2228 Consultant to conduct GRB needs assessment

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.  

 

Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life.

 

Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is an innovative public policy tool for assessing the impact of policies and budgets from gender perspective and for ensuring that policies and their accompanied budgets do not perpetuate gender inequalities but contribute to more equal society for women and men. GRB aims to close the “implementation gap” that exists in countries such as Serbia, which have laws and policies in place to advance gender equality, but these are not implemented in practice. By focusing on the most important tool the Government has at its disposal - the budget - GRB initiatives call for commitment not only on paper, but also in practice, and contribute to developing the capacities and knowledge needed to address gender gaps in sector and local government policies, plans and budgets.

 

GRB was formally introduced in Serbia by the adoption of the Budget System Law in 2015, when promotion of gender equality was identified as one of the budget goals (Article 4). New provisions of the above-mentioned Law introduced GRB as an obligation in the planning and execution of budgets, implying gradual introduction from 2016 to 2024. Additional amendments to the Budget System Law adopted in December 2016 further enhanced the GRB introduction, through introduction of obligatory reporting on impact of the budget programmes on improvement of gender equality as part of the Annual Budget Statement (Article 79). Furthermore, information on gender responsive objectives and indicators became integral part of programme information (Article 28, paragraph 6).

 

UN Women Office in Serbia continuously supports the process of GRB implementation and institutionalization at the national and provincial level, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, the Coordination Body for Gender Equality and the Provincial Secretariat of Finance. This resulted in inclusion of gender perspective in 2021 Budget of 68 budget users at national and provincial level, through 109 budget programmes and 315 objectives. In addition, UN Women supported GRB implementation in 10 LSGUs across Serbia[1]. However, progress towards applying GRB in the entire process of planning, budgeting and reporting needs further strengthening and more efforts need to be put towards GRB sustainability and institutionalization at all governmental levels.

 

In order to deepen the work previously done, launch new initiatives and ensure sustainability of the interventions on GRB, UN Women initiated a regional programme with participation of Serbia “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2024), which is financially supported by the Government of Sweden - SIDA. The main programme approach is transformative financing as an enabler factor for policy and financing actions to accelerate implementation of existing national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Western Balkans.

 

The project envisages provision of tailored technical assistance and guidance, and building institutional capacity and knowledge. At local level, 10 local self-government units (LGSUs) will be capacitated to apply GRB tools in their plans and budgets, improve delivery on national legal and policy commitments related to gender equality and effectively address the needs of women and girls’ boys and men, with specific focus on socially excluded groups. Target LSGUs will be selected to ensure proportional geographic coverage, ethnic minority representation, and considering closely demonstrated interest in and commitment to gender equality.

 

Objective

 

The objective of this assignment is to conduct needs assessment and mapping of municipalities, that will serve as a basis for selection of 10 LGSUs to which UN Women will provide GRB technical support in period 2022-2024, excluding those previously supported by UN Women and other partners.

[1] Uzice, Prijepolje, Sjenica, Kosjeric, Pecinci, Ruma, Sid, Mionica, Krupanj and Plandiste

Duties and Responsibilities

Working under the overall supervision of UN Women GRB Programme Coordinator, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

 

• Perform desk research of available reports and/or analyses of the status of GRB implementation on local level in Serbia. This will include identification of LGSUs that are currently receiving support in GRB implementation, to avoid duplication of efforts, and those that present examples of good practice;
• Develop assessment questionnaire, to determine level of LGSUs interest and commitment to gender equality and gender responsive budgeting. The questionnaire should include the following:

1. Collect information on the status of GRB implementation, if introduced in the LGSU (including, but not limited to, existence of the Annual Plan for GRB introduction, the number of programmes and activities that are gender sensitive, whether budget execution reports are produced, transparency of budget development and execution, participatory processes, etc.);
2. Collect information on activities performed by LGSUs that are contributing to gender equality. This might include, but not limited to, existence of active local Gender Equality Mechanisms (GEMs), adoption and implementation of the valid Local Action Plan for Gender Equality, adoption of the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life, establishment of the Local Women Councillors Network, availability of sex disaggregated data, previous work in promoting the position of vulnerable groups of women (Roma women, older women, rural women, women with disabilities etc.), other activities relevant for gender equality and GRB etc.;
3. Collect basic socio-demographic information;
4. Collect information on the capacity and skills development needs related to gender equality and GRB of LGSUs, with focus on local administration.

• Analyse the data collected from LGSUs through questionnaire and desk research and develop consolidated assessment report, which includes a recommendation on up to 10 LGSUs that could benefit from more extensive technical assistance and mentoring support on GRB, based on the survey findings and in close collaboration with UN Women;
• Submit final report on the assignment to UN Women.

Deliverables and Timeline:

Deliverables	Timeframe
Desk research report on current GRB implementation on local level in Serbia	14 May 2021
Developed assessment questionnaire	21 May 2021
Consolidated draft assessment report	18 June 2021
Final report	25 June 2021

Competencies

Core Values:

 

• Cultural sensitivity and 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.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

 

Functional Competencies:

 

• Good knowledge of gender equality, women's rights issues and GRB.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Strong report writing skills.
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Qualifications:

 

• University degree in the area of gender studies, social sciences, management, international relations, political sciences or others. Master’s degree will be taken as advantage.

Experience:

 

• At least 3 years of experience in conducting assessments, including development of questionnaires, collection and systematization of complex data and identification of sources of information related to implementation of gender equality commitments on local level;
• Experience in preparing reports, briefs or similar for various audiences;
• Experience in working with local self-governments in the area of gender equality and gender responsive budgeting will be considered an asset;
• Previous experience with the UN system is considered an asset.

Language:

 

• Fluency in English and Serbian (written and oral).

Application procedure:

 

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

 

• P11 form with past experience in similar assignments; the form can be downloaded at https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process; a signed copy should be submitted.
• Financial Proposal specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference. The form of the proposal can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.undp.org.rs/download/ic/Confirmation.docx. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days and any other possible costs).

When applying, candidates should submit the documents (P11 and financial offer) as one PDF.

 

Evaluation of applicants:

 

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

 

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

 

	Evaluation Criteria	Max points
TECHNICAL EVALUATION (70%)
Language Requirements	Fluency in written and spoken English and Serbian	REQUIRED
Education	University degree in the area of gender studies, social sciences, management, international relations, political sciences or others. Master’s degree will be taken as advantage	20 0: without relevant university degree 20: faculty degree Master’s degree advantage
Professional experience	At least 3 years of experience in conducting assessments, including development of questionnaires, collection and systematization of complex data and identification of sources of information related to implementation of gender equality commitments on local level.	30 0: without 3 years of experience 15: 3 years of experience 30: more than 3 years of experience
	Experience in preparing reports, briefs or similar for various audiences.	20 0: without relevant experience 20: relevant experience
Total technical		70

 

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points:

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated