Service Center Page, Jobs

National Consultant to undertake the evaluation of the implementation of the National Implementation Program of UN SCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and its Action Plan for 2018-2021.

Vacancy Number: Pr21/02217

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	04 May 2021, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	14 May 2021, 11:00 (GMT+2:00)
Starting date:	12 May 2021
Reference to the project:	UN Women
Expected Duration of Assignment:	Up to 30 working days during 12 May- 30 June 2021
Submission Instructions: Technical proposal and financial proposal should be submitted on-line no later than 04 May, 23:59 EST. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail emilia.cebotari@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.
Supporting Documents: Annex_II_Price_Proposal_Guideline_and_Template Annex_I_Price_Proposal_Guideline_and_Template Terms of Reference_nat.cons_Evaluation_NAP1325 Personal History Form (P11) UN Women

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 Moldova Country Office implements its 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. Specifically, the SN 2018-2022 advances progress under the following three Impact Areas (IA): IA1: More women fully participate and lead in gender responsive governance processes and institutions, including in the security sector, IA2: Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, IA3: Public authorities, institutions and communities prevent violence against women and girls and deliver quality essential services. Towards these Impact Areas, UN Women works with variety of national and international partners to challenge gender-based stereotypes and towards the creation of an environment, whereby women act as key agents of change towards greater equality and development, in partnership with men and boys.

Rationale

All over the world, UN Women works to promote peace by supporting women of all backgrounds and ages to participate in processes to prevent conflict and build and sustain peace. UN Women supports women’s full and equal representation and participation in all levels of peace processes and security efforts. UN Women’s work on women, peace, and security is guided by 10 UN Security Council resolutions—1325, 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122, 2242, 2467, and 2493—and is  bolstered by a number of related normative frameworks, which make up the broader women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda. UN Women leads on implementing the WPS agenda through research initiatives, data collection, learning exchanges, and documentation of good practices to inform policy and programming.

An important breakthrough occurred in May 2017, when after months of deliberations and advocacy, a Government Decision was adopted (Order no. 54-d from May 29, 2017) which formally launched the process of developing National Action Plan (NAP 1325) on the Implementation of UN SCR 1325. The decision established a Working Group led by Deputy Prime Minister and consisting of Deputy Ministers of all relevant Ministries and government agencies, responsible for the whole process of development and adoption of the NAP 1325. UN Women provided extensive technical support to the Government in raising awareness and knowledge on the women, peace and security agenda and on gender mainstreaming in the security and defence sector, in the process of preparation for and development of the NAP on UN SCR 1325. In March 2018, the National Programme on Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for 2018-2021 (NAP 1325) and the Action Plan on its implementation were adopted. The National Programme recognizes the key role women play in peace building and ensuring security and proposes concrete actions to address barriers against increased representation and influence of women in the security sector in the Republic of Moldova.

UN Women committed itself, including through its Strategic Note for 2018-2022, to provide continuous support to relevant governmental institutions on promotion of the women, peace and security agenda and on achieving specific results envisaged in the National Programme. The cooperation between UN Women and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of Moldova were consolidated with the signing of 2 Memoranda of Cooperation in 2018 (July and August respectively). The main objective of the Memoranda is to increase institutional capacities and knowledge of the institutions in the areas of gender equality and implementation of UN SCR 1325 and other WPS-related Resolutions. Specifically, the Memoranda of Cooperation seek to contribute to reduce the stereotypes about the role of women in the security and defence sector, to improve the opportunities for women and men from the system to reconcile the professional and family life, to prevent and respond to discrimination, harassment, and gender-based violence within the sector etc. Besides this, UN Women provides continuous support to other institutions with duties in advancing WPS Agenda to implement specific provisions from NAP 1325.  

