National Consultant to develop technical project proposal under UN Women BCO thematic area – Ending Violence Against Women and Gender Responsive Governance.

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of gender 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 in Bangladesh supports the government in implementing commitments to international normative standards on gender equality and women’s human rights. In line with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2022-2026, UN Women Bangladesh Strategic Note (2022-2026), defines the organisation’s strategic engagement. The country strategy focuses on strengthening the national structures and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming in policies, plans and budgets; supporting efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women; promoting women’s access to decent and safe work; promoting policies and government investment in women’s empowerment and resilience building in the context of climate change, humanitarian crisis as well as other threats to peace and security. UN Women works with a range of stakeholders in Bangladesh including the government, civil society and women’s organizations, youth, UN agencies and donors, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Bangladesh faces a significant challenge of violence against women, ranking fourth globally in intimate partner violence prevalence. According to the national survey on Violence against Women (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2015), Almost two-thirds (72.6 per cent) of ever-married women experienced one or more such forms of violence by their husband at least once in their lifetime and 21.9 per cent of women perceived that physical violence is likely to occur at workplaces. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation, leading to a surge in violence against women. Despite progress on gender equality, violence and harassment persist, hindering women’s education and employment opportunities. The government has enacted laws and adopted policies to address gender-based violence, but implementation gaps contribute to a culture of impunity, with a low conviction rate. Limited accessibility to the justice system, discriminatory attitudes, and underreporting due to social norms further compound the problem. Access to quality essential services to gender-based violence (GBV) survivors and effective coordination among state and non-state service providers have exacerbated the challenges of preventing and responding to violence against women.  Inadequate financing hinders the effectiveness of GBV services. Strengthening gender-responsive financing and empowering institutions like the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs are crucial for sustainable progress in addressing these challenges.

Under the Ending Violence Against Women portfolio, UN Women is currently developing a project ‘Ending sexual and gender-based violence in public spaces, in the context of work and tertiary educational settings in Bangladesh’.  The aim of the project is to strengthen the institutional mechanisms of workplaces and public spaces to prevent and response to violence against women (VAW). Drawing from insights and lessons learned from past prevention projects, UN Women will contribute to  effective implementation of existing sexual and gender-based violence-related laws, policies, and practices at the national and local level,  , provide technical support for localisation of gender-responsive budgeting, and by improving access to tailored (e.g. women and girls with disabilities) survivor-centred support,  through coordination among government and non-government service providers. Further, the project will address harmful gender and social norms by leveraging evidence-based prevention approaches to transform institutional cultures and behaviour.

Through this project, partnerships will be developed with multiple stakeholders at the national and local levels with relevant ministry and departments for policy development, advocacy, and the establishment of mechanisms, coordination and monitoring mechanisms to enhance the implementation of laws and policy framework for preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence.

Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is a strategic policy approach to strengthen planning and budgeting for the implementation of gender-related legislative and policy commitments in a particular country. Global evidence shows that the use of GRB strengthens linkages between economic and social policy outcomes, enables tracking of public expenditure on GEWE, enhances participation and opportunities for civil society in economic policymaking, and contributes to effective and transparent planning and budgeting for enhancing government accountability.

Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) is committed to taking GRB forward through the design of the second phase of the project which is UN Women part of. The overarching objective is to strengthen the institutional mechanism for GRB in Bangladesh to advance the SDG agenda, including through increased financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women. This will build on the experiences and lessons learned from the implementation of GRB in the last decade. Further, it will provide an opportunity to deepen the application of GRB in a few priority areas as well as address emerging issues.

In this context, UN Women Bangladesh Country Office (BCO) is seeking the services of a national consultant to develop the technical assistance project proposal specific to the ESGBV project, and phase II of the GRB project and other upcoming projects. The technical project proposals will play a crucial role in capacitating MoWCA and other relevant ministries by outlining strategic approaches and interventions. The consultant will  closely work with relevant ministries to develop the technical project proposals and provide coordination support for approval of project proposals from relevant key authorities.

The consultant will report to the Programme Coordinator, EVAW, UN Women BCO and in close consultation with the EVAW unit and Senior Management of UN Women BCO.

Duties and Responsibilities

Deliverables

The primary objective of the assignment is to design the key activities for the ESGBV and GRB – Phase II projects  by assessing the existing documents, in close consultation with key officials of relevant ministries and government departments..

Activities:

Activity: 1.1: Design scope of work for ESGBV Project

• Conduct desk review of key documents (such as project proposals,  evaluations/studies of similar prevention projects as relevant, UN Women Strategic Note (2022-2026), United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2022-2026), and government policies documents such as NAPVAWC (2018-30), National Women Development Policy 2011 and its action plan)
• Organize discussions with key personnel of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (methodology – interviews, small group discussion)
• Design and facilitate two (2) co-creation workshops with MoWCA, Ministry of Public Administration and Bangladesh Road Transport Authorities and relevant key government actors for the implementation of the project and civil society organisations who have footprints in the prevention and response to GBV (workshop logistics will be arranged by UN Women)
• Based on the above, develop the scope of the project including specific activities and coordination with other ministries and government departments as outlined in the pro doc including timeline and level of intervention (national to local level) for the technical project proposals.

Activity 1.2: Prepare  technical project proposals as per the prescribed format

• Prepare technical project proposal  in consultation with  Ministry of Women and Children Affairs with all the supporting documents (Annexures).
• Prepare presentation for Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meetings and participate in the meeting, if needed.

Address the feedback and finalise the documentation of the technical project proposals.

Activity 1.3: Provide coordination support for the technical project proposals for government approval

• Tailor communication materials, including presentations, fact sheets, and talking points, to resonate with the priorities and concerns of government entities.
• Follow up with concern authorities for project approval.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy but will entail participation in meetings organized at UN Women, and other government and non-government organisations. No DSA will be paid at the duty station. If unforeseen travel outside the duty station and outside of Dhaka is required for this assignment, such travel expenses shall be borne by UN Women, and the consultant shall receive DSA from UN Women.

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/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Technical credibility in formulation of results-based programme documents
• Research
• Communication
• Negotiation with national machineries

Programme management

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Gender and Development Studies, Political Science, Social Science, or any other related related field is required.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible work experience in national government systems, international, regional or global development organisations; in designing project in the development sector and technical assistance project proposal  formulation for GO-DP development projects.

• Experience in preparing project documents/proposals, especially for the UN Organizations, from a results-based management (RBM) perspective.

• Experience in designing and developing programme/project on gender equality/women rights/ GBV prevention and response is required.

• Excellent analytical and facilitation skills with a strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.

• Excellent English communication and writing skills; (Samples of previous work will be required.)

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Bangla are required.

V. How to Apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc

• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

• Previous reports, prodoc, presentations, publications or other materials relevant to the required experience as sample.

• Financial proposal for the consultancy, disaggregated by item wise costing.

All the above documents must be merged into one file as the system only allows one attachment.

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