UN Women: International Consultant Annual Staff Evaluation 2

Location :Home-based and occupied Palestinian territory (Jerusalem and Bethlehem, with possibility to travel to other locations in the oPt)
Application Deadline :10/6/2012
Type of Contract :SSA
Languages Required :English
Duration of Initial Contract :25 June – 31 July 2012 (n. of working days: 5 on mission in the oPt and 4 home-based, prior and post mission)
 
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 centre 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 also provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
UN Women oPt, in line with the Palestinian Authority commitment to fight Violence Against Women (VAW) as set in the National Strategy to Combat VAW, approved by the Palestinian Cabinet in January, 2011; in full partnership with the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs, within the framework of the “MEHWAR CENTRE FOR THE PROTECTION AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN AND FAMILIES” project funded by the Government of Italy, is supporting the operation of the first specialized anti-violence center in the oPt working towards the adoption of human rights-based standards while offering integrated services to prevent family violence, as well as to protect and empower women and children victims and survivors of violence in the oPt. In specific, the Mehwar Center project aims to: improve physical and psychological health conditions among victims of violence hosted in the shelter; build up legal knowledge, in addition to social and life skills for protected women and minors' reintegration in the society; reduce incidence of violent behaviors against women and children; increase social engagement in the promotion and respect of women and children's human rights.
Based on the assumption that specialized, motivated and talented staff constitutes the real capital of an anti-violence centre and that anti-violence centers’ first responsibility is to provide, maintain and protect specialized and appropriate human resources for fulfilling its mandate to provide protection and respect for human life, UN Women, in agreement and in partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs, has institutionalized the process of “yearly staff evaluation”. This process is a tool for achieving the following objectives:
1)Measuring the capacity and performance of each center’s staff member in fulfilling his/her job requirements,
2)Assessing staff members’ professional development during the concerned time,
3)Identifying staff capacity development needs, also looking at emerging protection issues which require additional staff capacity.

The evaluation process therefore shall start from the “individual employee level,” analyzing how duties and responsibilities related to a certain job post were carried out, and if the job requirements were actually met by the staff member, and itshould then refer to the “employee within the collective work environment,” while assessing the employee’s performance and professional growth against team dynamics, internal procedures and management systems. Lastly, it shall open a window on emerging protection issues that may have been highlighted through the work of the anti-violence centre.
It is crucial that personnel understand that the evaluation process serves to improve employees’ professional input and not to criticize them personally. It should help staff members better understand their job title, position, duties, roles, and responsibilities.
Disagreements and differences in views, during the evaluation process, are considered healthy and beneficial to the staff’s professional growth, while it is very important to handle those within a professional atmosphere in order to support strengthening an effective, united and confident anti-violence centre’s team.
Within the above framework, UN Women, in agreement and partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs, intends to recruit an independent team of evaluators composed of one National Consultant and one International Consultant so as to carry out the Mehwar staff evaluation related to the staff performance in 2011.
Duties and Responsibilities
The International Consultant will work while on mission in the oPt, as well as while home-based, under the overall supervision of UN Women oPt Head of Office and the direct supervision of the Women Human Rights Unit (WHRU) Project Manager, and will carry out his/her duties and responsibilities in close cooperation with the National Consultant, in consultation with the Technical Advisor on Women’s Protection and with the Women’s Human Rights M&E Consultant, and in partnership with the Mehwar Center Director and with MoSA Director General for Family and Child Protection. The International Consultant will report regularly to UN Women.
Within the above framework, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities:
-Draft the staff evaluation plan (in English).
-Finalize staff evaluation plan after receiving feedback from the National Consultant and submit to UN Women/WHRU for approval (home-based).
-Revise in close coordination with the National Consultant previously used staff evaluation questionnaires (home-based).
-(Home-based) Draft and submit to UN Women/WHRUthe upgraded questionnaires (in English)for revision and approval. The revised questionnaires should be brief, should include questions that can be answered by the various staff members in their different capacity, and should formulate the questions in a clear and simple manner. Both checklists and open answers can be included, with preference to a combination of both. As result of the revision three questionnaires should be produced for: (1) staff self-evaluation (to be signed by each staff member), (2) staff evaluation by direct supervisors (to be signed by the supervisors), (3) feedback of MoSA Director General for Family and Child Protection on the Center Director’s performance and capacity development needs.
-Review, together with the National Consultant and in cooperation with the WHRU M&E Consultant, all questionnaires as compiled by Mehwar staff and by MoSA Director General for Family and Child Protection, and prepares questions for staff interviews.
-Conduct in close coordination with the National Consultant interview sessions (as per evaluation plan approved by UN Women) with Mehwar staff members aiming to gather more detailed information and to raise more in depth awareness of staff on challenges and achievements met through performed tasks, as well as emerging protection issues identified through the work and relevant capacity development needs for each staff member. Each interview session should last no more than 40 minutes, where the initial 20 minutes should focus on the staff member’s self-evaluation, while the following 20 minutes, in the presence of the staff member’s supervisor, should focus on the supervisor’s evaluation.
-Carry out in close coordination with the National Consultant a special interview session with MoSA Director General for Family and Child Protection for discussing the Director’s performance and her capacity development needs.
-Support interviews’ documentation.
-In close consultation and cooperation with the National Consultant, draft and submit to UN Women/WHRU for feedback no later than 8 July 2012, the 1st draft of the staff evaluation Report in English.
-Meet, together with National Consultant, with UN Women/WHRU to gather feedback and inputs on the 1st draft of the staff evaluation Report.
-After taking into consideration UN Women/WHRU feedbacks and inputs, and in close consultation and cooperation with the National Consultant, prepare and submit to UN Women/WHRU the final draft of the staff evaluation Report (in English) no later than 14 July 2012 (home-based);
-Ensure that the final draft of the Report is engendered and in line with international human rights standards for women’s protection;
-Perform other duties as agreed upon with UN Women /WHRU.

