Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to pilot the set of gender equality development indicators

Vacancy Number: Pr15/00839

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	27 Feb 2015, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	05 Mar 2015
Reference to the project:	Strengthening the National Statistical System
Expected Duration of Assignment:	March-May 2015, total of 35 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 27 February 2015. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: aurelia.spataru@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants. Important notice The applicant who has the statute of Government Official / Public Servant, prior to appointment will be asked to submit the following documentation:  a no-objection letter in respect of the applicant received from the government, and; the applicant is certified in writing by the government to be on official leave without pay for the duration of the Individual Contract.  A retired government official is not considered in this case a government official, and as such, may be contracted. The above requirements are also applicable to Government-owned and controlled enterprises, other semi/partially or fully owned Government entities (including but not limited to research institutions, state-owned colleges/universities, etc.).
Supporting Documents: Terms of References IC Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

Currently, a UN Joint Project on Strengthening the National Statistical System of RM is implemented by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of the Republic of Moldova, in partnership with 5 UN agencies (UNDP, UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, ILO), and aims at improving data collection, production, dissemination and use of statistical information with particular attention to national needs and official statistics overall conformity with international, in particular EU standards. One of the Statistics Project’s intended results is the improved use of available disaggregated statistics by different categories of data users in particular for evidence-based monitoring of policies, development strategies, programmes, etc.

The recognition of the importance of equality of opportunities and the empowerment of women is explicitly expressed in the international commitments undertaken by Moldova (e.g. signing CEDAW, Beijing Platform, certain ILO conventions), as well as national legal and regulatory framework on gender equality (e.g. adoption of the Law on the Equality of Opportunities between Women and Men, the Law on the prevention and countering of family violence, National Program for Ensuring Gender Equality 2010-2015 (NPEGE) and its action plans, etc.).

Gender statistics are the basis of any analysis of socio-economic relations between sexes, they indicate the place and role of women and men in a society, they make possible the formulation of forecasts, defining of targets, monitoring the progress in achievement of gender equality and of broader society development objectives, and they are a valuable tool in raising public awareness.

In previous years, the UN Joint Project responded to gaps related to the quality and availability of sex-disaggregated statistical data. On one hand, this included actions on improvement of statistical production of new or improved datasets on topics of the greatest interest for gender equality measurement.

On the other hand, efforts have been undertaken to raise public awareness and capacity building on gender statistics and its role as appropriate evidences to be used for formulation of strategic objectives, justification of policy actions, measurement of the impact of actions performed by public authorities over population’s life. One of such tools is the national set of harmonized gender sensitive statistical indicators that has passed through several stages so far, being conceptualized in 2008 in the context of MDGs, also responding to objectives spelt out in the Beijing Platform for Action and CEDAW, and revised in 2011 through re-grouping of indicators by the 8 domains of interventions set in the National Program for Ensuring Gender Equality 2010-2015 (NPEGE).

One of the UN Joint Project’s targets in 2015 is to assist the Government in evidence-based evaluation of undertaken actions and reporting of the results achieved in the framework of NPEGE. For that, the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family (MLSPF) and NBS, with the support of the Project, are to mobilize all the concerned central and local public authorities to provide contributions in the form of gender-sensitive statistical information and technical assessments of progress accomplished, as well as the pending issues by sectors to be considered for the elaboration of the new national program on gender equality after 2015.

The Project’s purpose is also to contribute to the improvement of sex-disaggregated data made available to decision-makers and planners within the Moldovan central, regional and local government system so that government policy and planning on gender equality all levels is properly informed.

Scope of work

Under this assignment the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Moldova through UN Joint Project “Strengthening National Statistical System” is seeking a national consultant to assess the feasibility and the quality of indicators and to conduct the statistical data gathering on the basis of the Harmonized Set of Gender Sensitive Development Indicators in the context of Government’s reporting on implementation of the National Program on Ensuring Gender Equality and its action plan.

