National Consultant to develop the Gender Equality Index Report for BiH

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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality (GE) and gender mainstreaming translate into action globally. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Since 2010, the European Union and UN Women have developed a close partnership. Working in concert, the European Union and UN Women have made great strides to promote gender equality through shared dialogue, advocacy, and cooperation programs.

The European Union Gender Equality Facility (GEF) in BiH is based on the Action Document for the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) for the year 2018 “EU Gender Equality Facility”. The project is funded and jointly implemented by the European Union and UN Women, through the Project Team in close cooperation with the Agency for Gender Equality BiH (AGE BiH) and the Gender Center of the Federation of BiH (GC FBiH).

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) progress in recent years respecting and promoting Gender Equality is highlighted in a series of international commitments and in national legal and policy frameworks. The main achievements in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment reside in BiH’s institutional capacity development for the work on gender equality. Indeed, the legal provisions guaranteeing women’s rights and gender equality are largely in place – the Gender Equality Law, the Gender Action Plan, the Election Law amendment instituting quotas, the Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325, and the ratification of the Istanbul Convention are normative achievements that influence the institutional practice in promoting gender equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As the Government of BiH prepares to align with the broader European Union acquis in a wide range of sectors, it is prioritizing investment in particular sectors with specific areas of social and economic reform, providing for the adoption of a comprehensive sector-based approach to development. BiH’s accession to the European union is structured on the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP), the implementation of which is monitored by the European Commission. Bosnia and Herzegovina applied for EU membership in February 2016. The Commission adopted its Opinion (Avis) on the EU membership application of the country in May 2019, identifying 14 key priorities for the country to fulfill in view of opening EU accession negotiations out of which one priority is targeting gender equality.

GEF aims to strengthen the effective implementation of domestic and international legal frameworks concerning gender equality and women’s rights; mainstreaming gender into European Union integration and planning processes for pre-accession assistance; and strengthen institutional mechanisms for gender equality in line with the European union standards. Furthermore, GEF will support institutions in correctly aligning with the European Union Gender Equality acquis. The focus of the project intervention, funded and implemented jointly by the European Union and UN Women, is on the role and functioning of institutional mechanisms for gender equality and their engagement in all aspects of European Union integration and planning and implementation of pre-accession assistance. Support includes strengthening the gender institutional mechanisms; the Gender Action Plan (GAPs) Coordination Committees and civil servants tasked with providing gender expertise in sectoral areas (gender focal points in ministries); and also the enhancement of capacities for implementing and monitoring GAPs and other relevant policies at the state and entity level. The intervention will address challenges in the implementation of laws and gender equality policies through support to the institutions mandated for gender equality and between coordination and monitoring of gender equality policies and measures.

Pursuant to the Gender Equality Law of BiH, the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AGE) is entrusted with monitoring the enforcement of the law. Furthermore, the Agency, along with the Gender Center of the Federation of BiH (GC FBiH) and the Gender Centre of Republika Srpska (GC RS) (collectively referred to as the “gender institutional mechanisms”) are key institutional mechanisms for gender equality in the BiH Council of Ministers, Government of the Federation of BiH and the Government of Republika Srpska, in charge of directing efforts towards fighting discrimination and achieving gender equality in BiH by developing strategic documents and action plans.

There are three statistical institutions in BiH. In line with the Law on Statistics, the competent authority for BiH level is the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHAS), and for the entity level Institute for Statistics of Federation of BiH (FIS), and Institute for Statistics of Republika Srpska (RSIS). Central Bank of BiH (CBBiH) is responsible for monetary statistics, the balance of payment and other financial statistics in BiH.

The partial Gender Equality Index for BiH was developed by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHAS), with the support of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). The partial Gender Equality Index for BiH measures the situation and key achievement in: domain of knowledge, domain of power, one sub-domain in the domain of work and two sub-domains in the domain of health.

The UN Women Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina is seeking to recruit a National Consultant to develop the Gender Equality Index Report for BiH.

Duties and Responsibilities

DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of this consultancy is to enhance the implementation and monitoring of the selected areas of the Gender Action Plan.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE

The specific objectives of the assignment are:

In close collaboration with the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AGE BiH), draft the Gender Equality Index Report for BiH;
Produces the final report after review by EIGE;
Hold workshops to present guidelines to stakeholders.

