Women’s Political Participation Report Writer

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, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Lebanon’s inbuilt structural gendered inequalities create more unstable communities, and make women more vulnerable to exploitation and violence, and more likely to be food insecure. A manifestation of this discrimination of women’s marginalization from decision making and leadership, particularly across elected positions in the country.

Although Lebanese women gained the right to vote in 1952, and despite a vibrant feminist movement, women remain grossly under-represented in public and political life. Out of 88 Lebanese governments formed since 1943, only 9 governments have included women, and today women represent only 4% of the now caretaker cabinet, with one female minister out of 24. Lebanon is ranked 149 out of 153 countries in political representation in the 2020 World Economic Forum Gender Gap report and ranked 183rd out of 187 countries in terms of women’s participation in parliament. In comparison to its Arab neighbors, the country lags far behind, ranked 15th of 17 Arab countries in female parliamentarians.

The 2022 parliamentary elections saw a record number of women candidates and aspirants, with 118 women making it on to electoral lists, after 157 female candidates submitted their candidacy. This represents a 37% increase in female candidates from 2018. This increase did translate into a modest increase in women’s representation in Parliament, with the number of women elected increasing from 6 to 8 out 128, marking an increase from 4.6% to just over 6% women in parliament.

Though limited, this increase reflects some important changes – more women entering politics outside of the patronage of a male family member, and women entering who ran on an explicitly feminist platform.

Against the backdrop of multi-layered crises, advancing women participation and representation in politics and areas of leadership remains a continuous challenge. UN Women Lebanon works to support Women’s Political Participation through an action plan developed by UN Women and UNDP and endorsed by UNCT. The action plan includes supporting newly elected female Members of Parliament to work together to pursue a gender legislative policy.

Work will include developing and disseminating a lessons learned report following the 2022 parliamentary elections by conducting key informant interviews with at least 85 female candidates who ran for office. This consultancy aims to support the draft writing or report and analysis of results, including analyzing results, developing draft report and finalizing all findings.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective is to support the development of a lessons learned report following the 2022 parliamentary elections through:

1. Provide analysis of results collected from all key informant interviews conducted by researchers 2. Develop and draft final report and present to UN Women and the project team 3. Update and finalize report incorporating all received comments.

Deliverables

Time frame

The following deliverables will be expected from the consultant:

• Analyze results collected from all interviews, and develop in depth analysis for different chapters

November 5, 2022 (5 working

days)

• Develop and draft final report

November 30, 2022 (15 working

days)

• Present updated and finalized report

December 15, 2022 (5 working

days)

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

Functional Competencies:

• Substantial knowledge and understanding of electoral processes and VAWP.
• Demonstrated leadership ability and technical ability to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing.
• Experience in analysis, drafting research findings and recommendations.
• Familiarity with electoral laws.
• Ability to communicate effectively both in written and oral

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in international Affairs/Development, Sociology, Political Sciences, Public Administration, Gender and Women’s Studies, with strong knowledge of gender issues, or related discipline.
• Master’s degree is an asset.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in areas of political science, public administration, elections, and research & analysis;
• Expertise on gender issues in elections in Lebanon;
• Experience working in electoral processes, promoting women’s advancement in Lebanon or the region.
• Computer skills, internet communication and command of MS Office is required

Language Requirements:

• Written and oral English and Arabic is a must, French is an asset

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

• Criteria 1: Background and Experience (50 points)
• Criteria 2: Education (20 points)

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points)

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;

'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and previous work portfolio, and ability to meet the requirements, method of engagement and other relevant information;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily and lump-sum rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be submitted together, incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.