International consultant to conduct training for staff of legal departments, UN Women Kazakhstan

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.

As part of its strategic cooperation with the Government of Kazakhstan, in 2025 UN Women successfully finalized the implementation of the Tied Grant “Assisting Kazakhstan in the Implementation of the Concept of Family and Gender Policy in Terms of Ensuring Gender Equality and Empowering All Women and Girls in Kazakhstan, as well as Overcoming the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis” for the period 2022–2024 (Tied Grant). The first phase of Tied Grant focused on improving women’s representation at decision making level, reducing the gender pay gap, and enhancing women’s economic participation. It successfully strengthened government capacity on advancing gender equality and integrating international standards, promoted initiatives such as gender-sensitive legislation, developed academic programme on “Gender studies” and raised public awareness about the Family and Gender policy in Kazakhstan. Building on the results achieved during the phase one, it also highlighted the need for further capacity-building of national partners, sustained results, and improved.

In 2025 UN Women Kazakhstan with support of the National Commission for Women Affairs and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Culture and Information started implementation of a new project for 2025–2027: “Promoting the Improvement of Legal Protection for Women, Strengthening Gender Equality, and Ensuring Full Participation of Women in the Socio-Political Life of the Country.” 

This new project draws on lessons learned to drive long-term change for the empowerment of women and girls in Kazakhstan. It provides support to coordinated capacity-building, greater integration of gender perspectives into budgeting and policy processes, and increased consistency in applying gender considerations across the legislative framework. It also identifies opportunities to strengthen the role of the National Commission, improve monitoring and evaluation of the Concept of Family and Gender Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2030, enhance media coverage of gender equality issues, and further support to women’s political participation and professional development in Kazakhstan.

The project is aligned with national priorities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—specifically SDGs 5, 16, and 17—and supports the implementation of Kazakhstan’s Family and Gender Policy Concept until 2030. It also contributes directly to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2026–2029, particularly Priority 1: promoting inclusive, accountable, and gender-responsive governance.

As part of the project, and in close collaboration with key national partners—the National Commission on Women’s Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, an agreement was reached to establish the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Knowledge Centre (“GEWE Knowledge Centre”) in Almaty, serving as a national hub for capacity building, policy dialogue, and evidence-based action on gender equality.

The GEWE Knowledge Centre will serve as a hub for capacity development, research, dissemination of best practices, and knowledge-sharing. It will ensure the long-term continuity of project activities by equipping stakeholders with the tools and resources necessary to sustain momentum in advancing gender equality. Institutionalising gender-responsive budgeting and embedding gender equality policies within national and regional frameworks will promote equitable governance, improve resource allocation, and drive systemic, long-term policy change.

In 2024, within the framework of Tied grant (Phase 1), UN Women taking in account best international practices developed a methodology for implementing gender expertise and developing recommendations for harmonizing the gender expertise system in the legislation of Kazakhstan and integrating it into the legal analysis process and started its capacity building strategy on gender expertise.

In 2025, UN Women continues to strengthen the professional capacity of justice authorities and other relevant government institutions in conducting gender expertise and legal analysis, with a focus on institutionalizing these processes within norm-setting activities. In addition to training activities, a gender analysis of regulatory documents will be conducted in the pilot Ministry and a National Company. This work will be led by a national consultant, with methodological and technical support provided by an international consultant to ensure alignment with international standards and best practices.

Objective The purpose of this assignment is to conduct a training seminar to strengthen the professional potential of representatives from justice authorities and legal departments, other government bodies and organizations involved in development of policies and normative legal acts, by providing them with skills in conducting gender expertise of legal acts in accordance with the developed methodology of UN Women. Also, it is expected that the international consultant will provide substantive feedback to the national consultant on the scope and proposed approach of the gender analysis of regulatory documents of one pilot state body and the national company. 

An international consultant is expected to develop a 2-day training programme and conduct a seminar/ training session for representatives of the Ministries and institutions to improve knowledge and skills in conducting gender expertise of draft laws, regulations, programs, strategies, and national projects.

The purpose of training program is: 

• Training in the use of methodology, tools, knowledge and techniques for conducting gender expertise of legal acts to representatives of government bodies and institutions; 

• Strengthening the professional capacity and awareness about gender expertise of legal acts and policies of national partners, representatives of government agencies, institutions and organizations; 

• Preparing gender-based expertise for draft regulatory legal acts; • Defining the gender perspective in proposed policies, initiatives and reforms;

• Improving the skills of conducting gender expertise according to the proposed methodology. Training will last for 2 days, 8 hours daily, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Total amount of participants – up to 50 persons.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work 

The tasks for International consultant will include the following:

1. Preparation and presentation of the work plan. 

2. Preparation of the concept, programme and training materials for the seminar based on the Methodology of conducting gender expertise of legal acts developed by UN Women. 

4. Development of the practical exercises (cases) for participants. 

5. Conducting two-day trainings in Russian language. 

6. Prepare and submit a comprehensive final report summarizing the training activities, materials used, results of pre- and post-assessments, participant feedback, and recommendations for strengthening the capacity of government representatives to conduct gender expertise of legal acts.

Provision of the support to the National Consultant: 

6. Coordinate and provide substantive support and feedback to the national consultant on the scope and proposed approach of the gender analysis of regulatory documents of one state body and the national company. 7. Develop a comprehensive methodology in cooperation with national consultant for conducting the gender analysis, ensuring alignment with international standards and good practices, and adapting it to the national context.

8. Guide and consult the national consultant in applying the methodology, offering technical advice and quality assurance throughout the gender analysis process. 

9. Review and validate the key findings and recommendations of the gender analysis before finalization. 

To gather feedback and recommendations, it is necessary to conduct a survey among participants after the training sessions. The results of these surveys should be reflected in the final report. 

Preparation of the final report in Russian with appendices and recommendations for implementing the training program and recommendations for the gender analysis findings.

Competencies:

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

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

Functional Competencies:

Very strong qualitative and analytical skills; experience in conducting training on gender expertise will be an asset (provide copies of supporting documents, such as electronica copies of conducted research, surveys, etc.).

Education and Certification:

- A minimum of a master's degree or equivalent in social sciences, humanities, economics, human resource management, law, or related fields.
Experience:
• At least 5 years of experience in conducting social/gender research or research in the field of gender expertise of regulatory legal acts.
• Experience working with UN agencies or other international organizations and government bodies (provide copies of supporting materials or links to websites with documents)

Languages:
• Excellent written and spoken Russian is mandatory.
• Working knowledge of English will be an asset.

Financial arrangement:

Payment will be made after the presentation and approval of the results by UN Women Project Manager or Programme Specialist. The work of the international expert will be evaluated based on criteria such as timeliness, responsibility, initiative, sociability, accuracy, and quality.

The payment for the service will be completed as follows: 

1) 40% of the contract amount will be paid after acceptance of the deliverables 1-3;

2) 60% of the contract amount will be paid after acceptance of the deliverables 4-7.

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.