The key objective of this activity is to pilot-test the set of gender sensitive development indicators considered appropriate for problem identification and progress reporting in the context of the NPEGE. Based on a data gathering exercise (about 170 core and secondary indicators of priorities 1, 2, 3), with involvement of all relevant public or private institutions holding statistical information pertinent to gender equality area, the testing should result in a list of good practice indicators assessed as feasible, reliable (qualitative) and useful quality monitoring tools, underscoring specific areas of gender equality for improvement.

Further refinements in the description of the NPEGE set of indicators (and its structural elements - definition, source, periodicity, etc.), on the basis of the actual use of the gender sensitive indicators by committed institutions, should be also proposed by the consultant. In addition, recommendations on further production and maintenance of such indicators will be made for concerned public institutions, and a mechanism (or tool, procedure) to periodically compile the respective statistical data will be suggested to MLSPF as the national focal point on reporting gender issues.

Thus, the main output of the whole assignment will represent the revised set of gender sensitive development indicators, accompanied by the pertinent time series for 2010-2014, and procedures to facilitate its further use for planning monitoring and reporting purposes. The Government will be invited to consider the revised set when developing the new (next cycle) national program on gender equality and setting its medium-term M&E framework.

The envisaged exercise will reveal the completeness of efforts on integration of gender dimension in data collection process by the concerned line-ministries and subordinated bodies during the past years. Besides that, it should enable the inventory of sex-disaggregated data mapping available for policy-making and reporting on international commitments.

Thus, under the current assignment the UN Joint Project, in collaboration with the MLSPF and NBS, are looking for the following expertise on the part of the hired national consultant:

(A)    To pilot-test the harmonized set of gender sensitive development indicators compliant with NPEGE through data gathering from all Governmental sources and analyze the gaps/difficulties/weaknesses in definitions, sources, processing instruments, quality aspects;

(B)    To provide the necessary tools for institutionalization of the regular data compilation on the basis of tested set of indicators for application by MLSPF, NBS and other users.

For detailed information on Tasks and Responsibilities, Expected Deliverables please refer to Terms of References.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master degree in statistics, social sciences, economics and/or other relevant areas;
• Additional certifications in the area of gender equality (will be an asset);

Years of experience:

• At least 5 years of overall professional experience (executing, advising, managing, consulting, etc.) in public administration, institutional development, service provision, academic and/or applied research or other  relevant to the assignment;
• At least 3 experience records related to the development of evidence-based analytical works (thematic analysis, assessments, evaluations, reviews, policy advisory, etc.) in the fields of gender equality concern;
• Proved practical experience of work with statistical data (methodological work, data collection, compilation, use, etc.), evidences and informative materials;
• Experience of collaboration with Government, preferably in area/s relevant for the present assignment;
• Experience of work with international organizations and UN agencies in particular;

Competencies and Skills:

• Good knowledge of monitoring and legal framework related to the fields of gender equality concern;
• Knowledge of statistical concepts and definitions, methods and data sources at the national level related to the fields of gender equality (will be an asset);
• Excellent computer skills, knowledge of data base applications, ability to work with large datasets or even use of statistical analysis software (i.e. SPSS, STATA);
• Strong analytical, writing and communication skills;
• Familiarity with UN Women/UN mandates and work in the area of gender equality;
• Excellent communications skills in Romanian; Good knowledge of English;

Personal Qualities and other requirements:

• Good interpersonal skills, solid judgment/decision making, initiative and creativity;
• Availability to work with UNDP and Project’s national stakeholders during the indicated period;
• Adherence to UN’s values and ethical standards.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Technical Proposal explaining how the applicant responds to each of the qualification requirements and why he/she is the most suitable for the work;
2. Personal information (as a detailed CV or as a Personal History Form /P11) including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained;
3. Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days)

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.

In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including all related costs e.g. fees, phone calls etc.) and the number of anticipated working days.  The consultant shall bare costs for all supplies needed for data collection and data processing including possession of his own personal computer. 

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of other travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

During the contract period no travel is required.

 

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