National consultant on Public Finance Management and Gender Responsive Budgeting 

Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Job Info

Job Identification: 24493

Posting Date: 02/26/2025, 01:20 PM

Apply Before; 03/13/2025, 05:59 AM

Job Schedule: Part time

Locations Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Job Function: Ending violence against women

Initial Contract Duration: March 2025- December 2025

Education & Work Experience: Master's Degree - 2 year(s) experience OR Bachelor's Degree - 4 year(s) experience

Required Languages: Fluency in Romanian and English

Desired Languages; Knowledge of the Russian language

Vacancy Category: Consultancies

Job Description

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.  

Based on the European Commission Implementing Decision on the Annual Action Plan in favour of the Republic of Moldova for 2022 NDICI-GEO-NEAR/2022/ACT-61535 EU4 Resilience and Governance, UN Women Moldova CO is implementing a four-year project (November 2023 – October 2027) under the name "Ending Violence, Expanding Livelihood Opportunities for Women and Accelerating Gender Governance in Moldova" (hereinafter EVOLVE4GE). The project is implemented in line with and in contribution to the Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) of European Commission " Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in External Action 2021–2025", adopted in November 2020, Country gender profile and its Country Level Implementation Plan – CLIP for the Republic of Moldova which aim to accelerate progress on empowering women and girls, and safeguard gains made on gender equality during the 25 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action . It will also support the Government to advance implementation of the gender equality commitments aligned with the EU candidacy status granted to the Republic of Moldova in June 2022.

The project builds on UN Women’s advocacy and past work in strengthening capacities for gender responsive governance, on the Country office best practices around women’s economic empowerment through business development and increased participation of women in sectors with high economic potential and high gender gap, as well as on lessons learned collected through the support provided to the Government in the development of integrated – survivor oriented – provision of assistance and establishment of specialist services for survivors of violence against women and girls.

The interventions will contribute directly to the implementation of the national priorities set the Government Programme on Gender Equality (2023-2027), The RoadMap for Economic Empowerment of Women, the National Programme on Ending Violence against Women (2023-2027), as well as to the gender responsive provisions of the  Public Finance Management Strategy (2023-2030) and Public Administration (2023-2030).

The project, initiated in November 2023, and is funded from the European Union. Its overarching goal revolves around the following outcome: By 2027, women and girls actively contribute to and reap the rewards of enhanced gender-responsive policies, customized economic empowerment initiatives, and easily accessible quality essential services.

One of the anticipated results of the EVOLVE4GE project is the enhancement of the capacity of both Central and Local Government authorities to design and implement gender-responsive policies. To achieve this, the project aims to strengthen the capacity of central and local Gender Equality Mechanisms (GEMs); offer customized assistance to the Ministry of Finance and other central budget users to integrate gender considerations into public finance management; build the capacity of public oversight institutions to incorporate gender perspectives into oversight and audit practices; and by providing comprehensive support to Local Public Administration for piloting gender-responsive budgets.

In this framework, UN Women within EVOLVE4GE project seeks to contract a consultant (here and after “The Consultant”) to extend expert support to state institutions including but not limited to Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Labour and Social Protection  (MLSP), Ministry  of Regional development and infrastructure , Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalisation (MEDD) and other sectoral ministries to enable institutionalized introduction of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in Moldova, in line with the recommendations from the Public Expenditure and Finance Accountability Assessment (PEFA) supplementary assessment on gender,  and the  Public Finance Management Strategy (PFM) for 2023-2030 

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

More specifically, the consultant will work in close coordination with a team of 1 International and 1 National expert and will be responsible for the following tasks, including but not limited to:

• Contribute to development and delivery of capacity building activities 
• Support the line ministries in conducting gender analyses for selected budget programs 
• Based on gender analyses provide recommendations for a tailored set of modifications for each programme, encompassing indicators, objectives, outputs, and outcomes to instill gender responsiveness;
• Ensure that the modifications align with the unique needs and contexts of the target populations or beneficiaries of the budget programmes;
• Provide hands-on mentorship to ministry representatives, elucidating the principles and methodologies of gender-responsive budgeting;
• Formulate a comprehensive set of recommendations for enhancing an existing budget circular to incorporate gender-responsive elements;
• Ensure that the recommendations are practical, actionable, and aligned with best practices in gender mainstreaming;
• Facilitate the piloting of the specific GRB provisions in the budget circular within a designated ministry or department;
• Monitor the implementation process closely, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments to optimize effectiveness;
• Document lessons learned and best practices for dissemination and future replication;
• Develop a final report summarizing results (changes in capacities, key results achieved, lessons learned, and recommendations).

The consultant will report to the Project Officer on Gender Responsive Governance (EVOLVE4GE project), who will serve as the primary contact for all matters related to the contract and payments. The consultant’s work will be carried out under the overall coordination of the EVOLVE4GE Project Manager and the UN Women Programme Specialist on Women in Leadership, Gender-Sensitive Governance, and Budgets.

The consultant is expected to maintain regular communication and coordination with the Project Officer on GRG regarding the progress of deliverables. Additionally, the consultant must promptly inform UN Women in writing of any unforeseen challenges or risks that may arise during the assignment and propose a backup plan to ensure the timely and successful completion of deliverables.

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. 

In case travel is required, it will be covered by UN Women separately.

Payment 

As full payment for the services performed by the Consultants, UN Women will pay the Consultants in accordance with the deliverables provided. Payments shall be made following certification by UN Women that the services related to each deliverable have been satisfactorily performed and the deliverables have been achieved by or before the due dates, if any. 

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

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

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource

Leadership and Self-Management

• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners 

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in public administration, social studies, finance, gender studies, and/or any other degree relevant to the requirements of the TOR is required;
• A first-level university degree (bachelor's), combined with two additional years of qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of relevant professional experience in gender-responsive budgeting application at either the central or local level or similar experience in public finance management is required;
• Proven experience undertaking gender analyses and developing reports is required;  
• Experience designing and delivering training and/or mentoring programmes on gender equality and gender mainstreaming in policy making and budgeting is required;
• Experience working on central government finance policies and processes – including medium-term budgeting program (MTBP), budgeting methodologies, and approaches are required;
• Previous experience working with international organizations is considered an asset;

Languages:

• Fluency in Romanian and English is required;
• Knowledge of the Russian language is an asset.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE 

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their online applications by March 13, 2025  through the following link: National consultant on Public Finance Management and Gender Responsive Budgeting (Local post for Residents of the Republic of Moldova) - UN Women Careers . Applications should include the following documents:

• Duly filled UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc . Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. 
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page);
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.
• Candidates should be able to quickly produce degree certificates and medical certification (of good health).

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. 

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.