National consultant on gender responsive public procurement

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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. 

The work of UN Women in Moldova is guided by its Country Strategic Note 2023-2027, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Moldova (2023-2027),  UN Women Global  Strategic Plan, National Programs and Strategies and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Note focuses on four main areas: 1) Ending Violence against Women; 2) Women’s Leadership and Governance; 3) Women’s Economic empowerment and 4) Humanitarian and Peace development nexus and UN Coordination on Gender equality.  

Gender-responsive procurement (GRP) as part of the women’s empowerment principles, is a powerful tool to boost women's economic empowerment, promote gender equality, and build more equitable societies. It contributes to the implementation of the Women Empowerment Principle nr. 5 “Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women” aiming to facilitate the participation of women-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement, infusing gender equality throughout the supply chain, diversifying male-dominated sectors, and supporting supply chain diversification, among other initiatives. Gender-responsive procurement should be understood not only as supporting women-led businesses to get public procurement contracts, but also as supporting gender-responsive enterprises regardless of ownership, thereby potentially allowing all women and men to benefit from decent business and employment opportunities. 

GRP involves promoting women's participation in procurement processes, reducing the wage gap, creating decent business and fair employment opportunities for women, supporting women-led businesses, promoting diversity and inclusion, training and education programming, mentoring provision and support for women, and gender impact assessment and reporting. These measures are aimed at ensuring a fair approach to gender in the world of work and facilitating equal access to employment opportunities.

The consultant will be reporting to Gender Specialist-Women Economic Empowerment and Resilience, and will be supported by Programme Analyst, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Rationale 

GRP is a relatively new concept for Moldova. Some of the international corporations in Moldova implement it as part of their CSR and ESG commitments at regional and international level. However, the level of public procurement in Moldova GRP is not directly considered. The need to integrate gender-responsive measures in public procurement was identified and agreed upon by the members of the Economic Council under the Prime Minister and, as a result, included in the Road Map on Women Economic Empowerment of the Economic Council.

By incorporating gender equality measures into the public procurement process, GRP supports the socio-economic benefits of gender equality. Positively impacting the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and promoting economic growth, implementing gender equality measures in procurement enhances the economy's productivity, resulting in improved quality and pricing of goods and services.

Promoting gender-sensitive public procurement is a crucial element in advancing gender equality and implementing principles of women's empowerment in the Republic of Moldova. By ensuring that public procurement processes consider gender perspectives, Moldova can fulfill its international commitments to gender equality and contribute to creating a more inclusive and just society. The Republic of Moldova has a legal framework for public procurement, such as Law 131/2015 on public procurement, based on international standards, specifically Directive 2014/24/EU regarding public procurement. At the same time, there are other normative acts and policy documents indispensable to the regulation, implementation, and promotion of GRP, such as Law No. 74 of 21-05-2020 regarding procurement in energy sectors, water, transport, and postal services; Law No. 125 of 02-06-2016 on the accession of the Republic Moldova to the Agreement on public procurement and to the Agreement regarding public procurement modified by  Protocol; Government Decision no. 1419 of 28.12.2016 for approval Regulation on contract planning of public procurements, etc. 

In consideration of the factors highlighted above, UN Women seeks to develop a series of measures aiming to promote and advance to new level the GRP. The core of this effort lies in enhancing the capacities of crucial institutions such as the Ministry of Finance and other relevant bodies by actively fostering a transformative approach. This multifaceted endeavor encompasses skill development, policy and legal framework refinement, and the establishment of robust frameworks to ensure sustained progress in gender-responsive procurement practices. The goal is to instigate a positive and lasting change beyond surface-level promotion, creating a meaningful impact in the landscape of GRP.

UN Women Moldova, as part of its Women’s Economic Empowerment Agenda, is committed to fostering an ecosystem of opportunities that empower women, and Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP) is increasingly recognized as a powerful tool to promote women’s economic empowerment by leveraging public and institutional purchasing power to drive gender-inclusive outcomes. 

To achieve these objectives, UN Women Moldova seeks an experienced national consultant to support the integration of GRP into national and institutional practices.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

The primary objective of this assignment is to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework to enable the systematic integration of gender considerations into public procurement processes, thereby promoting fairness and equal opportunities for women.

More specifically, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks, including but not limited to:

Upon the UN Women request, consultant will provide intermediate reporting on reflecting the progress of activities, that will include information on implemented activities, suggestions on follow up measures and recommendations on tailored strategies and indicators for integrating gender considerations into procurement regulations/policies and practices, ensuring improvement of internal procedures aligning with international best practices.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. 

Performance evaluation 

The consultant’s performance will be evaluated against performance criteria such as timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy and quality of the services delivered, emphasizing the effective integration of gender considerations through the assignment.

Financial arrangements 

Payment will be disbursed upon submission and approval of timesheets with actual days worked.  The payment shall be made upon certification by UN Women that the services have been satisfactorily performed. The number of days worked is to be determined solely by UN Women.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

Leadership and Self-Management

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

Experience:

Languages:

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.