UN Women: National Consultant (Civil Engineer), Cox's Bazar, SSA

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.

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. UN Women 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 in Bangladesh supports the government to implement commitments to international normative standards on gender equality and women’s human rights. In line with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2022-2026, UN Women Bangladesh Strategic Note (2022-2026), defines UN Women’s strategic engagement in Bangladesh. The country strategy focuses on strengthening the national structures and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming in policies, plans and budgets; supporting efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women; promoting women’s access to decent and safe work; promoting policies and government investment in women’s empowerment and resilience building in the context of climate change, humanitarian crisis as well as other threats to peace and security. UN Women works with a range of stakeholders in Bangladesh including the government, civil society and women’s organizations, youth, UN agencies and donors, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. 

UN Women in Bangladesh is supporting the Government of Bangladesh with the Rohingya humanitarian crisis response. In 2017-2018, UN Women developed its humanitarian response programme in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to meet the specific needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized Rohingya Refugee Women and Girls and the women and girls in the host communities affected by the refugee influx in Cox’s Bazar. The objective of the programme is to ensure protection, as well as equitable and safe access to and benefit from life-saving humanitarian assistance and information to the most vulnerable, and marginalized Rohingya and host community women while assisting them to live with dignity, regain resilience and overcome restrictive gender norms. The programme promotes women’s participation and leadership in the camps and host community, peace and social cohesion building activities, and gender-responsive policing. UN Women is an active member of the Protection Sector and the Gender-Based Violence Sub-Sector (GBV-SS) and chairs the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHA WG) for the Rohingya Refugee Response to promote gender-responsive humanitarian action across humanitarian agencies in Cox’s Bazar. 

Under the programme, UN Women is supporting the operation of eight Multi-Purpose Women’s Centers (MPWCs) in Cox’s Bazar, five in the camps and three in host community locations, which offer multi-sectoral protection and empowerment services and support to women and girls. Further, UN Women is supporting the operation of the Women’s Market in Camp 5, which is run by women and caters mainly to women and children. 

Description of responsibilities:

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Head of Sub-Office in Cox’s Bazar and the direct supervision of the Programme Officer for Economic Resilience and Livelihoods and in close collaboration with the Country Office and Sub-Office procurement and operations teams, the consultant will provide civil engineering support to infrastructure and renovation work at the eight MPWCs and the Women’s Market which is being undertaken by UN Women’s partner, as follows:

1.Preparatory works related to infrastructure development:

• Review the civil engineering design prepared by the partner for accuracy, suitability, accessibility and potential improvements, offering practical and environmentally sustainable solutions where applicable;
• Provide technical feedback and advice to UN Women on the approval of the engineering design, technical specifications, scope of work, cost estimates, and bill of quantities (BoQs) for infrastructure of the UN Women supported facilities following Government of Bangladesh guidelines;
• Review partner’s bidding documents before these are published and review their award documents to ensure technical compatibility with UN Women standards, providing advice and guidance;
• Support the UN Women Operations Team with market assessments related to the infrastructure development work, as required;
• Prepare a quality management plan for monitoring compliance of the infrastructure development by the partner with required technical and quality specifications, including specifications relevant to the Rohingya refugee response. 

2.Site monitoring:

• Conduct multiple site visits to the MPWCs and Women’s Market in process of renovation, to ensure infrastructure development work is completed as per agreed design and BoQ, that quality standards are met, and that the work progresses in a timely manner;
• Monitor the compliance of the contractors with the quality management plan; health; safety; labour standards, social and environmental standards; and for local requirements and construction standards, including accountability to the affected people and community engagement. 

3.Information management and reporting:

• Maintain organized records of the infrastructure development work, tracking progress and achievement of tasks against milestones;
• Prepare and present to the UN Women Project Team regular reporting on progress (weekly and as needed check-in reports, issue reports as needed, and monthly progress reports) highlighting work achievements, challenges, and recommendations to ensure compliance with specified standards and milestones.

Deliverables:

Consultant’s Workplace

This is an assignment based on Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

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

Education and Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering; 
• Mandatory engineering registration in Bangladesh.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in construction and infrastructure development in Bangladesh;
• At least 2 years of experience in construction and infrastructure development related to the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar; 
• Good knowledge of MS Office software and skills in costing;
• Strong working knowledge in the use of drawing software (AutoCAD);
• Ability to communicate complex processes simply and understandably;
• Experience in managing socially and environmentally responsive infrastructure development is an asset.

Languages: 

• Fluency in English and Bengali is required;
• Skills in Chittagonian and/or Rohingya is an asset.

Evaluation Criteria: 

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.)