Location : / Jerusalem
Type of Contract : / SSA
Post Level : / National or International Consultant
Languages Required : / English and Arabic
Starting Date of assignment : / 1 September 2013
Deadline for Applications: / 20 August 2013
Duration of Initial Contract : / Two months
Expected Duration of Assignment : / One month
Background
The General Assembly, in resolution 64/289 on system-wide coherence, established the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) with a mandate to assist countries and the United Nations system to progress more effectively and efficiently towards the goal of achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment, and upholding women’s rights. The founding resolution of UN Women calls upon it to lead, coordinate and promote accountability of the UN system in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women, working across the system.
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, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in Palestine/ the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) since its inception in 1997. UN Women focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the oPt context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realisation of following strategic goals: Engendering governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.
UN Women is currently looking for a Consultant to facilitate the development of its strategic plan and annual work plan for the years 2014-2016. The consultant will work in close collaboration with the UN Women Palestine team and advisors, and under the overall supervision of the UN Women Special Representative.
Objective of the assignment
Based on the above the main objective of the assignment is to develop the UN Women strategic plan and annual work plan for the years 2014-2016. The consultant should employ a consultative and participatory approach throughout the development and drafting of the strategy by means of involving UN Women staff, strategic partners, key donors and key stakeholders. Moreover, this assignment will be subjected to UN Women HQ guidelines for developing country strategies according to the timeline set and in line with the forthcoming Palestinian Development Plan 2014-2016.
Duties and ResponsibilitiesUnder the overall guidance of UN Women Special Representative, the direct supervision of UN Women National Programme Officer, and in consultation with the programmatic staff of the UN Women Palestine office, the Consultant will be expected to fulfill the following requirements:
1. A review of the 2012-2013 UN Women programme in oPt, with practical and substantial recommendations for improved programme cohesion and coherence.
2. A new strategy and work plan for UN Women in oPt for the period 2014-2016, building upon achievements and recommendations drawn from the review of the current strategy through a participatory approach, fully in line with the outcomes and broad areas of action (four programmatic areas) of UN Women’s Strategic Plan.
More specifically, the Consultant is expected to carry out the following actions to fulfill these requirements:
§ Critically review UN Women’s current programme, including a desk review of key relevant documents
§ Conduct an inception workshop on the objective, methodology and expected result of the assignment;
§ Conduct focused discussions with UN Women personnel in the Palestine office
§ Conduct a survey amongst partners and stakeholders to assess UN Women’s work in the oPt during the past period of 2012-2013
§ Consult with a wide range of partners and key stakeholders (strategic partners, implementing partners, UN agencies, government institutions/line ministries, Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) members, donor agencies, etc. on key priorities and capacities;
§ Draft lessons learnt and highlight good practices;
§ Review and reference key strategic documents for the new 2014-2016 programme, including but not restricted to: UN Women’s strategy documents, Consolidated Country Analysis (CCA) and the UNDAF for Palestine, the Palestinian National Development Plan, the National Cross-Sectoral Gender Strategy, UNDG strategy, UN QCPR resolutions, the UN SWAP on gender equality, etc.
§ Design well-defined indicators and benchmarks/ targets for UN Women Palestine country programme between 2014 and 2016 as part of a results-based monitoring and evaluation framework for the new programme, with a clear baseline assessment, including external data sources as well as control sources which are relevant to UN Women Palestine target groups, strategic partners and institutional donors;
§ Utilize UN Women HQ guidance notes and templates for developing the strategy and work plan documents.
§ Incorporate recommendations from UN Women HQ and RO on Strategic Plan development
§ Incorporate pertinent preliminary recommendations from the UN Women oPt audit exercise, as available and appropriate
§ Prepare drafts of the strategy and associated action plans (in English), in accordance with the UN Women corporate templates, to be reviewed and discussed with key UN Women oPt staff members, partners, and other stakeholders.
§ Prepare a presentation (In English) for the launching ceremony for UN Women Palestine Strategic Plan 2014-2016 for key partners and stakeholders.
Expected Results:
The Country Strategy Consultant is expected to deliver the following results:
§ Critical review document of the current country programme strategy 2012-2013
§ Completed 2014-2016 strategic note and work plan drafted in line with UN Women templates, as well as guidance on methodology and procedures for further consultation with key partners and stakeholders in later stages of the planning process.
§ Results-based monitoring and evaluation tools, including indicators, baseline data and benchmarks/ targets developed as a means to measure progress towards the country strategic plan 2014-2016.
CompetenciesCORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES:
§ Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
§ Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.
CORE COMPETENCIES:
§ Ethics and Values: Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity;
§ Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
§ Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Initiative-taking; coaching and mentoring ability;
§ Working in Teams: Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
§ Communicating Information and Ideas: Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
§ Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control.
§ Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Managing conflict;
§ Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other.
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
§ Ability to think conceptually, strategically and analytically.
§ Excellent networking and interpersonal skills, including ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries.
§ Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills.
§ Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
§ Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
§ Ability to make decisions under pressure and to deal with matters that are politically and cultural sensitive.
Deliverables
§ A detailed proposal for delivering this assignment will need to be submitted at the beginning of the assignment. The proposal should include the methodology and schedule.
§ The final strategy draft including the work plans and assessment report will need to be provided to UN Women oPt office upon completion of services. Upon certification of successful obtainment of results a certificate of fulfilment will be signed by UN Women oPt as a prerequisite for payment under the agreement.
§ Results oriented, flexible and problem solving skills.
Required Skills and Experience
§ Master’s degree in Economics, Social/Political Science, and/or Development or related fields
§ Minimum of 5 years of extensive experience of work in strategic planning and organizational development
§ Advanced knowledge and skills on gender analysis and gender mainstreaming
§ Capacity to analyze needs and formulate recommendations on appropriate responses, including the organization of recommendations into a coherent programme of activities
§ Practical and theoretical knowledge of the CEDAW
§ Knowledge about planning development process
§ Familiarity with the Human Rights concepts and approaches
§ Experience in developing strategy documents in economic, political and social fields
§ Strong analytical and presentation skills
§ Sympathy with UN Women organizational values
§ Experiences of undertaking this work in other countries will be an asset
§ Knowledge of English and Arabic is a must.
This SSA modality is governed by UN WOMEN General Terms and Conditions.
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