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 the Arab region, UN Women and other partners are implementing an exciting and unique three-year regional programme entitled โDare to Careโ (DTC) with the goal of transforming patriarchal social norms and masculinities, with a regional coverage in six countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Palestine) and in-country investments in four of them: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.ย
This ground-breaking regional programme aims to promote social norms change for gender equality and womenโs empowerment using the involvement of men and boys in unpaid care and household responsibilities as one key entry point. The programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the German International Development Cooperation (GIZ) and the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation. It works towards the achievement of three following three outcomes:
- Outcome 1: Societies across the MENA region demonstrate an increased involvement of men and boys in caregiving and household responsibilities and more empowerment of women and girls;
- Outcome 2: Key institutions effectively transform patriarchal masculinities and social norms, with a focus on advancing caregiving and household responsibilities of men and boys and the economic empowerment of women and girls;
- Outcome 3: ย More men and boys are able to take their share in caregiving and household responsibilities with more enabling laws and policies that promote their caregiving and household responsibilities, and paternity leave.
Under the above Outcome 3, UN Women seeks to develop a policy brief that explores Islamic perspectives and jurisprudence on the care economy from a feminist analytical perspective. This policy brief aims to provide policymakers in the MENA region with a comprehensive understanding of how Islamic teachings and legal frameworks address issues related to the care economy. The policy brief is also expected to strengthen the capacity of women's rights and gender equality advocates with technical knowledge of the importance of womenโs rights to possess a share of the assets and finances upon divorce that reflect the amount of unpaid care and domestic work undertaken by women during their years of marriage.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work:
This consultancy is under the framework of the โDare to Careโ regional programme. The consultant will work in close collaboration and under the direct supervision of UN Womenโs โDare to Careโ Regional Programme Manager, and in close cooperation with the โDare to Careโ Regional Programme Analyst and other โDare to Careโ team members of UN Women Country Offices.
All deliverables will be reviewed and cleared by UN Women before the payments are approved by the Regional Programme Manager.
Further, the consultant will be required to work in a very collaborative and consultative way with UN Women โDare to Careโ Country Office teams and other relevant stakeholders from the Arab region, as needed.
The consultant will provide substantive technical support to carry out the following functions:
- Conduct a thorough literature review on Islamic perspectives and jurisprudence related to the care economy, with a focus on the Arab region;
- Engage with key stakeholders, including religious scholars, feminist economists, and policy-makers, to gather insights and perspectives;
- Analyze the collected data and literature to produce a comprehensive policy brief;
- Provide policy recommendations that are informed by the feminist analysis of Islamic perspectives on the care economy.
Deliverables
The deliverables of this consultancy assignment are described in the below table. The final deliverables will have to include the inputs provided by UN Women before payment is released to the consultant.
The main deliverable of the consultancy is the development of a policy paper that analyzes and highlights the value of Islamic teachings and practices in promoting the care economy and the importance of advancing the 6 Rs Framework of the care economy โ namely Recognizing, Reducing, Redistributing, Rewarding, Representation and Resourcing โ using religious arguments and perspectives that are grounded in Islam. The paper is to address and make linkages to international and regional normative frameworks on the care economy, including the UN System policy paper entitled \"Transforming Care Systems in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals and Our Common Agenda,\" authored by a collaborative effort of various UN entities, including UN Women, ECLAC, ILO, OHCHR and UNDP. ย
Additionally, the policy paper is to underscore the significance of women's rights for the recognition and account of womenโs unpaid care and domestic work undertaken during their marital life when it comes to the division of property, assets and finances upon divorce.
The paper should build upon good practices and examples of Islamic jurisprudence from Muslim-majority countries, with a focus on the Arab region. This policy paper will serve as a strategic tool for advocacy efforts in the fields of care economy and family law reform by policymakers from Arab States, civil society organizations, academia, private sector, and Islamic institutions, actors, scholars and practitioners.ย
No. Deliverables Number of Workdaysย Completion timeframe Payment schedule and value 1 A detailed work plan outlining the methodology and timeline for the consultancy as well as the outline of the policy paper 3 days By 18 September 2025 20% 2 A draft policy paper for review and feedback. The policy paper should contain an Executive Summary and have less than 30 pages (excluding bibliography and annexes)ย 20 days By 10 November 2025 40% 3 A final policy paper with language of publishable quality that incorporates the feedback provided by UN Womenย 8 days By 15 December 2025 40% 4 A Power Point presentation summarizing the key findings and recommendations of the policy paper 4 days By 15 December 2025 ย ย ย Total number of workdays is 35 days ย ย
ยConsultantโs Workplace and Official Travel:
The assignment of the consultant is home-based and no travels are envisioned. In the case any work mission would be needed, the travel costs of these work missions of the consultant will be covered by the UN Womenโs โDare to Careโ regional programme. ย
ยCompetencies :
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:
- Good planning, goal setting and prioritization skills;
- Extensive proven experience in knowledge production and gender mainstreaming across different sectors;
- Demonstrated solid experience in writing research papers and documents;
- Strong analytical skills;
- Ability to work under tight deadlines;
- Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
- Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.
Required Qualifications:
Education and Certification:
- Advanced degree (PHD) in womenโs/gender studies is desirable OR
- A Masterโs degree in one of the following disciplines Economics, Gender/Womenโs Studies, Islamic studies, Social Sciences, Social Anthropology, Philosophy or a related field is required ย OR
- A First-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.
Experience:
- A minimum of 7 years of professional experience in gender analysis or research on gender equality in Muslim-majority contexts is required, with a demonstrable list of publications/research articles authored by the incumbent is required;
- Demonstrated experience in Islamic jurisprudence and perspectives on womenโs rights and care-related issues is required;
- A deep understanding of the institutional context of the Arab region and of the socio-cultural nuances implicated in shaping social norms related to gender equality is desirable;
- Experience in producing high-quality policy briefs and research papers is required;
- Previous experience working for the UN system is desirable;
- Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills are desirable.
Languages:
- Fluency in English and Arabic is required;
- Knowledge of French is desirable.
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, integrit,y 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.
ย