CONSULTANT UNDER THE EECA SUB-REGIONAL GRB CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE PROJECT

UN Women Eastern Europe and Central Asia Sub-Regional Office together with the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation start implementation of the joint project aimed at establishment of the Regional GRB Center of Excellence for CIS at RAPA. The Center will serve as the Regional GRB Hub to create and disseminate GRB knowledge, enhance GRB teaching capacity and provide training and retraining for all levels government officials in CIS countries to enable them to apply gender responsive planning and budgeting in their specific sectors. The project will cover the following countries: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Ukraine. Establishing the Regional GRB CoE for CIS countries goes fully in line with the UNIFEM and UN-Women policy. Two basic strategic documents, such as UNIFEM SRO CIS SRS (outcomes within DRF 4 and DRF 7) and the GRB Framework, focus on generating and disseminating GRB knowledge, and building the national and regional capacity on GRB to assist CIS countries with implementing their international and national commitments on gender equality. Thus, UNIFEM SRO CIS CRS Outcome 4 requires an “increase in the number of budget processes that fully incorporate gender equality”, while output 4.2 expects that Regional centers of excellence on GRB will be established. Outcome 7 is aimed at “national capacity building through regular staff training curricula on gender equality capacities”, which is fully consistent with the project objective. Presently there are a number of prerequisites and indispensable conditions in the Russian Federation for establishing the Regional GRB Center of Excellence for CIS countries. In the last decade the Russian Federation has proven to be a politically and economically stable state. It has also been a participant of all major international human rights instruments, including CEDAW. A National Gender Strategy was elaborated and adopted by the Russian government in 2006. The expert community expects a revival of the women’s national machinery after the 6-7th periodic RF national report presentation at the CEDAW Committee in June 2010. The context analysis findings have revealed the following common prerequisites for establishing the Regional GRB CoE for CIS countries in the Russian Federation: an absolute recognition of the rich scientific and pedagogical ability and potential of Russian scientists and teachers in the CIS countries as well as the high efficiency of higher education and personnel (re)training systems; a common historical background of the post-Soviet countries; similar gender equality issues that are to be addressed; relevance of the national budget processes in a number of CIS countries; the successful practical experience of current GRB initiatives realized by RAPA; advantages of a common linguistic space. Within the project first stage the training module should be developed (GRB tools), and the capacity of the experts’ group should be built (GRB ToT), including: GRB TOT methodology elaboration; GRB TOT methodology adopted to CIS countries realities; GRB TOTs conducted; elaborating GRB curricula for civil servants; training course approbation for civil servants in Russia; ensuring students knowledge quality control; tracking and assisting civil servants in applying GRB knowledge in their sectors; setting up post-training “Student-Center” feedback mechanism: studying lessons learnt to adjust/improve GRB teaching methodology. A group of Russian speaking master-trainers on GRB as well as ready-to-use GRB tools will be prepared to provide high quality educational services to government officials and civil society organizations in CIS.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Programme Specialist UN Women Subregional Offcie for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and in close collaboration with the Portfolio Manager in the Russian Federation, and international and national project experts the International Consultant will be responsible for the implementation of the following tasks under the project: Conduct a study of all training materials and guidelines developed for the GRB ToT, and participate in delivering of the GRB ToT, including: Analyze information on existing experience of gender analysis in defined priority sectors in the participating countries, including gender analysis of sectoral budgets. Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of adapting and incorporating this experience into the program and GRB ToT training modules. Evaluate and adjust / in consultations and coordination with the developers / case studies with examples of how the budgeting process is carried out in the participating countries, drafting recommendations concerning the presentation of the training materials for trainees and on final tests for better understanding of the materials presented. Carry out an assessment of the quality of the GRB ToT training programme and GRB TOT manual for teachers / trainers, including training materials and handouts, and carry out their revision, if required / in consultations and coordination with the developers. Participate in delivering the GRB TOT as a resource person. Prepare a report on the results of the analysis and assessment of the full range of educational and training materials as well as the methods of presenting the material during the ToT, the quality and effectiveness of lecture and interactive modes of study, including drafting of an follow-up action plan. Conduct analysis of the drafting TORs for the trainers to be hired by RAPA, including the definition of the ToT input tasks and follow-up actions, and adjust them, if required / in consultations and coordination with the developers. Participate in the interim assessment of the capacity of RAPA trainers and external experts who will further be involved in the learning process on GRB (participating countries). Conduct analysis of the trainers’ action plan for the preparation of the workshop for civil servants from the CIS countries, including an assessment of the ToT curriculum. Deliverables and Timeframe: The timeframe for the