SCOPE OF WORK

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women GEF Project Manager, the overall supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist, guidance of the EUD Programe Manager and in close coordination with the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AGE BiH) and other relevant partners, the National Consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

Conduct consultations with the UN Women GEF Project team, the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AGE BiH) and other stakeholders to understand the project context and requirements.
After initial consultations develop a methodology and workplan.
Draft the Gender Equality Index Report for BiH. The report will be based on the partial Gender Equality Index for BiH developed for: domain of knowledge, domain of power, one sub-domain in the domain of work and two sub-domains in the domain of health. The National Consultant is expected to analyse the data to provide an overview of developments and areas where improvements are still needed to achieve gender equality. A comparison with EU-27 in the said domains and sub-domains is to be made as well.
Draft Gender Equality Index Report for BiH shared with the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AGE BiH) for comments. Written record of how comments have been addressed to be kept.
Draft final Gender Equality Index Report for BiH with AGE BiH’s comments integrated to be shared with EIGE for comments. Written record of how comments have been addressed to be kept.
Submission of final Gender Equality Index Report for BiH with EIGE’s comments integrated.

Throughout the assignment, the National Consultant is expected to:

Maintain communication and good working relations with designated staff of AGE BiH, EIGE and other institutions relevant for the assignment.
Organize weekly briefings with the UN Women GEF Project Manager to provide status updates/reports.

To facilitate the delivery of the above outputs, UN Women will provide the National Consultant with the following:

Translation of the Gender Equality Index Report for B/C/S into English.
Project related documents and contacts;
Other documents as necessary.

DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

The consultant will be expected to submit the following deliverables within the indicative timeframe:

Deliverables

Indicative Days

Timeline and due dates

1. Notes or minutes of meetings (including participants’ lists) held with AGE BiH and other stakeholders to understand the project context and requirements. Submit to and finalise after approval of UN Women.

1

20 May 2022

2. Submit a methodology and workplan and finalise after UN Women’s approval.

2

24 May 2022

3. Submit the draft Gender Equality Index Report for BiH and finalise after UN Women’s approval.

16

17 June 2022

4. Submit the final draft Gender Equality Index Report for BiH after comments by AGE BiH. Written record of how comments have been addressed to be kept. Finalise after UN Women’s approval.

5

30 June 2022

5. Submit the final Gender Equality Index Report for BiH with EIGE’s comments integrated. Finalise after UN Women’s approval.

5

09 September 2022

6. Brief final consultancy report up to 5 pages covering essential issues.

1

13 September 2022

Total

30

The consultancy will last 30 days in the period from 16 May 2022 to 30 September 2022. The assignment will not require presence on UN Women premises. The assignment will not require in-country travel.

REPORTING

All deliverables should be submitted to the UN Women GEF Project Manager in B/C/S. The final consultancy report should be delivered in English at the latest by 13 September 2022. Approval time required to review the deliverables before authorizing payments is 7 days. All deliverables must satisfy the EU/UN Women visibility requirements.

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

Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning

Shares knowledge and experience
Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
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:

Masters’ degree or equivalent in development related disciplines, gender/women studies, economics, statistics, international development, or other related/social science fields;
Bachelor’s Degree in a similar field in combination with additional five years of relevant work experience will be taken into consideration in lieu of the master’s degree (a total of 12 years of work experience is required if the candidate holds a Bachelor’s Degree).

Work Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of experience in preparing national gender reports, conducting gender analysis, gender statistics, and gender research;
Proven background and experience at the national and/or international/EU level in conducting needs assessment and/or capacity assessment on existing data, methodologies and/or monitoring and evaluation systems from a gender perspective;
Evidence of producing high-quality written reports on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Please refer to previous publications/report;
Prior experience in conducting tasks similar to the ones outlined in this ToR with UN/EU agencies in the Western Balkans or similar international organizations will be considered a distinct advantage.

Language requirement:

Fluency in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian
Fluency in English (written and spoken)

Other skills:

Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communication and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point), Zoom and MS Teams