Consultant on Women’s Political Participation - National ONLY

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 and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Lebanon’s municipal elections are slated to take place no later than May 2024. Women remain grossly underrepresented in Lebanon, despite gaining their right to vote in 1952, and a vibrant feminist movement. Despite low representation in all aspects of political life, including 6.25% representation in parliament, and 5.4% of Lebanon’s municipal councilors, positive trends of participation, including through increased women candidacy, have continued. In Lebanon, UN Women collaborates with relevant stakeholders to provide training for women political candidates to help build their capacities to run and succeed in elections and in calling on political parties and parliamentarians to support the empowerment of women, including through legislative reform and advocacy.

Today, Lebanon has more than 90 political parties, out of which very few have women’s representation at the leadership level. The under representation of women in political leadership and decision-making positions at all levels in political parties across Lebanon is systematic. In this context, UN Women seeks to conduct research on women’s representation in decision making positions in political parties in Lebanon to inform the development of a baseline on this issue. The political parties will be selected based on criteria, such as having representatives in the parliaments of 2018 and 2022, including from emerging political parties. The research will involve key informant interviews with representatives of political parties and will examine issues such as the extent to which political parties have endorsed gender responsive rules and procedures in their internal policies for identification, nomination and selection of candidates for decision making positions within the political party as well as women’s representation in the party structure at various levels. The study will also highlight challenges and opportunities women face in political parties and identify entry points to support women’s increased leadership in political parties.

Under the overall supervision of UN Women Country Representative and day-to-say supervision of the Women’s Political Participation Programme Manager, UN Women seeks to recruit a competent consultant on Women’s Political Participation with a comprehensive understanding of the political landscape in Lebanon and proven experience in qualitative and quantitative methodology for baseline establishment.

Duties and Responsibilities

The candidate selected for this consultancy will be expected to:

•  Liaise closely with UN Women on the research study.
• Develop a research plan and methodology for data collection, combining qualitative and quantitative tools, including desk review, survey questionaries, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. The data collected should rely on official data provided by the party.
• Lead the research process, including training of, and supervision of a team of junior researchers (if needed) to establish a baseline on women’s situation and representation in leadership positions in political parties based on the tools and methodology developed.
• Provide sound analysis and produce a report on the status of women in political parties in Lebanon, including and not limited to:

1. The existence of gender responsive rules and procedures for identification, nomination and selection of candidates for decision making positions within the party structure.
2. The existence of Temporary Special Measures to encourage women’s participation and the existence of political party gender equality policy.
3. The number and percentage of women at all levels of the party as per its internal structure.
4. The number and percentage of women dropouts or increase between 2022 and 2023 at the leadership level and the reasons behind these trends.
5. The number of women selected as candidates by party leaders for national and local elections for the last 2 electoral cycles.
6. The party’s type of work with women party candidates, party activists and party members, as well as interactions between women and men within the party.
7. The party’s record in gender-responsive governance at the national and local level.

Deliverables:

Deliverables	Timelines
Produce an inception report and brief presentation, including the overall approach, methodology and tools, specifying the number of questionnaires, KIIs and FGDs, as well as a timeframe for the study.	15 October 2023
Adapt the methodology based on input from UN Women, if needed	20 October 2023
Training of junior researchers in how to apply the methodology	30 October 2023
Collection of data applying the agreed methodology	30 December 2023
Present first draft of report	15 January 2024
Submit final report	1 February 2024

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

• Substantial knowledge and understanding of Lebanese politics and electoral processes in Lebanon.
• Good analytical skills
• Ability to communicate effectively both in written and oral.
• Demonstrated leadership and supervision of research teams, ability and technical skills to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing.

Please visit the link below for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in international Affairs/Development, Sociology, Political Sciences, Public Administration, Gender and Women’s Studies, or related discipline
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in political participation field in Lebanon.
• Experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative research.
• Expertise on gender equality issues in politics in Lebanon.
• Demonstrated leadership and supervision of research teams, ability and technical skills to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing
• Computer skills, statistics, internet communication and command of MS Office.

Language requirements:

• Written and oral English and Arabic is a must.
• French is an asset

Evaluation criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

• Criteria 1: Substantial knowledge and understanding of Lebanese politics and electoral processes in Lebanon. (10 points)
• Criteria 2: Experience working on issues related to gender equality and women’s empowerment in public life (10 points)
• Criteria 3: Demonstrated experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods (30 points)
• Criteria 4: Demonstrated leadership and supervision of research teams, ability and technical skills to communicate complex ideas verbally and in writing (20 points)

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points)

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process;
• Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

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.)