Home based Consultant, UN Women strategy on CBIs across the HDP nexus

Advertised on behalf of :
Location : Homebased

Application Deadline : 25-Nov-21 (Midnight New York, USA)

Time left : 7d 2h 53m

Type of Contract : Individual Contract

Post Level : International Consultant

Languages Required :
English

Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 01-Dec-2021

Duration of Initial Contract : 58 working days

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.

UNDP 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.

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.

Women and girls are the worst affected by emergencies and crises while they are also the main caregivers and among the first responders, holding their families and communities together. Providing targeted livelihood and protection support to women in humanitarian settings has a direct effect on the wellbeing and recovery prospects of their families and communities. Women’s ability to receive livelihoods support and strengthen their income generating activities, makes peacebuilding and recovery efforts more sustainable. This is because they are more likely to participate in community recovery efforts, influence decision makers on needs and participate and lead peacebuilding initiatives in their communities. During emergencies and particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Women Country Offices have increasingly adapted and continues to use cash-based interventions (CBIs) to respond to the urgent livelihood needs of women, with varying results and use of different modalities across diverse country contexts, including protracted crises. As an area of strategic programming interest and investment, and with a view to proactively supporting UN Women achieve its objectives and effectively manage risks, in 2020 IEAS (Independent Evaluation and Audit Services) conducted a rapid assessment of UN Women’s level of preparedness to implement CBIs (conditional and unconditional cash transfers).

The objectives of the rapid assessment were to assess organizational and programmatic preparedness against a CBI benchmarking framework and propose a roadmap to ensure that UN Women is prepared for CBI programs that deliver impact and results; and has effective governance, risk, and control arrangements in place and identifies its comparative advantage against other UN agencies involved in CBIs, mainly WFP and UNHCR. This assessment aims at informing UN Women’s positioning and strategic contribution at global and country level, including engagement in global coordination platforms, in UNCTs and HCTs at country level; and its partnerships with other UN agencies and national government counterparts. It is also linked to UN Women’s work and contribution towards the implementation of gender commitments under the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, the Agenda for Humanity, the Grand Bargain commitments, and other global frameworks.

As a follow up on the key recommendations of this assessment, an internal Task Team has been established to move this process forward drawing on lessons learnt related to UN Women’s work on CBIs as an integrated part of UN Women initiatives dedicated to social protection in responding to violence against women and girls, in emergencies and crises and part of COVID-19 response. Through this Task Team, UN Women is expected to strengthen its internal coordination between different departments and offices to promote a multidisciplinary and coherent approach to CBI programming. The Task Team is co-chaired by the Policy Advisor on Sustainable Development/WEE, the Head of Humanitarian Section and the Chief, EVAW. The long-term objective of the Task Team is to promote a corporate multidisciplinary and coherent approach to CBI and strengthening UN Women’s work across the Humanitarian – Development – Peace (HDP) nexus.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

Facilitation of consultations with CBI Task Force members and co-chairs: Initial consultations with the CBI Task Force co-chairs and members to clarify expectations, needs and priorities in relation to UN Women’s strategy.

Literature review/Mapping existing resources: Review existing CBI tools/approaches and UN Women key documents/tools on EVAW, social protection, WEE, humanitarian action and the IEAS evaluation findings.

Development of a methodology/work plan to guide the different steps during the assignment. The draft methodology/work plan will be presented, reviewed, and agreed with the Co-chairs of the Task Force also through inputs by the Task Force members.

Undertake consultations with internal stakeholders, clients, and external partners to identify UN Women’s added value and comparative advantage, and to inform potential partnerships and entry points on CBIs implementation across the HDP nexus.

Develop initial draft report on the consultations based on the focus and objectives of the Guidance/Strategy including map of potential strategic partners and identify opportunities for scaling up and/or initiating partnerships with other UN agencies, development banks, INGOs, donors, global coordination platforms and the private sector.

Organize two working sessions at technical level on the TOC/results framework and evidence generation/learning components of the strategy to refine the Report, including highlights and recommendations generated through the two working sessions.

Develop the draft corporate strategy/guidance on CBIs that includes a TOC and a Results Framework with indicators measuring UN Women’s contribution towards gender transformative results through CBIs across the HPD nexus (across protracted crisis, in recovery including from COVID19 and conflict and in development). As part of UN Women’s strategy/guidance, the CBI expert will:

Indicate what UN Women should be doing on CBIs.

Develop recommendations on resources (technical, human, and financial) required for the operationalization of UN Women’s CBI strategy.[1]

Develop a section dedicated to partnerships with other UN agencies that UN Women should pursue with a view to scaling up its strategic contribution to gender transformative CBIs across the HDP nexus, and its response to women, girls, and other vulnerable groups.

