National Project Consultant For Cefm - Local Post For Nationals

Background

I. Organizational Context

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides support to Member States’ efforts and priorities in meeting their gender equality goals and for building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In Türkiye, in line with its global Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and Country Strategic Note (2022-2025), and the overall UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Turkiye (UNSDCF) (2021-2025), UN Women works towards the overarching goal of “Women and girls including those at greatest risk of being left behind fully exercise their human rights, enjoy a life free from violence and discrimination, and lead, influence and benefit for Turkiye”. UN Women works in four thematic areas: (i) governance and participation in public life; (ii) women’s economic empowerment; (iii) ending violence against women and girls; and (iv) women, peace and security, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. UN Women contributes to three UNSDCF outcomes: 1) Women and girls have improved and equal access to resources, opportunities, and rights, and enjoy a life without violence and discrimination; 2) By 2025, Persons under the Law on Foreigners and International Protection are supported towards self-reliance. 3) By 2025, governance systems are more transparent, accountable, inclusive and rights-based with the participation of civil society, and quality of judicial services is improved.

UNICEF, IOM, UNFPA, UNHCR, and UN Women have been working together on the “UN Joint Programme for the Prevention of CEFM” (the Joint Programme) since 2018, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The First Phase of the Joint Programme has ended in September 2021, resulting in increased national synergies in Child Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) prevention through: advocacy on the international and national normative framework; data generation and analysis; technical support to national and provincial coordination mechanisms and action plans on CEFM; and community mobilization with a focus on girls’ empowerment and male engagement.

In the Second Phase, being implemented by UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women, with consultative support from IOM and UNHCR, the Joint Programme has been drawing on the experience and lessons learned during the implementation of the First Phase (including adaptation of programme activities in the context of COVID-19) to continue to address the complex issue of CEFM.

Under the First Phase of the Joint Programme, UN Women Türkiye organized tent chats in the year of 2021 in 3 districts of Adana (Karatas, Seyhan, and Yüregir), which were selected based on the analysis report presented by Development Workshop Cooperative in November 2019. Total of 13 sessions were conducted in 11 seasonal agricultural workers tent areas located in 3 districts with the participation of 137 women and 36 girls. The field report prepared in line with the findings of tent chat sessions revealed that although research, advocacy and intervention efforts for improving the living and working conditions of seasonal agricultural worker households and eliminating various forms of discrimination already exist in the field, these efforts are very limited and lack of gender sensitivity, focusing mainly on these households as a whole or workers’ working conditions and fundamental rights.

While many advocacy efforts were conducted at the decision-maker level for the inclusion of CEFM risk mitigation strategies for seasonal agricultural workers, the earthquakes that struck the country’s Southeast region effecting a population of around 14 million where women and girls make up half of the affected population in the early 2023 which posed an increased risk of different forms of violence against women and girls including cefm significantly affected the scope and nature of the protection and preventive services in the area of eliminating violence against women and girls as well as coordination.[1]

In order to contribute to the efforts in this field, and prior to providing data on gender norms, stereotypes, and the impact of these factors, as well as the devastating earthquake on the lives of women and girls in the field of seasonal agricultural work, UN Women Türkiye would like to reach out to seasonal agricultural workers in Adana, Edirne, Gaziantep, Izmir, and Hatay Kocaeli through Tent Chats. as part of its community based activities under the Second Phase of the UN Joint Programme, taking into consideration the high prevalence of CEFM among the agricultural seasonal workers and the girls being under the risk of limited access to education.

In this context, Under the Joint Programme on the Elimination of CEFM, UN Women Türkiye office intends to contract a national consultant to directly support the project team in activities related to seasonal agricultural workers. Consultant is expected to organize tent chats with women in selected tent settlements around 5 provinces aforementioned to contribute to the women’s empowerment through raising awareness on the consequences of CEFM.

[1] For further details, please see: UN Women, Her Aftermath - The Impact of the Earthquakes in Türkiye: Focus on Prevention and Response to Violence against Women and Girls, July 2023. Available in here.

