National Consultant on Gender Responsive Budgeting

TERM OF REFERENCE Reference number: TOR-VNM-2020-006 (Please refer to this number in the application letter) Title: National Consultant Purpose: To provide technical support to UN Women on gender responsive budgeting Duty Station Hanoi, Viet Nam Contract duration: From 20 February to 30 October 2020 Contract Supervision: Programme Specialist - UN Women Viet Nam Office Application deadline: 14 January 2020 I. BACKGROUND Viet Nam has made notable progress in gender equality during the past few decades, including improvements to policies, legal frameworks and the national institutional mechanism on gender equality and the advancement of women. This progress has been reflected in diverse areas, including education and training, the economy, employment, health care, labour and political participation. Although the Government has made great efforts to follow and act in the spirit of the Gender Equality Law 2006 (GEL) and the National Strategy on Gender Equality (NSGE) 2011–2020, efforts towards gender equality and the advancement of women continue to face challenges. Violence against women and girls as well as the sex ratio imbalance at birth induced by deep seated beliefs and traditions that value boys more than girls remain significant concerns within Vietnamese society. Meanwhile, challenges in informal sector employment, climate change impacts and social security system access limitations have affected the lives of a large segment of the country’s population, and disproportionately the women among the poor. Women’s representation in politics and decision-making, especially in leadership and management positions in public institutions from local to central levels, has not been commensurate with improved gender equality in education and the economy. Persistent gender stereotypes, exacerbated by media portrayal of the traditional roles of women and men, remain barriers to changing society’s perceptions of women and gender. In June 2015, the National Assembly approved revisions to the State Budget Law and Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents. A notable change in the former is that gender equality has been included as one of the principles for state management of budgets. Integrating considerations for gender equality in all stages of the State Budget process is a significant undertaking yet Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is still an unfamiliar concept in Viet Nam with little capacity in government to drive and ensure that this commitment in the State Budget Law (2015) will be translated into any change in resource allocation. Time is therefore right to systematically introduce GRB. The implementation of GRB must be an integral part of the ongoing public finance management (PFM) reform process including reform of legal and policy frameworks on the budget process, institutional changes to promote transparency and accountability, and the participation of citizens in budget formulation and allocation. UN Women GRB activities have been built on its 2015 Report by UN Women titled ‘Gender Responsive Budgeting in Viet Nam’ which proposed a road-map for reform and provides guiding principles for how to apply GRB in sectoral interventions in the Viet Nam context. In the past few years, UN Women developed guidance for GRB through sectoral interventions such as: GRB guidance for People’s Council during the regular monitoring activities, GRB guidance in poverty reduction programmes in ethnic minority regions, recommendations for the application of GRB in transport sector in Viet Nam. UN Women has targeted its efforts in developing GRB for key stakeholders, including local government staff in Ho Chi Minh city, local staff working on poverty reductions of selected provinces. Around 150 staff have been trained on how to apply GRB in their planning process. Their experience and challenges in GRB applications were shared at the national workshop chaired by UN Women and Parliament Committee on Social Affairs. With its efforts to promote and show cases on GRB, UN Women built the capacity of HCM city in promoting GRB, particularly through the development and implementation of GRB initiatives at community level. In 2019, some proposals have been presented and considered by the local authorities in the areas of transport sector, safe schools and improvement of old buildings in Districts 1 and 10 of Ho Chi Minh city. UN Women Viet Nam is looking for a consultant (national position) to provide technical support on GRB activities under its annual work plan 2020. II. OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSULTANCY The objective of the consultancy is to promote and strengthen implementation of gender responsive budgeting interventions in Viet Nam as specified in the 2020 AWP of UN Women Viet Nam. III. SPECIFIC TASKS Under the supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist, the national consultant will Provide technical support to the implementation of gender responsive budgeting initiatives in the poverty reduction programme.

Conduct two 3-day trainings on gender responsive budgeting for the implementation of the poverty reduction programmes in Hoa Binh province. These trainings will be organized under the Letter of Agreement between UN Women and Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs.
Conduct two coaching and visits to Bac Giang province on implementing GRB in P135 programme and support the communes in reporting GRB efforts and results in the communes as the results of UN Women support.
Develop a leaflet on GRB in P135 programme based on the GRB guidance UN Women and CEMA developed in 2017.
Develop two pages of the GRB initiatives in Bac Giang: its process, experience and lesson learn on the application of GRB.

Provide technical support to the implementation of gender responsive budgeting initiatives in Ho Chi Minh.

