International Consultant: Retreat Planning and Facilitation

In line with UN Women Global Strategic Plan (2018-2021), and its Country Strategic Note (2019-2022), in Turkey UN Women works towards three overarching goals:

1) Women lead, participate in, and benefit equally from governance systems.

2) All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence

3) Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action.

Towards these goals, UN Women implements programmes and projects that aim to advance gender equality, improve women’s access to opportunities, rights and services in political, social and economic life and combat gender stereotypes, discrimination and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments. UN Women collaborates with numerous partners – central and local level government authorities, civil society organizations, including women’s organizations and platforms, academia, private sector companies, other UN agencies. It commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle, by supporting targeted actions to remove the obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women face in accessing their rights and to promote them as agents of change.

UN Women Turkey CO is planning a two-day office retreat in September for all staff. The Retreat will provide an opportunity for reflections on the year of uncertainties and adjustments made and needed in 2021 and 2022 for programmatic and operational effectiveness. It will enable taking stock of achievements and lessons learnt over the past unprecedented 1.5 years and rethinking existing strategies and practices in order to achieve increased effectiveness. At the retreat, UN Women staff will analyze the strategic and programmatic alignment of the CO Strategic Note 2019-2022 with the new UN Turkey Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2021-2025) and the new UN Women Global Strategic Plan (2022-2025) and the necessary adjustments to 2022 annual planning. An important focus will be placed on forming mutual understanding of results-based management and knowledge management among all staff, including newly recruited ones. The retreat will also provide important face to face team building opportunity, towards increased team cohesiveness, renewed joint energy and motivation for greater productivity and effectiveness.

Under the supervision of the Country Director, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

• Design the objectives, overall methodology and agenda for the 2021 Turkey CO retreat;

In collaboration with UN Women Turkey management, develop and finalize the objectives, methodology and agenda for the retreat, incorporating feedback from a staff survey administered beforehand, to ensure that the retreat achieves its intended objectives and results taking into consideration the local context.

• Facilitate the 2-day face to face retreat per the agreed agenda;

Facilitate and moderate all sessions of the retreat, ensuring interactivity and maximum participation of the participants and the achievement of the objectives and expected results for about 30 participants;

• Boost greater teamwork and cohesion for fostering better working relationships and communications throughout the team; encourage employee morale, motivation and effectiveness after COVID-19 period, identify coping mechanism to effectively deal with constantly changing working modes;
• Prepare a report with key outcomes, recommendations and action points;

The report should capture key points raised during the retreat and debrief session held with the office management after the retreat.

Duration of the assignment is from 16 August 2021 to 17 September 2021. The Consultant is expected to spend up to 12 working days on non – consecutive basis throughout the assignment.

During assignment’s related missions, the Consultant may use the facilities of the office (i.e. internet access, printing, copying, local phone calls, etc.). However, s/he is expected to use his/her own personal computer.

Expected Deliverables and Payment Schedule:

The following table summarizes main activities and expected deliverables against targeted delivery deadlines and indicative working days to be invested by the Consultant.

The mentioned number of working days has been estimated as being sufficient/feasible for the envisaged volume of work to be completed successfully and is proposed as a guideline for the duration of assignment. It cannot and shall not be used as criteria for completion of work/assignment. The provision of envisaged deliverables approved by the UN Women Country Director shall be the only criteria for Consultants work being completed and eligible for payment(s).

Payment Schedule:

The Consultant shall be paid upon successful completion of the deliverables in 2 installments as per the above table. Payment shall be affected only if all the deliverables in this TOR are submitted to UN Women Country Director within the timeframes stipulated in the TOR and they are approved by Country Director. Without submission and approval of the deliverables, Consultants shall not receive any payment even if they invest time for this assignment.

Travel:

For Travel Included Assignments:

The Consultant will be responsible for all travel arrangements and expenses and daily subsistence allowances associated with undertaking this assignment. All travels shall be coordinated with UN Women Turkey Office and shall be included in the total contract amount of the contractor.

The maximum expected number of travels is one round trip international travel to Ankara and one round trip domestic travel from Ankara to the place of the retreat during the assignment. The assignment is expected to take 2 days. There may be a different number of days required for accommodation. The financial proposal template is explanatory in this regard. The taxi fees for attending the meetings are also under the responsibility of the Consultant. In case of an unforeseeable travel or travels exceeding the travel budget of the consultant, UN Women will handle the travel costs.

For Both

For the all travels under this assignment, the Consultant is required to provide the relevant project staff with requested travel documentation in a timely manner and before the travels. Please note that failure to do so may result in no entitlement.

Mandatory Courses:

The consultant is required to complete BSAFE course.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.
• Adherence to UN Women standards and rules.

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
• Ability to work in team and develop synergies;
• Demonstrated ability to produce clear reports and guidance with in-depth analysis and strategic recommendations in the relevant field;
• Good communication and interpersonal skills, ability to foster networks and partnerships;
• Ability to complete complex assignments in a timely manner and delivery quality results;
• Demonstrate respect for culture, gender, religion and nationality;
• Excellent facilitation and communication skills in English (oral and written);
• Demonstrated pedagogical experience, subject knowledge, sound judgment and advanced skills in transformational leadership skills training and staff development;
• Flexible nature and ability to adapt to changing directions/thinking that may occur during sessions.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf (unwomen.org)

UN Women does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Application Procedure:

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

• Cover letter to include a brief overview about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position.
• CV in English containing the relevant educational and professional experience.
• Signed UN Women Personal History (P11) Form including past experience in similar assignments which can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
• Financial proposal to be sent via e-mail to [email protected]  indicating the name of the position applied in the subject line of the e-mail no later than the application deadline – Please see Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template and Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form.

When applying; the Cover Letter, CV and the signed P11 Form should be merged into one (1) single PDF document since the system will allow only to upload maximum one document. Therefore, please combine these forms and documents into one (1) single PDF document and upload them to the system.

Should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy post, candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certifications or any other requested document.

Incomplete applications such as applications without a signed P11 Form or a financial proposal may not be considered. Applicants are responsible to make sure to have provided all the requested application materials before the deadline.

Evaluation of Applicants

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.

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

An interview/written test may be used for the selection of best candidates.

Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template

The prospective Individual Consultant should take the following explanations into account during submission of his/her price proposal.

1. Daily fee

The daily price proposal should indicate a “lump sum amount” which is “all-inclusive”; All costs (professional fees, communications, consumables during field related missions, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor needs to be factored into the proposed price.

UN Women will not withhold any amount of the payments for tax and/or social security related payments. UN Women shall have no liability for taxes, duties or other similar charges payable by the Individual Contractor in respect of any amounts paid to the Individual Contractor under this Contract, and the Contractor acknowledges that UN Women will not issue any statements of earnings to the Individual contractor in respect of any such payments.

2. Travel costs

The Consultant will be responsible for all travel expenses associated with undertaking this assignment. All travels shall be coordinated with UN Women in Turkey and shall be included in the total contract amount of the contractor. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs should be agreed upon with UN Women in Turkey.

3. Currency of the price proposal

The applicants are requested to submit their price proposals in USD.

Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form

To: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Ref:

Dear Sir / Madam,

I, the undersigned, offer to provide professional consulting services to UN Women within the scope of the referred Assignment.

Having examined, understood and agreed to the Terms of Reference and its annexes, the receipt of which are hereby duly acknowledged, I, the undersigned, offer to deliver professional services, in conformity with the Terms of Reference.

My maximum total price proposal for the assignment is given below:

I confirm that my financial proposal will remain unchanged for 120 days. I also confirm that the price that I quote is gross, and is inclusive of all legal expenses, including but not limited to social security, income tax, pension, etc., which shall be required applicable laws.

I agree that my proposal shall remain binding upon me for 120 days.

I understand that you are not bound to accept any proposal you may receive.

[Signature]

Date:

Name:

Address:

Telephone/Fax:

Email: