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 and the third gender as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

All human development and human rights issues involve gender dimensions. UN Women globally focuses on key priority areas that are fundamental to women’s equality, and that can unlock progress across the board. UN Women’s priority areas include increasing women’s leadership and participation in political spaces, ending violence against women, enhancing women’s economic empowerment, engaging in all aspects of women peace and security processes, making gender equality central to national planning and budgeting through Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and advancing gender in intergovernmental processes.

UN Women’s work on GRB involves ensuring that national planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation processes incorporate a gender perspective. UN Women’s GRB programmes at the regional and country levels have made significant contribution towards this by building political support, developing technical resources and capacities, generating good practices for improving women’s access to services and increasing accountability for Gender Equality and Women’s empowerment (GEWE). At the forefront of global, regional and local advocacy for application of GRB, UN Women has built partnerships with diverse government, inter-governmental and non-governmental partners to further efforts and demonstrate GRB’s relevance to sustainable development, aid effectiveness, public sector reform and financing for development.

UN Women’s work in Timor-Leste is aligned to the National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence (2022-2032), National Action Plan 1325 on Women, Peace and Security 2024-2028 (NAP 1325) and National SDG Roadmap, particularly on SDGs 5 and 16. It contributes to the National Strategic Development Plan and reinforce Timor-Leste’s Development Plan and the implementation of commitments under the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW and the Concluding Observations of the CEDAW Committee, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, among other international obligations.

In completing the efforts of EVAWG, a four- years Joint UN-KOICA Project Together for Equality: Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Timor-Leste was signed on 23 November 2020 cooperation between the Secretary of State for Equality (SEI) the and the UN family, UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and IOM to support the development, implementation and monitoring of the National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence (NAP GBV), with aims to enhance efforts for all women and girls in Timor-Leste to enjoy their right to live free from gender-based violence in public and private spaces, and access quality essential services, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Women’s economic empowerment is also one of the key pillars of UN Women’s programming in Timor-Leste. Establishing an enabling environment and gender-responsive public spaces for advancing their economic engagement is essential in achieving women’s economic empowerment. This aligns to the Government of Timor-Leste’s existing gender equality commitments including its Safe Dili and Safe Baucau commitments, the Maubisse Declaration for Rural Women, and institutional reforms including Public Finance Management (PFM), and mainstreaming gender in the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

To advance the national Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, in partnership with the Ministry of Interior, UN Women has been providing technical support to national security institutions and line ministries in the NAP 1325 structure including Ministry of Interior, in strengthening their capacities to plan, implement, finance, monitor and report their commitments in the NAP 1325 at both national and sub-national levels, in collaboration with the civil society organizations. In the past decade, UN Women provided support to the Government of Timor-Leste to develop and implement the first and second NAP 1325, and promote gender mainstreaming and GRB in national security policies and reforms and advance women’s meaningful leadership in decision-making processes at all levels, towards accountable policy implementation, gender-responsive conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and to promote services that meet the security needs of women and girls in Timor-Leste. The Government of Timor-Leste approved the second-generation NAP 1325 (2024-2028) in January 2024, and UN Women will continue the technical support to strengthen the capacities of the NAP 1325 Structure and line ministries and relevant key actors of the NAP 1325 to develop plans and invest in the implementation, and promote gender-responsive budgeting.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the consultancy is to:

1. Enhancing capacity of relevant Government Institutions, such as Ministry of Finance and Public Finance Committee on GRB
2. Undertake an analysis of the State Budget 2024 and 2025 from a Gender Lens
3. Based on the analysis, make recommendations
4. Comparative Analysis of the Timor-Leste State Budget in the context of ASEAN Countries
5. Provide technical support and training to the relevant Government institutions on GRB and present analysis and provide support to the National Parliament in promoting GRB.

Within this context, UN Women seeks the services of an International Consultant – Gender Budget Expert.

