National Consultant to provide Capacity Building Project implementation support within Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF)

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.   

In response to the war in Ukraine, the Women’s Peace, and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) is rapidly mobilizing to support local women activists responding to the urgent challenges facing women and girls affected by the conflict in Ukraine and Moldova. WPHF is actively supporting local women’s organizations in both countries with urgent institutional and programmatic financing – enabling them to provide essential humanitarian assistance to women refugees and IDPs and protect women and girls affected by the conflict against sexual and gender-based violence. 

The UN Women-managed Women, Peace, and Security Trust Fund (WPHF) has opened a specific country window for Ukraine and Moldova. This window focuses on supporting civil society organizations with response efforts to immediate humanitarian needs of women and girls and efforts focusing on GBV services and protection. The fund aims at delivering results in three areas: (i) Enhanced inclusive and gender responsive humanitarian/crisis planning, frameworks, and programming; (ii) Enhanced safety, security and mental health of women and girls’ and their human rights respected and (iii) Peacebuilding and Recovery of Forcibly Displaced Populations  

The overall goal of the WPHF’s theory of change is to contribute to peaceful and gender equal societies. Achievement of this goal will require that women are empowered to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from conflict prevention, crisis response, peacebuilding, and recovery.

To support UN Women in the process of Capacity Building Project implementation where the capacity of implementing partners should be assessed for further implementation of high-quality work. In this respect, for a well-documented and result oriented implementation of the WPHF project, UN Women will contract local consultant with the experience of managing assistance to civil society organizations in human rights as short term individual programmatic consultant

Duties and Responsibilities

The UN Women within WPHF funding seeks to contract the Consultant on Civil Society (hereinafter “the Consultant”) to conduct the baseline assessment of partner CSOs’ capacity and needs to be covered by the project’s intervention, create a Capacity Development Strategy to strengthen partner CSOs through envisaged interventions, and conduct the after-intervention assessment of partner CSOs and report on the results of project implementation.

A total around 20 CSOs assessments are needed to be undertaken in line with UN Women rules and procedures. Based on the assessments, a Capacity Development Strategy should be developed as summarized vision for UNW partners to strengthen their ability to be in compliance with UN Women rules and procedures as well as with Ukrainian legislation. After-intervention assessment of partner CSOs and report on the results of project implementation will give a base to evaluate the Capacity Building Project implementation and formulate further steps for possible needed interventions. The consultant is expected to work under the supervision of the WPHF Project Coordination Analyst and in close collaboration with WPHF Programme Analyst for effective achievement of results, anticipating and resolving complex project-related issues and information delivery.

More specifically, the consultant will be responsible for the following main tasks:

· Conduct capacity assessment around 20 selected partners using UN Women Risk-Based Assessment Questionnaire and additionally developed instruments. The capacity assessment will be conducted through data collection, stakeholders’ discussions, other relevant methods;

· Provide expert input for capacity development, identify weakness and identify risk-rating resources;

· Hold briefing sessions for UN Women and present the findings of partners capacity assessment;

· Produce a detailed report and risk assessment summarizing the findings and including supported documents submitted to UN Women in due time and propose a risk mitigation plan for each partner;

· Provide bi-lateral support to selected CSOs to develop or improve institutional policies, strategies and tools;

· Create a Capacity Development Strategy for the WPHF team to strengthen partner CSOs through envisaged interventions;

· Conduct the after-intervention assessment of partner CSOs and report on the results.

Duties and Responsibilities

The assignment should be carried out within a 12 calendar months period, not exceeding 75 working days, with the incumbents being responsible for delivering services in agreement with the monthly workplans established, including the deliverables stated in the table below.

Note: 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 WPHF Project Coordination Analyst shall be the only criteria for National Consultant work being completed and eligible for payment/s.

Deliverables

The assignment should be carried out within an initial period of 12 months, July 2024 with work being completed by the End of June 2025, in conformity with the indicative timeframe described under “Deliverables and Timeframe” section.

Incumbent being responsible for delivering the following outputs:

Reports on major tasks performed and the results, including detailed description of carried out activities and collected data, drafted supporting materials of the meetings and capacity building activities, communication materials, etc.

Inputs

UN Women will provide the Consultant with the background materials, UN Women project documents, supporting documents submitted by the Civil Society Organizations to become RPs, as well as other relevant materials with regards to implementation of the tasks under this TOR.

Travel and other logistic arrangements

No travels are envisaged under the current assignment. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UN Women and the National Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Performance evaluation

A consultant’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. All reports must be provided in English, electronically.

Financial arrangements

Payment will be disbursed to the consultant upon submission of the monthly timesheet and reports on deliverables and achieved results and certification by the supervisor that the services have been satisfactorily performed. 1st installment – after deliverables 1-3, 2nd installment – after deliverables 4-5, 3rd installment – after deliverable 6.

Communication and reporting obligations

The Consultant is expected to report and coordinate regularly with the project manager and officer on the progress of the completion of the deliverables. The proposer is also expected to inform in a written form UN Women of any unforeseen challenge or risk that might occur during the duration of the assignment, as well come with a backup plan to ensure the accomplishment of deliverables.

The consultant is expected to work separately as per agreed working plan and methodology. UN Women, after selection, will organize a common meeting to agree on modality of work with the partners.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Human Rights based Approach and 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:  

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Strong analytical skills
• Extensive knowledge and experience in capacity building, including the development and implementation of capacity development strategies
• Strong communication and facilitation skills Strong planning and organizational skills Proficiency in data collection and producing detailed reports

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

· Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/ women’s studies, international development, or a related field is required

· Additional training and certification in management and monitoring project management would be an advantage.

BA degree with additional 2 years of relevant experience can be accepted in lieu of MA degree

Experience:

· Minimum two (2) year of experience in monitoring, reporting and evaluation of social impact projects;

· At least one (1) year of proven experience in working with CSOs;

· Experience in human rights, gender equality, women’s rights or crisis settings will be considered an advantage;

· Experience in the UN system, agencies and international organizations is an asset;

Language requirements:

· Fluency in Ukrainian and English is required.

Other skills:

· Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use the Internet and email.

All applications must include a completed and signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from 

Applications without P11 may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. 

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check).