UN Women is hiring: Women’s Political Participation Consultant in Beirut

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.

Women’s leadership and participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work as mandated in its inception, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. UN Women works to implement Impact 1 of the Entity’s Strategic Plan 2014-17 “Women lead and participate in all areas of decision-making”. To promote the leadership and participation of women in all levels of decision-making processes, UN Women is required to work with a range of stakeholders including women leaders and aspiring candidates, national parliaments and parliamentarians, political parties, media, civil society organizations, and electoral management bodies, in coordination with UN partner Entities.

UN Women Lebanon has partnered with the newly created State Ministry for Women´s Affairs to implement an agreed roadmap with the overall objective to enhance the role of Lebanese women for effective and meaningful participation in the upcoming political elections scheduled for May 2018. Key components of this road map include:

• Capacity building of women leaders, aspiring candidates and voters so women can better advocate and boost their active representation;
• Country wide advocacy targeting key electoral stakeholders and communities to promote an inclusive electoral process and a positive portrayal of women political leaders.

UN Women is seeking to engage a consultant to oversee the implementation of this roadmap, and develop a full-fledged country programme in alignment with UN Women Strategic Plan 2018-2021 and the flagship programme on women’s political empowerment.  Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Regional Director, the Consultant will provide the technical support and coordination required to effectively implement the agreed road map ahead of Lebanon next general election. 

Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversee the implementation of the Women’s Political Participation roadmap including its related deliverables in close coordination and as agreed with the government, partners and United Nations country team;
• Facilitate and coordinate the development of a women’s political participation and leadership national strategy with national partners;
• Develop a full-fledged programme document for enhanced women’s political participation in Lebanon in support of implementation of national strategy: the document will conform to UNW standard templates, and include log frame, results framework and detailed management arrangements (up to 20-25 pages). The programme will be aligned with UN Women Strategic Plan 2018-2021 and the Flagship Programme Initiative on Women’s Political Empowerment, with national strategies; and ensuring alignment with the UN Electoral Assistance Policy Framework;
• Document the experiences of women activists and other stakeholders in pursuing local and national efforts for increased Lebanese women’s engagement in political processes.

Key Deliverables:

• Implementation of the Women’s Political Participation roadmap including its related deliverables;
• A draft national strategy on women’s political participation and leadership is produced;
• UN Women Lebanon project document on WPE and all supporting materials produced;
• Preparation of a mapping of key technical and financial partners (TFPs) in the country (including donors, UN Partner Agencies, international organizations, national partners, CSOs and their relevant areas of intervention on WPE);
• Preparation of a comprehensive handover note upon completion of consultancy that includes context and programme/policy recommendations, including status report on all tasks and deliverables and any other relevant information.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality delivery in line with budget and workplans;
• Timely and quality technical advice and support;
• Leadership in area of expertise in the country;
• Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner;
• Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders;
• Regular communication with colleagues at both regional and global levels to ensure policy coherence;
• UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise.

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:

• Excellent knowledge of women’s political empowerment and leadership (including issues related to democratic development, electoral assistance, campaigns, legal frameworks, political parties, legislatures, local government);
• Strong knowledge of the country and regional contexts;
• Knowledge of the UN System;
• Excellent networking skills;
• Ability to conduct training and other capacity building related activities;
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results based management and reporting;
• Ability to work collaboratively in diverse teams, as well as strong communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master Degree or equivalent in International Relations, Law, Political Studies, Economics, Social Sciences or related fields. 

Experience:

• At least 7 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for women’s political empowerment, ideally with experience in developing countries;
• Experience in programme, policy analysis, and strategic planning;
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
• Experience working with the UN is an asset;
• Experience working in Lebanon and/or other countries from the Arab Region is an asset;
• Experience with UN Intergovernmental processes including those related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and gender equality is an asset;
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, CSOs, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions. 

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Arabic and/or French is required.

Application Submission Process: 

Please submit the following to demonstrate your interest and qualifications:

Price proposal (All-inclusive daily fee):

Interested individuals are kindly requested to submit an all-inclusive daily consultancy fee. The applicable cost for travel from home to duty station (most economical route) will be provided for by UN-Women.

Personal CV and/or P11:

Interested individuals must submit their applications online through UNDP Online Recruitment System. Applicants are encouraged to fill and sign a P11 Form and submit it on the online application, although regular CVs are also acceptable. The P11 Form can be obtained at http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.

Application Evaluation Process

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative Analysis methodology [weighted scoring method], where the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

The following criteria will be used in Technical Evaluation:

• Excellent knowledge of women’s political empowerment and leadership (including issues related to democratic development, electoral assistance, campaigns, legal frameworks, political parties, legislatures, local government). (20);
• Ability to conduct training and capacity building (20);
• Demonstrated leadership programme development and policy design (20);
• Good Arabic (or French) and English language skills written and spoken (10).
• Financial offer (30)

UN Women is applying fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Consultants as well as their price proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores.

Apply here.