National Consultant

Location : Home based (on retainer basis), NEPAL

Application Deadline : 07-Sep-23 (Midnight New York, USA)

Additional Category : Management

Type of Contract : Individual Contract

Post Level : National Consultant

Languages Required : English

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)

02-Oct-2023

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.

In Nepal, UN Women focuses on strengthening women’s voice, agency and leadership across sectors to advance women’s rights, provide space for women’s meaningful participation, and contribute to tangible differences in their lives. In prioritizing inclusive governance, UN Women Nepal seeks to advance women’s political empowerment and leadership and enhance women’s access to justice in Nepal’s federal structure. Towards this goal UN Women works with elected officials, civil servants and citizens at all levels. The approach extends beyond policy and law reform, to implementation and monitoring of policies, supporting the development of plans and budgets, enhancing the capacity of key government officials, and promoting gender equality and social inclusion in local governance. In addition, UN Women works with excluded groups to support their active participation and enable their voices to be heard. Throughout this work, UN Women seeks to contribute to transforming discriminatory social norms and eliminating harmful practices and behaviours, including violence against women. All of the above contribute to fulfilling Nepal’s obligations to international treaties and commitments, including regular reporting on progress related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Beijing Platform for Action and to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

As part of the movement building work as a core strategy of the NCO defined in the current strategic note (2023-2027), UN Women Nepal has been supporting inter-generational feminist movement building initiative through Thought Workshops since 2017. The Inter-generational Feminist Thought Leaders came up with the Feminist Position Paper (FPP) in 2019. The Position Paper focuses on the value, ethics, and principles of the group in the context of federalism and current humanitarian context.

Few crucial initiatives have been undertaken by the Inter-generational Feminist Forum (IGFF) Group during the development and humanitarian contexts. With facilitation support by UN Women, the group contributed to the development of the Charter of Demands and submitted to the relevant Government counterparts at the Federal and Provincial levels. The Group also continued to hold several meetings with Government and non-Government actors in all seven provinces. In addition, the group revised the FPP aligning it with the current COVID-19 context. In July 2022 and 2023, the group organised Thought Workshop III and IV on unpaid work including care and LDC Graduation linking it with care economy respectively in financial support from UN Women.

UN Women Nepal is seeking to engage National Consultant on a retainer basis to support the UN Women Nepal Country Office (NCO) to provide technical support to advance gender responsive inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment in both development and humanitarian context.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Programme Specialist (Inclusive Governance and Economic Security and Rights), the National Consultant will provide support to NCO to advance gender responsive inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment as aligned with the strategic note (2023-2027). The scope of work and responsibilities of the assignment are as follows: Public advocacy:

•  Facilitate strategic dialogues/interventions with decision makers including parliamentarian on emerging GE issues in support of UN Women staff in both development and humanitarian crisis context;
•  Organize meetings and consultations with the women leaders/CSOs and excluded groups to bring in diverse voices in public advocacy efforts on GE and women’s rights in support of UN Women staff; and
•  Conduct advocacy role with CSOs and private sectors on various GESI related thematic interventions of NCOs such as GBV, gender responsive inclusive governance, women’s economic empowerment (including migration), unpaid work including care in both development and humanitarian context (through meetings/dialogues) in support of UN Women staff

Policy Advisory and technical assistance:

•  Review NCO’s programming documents/knowledge products and provide technical inputs to better reflect contextual issues, needs/interests of diverse groups; and
•  Review the Nepali translated version of documents to ensure its accuracy in development and humanitarian context

Capacity Development:

•  Design and facilitate series of capacity development initiatives to potential women and excluded group leaders in support of UN Women staff; and
•  Design and facilitate capacity development sessions to NCO’s staff members/partners on feminist leadership, social norms, unpaid care work, migration as per the request from NCO

Expected deliverables

•  Number of strategic interventions (eight) with decision makers including parliamentarian on emerging GE issues including development and humanitarian crisis context in support of UN Women staff;
•  Number of meetings (10) and consultations held with the women leaders and excluded groups to bring in diverse voices in public advocacy efforts on GE and women’s rights in support of UN Women staff;
•  Evidence of advocacy efforts with CSOs and private sectors and relevant stakeholders on various GESI related thematic interventions of NCOs such as GBV, gender responsive inclusive governance, women’s economic empowerment (including migration), unpaid work including care in both development and humanitarian context in support of UN Women staff;
•  Agenda/ session plan, presentations, trainers report from capacity development sessions (minimum three sessions) to NCO staff members on feminist leadership, unpaid work including care, social norms, migration as per the request from NCO;
•  Evidence of technical inputs to strengthen NCO’s programming documents/knowledge products (five documents); and
•  Evidence of review Nepali translated version of documents (maximum five) to ensure its accuracy in development and humanitarian context

INPUTS

•  UN Women will provide reference materials and facilitate coordination with key stakeholders.
•  The Consultant is expected to work remotely. UN Women can give access the UN Women office for printing of relevant documents during the assignment, if required.
•  The Consultant will be required to provide their own local communications such as SIM cards and mobile phone.
•  The Consultant will be responsible to arrange private insurance.
•  It is mandatory for the Consultant to participate in a UN security briefing and to follow UN security rules and guidance.
•  The Consultant will be required to provide a Statement of Good Health, endorsed by a certified Medical Practitioner.

Duration of the assignment and duty station

This is a home-based assignment for one year (11 November 2023 – 10 November 2024) on retainer basis (as and when required) with a maximum of 60 working days. The assignment may also include participation in meetings and consultations in Kathmandu. UN Women will not be committed to purchasing any minimum quantity of the Services, and purchases will be made only if there is an actual requirement upon the issuance of a Purchase Order based on this retainer contract. UN Women shall not be liable for any cost in the event that no purchases are made under this retainer contract.

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

Required Skills and Experience

•  Master’s degree in Gender and Development Studies, Political Science, Social Science, or any other related field of studies.
•  A minimum of 15 years of professional experience in working with gender equality and women’s empowerment and/or inclusive governance and closely linked with women’s movement in Nepal.
•  Proven expertise in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
•  Previous experience working with different levels of government, decision-makers, civil society and development partners. Experience working with the UN system is a considerable asset.
•  Fluency in written and oral English and Nepali is required.
•  Ability to handle documents and the information contained therein with strictest confidentiality is a non-negotiable requirement.

9. DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS?

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

•  Expression of interest explaining why you are interested to this position and what professional skills and experiences make you a strong candidate.
•  UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded: http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
•  A sample of recent original writing (unedited publications/documents of maximum 2-3 pages for example concept note, project brief, strategic paper, report)
•  A separate page of financial proposal, professional fee per day. Please note that DSA for field missions will be paid at UN rates and travel, booked in compliance with UN Women policy, will be reimbursed at actual cost so these costs do not need to be included in the financial proposal.

Deliverables

No. of hours/days required

Tentative amount in NPR

•  Number of strategic interventions (eight) with decision makers including parliamentarian on emerging GE issues including development and humanitarian crisis context in support of UN Women staff;
•  Number of meetings (10) and consultations held with the women leaders and excluded groups to bring in diverse voices in public advocacy efforts on GE and women’s rights in support of UN Women staff;
•  Evidence of advocacy efforts with CSOs and private sectors on various GESI related thematic interventions of NCOs such as GBV, gender responsive inclusive governance, women’s economic empowerment (including migration), unpaid work including care in both development and humanitarian context in support of UN Women staff;
•  Agenda/ session plan, presentations, trainers report from capacity development sessions (minimum three sessions) to NCO staff members on feminist leadership, unpaid work including care, social norms, migration as per the request from NCO;
•  Evidence of technical inputs to strengthen NCO’s programming documents/knowledge products (five documents); and
•  Evidence of review Nepali translated version of documents (maximum five) to ensure its accuracy in development and humanitarian context

You will be able to upload only one attachment. Please combine your all documents into one single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form and the writing sample will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

10. Evaluation criteria

A two-stage procedure is applied in evaluating the proposals.

•  The technical proposal is assessed first based on the qualifications listed above. Those proposals that meet a minimum threshold (scoring at least 70% on the technical assessment) will be considered further, including through assessment of the financial proposal.

Technical evaluation criteria (including minimum qualifications):

•  Qualification- Master’s degree in Gender and Development Studies, Political Science, Social Science, or any other related field of studies (10 points).
•  A minimum of 15 years of professional experience and expertise in working on gender equality and women’s empowerment and/or inclusive governance with different levels of government, decision-makers, civil society and development partners and closely linked with women’s movement in Nepal. – (35 points)
•  Working with the UN system (5 points).
•  A sample of recent original writing (unedited publications/documents of maximum 2-3 pages for example concept note, project brief, strategic paper, report) (20 points)
•  The financial proposal of candidates who meet the technical assessment threshold will be evaluated. The financial assessment will count as 30% of the total points. In this methodology, 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.

A formula is as follows: p = y (µ/z)

Where: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Note:

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.

UN Women is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals especially women are highly encouraged to apply