Develop a section on evidence generation and learning on CBIs, to facilitate systematic learning; address gaps and identify corporate needs in relation evidence generation, research, and advocacy across the organization.

Develop Standard Operating Procedures to guide UN Women’s programming across the HDP nexus using a step-by-step approach (focusing on the how)[2].

Present the draft CBI guidance and SOPs to the Task Force members, co-chairs, and other concerned stakeholders/clients within UN Women for comments-feedback-inputs.

Produce the final version of UN Women’s corporate strategy having integrated comments and feedback.

Prepare communication materials that can support Task Force chairs to present the key strategy components across different events and audiences.

Expected Outputs and deliverables

Deliverables

Deliverables

Estimated duration to complete

Proposed methodology and work plan for the completion of the assignment

3

Literature review of relevant documents that will inform the development of UN Women’s corporate strategy/guidance on CBIs

4

Mapping of relevant partners to inform the development of UN Women’s strategy/guidance and definition of UN Women’s comparative advantage

3

Facilitation of consultations with UN Women staff members, partners, UN agencies on the key elements of UN Women’s corporate strategy/guidance; and SOPs

5

Facilitation of a working session with CBI Chairs and Task Force members on key components of UN Women’s strategy/TOC/Results framework and production of brief report

5

Facilitation of a working session to map learning/knowledge/data needs across the organization and production of brief report

4

Draft UN Women corporate strategy/guidance on CBIs (1st draft)

6

SOPs to guide UN Women’s CBI programming across the HDP nexus (1st draft)

7

Presentation of corporate strategy to the internal Task Force and other internal UN Women stakeholders for feedback and comments

3

Final UN Women strategy/guidance on CBIs

7

Final SOPs-step by step guidance on CBI programming

7

Briefing note on UN Women’s strategy on CBIs that will be used for internal and external communication purposes

4

Total number of days

58 days

Institutional Arrangement

The CBI expert will work under the direct supervision of the Program Specialist and under the overall guidance of the Head, Humanitarian Normative and Coordination Action. The CBI expert is expected to give regular progress updates on each of the deliverables and be available for discussion with the Task Force co-chairs. After the submission of each draft version of the deliverables, the CBI expert is expected to incorporate the comments and feedback received by UN Women into the final versions.

Payment will be scheduled on lumpsum basis and as per the following deliverable completion:

Submission of methodology/workplan, literature review and mapping of relevant partners to engage: 20%

Completion of consultations/working sessions on TOC/evidence learning needs/partnerships and submission of draft strategy: 60%

Submission of final strategy on CBIs, final SOPs, and communication materials: 20%

[1] Including on issues related to enhancing accountability to women and girls in crisis, humanitarian, and development settings and pilot programming.

[2] The SOPs will integrate a step-by-step approach dedicated -among others- to the following areas: risk assessment/management; assessment of partner capacities and systems; gender needs assessments and analysis; targeting criteria; measures to ensure beneficiary engagement in all stages of CBI interventions, including partnerships with local women’s organizations and networks; identification of entry points to enhance Accountability to Affected Populations and PSEA-Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse); operational coordination, delivery mechanisms and options; set up of participatory, gender responsive monitoring mechanisms (accountability, communication and beneficiary feedback mechanisms).

Competencies

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

Functional Competencies

Strong background in Cash Transfer Programming

Strong understanding and knowledge of Cash Transfer Programming

Strong program formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation skills

Strong knowledge of Results Based Management

Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making

Excellent research, analytical and writing skills

Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail

Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds

Ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines in a high-pressure environment.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

Master’s degree in public health, international development/relations, social anthropology, sociology, economics, socioeconomics, and/or any relevant field directly related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Minimum seven years of progressively responsible, relevant work experience at national or international level in design, planning, implementation and/or monitoring of projects relating to gender equality along the HDP nexus.

Technical expertise in CBI programming, specifically in humanitarian contexts and along the HDP nexus.

Demonstrated experience with planning, programming, and implementation of CBI, including the development of corporate policies, strategies, and tools, including guidance and Standard Operating Procedures.

Demonstrated experience in providing dedicated technical and capacity development support.

Demonstrated experience in data collection, management and analysis and familiarity with the safe and ethical principles of data collection in crisis settings.

Excellent command of written and oral English.

Fluency in another UN official language (Arabic, French and/or Spanish) is highly desirable.

Recommended Application

The following documents should be submitted:
Personal CV and P11 (All applications must provide the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment), indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;

Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but may be omitted for support services [Note: this is optional for support services];

2 Previous work samples in this area

IMPORTANT

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. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

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.

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