International consultant to develop a research paper on women's participation in local mediation for conflict prevention and reconciliation

Background

UN Women’s roleUN 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.UN Women is mandated by the UN Security Council to lead on UN system-wide coordination on Women, Peace, and Security, and to this end, UN Women has been working with governments, UN partners, and civil society through the region to support women’s participation and influence at all levels of decision-making to prevent and resolve conflict and to address issues of extremism.In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States, with support from the Government of Germany, contributes toward building sustainable peace by strengthening women’s leadership and participation in peace and transition processes. This is being done through the transfer of evidence-based knowledge and skills to empower institutions and key actors, including women in the region themselves, to engage in and influence peace processes. 

Context overview and rationaleWomen are key actors in the implementation of peace agreements and have been active in the MENA region and all over the world in monitoring these and preventing relapses into conflict. Linked to this, research over the past twenty years has shown that women’s participation builds more sustainable peace and that their leadership needs to be harnessed when engaging in reconciliation and conflict prevention efforts. Women play a major role in working for peace and reconciliation at the local level and in negotiating peace in their communities. Research has shown that women can act as go-betweens with the warring factions and with opposing groups in their communities to maintain a constructive dialogue.In Libya, a fragile ceasefire is currently holding, and negotiations are ongoing to solve the conflict that followed the 2011 Arab springs. As the country shifts towards finding a settlement to the conflict, reconciliation is more than ever needed in Libyan communities, to avoid a relapse into war and democratize and localize the provisions from the peace process.

In Syria, a decade of war has destroyed the country, its physical infrastructures, and its social fabric. While the political process is ongoing, there is an opportunity at the local level for women to mend divisions and be further involved in solving local tensions.

Objective of the Assignment:UN Women ROAS is looking to explore women’s role in conflict prevention at the local level in the MENA region, specifically in Libya and Syria and is hiring an international consultant to conduct research and develop a paper on women’s engagement in local mediation for conflict prevention and reconciliation.Reporting to the WPS regional advisor and working closely with the WPS regional team and UN Women Office in Libya, the consultant will develop a paper highlighting the role played by women in their communities in Libya and Syria (specific geographical areas to be further defined) in mediating conflict and brokering peace; as well as their participation in the local implementation of peace and political agreements. The paper will highlight challenges to and opportunities for women’s involvement in conflict prevention at the local level looking at factors that contribute or hamper the possibilities for women’s meaningful participation. In doing so the paper will look specifically at the impact of the pandemic of COVID-19 on women’s participation in local mediation mechanisms. Building on good practices from other countries in the MENA region, the paper will make recommendations for women’s role to be strengthened at the local level, and recognized and leveraged into national-level agreements and high-level peace talks and transition processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Undertake a desk review of existing research and publications on women’s participation in local mediation and on women’s role in localizing peace processes in the MENA region;• In collaboration with the UN Women Regional Office, and UN Women Libya Country office, undertake at least two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) (geographical scope to be defined) in Libya on women’s participation in local mediation, conflict prevention, and local implementation of the peace agreements;• Undertake additional interviews as needed with key women, peace and security actors in Libya and Syria such as women peacebuilders at the local level, women civil society organizations, and UN partners;• Develop a paper of approximately 20 pages highlighting findings, showing common points and differences between the two countries in focus;• Develop recommendations for the governments, development partners, and other stakeholders to build on women’s participation in local mediation and reconciliation and address the gap between women’s involvement at the local level and their participation in the peace process.

Deliverables	Timelines
Undertake secondary research on women’s role in local mediation and reconciliation in the MENA region	August 2021 (10 days)
Undertake at least two FGDs in the target countries and additional interviews with key stakeholders where needed	August-September 2021 (10 days)
Draft paper and outline highlighting research findings	October 2021 (20 days)
Final paper including UN Women’s comments	November 2021 (5 days)

 

 

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.

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:

• Strong Knowledge of community engagement, in particular in the area of gender and women, peace and security;
• Proven ability to draft reports;
• Good leadership skills;
• Ability to engage in substantive technical discussion with diverse stakeholders;
• Strong communication skills;
• Excellent analytical capacity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Masters Degree preferably in gender, political science, international relations, law, or equivalent;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of experience working on gender, WPS, and mediation issues;
• Previous experience conducting qualitative research on women in mediation and reconciliation issues;
• Knowledge of the MENA region is an asset;
• Experience working with the UN and international organizations is an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in spoken and written English is required;
• Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

• A University Degree in gender, political science, international relations, law, or equivalent (20 points);
• At least seven years of experience in gender equality and WPS issues (30 points);
• Previous experience conducting qualitative research on women in mediation and reconciliation issues(20 points).

Financial Evaluation (30 points):

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• The contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to the portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all of them since the online application submission does only permit uploading one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

Note:

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.

Deliverables

Timelines

Undertake secondary research on women’s role in local mediation and reconciliation in the MENA region

August 2021 (10 days)

Undertake at least two FGDs in the target countries and additional interviews with key stakeholders where needed

August-September 2021 (10 days)

Draft paper and outline highlighting research findings

October 2021 (20 days)

Final paper including UN Women’s comments

November 2021 (5 days)