International Consultant to undertake Strategic Note Mid-Term Review

Background

UN Women office in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was established in 2008 to provide support to governmental and non-governmental partners to implement existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality. UN Women is working in several corporate impact areas with partners from both public sector, civil society and other UN Agencies. The convening power of UN Women was re-confirmed during the national Beijing+25 Review Process in 2019, and UN Women support to the implementation of the three iterations of the BIH Gender Action Plan. UN Women is uniquely positioned to support the implementation of national priorities by both government and CSOs. Additionally, within UNCT, UN Women is strongly positioned to lead on the issues related to gender equality and empowerment of women. Operationally the comparative advantage for the formulation and implementation of development interventions within its mandate was raised in 2014 by the transitioning of UN Women presence from project office to country office.

UN Women BiH’s Strategic Note (SN) 2021 - 2025  is a forward-looking document that underscores the integrated nature of the Country Office (CO) programme, and is fully aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2021 - 2025. The SN outlines the overall strategy and plan of action for the CO and includes a Development Result Framework (DRF) focused on plans, and Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency Framework (OEEF) focused on coordination mandate and operations, each with expected results and targets/ indicators/baselines.

SN 2021 – 2025 Overarching ToC

UN Women’s work is in line with international norms and standards, Gender Action Plan 2018 - 2022, and relies on partnerships with the different levels of government, civil society, the international community and members of the UNCT, within the framework of the UNSDCF 2021 - 2025. This is done with the aim of accelerating the country’s EU integration process, reducing gender inequalities, promoting empowerment of girls and women to eliminate all forms of violence, ensure their active participation in political and economic decision-making and guarantee substantive equality, both centrally and locally.

To achieve this result, for the period 2021-2025, UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina has designed a country strategy based on a theory of change that links strongly with the UNSDCF and proposes significant focusing of the operational efforts in the country, and states that: 

Conditions for change towards substantive equality

IF (1) People benefit from resilient, inclusive and sustainable growth ensured by the convergence of economic development and management of environment and cultural resources;

IF (2) People have access to better quality and inclusive health and social protection systems; and

IF (3) People contribute to, and benefit from more accountable and transparent governance systems that deliver quality public services, and ensure rule of law

THEN, women and girls in BiH will move towards full inclusion, prosperity, substantive equality, the full exercise of their human rights, peace and empowerment for all, including groups that have been left behind.

BECAUSE: 1) Governments have improved capacities to promote labour policies that enhance women's access to decent work and promote income security; 2) Women owned/women-led businesses and women entrepreneurs have strengthened capacities and resilience; 3) Women and girls benefit from employment opportunities and education/exchange programs in tech-driven industries; 4) Legislators and institutions have capacities to incorporate the highest level of international standards on EVAW in legislation, policies and budgets; 5) Women, girls, men and boys at community and individual level able to mobilize actors, resources and capacities to create an environment for zero tolerance to violence; 6) General and specialist service providers have improved capacities to deliver quality, accessible and survivor-centered services; 7) Relevant institutions have the necessary capacities which ensure gender-responsive analysis, planning, policy making, budgeting and integration of EU gender equality and women’s empowerment commitments across sectors; 8) Selected government and political institutions in BiH have increased capacities to ensure the necessary regulatory and procedural preconditions for increased political participation of women; 9) Government institutions and selected CSOs have increased capacities to implement BiH GAP, AP on implementation of UNSCR 1325, and CEDAW Concluding Recommendations; and 10) Government and CSOs strengthen multi-stakeholder dialogue.

Under UN Women’s policies and procedures and in relation to programme management, a mid-term review (MTR) is mandatory for Strategic Note of a at least three years duration. UN Women BiH CO seeks a consultant to undertake key elements of the preparatory work for SN MTR and facilitate the consultative process with the key stakeholders.

The objectives of the UN Women’s MTR are to:

1. Interrogate the Strategic Note's Theories of Change;
2. Assess the relevance and effectiveness of country-level interventions and programmes;
3. Assess the quality of partnerships with both implementing and strategic partners;
4. Assess how and in what areas UN Women's country programmatic focus needs to be further improved to make a greater impact and to contribute to SDGs in those areas where UN Women has comparative organizational strengths;
5. Assess the context for engagement with partners, beneficiaries and donors
6. Analyse how UN Women needs to generate greater impact more efficiently and effectively with the available resources through leveraging the partnerships approach and the UN coordination mandate and look at opportunities for UN-Women to leverage its collaborative advantage further to boost its contribution to the implementation of Agenda 2030 and EU accession agenda;
7. Analyse and refine results measurement to articulate better the changes UN Women generates, including its efforts to Leave No One Behind, and propose adjustments to targets and indicators of IRRF;
8. Contribute to lessons learned about normative, operational and coordination work by providing information about what is working well, what is not and opportunities to be further explored
9. To serve as an early launching point for the subsequent process of developing the future programming.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Strategic Note Mid-Term Review will focus on a forward-looking adjustment of UN Women CO Strategy for normative, programmatic and coordination response in BiH and will also used to inform the eventual development of the new Strategic Note (2026-2030).

Under the overall guidance of UN Women Representative and supervision of Programme Specialist, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Desk review of key documents, including:
  • Guidance Note: Mid-term Reviews of Strategic Notes
  • UN Women BiH Strategic Note (2021 - 2025)
  • UN Women BiH Annual Reports (2021, 2022)
  • BIH UNSDCF (2021 – 2025) and associated reports
  • Evalution reports
  • Common Country Assessment Report
  • Country Gender Profile
• Prepare a questionnaire based on the sample questions in the Annex of the UN Women MTR guidance and conduct a survey of key stakeholders, analyzing and synthesizing results for feedback.
• Develop a draft MTR Report highlighting key past results and including forward-looking recommendations to guide and inform the last two year’s of implementation of the UN Women BiH Strategic Note.
• Develop the agenda of the MTR review session in close collaboration with the the UN Women Representative, and with the Programme Specialist and join and facilitate the session.
• Undertake mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina to complete consultations and facilitate the MTR meeting (up to 5 days mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina). A series of individual interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders from the relevant institutions civil society at state, entity, canton and municipal levels will be conducted.
• Support review sessions with UN Women CO staff and key stakeholders.
• Draft final MTR Report based on the above mentioned analysis and consultations

The consultant will be expected to complete the following tasks and deliverables within the indicative timeframe:

The consultant should in the development of the deliverables allow time for deliverables to be reviewed and commented by UN Women before their finalization.

Any envisaged travel and accommodation costs should be indicated in the financial proposal and covered by the consultant. 

The final report shall be written in English and shall not exceed 20 pages (excluding annexes).

Competencies

Core Values/guiding principles:

• Integrity - Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism - Demonstrate professional competence and Consultant knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Cultural sensitivity and respect for diversity - Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Additionally, the individual should have an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Planning & Organizing – Develops clear goals in line with agreed strategies, identifies priorities, foresees risks and makes allowances accordingly.
• Organizational Awareness - Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Teamwork - Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Accountability – Takes ownership of all responsibilities and delivers outputs in accordance with agreed time, cost and quality standards.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
• 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:

• Master’s degree or advanced university degree in social science, gender/women’s studies, programme management, Development studies or other related fields

Skills and Experience:

• 10 years of professional work experience in programming, monitoring and evaluation with UN agencies, similar international organizations, NGOs, multi/bilateral and/or government institutions programme development and implementation;
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience working on gender equality and women’s empowerment Programmes, preferable in the Western Balkans region;
• Proven knowledge of EU legal framework regarding gender equality related to EU accession processes (list of 2 examples of previous work to be provided);;
• Proven experience in guiding and documenting programme reviews and evaluations (list of 2 examples of previous work to be provided);
• Fluency in English, excellent spoken and written skills.

The application should contain:     

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position.  
• Filled P11 form including experience in similar projects and contact details from
• http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment 
• Financial Proposal*- specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specifies in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel, per diems and any other possible costs). 

Please note:

All documents have to be uploaded in 1 single file.

*The financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, travel, per diems and any other relevant expense related to the performance of services…).

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials as well as detailed descriptions of your previous positions and duties in your P11 form.

Evaluation 
UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of potential consultants as well as the financial proposals submitted in support of consultant applications. Candidate applications will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of applicant qualifications and financial proposal. The contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• having received the highest score out of below defined technical, interview and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for an interview. Top 3 candidates (with highest number of points in the technical evaluation) will be interviewed.

Criteria:

Technical Evaluation (70%) - Maximum Obtainable Points 70

Financial Evaluation (30%) - Maximum Obtainable Points 30  

TOTAL - 100 points          

• Master’s degree or advanced university degree in social science, gender/women’s studies, programme management, Development studies or other related fieldsSkills and Experience:
• 10 years of professional work experience in programming, monitoring and evaluation with UN agencies, similar international organizations, NGOs, multi/bilateral and/or government institutions programme development and implementation 15 points;
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience working on gender equality and women’s empowerment Programmes, preferable in the Western Balkans region 20 points;
• Proven knowledge of EU legal framework regarding gender equality related to EU accession processes (list of 2 examples of previous work to be provided) 10 points;
• Proven experience in guiding and documenting programme reviews and evaluations (list of 2 examples of previous work to be provided) 25 points;
• Fluency in English, excellent spoken and written skills.

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 suggested formula is as follows:             

p = 30 (µ/z)         

Where: 

 p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

 µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal   being evaluated

Qualified women and men and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. 

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. 

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.  All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)