National Consultant to Conduct the Analysis of the Compatibility of the National Legislation and the EU Directive 2019/1158 on Work-life Balance

The Position:

National consultant to conduct the analysis of the compatibility of the national legislation and the EU directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance.

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA expands the possibilities for women and youth to lead healthy and productive lives. The interest of UNFPA in the area of private sector work environment and culture is determined by the limited opportunities for women to realize both their career aspirations and have the number of children they want. The majority of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina face a critical decision between choosing a career and having a family. Due to factors such as limited parental leave, lack of flexible working conditions, inaccessible childcare services and opportunities, and male biases in human resources practices within companies, many women are unable to realize both their aspirations.

To address these factors, UNFPA is implementing the Regional Project Expanding Choices: Gender-Responsive Family Policies in the Western Balkans and Moldova, in 2020-2022 that aims to expand choices for women so that they can fulfill their career, family, and fertility aspirations. Under the third project objective, UNFPA will engage governments to build their understanding and support for gender-responsive family policies.

The consultancy aims to conduct an assessment of the existing gender-responsive family policy framework and gaps to align with European Union (EU) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) practices on work-life balance, which will inform the development of key policy asks and ongoing advocacy efforts.

In this context, the Consultant will analyze the compatibility of the national legislation and the Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU and will propose required amendments to national legislation. The Consultant will work in close cooperation with the UNFPA Bosnia and Herzegovina Office at different stages of this consultancy.

You will report to Assistant Representative/UNFPA Project Analyst in charge of GRFFP.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

You would be responsible for:

To achieve the scope of this assignment, the following Objectives are to be accomplished:

Analyze the compatibility of the national legislation and the Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU and OECD best practices;
Propose amendments to national legislation to transpose the EU directive provision in the Transposition Table (Annex 1)
Participate in the discussion and consultation with relevant stakeholders of the proposed amendments.

As a minimum, the consultant is expected to provide the following deliverables:

Deliverables for gender-responsive family policies project

No. of working days

Timeline

A transposition table (Word file) on analysis of the compatibility of the national legislation and the Directive (EU) 2019/1158

4

By 31st March 2023

A draft analytical report, on proposed amendments to national legislation to transpose the EU directive provision and recommendations for key policy asks

4

By 21th April, 2023

Participate in the discussion and consultation with relevant stakeholders of the proposed amendments (exact dates for the consultation to be determined at a later stage)

2

Throughout the consultancy

Final report approved by UNFPA

By 31 May, 2023

Duration and working schedule:

10 working days within the period between 15th of March, 2023 and 31st of May, 2023

The activities under the present assignment will commence on March 15th, 2023, and conclude by May 31st, 2021. The volume of consultancy has been estimated at up to 10 full working days.

Note: The mentioned number of working days has been estimated as being sufficient/ feasible for the envisaged volume of work to be completed successfully and cannot be used as criteria for completion of work/assignment. The provision of envisaged deliverables approved by UNFPA would be the only criteria for the Contractor’s work to be considered completed and eligible for payment/s.

Place where services are to be delivered:

Remote

Qualifications and Experience:

Education:

Advanced university degree, preferably in political or social sciences, international relations, law, gender equality, or any other relevant area;

Knowledge and Experience:

At least 5 years of proven experience in analyzing laws and policies or social research on gender equality;
Good knowledge of existing gender-responsive family policy framework in BiH and EU, and OECD countries;
Proven analytical skills and report writing;

Languages:

Fluency in English and BHS is required.

Required Competencies:

Values:

Exemplifying integrity,

Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,

Embracing cultural diversity,

Embracing change

Core Competencies:

Achieving results,

Being accountable,

Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,

Thinking analytically and strategically,

Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,

Functional Competencies:

Generating, managing and promoting the use of knowledge and information;
Providing a technical support system.

Basis of payment:

Payment will be done in two installments:

50 percent, after submission of the first deliverable (Transposition Table (Word file) on analysis of the compatibility of the national legislation and the Directive (EU) 2019/1158);
50 percent, after submission of the second deliverable (Draft analytical report, on proposed amendments to national legislation to transpose the EU directive provision and recommendations for key policy asks);

The ownership of the outputs under this consultancy will remain with UNFPA BiH Office.