Deliverables
a)Revised evaluation questionnaires (3) in English
b)Final Evaluation Report in English.
 
Qualifications and Requirements
-MA in Social Science, Social Work, Psychology, Gender and Development, or relevant fields;
-Senior (minimum seven years) work experience as evaluator of social support providers, also for the purpose of recruitment, and/or social support providers’ supervisor and/or trainer in the fields of social work, mental health, especially if applied to violence against women;
-Minimum five years of work experience working in cooperation to development in projects related to gender, violence against women, social support /protection services.
-Direct experience working in shelters for women victims of violence, preferably in positions such as center’s director, staff supervisor, staff trainer/coacher, staff evaluator, direct provider of psychological support to women victims of violence;
-Familiarity with the context of the oPt.
-Excellent communication skills. Ability to work in partnership.
-Strong analytical skills.
-Fluent spoken and written English;
-Previous working experience within the UN system will be considered an asset.

Competencies
CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES:
-Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
-Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity;

CORE COMPETENCIES:
-Ethics and Values: Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity;
-Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
-Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Initiative-taking; coaching and mentoring ability;
-Working in Teams: Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
-Communicating Information and Ideas: Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
-Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control;
-Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Managing conflict;
-Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other;
 
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
-Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women's rights and related instruments;
-A proven ability to liaise with a variety of stakeholders and partners, including government and international organizations;
-Strong analytical, dialogue, consultation and communication skills;
-Maturity, ability to take decisions under pressure and ability to deal with matters that are politically or culturally sensitive;
-Ability to work as a member of a team;
-Demonstrated experience in timely delivering of quality products, including knowledge products, and in contributing to complex processes within the women’s protection area of work;
-Demonstrated coordination and facilitation skills;
-Results oriented, flexible and problem solving skills.

Submission of application:
Interested candidates must submit up to date comprehensive curriculum vitae via email to

, subject “ANNUAL STAFF EVALUATION (2012) INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT” no later than 10/06/2012.
UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.