International Consultant – Gender in Humanitarian Action programming (Retainer)

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 centre 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. UN Women provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women in Bangladesh supports the government to implement commitments to international normative standards on gender equality and women’s human rights. In line with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2022-2026, UN Women Bangladesh Strategic Note (2022-2026), defines UN Women’s strategic engagement in Bangladesh. The country strategy focuses on strengthening the national structures and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming in policies, plans and budgets; supporting efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women; promoting women’s access to decent and safe work; promoting policies and government investment in women’s empowerment and resilience building in the context of climate change, humanitarian crisis as well as other threats to peace and security. UN Women works with a range of stakeholders in Bangladesh including the government, civil society and women’s organisations, youth, UN agencies and donors, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

UN Women in Bangladesh is supporting the Government of Bangladesh with the Rohingya humanitarian crisis response. Leveraging its normative, operational and coordination mandate, UN Women has developed a humanitarian response programme in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to meet the specific needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized Rohingya refugee women and girls in the camps and the Bangladeshi host community in Cox’s Bazar. The objective of the programme is to ensure protection, as well as equitable and safe access to and benefit from life-saving humanitarian assistance and information to the most vulnerable, and marginalized Rohingya and host community women while assisting them to live with dignity, regain resilience and overcome restrictive gender norms. The programme promotes women’s participation and leadership in the camps and host community, peace and social cohesion building activities, and gender-responsive policing. 

The key focus areas of the programmatic interventions include:

i. Enhancing the capacities of Rohingya and host community women and girls to participate in decision-making and increase their access to multi-sectoral services;

ii. Increasing the advocacy and leadership capacities of Rohingya and host community women-led organizations (WLOs);

iii. Increasing the capacities of humanitarian actors, including WLOs, to operate enhanced coordination mechanisms and play a leadership role

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

The Consultant will work under the overall technical guidance and strategic direction of the UN Women Head of Sub-Office in Cox’s Bazar. S/he/they will work in close collaboration with the sub-office, and also work closely with the UN Women country office to support in the application of UN Women policies and best practices in the management of the sub-office’s programmes. In addition to providing programme advisory support to the sub-office, the consultant will support the inception and initial roll-out of the Multi-agency Humanitarian Development Joint Programme of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC).

Specifically, the consultant will:

1. Support the sub-office in the design and development of programme approaches and initiatives:

• Support programme development and redesign in new areas of working related to Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) in the sub-office, including Theory of Change development and drafting project proposals and documents;
• Specifically, provide support in the development of the Multi-agency Humanitarian Development Joint Programme, including support to drafting and consolidating inputs to the ProDoc and other related documents based on the agency inputs and donor feedback;
• Provide advice and technical input to the design and formulation of new programme/ project proposals and related documents.

 

2. Provide technical advisory support to the programme team of the sub-office:

• Provide technical guidance and written feedback on Results Based Management tools and results-based reporting;
• Provide substantive guidance on partner selection processes, including in the preparation of the documentation required for Programme Appraisal Committee (PAC) review for partner selection and partner agreement amendment processes.
• Provide quality assurance support to the development of programme reports and briefs, and to documentation of good practices and lessons learned;
• Support programmatic knowledge building and communication efforts and provide quality assurance and written inputs to background documents and programme briefs.

 

3. Provide technical advisory support to the sub-office for the management of partners 

• Provide technical advice on the programmatic management of programme partners, in alignment with UN Women policies, procedures and guidelines;
• Provide technical advice on processes related to the review of partner reports, liquidation of advances, and disbursement of advances;
• Provide technical and case-specific support on the amendment and/or closure of partner agreements, including support on the preparation and quality assurance of corresponding documentation required;
• Provide substantive advice and capacity development support on the management of specific programme agreement related issues, in alignment with UN Women policies, procedures and guidelines.

 

Deliverables:

• Evidence of technical support – from remote – to the sub-office on the tasks mentioned above;
• Provide a monthly summary report of support provided;
• Finalised programme document and inception plan of the Multi-agency Coordination for Humanitarian Development Initiative;
• End of consultancy report, summarizing key progress achieved in strengthening programme management of the sub-office.

Duration:

The consultancy is part-time for 30 days over weeks (expected start date 20 th March 2024). Travel may be required to Cox’s Bazar, which UN Women will be managed as per UN Women’s Travel Policy.

Supervision and performance evaluation

The international consultant will receive guidance from the UN Women Head of Sub-Office in Cox’s Bazar.

Travel and DSA:

No DSA will be paid at the duty stations.  If unforeseen travel outside the duty station is required for this assignment, upon prior agreement/approval from UN Women such travel expenses shall be borne by UN Women and the individual contractor/SSA shall receive a per-diem not to exceed the United Nations daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rate in such other location(s) and actual travel cost.

Contract Arrangement

The consultant can only be engaged through issuance of Quantum Purchased Order, based on agreed contract, every time the UN Women wishes to render the service. UN Women does not warrant that the maximum of 30 days will be purchased during the term of the Agreement. The consultant will be engaged under a retainer contract, which facilitates direct engagement of the consultant depending on need and availability within the contract period for a pre-agreed fee.

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

Required Skills and Experience

Required Qualifications, Experience and skills:

• Master’s degree in development studies, gender studies, social sciences, or other related fields;
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in gender and development; experience in humanitarian programming is preferred;
• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Ability to convey/communicate complex processes in a simple and understandable manner.

Language:

Fluency in oral and written English is required.

 

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical evaluation criteria:

Technical Evaluation Criteria	Obtainable Score
Educational qualifications Master’s degree in relevant subjects: development studies, gender studies, social sciences, or other related fields	10
Experience and skills Minimum 10 years’ experience in gender and development sector with International Organizations; Experience in humanitarian programming is preferred	70
Other experience and Skills Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills; Strong knowledge of Results Based Management	10
Sample of Previous work: Any previous relevant works sample Report/presentation/ publication link	10
Total obtainable score	100

 

Submission of application

The following documents should be submitted as part of application:

• Completed and signed UN Women P-11 form as part of the online.

Please note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

The UN Women Personal History form (P-11) can be downloaded from: .

• Financial proposal shall specify a daily rate and total fees in USD  for 30  person days. No other expenses will be borne by UN Women except the travel as mentioned in page three above under the Travel section. 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 based on 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. (Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check).

 

Documents required before contract signing:

• Statement of fitness to work and travel for consultants from medical provider.
• Security Certificate BSAFE: EN:
• Release letter in case the selected consultant is government official.
• A copy of passport and a copy of the highest education certificate in English.

 

Note: The individual consultant who does not meet the above eligibility criteria shall not be considered for further evaluation. Necessary documentation must be submitted to substantiate the above eligibility criteria.