work of the International Consultant is tentatively planned through February 2012 – March 2012. The following deliverables should be at place, i.e. All training materials and guidelines developed for the GRB ToT analyzed, corrected and submitted for consideration, including: Assessment of the existing experience in the field of gender budgeting analysis in the participating countries, including gender analysis of sectoral budgets conducted, recommendations and missed examples of the international experience to enhance and deepen the knowledge described and included in the ToT training materials. Evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of adaptation and integration of the CIS experience into the GRB ToT training program and modules conducted, GRB ToT training program and modules supplemented by international experience and specific examples. Evaluation and adjustment / in consultations and coordination with developers / case studies with the examples of how the budgeting process is carried out in the participating countries, drafting recommendations concerning the presentation of the training materials for trainees and the final tests for better assimilation of the material conducted and introduced. Assessment of the quality of the GRB ToT educational programs and manual for teachers / trainers, including training materials and handouts, carried out and introduced. Timeframe for the above deliverables - 29 February 2012. Participation in the workshop as a resource person conducted, report presented. General Report on the analysis and assessment of the full range of educational and training materials as well as the methods of presenting the material within the seminar, the quality and effectiveness of lecture and interactive modes of study, including follow-up action plan prepared and submitted for consideration. Timeframe - 15 March 2012. Analysis of drafting TORs for the trainers to be hired by RAPA, including the definition of the ToT input tasks and follow-up actions and their adjustments presented. Results of the interim assessment of the capacity of RAPA teachers and external experts, which will further participate in the learning process for GRB in the participating countries presented. Analysis of the action plan for teachers in their preparation to the training workshop for government officials from the CIS countries, including the evaluation of the ToT curriculum presented, the educational program for teachers corrected. Timeframe - 31 March 2012. Evaluation procedure: UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that takes into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals. The contract shall be awarded to the expert who is the most technically qualified and provides the best value for money. Technical evaluation criteria: Nr. / Criteria / Maximum points PhD degree in Economics, Political Economy or related field - 50; Strong knowledge of GRB approaches and human rights - 50; At least 3-years experience of working in the UN system - 50; Proved experience of working in the higher education system - 60; Presence of the publications/researches/training materials in the field of political economy, women’s rights etc. -30; Ability to undertake analytical work, prepare narrative reports and develop training materials - 40; Advanced knowledge of the regional context and understanding of the CIS specific towards gender issues - 40; Proficiency in Russian, English is an asset - 30. Maximum total technical scoring: 350 Only candidates who reached at least 245 points will be qualified for financial evaluation. Evaluation of Financial proposals: Evaluation of submitted offers will be done based on the following formula: B = T + (C / P) x Y, where T – is the total technical score awarded to the evaluated proposal (only to those proposals that pass 70% of technical evaluation); P – is the price of the evaluated proposal; and C – is the lowest of all evaluated proposal prices among responsive proposals. Y – is the maximum financial points obtainable (financial part is 30%, while technical is 70%, meaning that if the total technical points are 350 (70%), the financial figure should be 150 (30%). Application process: Interested individuals must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: Letter of interest; CV/duly filled Personal History Form PHF11 (downloadable from http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/P_11_form_UNwomen.doc) Financial proposal for the given scope of work*. *Each applicant will be required to submit an aggregated financial offer (“aggregated financial offer” is the total sum of all financial claims of the candidate for accomplishment of the task). Management Arrangements: The National Consultant will be working under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist of the UN Women Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, overall guidance and supervision of Portfolio Manager in the Russian Federation and in cooperation with the international and national experts working under the project.

Competencies

Strong understanding of human rights, GRB, gender equality and gender mainstreaming concepts and how to apply these tools; Strong knowledge of the RF civil service approaches and ToT development; Ability to undertake analytical work, prepare narrative reports and develop training materials; Familiarization with UN human rights instruments and the national policy in this field; Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude; Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: PhD degree in Economics, Political Economy or related filed. Work experience: At least 3-years experience of working in the UN system; Proved experience of working in the higher education system; Presence of the publications/ researches/training materials in the field of political economy, women’s rights etc. Advanced knowledge of the regional context and understanding of the Russian specific towards gender issues. Languages: Proficiency in English, Russian is an asset. In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment. All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/P_11_form_UNwomen.doc). Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.