipalities in Albania on applying tools and methods for integrating gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment into governance/local administration.
• Solid experience in working with concrete application of the European Charter for Equality of women and men in local life in assignments with local governments and international actors.
• Experience in working with the programmes and projects funded by UN, EU and other similar international organizations is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Albanian, both spoken and written, is required.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)

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Potential interview questions

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