1. Roles and Responsibilities

Under overall guidance of the Head of Office and direct supervision of EVAW Technical Specialist, with close collaboration with the Programme Specialist EVAWG (Together for Equality Project) and WEE, and WPS Programme Analyst, the International Consultant will provide support and technical assistance in institutional gender mainstreaming, including strengthening partner capacities to apply mainstreaming strategies into annual and programmatic planning, budgeting, and monitoring processes. This will specifically include the following tasks:

1. Develop scope and methodology to identify areas for technical support and capacity building for the National Parliament, Secretary of SEI, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Interior and Public Finance Committee.

• Identify gaps in capacity and develop a work plan to address areas for strengthening.
• Prepare inception report provided with methodology and recommended technical support and capacity building’s scopes.

1. Capacity development of institutions on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and Planning

• Lead the assessment for capacity building needs of UN Women’s identified partners on gender mainstreaming and gender-responsive budgeting through needs assessments and developing reports on results from assessments, identification of technical supports required and capacity building plans.
• Develop training materials, and lead capacity building sessions for UN Women partners and relevant stakeholders on gender-responsive planning and inclusive budgeting in public investment, budget planning and decision-making processes, applying the latest global best practice for Gender Responsive Budgeting that promote gender equality commitments.

1. Provide technical support and recommendations to advance Gender-Responsive Budgeting policy, planning, monitoring and analysis.

• Provide technical support and advice to government partners on gender mainstreaming, gender-responsive and inclusive budgeting, with attention to ending violence against women and girls and promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment and the rights of persons with disabilities. This requires undertaking an analysis of the State Budget 2024 and 2025, implementation of budget, review of polices, plans and budget and inputs from a gender perspective.
• Development of planning, monitoring and budgeting tools and where available, reviewing of developed tools for gender mainstreaming and gender-responsive budgeting that facilitate the implementation of gender equality commitments in Timor-Leste encompassing the CEDAW Concluding Observations, National Action Plan on Gender Based Violence, National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security, Government Resolution on Equal Pay, National Employment Strategy and Maubisse Declaration on Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment, among the gender targets in the SDGs.
• Undertake a comparative analysis of State Budget 2023 and 2024 of Timor-Leste in the context of ASEAN Countries.

1. Expected Deliverables and Timelines

The International Consultant will deliver the following deliverables:

All deliverables should incorporate UN Women feedback before finalization, and all reports and training material shall be presented in English in electronic version.

1. Inputs

• UN Women will cover costs of travel to and from Dili and to other municipalities outside of Dili (in Timor-Leste) if needed, as well as daily subsistence allowance (DSA) as per standard UN rate. UN Women will also provide vehicle for field visits.
• The consultant is expected to use her/his own computer, presentation equipment and software for related tasks.
• The cost of telecommunication and transportation within Dili will be covered by the consultant.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• 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/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Strong commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women, with demonstrated experience of researching or working on gender issues;
• Strong research and writing skills, with strong analytical skills and creative thinking;
• 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;
• Previous experience (also volunteer experience) from the non-profit sector is an advantage.
• Ability to multi-task and address competing priorities
• Ability to produce quality deliverables in a timely manner
• Strong computer skills, including Word, Excel, and Power Point

Required Skills and Experience

1. Performance evaluation:

Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the deliverables.

1. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Social Sciences/Economics/Social Work /Gender Studies/Public Administration/Policy or related fields.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of experience in Gender/GRB programme management, research and trainings.
• Minimum 5 years of experience of working on GRB directly with national/ state governments is required.
• Wider sectoral expertise for dealing with gender issues as well as experience of developing training content and government capacity building.

Language:

• Proficiency in English

1. Submission Package

Interested candidates are requested to submit electronic application with the following documents to UNDP Job Site no later than 20th June 2024.

• Cover letter and copy of the latest academic certificate
• CV, including contact information for 3 references.
• Financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per deliverable in USD.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the CV and P 11 Form (downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment ). Kindly note that the system only allows upload of one document.

Selected candidates will need to submit prior to commencement of work:

• A statement from a medical doctor of ‘good health and fit for travel’

Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will be based on the number of days worked but for the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

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.