International Consultant to Provide Extensive Support to Romani Women to Get Involved in Electoral Processes (UN Women).

Vacancy Number: Pr18/01771

Location:Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline: 23 Oct 2018, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Starting date: 01 Nov 2018
Reference to the project: UN Women
Expected Duration of Assignment:Up to 80 working days in the period of begin-November 2018- end-September, 2019 (of which 54– home-based, up to 26 – missions to Moldova)
Submission Instructions:

This is an international position, therefore all nationalities are eligible to apply.

Technical proposal and financial proposal should be submitted on-line no later than 23 October 2018 (23:59 (GMT+2:00)).

Applications should be submitted on line and include fully completed UN Women Personal History Form as attachment instead of CV/resume, with the mark “International Consultant to Provide Extensive Support to Romani Women to Get Involved in Electoral Processes (UN Women)” by 23 October 2018, 23:59(GMT+2:00).

Failure to disclose prior employment or making false representations on this form will be grounds for withdrawal of further consideration of his/her application or termination, where the appointment or contract has been issued.

Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail elena.ratoi@unwomen.org.

Please notice that this address is for information requests only, please do not send or copy your application package to this address.

UN Women staff will respond in writing or by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

Note:

The system will only allow one attachment, hence all supporting document e.g. P11, CV and Cover letter must be scanned as one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Only qualified, shortlisted candidates will be contacted for test and interview.

Supporting Documents:
Procurement Notice
Annex 1
Annex 2
P11
Terms of References
UN Women Conditions of Service Consultants
Personal History Form (P11) UN Women
UN Women Conditions of Service Consultants

Contacts:

Ms. Elena Ratoi.




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 2018,  UN Women Moldova Country Office started to implement its new Strategic Note (SN) for 2018-2022, which is aligned with the Republic of Moldova–United Nations Partnership Framework for Sustainable Development 2018–2022 and the Global Strategic Plan of UN Women. Under its current SN, UN Women cooperates closely with the government, civil society, academia, private sector and the media to advance social, economic and political rights and opportunities for women and girls, placing special focus on those from marginalized, excluded and under-represented groups. These include rural women, Romani women, women with disabilities, women living with or affected by HIV, women survivors of violence, women migrants, young women, elderly women and others. UN Women’s operation in Moldova focuses on bringing about concrete change in the lives of women and the society towards the long-term impact of achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the country.

Women and girls constitute more than half of Moldova’s population, yet they are under-represented in the bodies that make key decisions affecting their lives. Despite an increase in women’s representation in the Parliament and at local level over the past years, the country did not reach its related MDG 2015 targets and the value of the Political Empowerment Sub-index of the Gender Gap Index is still low (0.176 – placing Moldova on 72th place). Although general women’s representation in decision making process is comparable low, the representation of women from underrepresented groups, including Romani women, is practically inexistent.

The lack of updated official statistical data on number of Roma in the Republic of Moldova hampers undertaking of an objective analysis of the situation in this regard. Some administrative sources and researches report different data on the Roma population in the country, which varies from 14,000[1] to 200, 000[2]. Roma face multiple barriers against social inclusion, and access to employment, education, health care and other services. There is a high degree of intolerance and hostility towards Roma held by the majority population. According to a 2014 UN comprehensive study on the situation of Romani women in Moldova, Romani women represent one of the most vulnerable groups in the Republic of Moldova. Routinely they have lower levels of education, much higher rates of unemployment, significant lower level of income and poorer health than the rest of the population. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) in its 2013 Concluding Observations to  Republic of Moldova expressed concerns that disadvantaged groups of women, including Romani women and women with disabilities, are, in practice, almost completely excluded from political and public life and recommended introducing procedures to ensure their effective participation in elected offices and appointed bodies, as well as effective measures, including Temporary Special Measures, in order to accelerate the realization of substantive equality for  them. While there have been some encouraging advancements, including the election in 2015 of the first two Romani women as local councilors, the participation of Romani women is lower in comparison with both Roma men and non-Roma women.

In June 2016, the Government of the Republic of Moldova approved the Action Plan to Support Roma Ethnic Group in the Republic of Moldova for 2016-2020, preceded by public consultations with civil society and relevant stakeholders on the Action Plan’s content. Using this opportunity, some Romani women activists were involved in elaboration of the normative framework and strongly advocated for including provisions in the Action Plan on Romani women’s empowerment and gender equality. Despite these efforts, the Action Plan does not contain specific provisions or activities focused on Romani women’s empowerment or strengthening their capacities to become active participants in public and political life.

 

In December 2013, an informal network of Romani women and girls was constituted, aimed at strengthening the de facto realization of rights of Romani women and girls in the Republic of Moldova. UN Women, through its programmes, provided support to the Network in order to strengthen its capacities to act as unified voice for the rights of Romani women, to increase its membership among Romani women from more communities and to provide them with information, skills and networking opportunities. UN Women, through the joint UN Programme Women in Politics (implemented in 2014-2017), also provided comprehensive support in identifying and capacitating Romani women to run for the 2015 local elections, which resulted in the historic development that for the first time in the history of Moldova, 2 Romani women got elected as local councilors. UN Women further supported them and other Roma activists in different communities to mobilize more Roma women to engage civically in local decision-making processes, such as town hall meetings.  

In anticipation of the upcoming local elections in 2019, there is a need for targeted interventions to support interested Romani women to enter the world of politics and run for political office through training, mentorship, career advising and peer networking, building on the past experiences which have led to effective political participation of Roma women. In this respect, UN Women intends to hire an International Consultant to provide support to Romani women to become more actively involved in political life.  

[1] MTIC (2012). According to statistical data from “State population register” related to Roma individuals residents of the Republic of Moldova, there are 14208 documented citizens registered in the country's territorial-administrative profile. www.registru.md/news_2011/165210/ (accessed at 04.07.2015).

[2] Study on the situation of Romani Women and Girls in the Republic of Moldova http://www.un.md/docsandpub/

Scope of work

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the UN Women Programme Coordinator on Women in Leadership (WIL), International Consultant will be responsible to provide extensive support to Romani women to become more actively involved in political life, including to 50 Romani women across the country, who are willing stand for political office and to be candidates at the local elections.

The International Consultant will work in close collaboration with a specialized company/organization engaged by UN Women, which will be directly involved in delivery of a capacity building program for up to 50 Romani women from across the country. The capacity building program will be composed of different tools, like support to run locally for office, capacity building, mentorship, coaching and raising awareness, and will be provided during the entire local election cycle: pre-election, election and post-election phases.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

  • Master’s degree in Law, International Law, Human Rights, Gender, Social Studies, Political Studies and other related fields. Additional points will be granted for PhD degree in the fields mentioned above.

Years of experience:

  • A minimum of 5 years of work experience on promoting the rights of Roma;
  • A minimum of 3 years of experience in organization of various capacity buildings, with a special focus on Roma rights;
  • Experience in gender equality issues, pertinent to Romani women;
  • Previous work experience in writing reports on the situation of Roma population will be considered an asset;
  • Proven experience in working with international organizations (successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset).

Language skills:

  • Excellent command of English language.
  • Working knowledge of Romanian, Russian, Romani languages is an asset.

Documents to be included

  • Letter of Intent with justification of being the most suitable for the work, vision and working approach, specifically indicating experience of mobilization of excluded communities for participation and inclusion
  • Duly filled Personal History Form (P11) and/or CV, including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and specific outputs obtained; P11 can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
  • Financial proposal (in USD) - Specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference). The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days and any other possible costs); Please see Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template and Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of the lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days). Please see TOR Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template and Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form.