Duties and Responsibilities

II. Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision and guidance of Programme Specialist, the National Project Consultant will be responsible for:

• Preparation of a desk review to develop the methodology and the workplan.
• Developing the methodology and the content of the tent chats for awareness-raising sessions on themes regarding CEFM for the female seasonal agricultural workers.
• Identifying the tent settlement areas located in the 5 project provinces (Adana, Edirne, Gaziantep, Izmir and Hatay) which tent chat sessions to be conducted
• Delivering the tent sessions in the districts of 5 project provinces as identified in the methodology, aiming to reach 300 women and girls in total.
• Preparing the final report based on the findings of the tent chat sessions.

III. Deliverables and Payment Schedule

Duration of the assignment is from April 2024 to September 2024 (Up to 45 days). The Consultant is expected to spend up to 45 working days on a 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, they are expected to use their 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 deliverables are clearly dedicated in line with the expected functions as it can be seen in following table.

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 Consultant will be supervised by the Programme Specialist. The provision of envisaged deliverables and timesheets approved by the UN Women Programme Specialist shall be the only criteria for Consultant’s work being completed and eligible for payment(s).

Mandatory Courses:

The Consultant shall complete all the mandatory and further required UN courses, training, and modules on time. The certificates shall be submitted to the Programme Specialist.

Please note that the required training courses could vary based on contract content and duration, the nature of the work and inclusion of travel. The Hiring Manager will provide the list of mandatory courses to the Consultant. Hence, the Consultant is obliged to follow the instructions of her/his Hiring Manager upon which training modules to complete and when to complete them.

Travel:

UN Women Turkey Office will organize the logistics of the travel and accommodation. The consultant will not be responsible for any reimbursement payments. All the payments to the Consultant will be processed in Turkish Lira. All travel related expenditures (travel, airport and field transfer services, accommodation, daily lunch boxes) and associated costs will be covered by the travel & event management agency which will be selected by UN Women Turkiye Office for the logistical arrangements of the tent chat sessions. DSA will not be incorporated into both financial proposal and the assignment of the consultant. The reimbursement will be directly paid to the travel & event management agency.

Competencies

V. Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues
• Awareness and sensitivity regarding violence against women, including CEFM
• Creative problem solving
• Effective communication
• Inclusive collaboration
• Stakeholder engagement
• Leading by example

Functional Competencies

• Ability to consolidate information from multiple sources
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings
• Ability to work independently as well as in teams
• Excellent time management and ability to produce deliverables within agreed deadlines
• Knowledge of violence against women and CEFM
• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively, and creatively across different constituencies
• Knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues
• Focus on impact and results for client
• Consistent approach to work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Demonstration and safeguarding of ethics and integrity.

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)

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.)

Required Skills and Experience

VI. Required Skills and Experience:

VII. 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 ssa.turkiye@unwomen.org 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.

As for Financial Proposal, please send them/it separately via e-mail to ssa.turkiye@unwomen.org indicating the name of the position applied in the subject line of the e-mail. Since they will be sent separately via e-mail, Financial Proposals should not be uploaded to the system or be included in the merged PDF which shall consist of the applicant’s Cover Letter, CV and Signed P11 Form. Please make sure to not include the Financial Offer in the merged PDF.

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 financial proposal may not be considered. Applicants are responsible to make sure to have provided all the requested application materials before the deadline.

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.

1. Travel costs

UN Women Turkey Office will organize the logistics of the travel and accommodation. The consultant will not be responsible for any reimbursement payments. All the payments to the Consultant will be processed in Turkish Lira. All travel related expenditures (travel, airport and field transfer services, accommodation, daily lunch boxes) and associated costs will be covered by the travel & event management agency which will be selected by UN Women Turkiye Office for the logistical arrangements of the tent chat sessions. DSA will not be incorporated into both financial proposal and the assignment of the consultant. The reimbursement will be directly paid to the travel & event management agency.

1. Currency of the price proposal

The applicants are requested to submit their price proposals in Turkish Lira.

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 45 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 45 days.

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

[Signature]

Date:

Name:

Address:

Telephone/Fax:

Email: