Background:
Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between all genders as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security. Placing womenโs rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the efforts of the United Nations System to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of national priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with government, civil society, and other relevant actors. In Nepal, UN Women, with an overarching five-year Strategic Note (SN) 2023 โ 2027, aims to support the national stakeholders in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in line with internationally agreed normative standards that contribute to four outcome areas of the UNSDCF 2023 โ 2027.
Under the framework of the current UN Women Nepal Country Office (NCO) Strategic Note 2023-2027, UN Women in Nepal continues its work to strengthen womenโs leadership and participation in national and local level decision-making processes, empower women economically by supporting women, especially those from the most vulnerable and excluded groups, promote environmental sustainability, climate and disaster resilience, and transform gender discriminatory social norms and end harmful practices for inclusive and transformative human development.
Informal work accounts for 84.6 percent of total employment in Nepal, with 90.5 percent of women engaged informally compared to 81.1 percent of men (NLFS 2018). Informal jobs tend to be low wage and lack benefits like paid sick leave, social protection, health insurance, and job security, making women more vulnerable to economic shocks. Nepalโs 16th National Periodic Plan (2019-2024) recognizes social protection as one of the nine drivers of transformation in the country and as a cross-cutting instrument to build an equitable and just society, guaranteeing citizens fundamental rights to food security, employment, health, and education. Per the recently published Integrated National Social Protection Strategy, more than 80 programs are classified as focusing on social protection in Nepal, and they are operated by more than a dozen ministries and agencies.
UN Womenโs 2024 report on โHarnessing Social Protection for Gender Equality, Resilience, and Transformation - World Survey on the Role of Women in Development 2024โ emphasizes the transformative potential of social protection systems to promote gender equality, resilience, and transformation. The report highlights the need for inclusive, gender-responsive social protection systems that address the vulnerabilities and inequalities faced by women and girls, particularly in the context of repeated crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate-related disasters, and conflicts. To support the development and implementation of such systems in Nepal, we seek a Social Protection Consultant with expertise in gender-responsive social protection policies and programs.
This consultancy engagement is part of UN Women's ongoing efforts to promote gender equality and women's empowerment in Nepal. UN Women Nepal is committed to fostering inclusive and gender-responsive social protection systems. This consultancy aligns with UN Women's Strategic Plan, which prioritizes ending violence against women, enhancing women's economic empowerment, and increasing women's leadership and participation. By advocating for gender-responsive social protection, providing technical assistance, and piloting social protection guidelines, the consultant will contribute to these priorities. The consultant's work will ensure that social protection programs are gender responsive and inclusive, effective, and aligned with the goal of achieving gender equality in Nepal.
2. Objectives
The primary objective of the consultancy is to provide technical expertise and guidance in the design, implementation, and evaluation of gender-responsive social protection frameworks, policies and programmes. The consultant will work closely with stakeholders to ensure that social protection policies and programs effectively address the needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls, promote gender equality, and enhance resilience to shocks and crises.
Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work
Under the supervision of the Womenโs Economic Empowerment (WEE)ย Programme Specialist, and in close coordination with WEE programme team, the National Consultant will provide technical support and strategic guidance on the country officeโs advancing Social Protection. The detailed scope of work and responsibilities of the assignment are as follows:ย ย ย
3. Scope of Work
The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:
Assessment and Analysis: Map the social protection landscape and conduct a comprehensive assessment of existing social protection systems, policies, programs and instruments ย from gender perspective. Analyze gender-specific barriers and risks faced by women and girls in the context of social protection including agriculture sector. Identify key gender gaps and biases in current social protection systems and propose key entry points and recommendations for improvement. Design and Implementation: Provide technical support in the design and implementation of social protection programs, ensuring they are gender responsive and inclusive ย and that address the needs of women and girls from intersectional lens including those in agriculture sector as well. Collaborate with stakeholders to integrate gender responsive social protection with other public services, such as health, education, Disaster Risk Reduction, care services and agriculture extension services including agri-business, livelihood, livestock etc. Design and facilitate national, provincial and local level consultations on gender responsive and inclusive social protection, including consultations under Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection. Capacity Building: Conduct training and capacity-building workshops for government officials, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders. Develop training materials and resources to support the implementation of gender-responsive social protection systems. Work closely with government agencies, other UN agencies, NGOs, and other partners to advance social protection initiatives. Monitoring and Evaluation: Design and implement monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess the impact of social protection programs on gender equality and resilience, including in the agriculture sector. Collect and analyze data to measure the effectiveness of social protection interventions. Provide recommendations for improving the monitoring and evaluation processes. Advocacy and Communication: Develop advocacy strategies to promote gender-responsive social protection policies and programs. Prepare communication materials including knowledge management products to raise awareness about the importance of gender-responsive social protection. Engage with stakeholders, including government agencies, donors, and civil society organizations, to build support for gender-responsive social protection initiatives.4. Deliverables
The consultant will be expected to deliver the following:
Assessment and consultation meetings Report and Policy Briefs:ย A comprehensive report on the assessment of existing social protection systems, frameworks, policies, and programs, including recommendations generating from consultation process. This will also include a separate report or case study focused on the current status of rural womenโs access to social protection systems in the agriculture sector. Gender Responsive Policy and Program Design: Detailed designs of gender-responsive social protection policies and programs as supplementary papers. Training Materials: Training materials and resource packages for capacity-building workshops focusing on gender responsive and inclusive social protection. Monitoring and Evaluation Framework: A framework for monitoring and evaluating the impact of social protection programs on gender equality and resilience including recommended improvements to make programs more gender-responsive. Advocacy and Communication Plan: A plan for advocacy and communication strategies to promote gender-responsive social protection. Dissemination of finding in workshop and events.ย Leading the process for strategic discussion for involving key stakeholders in social protection dialogue.Consultantโs Workplace and Official Travel
State whether the assignment requires partial, intermittent or fulltime presence on UN Women premises, and if applicable, a justification on why a full-time presence at a UN Women office is required. Describe expected travel that the consultancy assignment will require, including locations and duration(s).
This is a home-based (retainer) consultancy.
As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum of 20 trips to City.ย
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 visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:
Strong commitment to and good understanding of gender equality and womenโs economic empowerment.ย Strong interpersonal skills;ย Strong organizational skills and strong self-direction.ย Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.ย ย Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.ย Ability to handle documents and the information contained therein with strictest confidentiality is a non-negotiable requirement. Self-management and Emotional Intelligenceย Conflict management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.ยPartnership development and negotiation skills.ย
Experience:ย
A minimum of 5 years of professional experience working in social protection and policy analysis with proven expertise on public sector engagement, particularly on social protection policies, programmes and schemes.ย Proven experience in gender analysis and the integration of gender perspectives into social protection systems. Proven strong research and analytical skill with proficiency in data management and analysis Experience in capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, and advocacy with regards to policy works. Ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders. Experience working with the UN system is a considerable asset.ยLanguages:
Fluency in English and Nepali is required.ย
Evaluation Criteriaย ย
A minimum of 5 years of professional experience working in social protection and policy analysis with proven expertise on public sector engagement, particularly on social protection policies, programmes and schemes.ย (15) Proven experience in gender analysis and the integration of gender perspectives into social protection systems. (20) Proven strong research and analytical skill with proficiency in data management and analysis (15) Experience in capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, and advocacy with regards to policy works.(10) Ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders. (10) Experience working with the UN system is a considerable asset.ย (10) Interview with the recommended candidates (20)ย The maximum score that the candidate can achieve for this consultancy is 100. Candidates who receive a score higher than 60 will be qualified for this position. ย
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,ย and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age,ย ability, national origin,ย 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 toย UN Womenโsย policiesย and proceduresย andย theย standardsย of conduct expected of UN Women personnelย 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.
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