Facilitate the technical meeting organized by UN Women and HCM Department of Labour-Invalids and Social Affairs to support the full proposal of the GRB initiatives and the implementation plan.
Participate into technical meetings in HCM to coach and provide technical guidance for the implementation of GRB initiatives in Ho Chi Minh, particularly with Department of Transportation, People Councils of Districts 1 and 10.

IV. DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT AND DUTY STATION Duration of Assignment: The tentative contractual period is from 20 Feb to 30 October 2020. Duty Station: Homebased with travelling to Hanoi and travel to Hoa Binh, Bac Giang and Ho Chi Minh to conduct meetings and workshops. V. CONTRACT SUPERVISION The national consultant will work under the direct supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist. The consultant will be ultimately responsible to the UN Women Country Head of Office in Viet Nam. VI. SCHEDULE OF WORK, DELIVERABLES AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT The duration of this consultancy is will be from 20 Feb to 30 October 2020. - Deliverables 1:

Agenda and PPTs of two gender responsive budgeting for the implementation of the poverty reduction programmes in Hoa Binh province.

Proposed deadline: 30 April 2020 Schedule of payment: 30% of payment - Deliverables 2:

Leaflet on GRB in P135 programme based on the GRB guidance UN WOMEN and CEMA developed in 2017.
Two pages that captures the GRB initiatives in Bac Giang: its process, to share its experience and lesson learn on the application of GRB.

Proposed deadline: 30 July 2020 Schedule of payment: 30% of payment - Deliverables 3:

Two reports on the support/recommendations and guidance to the GRB implementation in Ho Chi Minh city, including the meeting agenda with relevant stakeholders.

Proposed deadline: 30 Oct 2020 Schedule of payment: 40% of payment VIII. QUALIFICATIONS

Master’s degree in Finance, Gender and Development Studies, Social Sciences or related fields, preferably including Gender Studies;
A minimum of 15-year relevant working experience in the area of gender and development, including gender responsive budgeting.
At least 5-year experience in conducting gender trainings and workshops for policy makers;
Experience in providing technical advice on GRB and gender mainstreaming;
Strong written skills.

IX. EVALUATION CRITERIA The applicant will be evaluated based on technical capacities (70%) and financial proposal (30%). Technical evaluation will be based on the following criteria stated below:

Master’s degree in Finance, Gender and Development Studies, Social Sciences or related fields, preferably including Gender Studies. (20 points)
A minimum of 15-year relevant working experience in the area of gender and development, including gender responsive budgeting. (30 points)
At least 5-year experience in conducting gender trainings and workshops for policy makers. (20 points)
Experience in providing technical advice on GRB and gender mainstreaming. (20 points)
Strong written skills. (10 points)
Total: 100 points

A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the submissions, with evaluation of the technical components being completed prior to any price proposals being opened and compared. The price proposal will be opened only for submissions that passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the evaluation of the technical component. The technical component is evaluated on the basis of its responsiveness to the Term of Reference (TOR). Technically qualified consultants may be selected for an interview before financial evaluation. Maximum 100 points will be given to the lowest offer and the other financial proposals will receive the points inversely proportional to their financial offers. i.e. Sf = 100 x Fm / F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price and F the price of the submission under consideration. The weight of technical points is 70% and financial points is 30%. Individual consultants will be evaluated based on Cumulative analysis; the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. X. APPLICATION PROCEDURE AND DEADLINE Interested applicants must submit the following document/information (in PDF format) to demonstrate their qualifications Technical component:

Letter of interest explaining why you are the most suitable for the work;
Signed Curriculum vitae with contact details for 3 reference;
One report/publication/presentation/article on gender responsive budgeting as an ;evidence of GRB working experience.

Financial proposal (with your signature):

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount in VND including consultancy fees and all associated costs. The consultant will not need to include financial proposal for travel to project sites as such costs are covered by UN Women;
Please note that the cost of preparing a proposal and of negotiating a contract, including any related travel, is not reimbursable as a direct cost of the assignment.

Complete applications should be sent to . Only applications with all items mentioned above will be considered. Deadline for Application: 14 January 2020 NOTE: Documents required before contract signing:

UN Personal History Form
Full medical examination and Statement of Fitness to work and travel for consultants; with travel involved. (This is not a requirement for RLA contracts);
Completed UNDSS BSAFE online training course: EN: https://agora.unicef.org/course/info.php?id=17891
Individual subscribers over 65 years of age are required to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays at their own cost and obtaining medical clearance from the UN Medical Director prior to taking up their assignment;
Release letter in case the selected consultant is government official.

Tags: UN Women