Bearing in mind that 2021 is the last year of the implementation of NAP 1325 and the new generation of NAP 1325 is expected to be developed and further approved, UN Women committed to embark on Government’s initiative to assess the implementation of the current Program by providing all the necessary support linked to this process to the Working Group. Therefore, UN Women intends to contract a national consultant to undertake the evaluation of the implementation of NAP 1325 for 2018-2021.

Scope of work

Under overall guidance and supervision of the UN Women Programme Officer on WPS and the Programme Analyst on Women in Leadership and Governance (WILG) and in coordination with  the Deputy Prime minister and Bureau for Reintegration , the national consultant shall provide support to the Government’s Working Group to undertake the evaluation of the NAP 1325 for 2018-2021, and namely of the results achieved during its implementation and the lessons learned. Based on these, and on identified constraints and challenges, the national consultant shall provide specific recommendations for the development of the next generation of NAP 1325, at the level of objectives and potential areas of interventions.

The overall purpose of the evaluation is to assess the progress (and challenges) at the general objectives level obtained by each institution engaged in the implementation of the current NAP 1325, with measurement of the level of achievement of specific objectives, including the identification of the enabling and disabling factors that affected the implementation. Gaps and lessons learnt shall be determined and recommendations provided to guide the further development of the second NAP 1325. The evaluation will primarily address the criteria of Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency and potential for Sustainability, in correspondence with the provisions of the Government Decision nr.386/2020 and the Methodological Guidelines on midterm and ex-post policies evaluations, placed on the State Chancellery website[1].  

Tasks

Duties and responsibilities of the consultant:

• Conduct a desk review of key documents, including, but not limited to:
• NAP 1325 for 2018-2021
• NAP 1325 implementation report for 2018-2020
• Action plans for operationalization of the NAP 1325 at the level of security and defence institutions (whereas available)
• Performance indicators of the strategic document for general and specific objectives
• Statistical data provided by the ministries, other central government authorities and CSOs
• Analyses, studies, research in the field in Moldova and in the region
• Online questionnaires
• Other relevant information
• Design a detailed work plan with concrete timelines, including methodology, data collection tools and instruments.
• Undertake the data collection via identified tools and instruments. In case of the one-to-one consultations/sessions with key stakeholders (institutions and CSOs) and development partners, UN Women could provide logistical support, if needed.
• Develop the first draft of the evaluation report outlining relevance of the NAP 1325’s objectives and key findings, challenges, gaps and recommendations.
• Presentation and validation of the key findings to stakeholders and collect feedback (potential participants: Working Group, representative of relevant ministries, members of women’s associations in defence and security area, civil society, etc.), including the development of the divergence table.
• Preparation of final evaluation report structured according to the provisions of the Government Decision nr.386/2020.

Note: *In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, the method of meetings/presentations (be it face-to-face or online) will be decided before their de facto organization, based on the recommendations of the national authorities and the office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Moldova.

Expected deliverables

All written deliverables should be agreed with UN Women and be provided in Romanian Language, electronic copy.

[1] https://cancelaria.gov.md/ro/advanced-page-type/evaluarea-politicilor-publice-pasi-practici

Requirements for experience

Education: 

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in social science, gender/women’s studies, law or other related fields.
• A first-level university degree in combination with three additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of professional work experience in public policies development and implementation, including monitoring and evaluation activities;

• Minimum 3 years of proven work experience in the field public policies monitoring and evaluation;  
• Experience of carrying out consultative research and in producing analytical reports;  
• Experience in working with international organizations (successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset).

Language skills: 

• Excellent verbal and written Romanian. Working knowledge of English and Russian will be considered an advantage. 

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.

Documents to be included

Interested candidates must submit via online submission system the following documents/ information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Letter of Intent with justification of being the most suitable for the work, vision and working approach, specifically indicating experience of promoting gender equality especially in the security and defense sectors
• Duly filled Personal History Form (P11) and CV, including records on past experience in similar project/assignments and specific outputs obtained; P11 can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Financial proposal (in MDL) - 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

Applications without financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

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.