Background
UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination and violence 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 supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programs and services needed to implement these standards. UN Women’s mandate (GA resolution 64/289) is to lead, coordinate and promote accountability of the UN system to deliver on gender equality and the empowerment of women with the primary objective of enhancing country-level coherence, ensuring coordinated interventions and securing positive impacts on the lives of women and girls, including those living in rural areas.
With the soaring number of infected people and deaths due to COVID-19, many countries in the region, including Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), have imposed partial or total lockdowns, quarantine measures and school closures, straining the medical, economic and social systems. The outbreak is expected to bring about severe impact on Europe and Central Asia (ECA), one of the most severely affected areas in the world, which includes a diverse set of countries with different levels of development and vulnerable groups, including refugees, internally displaced persons, the disabled, people with HIV and survivors of gender-based violence. In BiH, the first confirmed case of infection was reported on 5 March 2020 which has risen to over 1500 cases of infection and 62 outcomes by death by 28 April. Authorities at all levels have taken measures to contain the pandemic by imposing various restrictions on businesses and citizens including, but not limited to, closures of educational premises and non-crucial business services, limitations on public services, gatherings and movement, including curfews and mandatory quarantine for the infected and international ravellers. The social and economic impact of the crisis and the measures are already noticeable, while unofficial assessments of the immediate and long-term effects point to considerable impact.
In a state of emergency, there is a profound shock to our society and economy, and the impact on women and men, particularly the most excluded and vulnerable groups, is different both in scope and severity. As frontline responders, health professionals, community volunteers, transport and logistics managers, women are making critical contributions to address the outbreak every day. The majority of caregivers, at home and in our communities, are also women. Additionally, they are at increased risk of infection and loss of livelihood, and existing trends point to less access to sexual and reproductive health and rise in domestic violence during crisis.
As the local communities are closest to citizens, UN Women BiH developed a questionnaire which was shared with representatives from the municipal administration working on municipal response to the crisis caused by COVID-19.
Duties and Responsibilities
Development Objective
The main objective of implemented survey is to understand how the changing situation is affecting women and men differently and how local communities are addressing it. The findings of the assessment will serve as a basis for designing gender responsive interventions to support municipalities during and after the emergency period and see the opportunities to adapt some of the interventions to better respond to the needs of the groups at highest socio-economic risk.
Immediate Objective
Produce the Mapping Assessment on local level in Bosnia and Herzegovina by analysing collected data, identifying the impacts of the crisis on the local population and the specific implications of the impact on gender inequality in BiH, and providing a comprehensive analytical report with policy and programming recommendations based on the findings from the survey responses.
The main objective of the Mapping Assessment on local level is to inform initial response planning to address main challenges and different dimensions of how affected people experience and cope with the outbreak. Specifically, the Rapid Gender Assessment should answer the following questions:
- Which categories of population are at highest risk when it comes to COVID-19 pandemic?
- What immediate interventions have been undertaken at local level?
- What will be the consequences after COVID-19 and which categories they will affect?
- What municipalities representatives’ suggestions/recommendations for interventions that would support the municipalities to better respond to the post emergency needs?
Outputs
Under the supervision of the UN Women GRB Coordinator and overall supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist, the consultant is expected to deliver the following results:
- Review relevant documents (concept note, questionnaire, etc.), existing empirical evidence and collected data, and develop a brief overview of methods of analysis and structure of the Mapping Assessment;
- Produce comprehensive gender analysis that answers the above four questions (under section 3 of this TOR – Immediate objective) with clear and detailed findings and conclusions to inform the development of policies and guidelines, and detailed recommendations for response and recovery to be provided to the appropriate stakeholders;
- Produce a policy and programme response brief based on Assessment findings and recommendations;
- Produce a list of key messages for social media content;
- Consult with UN Women through all steps of the assessment and submit each deliverable for comments and approval before finalizing
To facilitate delivery of the above outputs, UN Women will provide the consultant the following:
- uestionnaire responses from municipalities used for data collection
- Contact of municipalities, in need of follow-up
- Other documents as necessary
Activities and Timeframe
The consultant will be expected to complete the following tasks within the indicative timeframe:
The consultancy will last up to 15 days, in the period from 25 May – 1 July 2020. The assignment will not require presence on UN Women premises.
Tasks | Indicative Days | Due date tentative |
Review relevant documents (concept note, questionnaire, etc.), existing empirical evidence and collected data, and develop a brief overview of methods of analysis and structure of the Mapping Assessment | 4 | 01 June 2020 |
Produce comprehensive gender analysis that answers the above four questions (under section 3 of this TOR – Immediate objective) with clear and detailed findings and conclusions to inform the development of policies and guidelines, and detailed recommendations for response and recovery to be provided to the appropriate stakeholders | 5 | 10 June 2020 |
Produce a policy and programme response brief based on Assessment findings and recommendations | 1 | 12 June 2020 |
Produce a list of key messages for social media content | 1 | 12 June 2020 |
Discuss the produced documents with UN Women | 2 | 15 June 2020 |
Incorporate comments and finalize the analysis and recommendations | 2 | 22 June 2020 |
Total | 15 |
|
Reporting
All deliverables should be submitted to the UN Women GRB Coordinator. Approval time required to review the report before authorizing payments is 7 days.
The consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables:
- Review relevant documents (concept note, questionnaire, etc.), existing empirical evidence and collected data, and develop a brief overview of methods of analysis and structure of the Mapping Assessment
- Produce comprehensive gender analysis that answers the above four questions (under section 3 of this TOR – Immediate objective) with clear and detailed findings and conclusions to inform the development of policies and guidelines, and detailed recommendations for response and recovery to be provided to the appropriate stakeholders
- Produce a policy and programme response brief based on Assessment findings and recommendations
- Produce a list of key messages for social media content
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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf
Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning
- Shares knowledge and experience
- Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
- Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
- Development and Operational Effectiveness
- Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
- Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach/advocacy
- Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported
- Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems
- Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource
Leadership and Self-Management
- Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
- Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
- Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate
- Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners
Required Skills and Experience
Academic Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in gender studies, social sciences, international development, or related field.
Skills and Experience:
- At least 5 years of demonstrated experience in social research, impact assessments, gender analysis and gender statistics
- Proven background and experience at the national and/or international level in research or academic experience in the field of women’s rights and gender equality
- Demonstrated interest in the field of gender equality and women’s rights
- Working experience with international organizations and/or UN System will be considered an asset
- Good analytical and communication skills with a high level of proficiency in both written and oral English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.
Evaluation of Offers
UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of potential consultants as well as the financial proposals submitted in support of consultant applications. Candidate applications will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of applicant qualifications and financial proposal. The 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.
The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal will be allocated to the lowest price proposal among those candidates.
Criteria:
Technical Evaluation (70%),
Financial Evaluation (30%)
Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30
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 the consideration.
Please note that travel costs should be covered by the consultant.
Qualified women and men and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents:
- Expression of interest and confirmation of immediate availability
- Detailed financial proposal inclusive of all costs (which includes consultancy fees, travel, accommodation
- Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form, that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
Please note that travel and accommodation costs should be covered by the consultant.
For any additional information, please contact unwomen.bih@unwomen.org
How to Submit the Application: To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:
- Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
- Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), the Financial Proposal, and Expression of Interest 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.