Organization: UNWOMEN – United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Location: Remote | Ankara | Istanbul
Grade: Consultancy – International Consultant – Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
Occupational Groups:
Women’s Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
Closing Date: 2024-05-13
SAVE JOB
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.
In 2025, the global community will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), and 10 years of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.
States are called upon to undertake comprehensive national-level reviews of the progress made and challenges encountered in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. Governments should collaborate with relevant stakeholders at all levels of preparations for the 2025 review to benefit from their experience and expertise.
National reports should cover trends, achievements and remaining gaps and challenges, as well as future plans to accelerate implementation at the national level. The regional commissions will use the national reports to prepare regional synthesis reports over the course of 2024. Regional review processes include the preparation of regional reports and the organization of regional intergovernmental meetings by the United Nations regional commissions.
The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) will jointly organize the Regional Review Meeting on the 30-year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in the UNECE region and its alignment with the 2030 Agenda in Geneva on 21-22 October 2024.
The review takes place around key multilateral and intergovernmental processes and moments, including the global review of the SDGs at the (July) and the (September).
Duties and Responsibilities
UN Women ECA RO is seeking the services of an experienced international consultant to lead preparation a thematic document paper (max 30 pages) on “Women Rising: Leadership and Decision making in the UNECE Region”. The thematic review will assess the situation in 56 member States and will discuss progress and challenges, drawing close interlinkages with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the relevant SDGs.
The main objective of the assignment is to produce a thematic paper by undertaking desk review of regional trends on women’s leadership in decision making processes, including those within the BPfA’s priority areas and gender-related SDGs. The review and analysis will be done based on the relevant literature and will benefit from the compilation of the statistical data for the countries in the region, and other relevant data, including if available the Beijing +30 national progress reports and conducting a substantive comparative analysis of achievements, challenges, and gaps encountered in women’s equal and inclusive representation in decision-making systems in the countries of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) region including,
1) obstacles to women’s equal and inclusive representation in decision-making systems, including entrenched gender stereotypes and ensuing discrimination in the public and private spheres, violence against women in politics and public life, and provide recommendations for future improvements; 2) the impact of multiple crises on women’s participation and emerging obstacles to their equal and inclusive representation in decision-making systems; 3) how permanent and temporary special measures can address the lack of equal and inclusive representation of women, particularly for women from groups in disadvantaged situations, and identify how parity can be achieved. Moreover, the paper should address gaps and challenges in policies for women’s equal and inclusive representation in decisionmaking systems to ensure their effective implementation.
The thematic document will be aligned with CSW65 Agreed Conclusions, the forthcoming CEDAW GR 40, and expert papers and other relevant UN Women global and regional priorities to draw key messages for the achievement of gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Deliverables
Under the overall guidance of the UN Women ECARO Policy Specialist on Political Participation and Governance and in close collaboration with ECARO Strategic Partnerships, Intergovernmental and Normative Engagement Specialist, the International Consultant will lead the development and drafting of the thematic paper on “Women Rising: Leadership and Decision Making in the UNECE Region”, which will include, but will not be limited to the following tasks:
Develop detailed timeline of the assignment with the support of the UN Women ECARO.
Develop methodology and detailed outline of the thematic report and its alignment with the 2030 Agenda, and in accordance with the deadlines and overall timeframe to be provided by UN Women ECARO.
Prepare the initial and final drafts of the thematic report, through analysis of the national-level reports, if available and desk review of other sources of information, including those provided by UN Women ECARO, such as programme and policy documents; studies and research publications on women’s leadership in decision making processes etc.
The following key issues have to be addressed, but not limited to:
Overview of the progress towards women’s equal and inclusive representation and participation in decisionmaking systems in the ECE region;
Key trends in the ECE region with regards to women’s equal and inclusive representation and participation in decisionmaking systems;
Main gaps and obstacles towards achieving women’s equal and inclusive representation and participation in decisionmaking systems;
Recommendations to address the existing gaps and challenges in the ECE region.
Identify key thematic messages on priorities emerging from the country-level and regional analysis to support briefing materials.
Based on the analysis done, draft the thematic paper on “Women Rising: Leadership and Decision Making in the UNECE Region” The paper will have a maximum of 8,500 words.
Based on findings of the peer review and UN Women’s feedback to the draft document, finalize and submit the final versions to UN Women.
UN Women HQ and Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia will participate in the peer review process of the thematic background papers to ensure consistency of the approach and methodology. Also, respective UN Agencies will be invited for peer review for thematic paper.
Deliverables
Expected completion time (due date)
A detailed outline of the thematic paper
By 20 May 2024
Initial draft of the thematic paper.
By 15 June 2024
Final version of the thematic paper, including key messages and findings
By 15 July 2024
Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy.
UN Women will provide a template to be used for development of the background document.
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
Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:
Required Skills and Experience
Education and Certification:
Master’s degree in political science, international law, social studies, and/or international relations, or any other degree relevant to the requirements of the TOR.
A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience:
At least 10 years of progressively responsible work experience in gender equality and/or governance in the ECE region.
At least 7 years of experience in working on women’s leadership in decisionmaking processes – including within the Europe and Central Asia region, is required.
At least 7 years of professional experience in conducting research on women’s leadership in decisionmaking processes, is required.
Previous publication of academic research related to GEWE is required.
Previous professional experience with development agencies and/or the United Nations is an asset.
Languages and other skills
Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: )
A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
Candidates should have the ability to quickly produce degree certificates and medical certification (of good health) should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy post.
Payment will be disbursed in two installments upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women ECA RO that the services have been satisfactorily performed as specified below:
Deliverable 1 – 30% of contract amount
Deliverable 2 – 30% of contract amount
Deliverable 3 – 40%of the contract amount
In case travel is required, it will be covered by UN Women separately.
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, colour, 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.)