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 provides support to Member States’ efforts and priorities in meeting their gender equality goals and for building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
The key policy framework for gender equality, women’s empowerment, and access to justice in Uganda is the National Development Plan III (NDP III), in particular Objective 7 which focuses on ‘Strengthening implementation of human rights. NDP III aligns with the Constitution of 1995 and Uganda’s Vision 2040 focusing on effective public service delivery as an enabling factor for good governance, accountability, social inclusion, and economic growth.
UN Women operationalizes her support to Member States through Flagship Programming Initiatives (FPIs) developed to achieve transformative results for gender equality and women empowerment. The Flagship Programme on Women’s Access to Justice addresses bias and gender discrimination in justice delivery. Eliminating gender discrimination across the justice chain is critical for protecting women’s economic assets, bodily integrity, voice and agency.
The Strengthening Criminal Justice Responses to GBV in Uganda project contributes to the flagship Programme. The project’s implementation begun in December 2024 and is expected to end in November 2027.The project’s goal is to ensure that women and girls who experience violence have increased and timely access to quality essential justice services. The project intends to achieve this through to expected outcomes: 1) Improved disposal of GBV cases in 2 High Court Circuits and Chief magisterial areas of Masaka, Nebbi and Gulu and 2) increased use of available accessible, and quality essential GBV services by women at risk and those experiencing violence.
The overall objective of this exercise is to establish baseline information on all the Project indicators and design a clear monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan that will guide project tracking. The baseline data will be collected and analyzed at least per indicator of project goal, outcomes and outputs from the Project Document. The baseline will provide progress information on key indicators and serve as a benchmark for assessing the changes expected from the project interventions. Where necessary, the baseline data should also help to review indicator targets to make them achievable and realistic. It should also help to sharpen or revise indicators that may not be measurable within the project timeline.
This baseline study should generate the latest available data prior to the start of the project. The study is expected to cover three high court circuits (Gulu, Nebbi and Masaka). Within the target circuits, data collection should target community members, service providers (Uganda Police, ODPP, Judiciary), relevant government stakeholders and civil society partners.
Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work
The Lead Consultant is fully accountable to UN Women for this assignment and will manage a support consultant who will be directly contracted by UN Women. The consultant will directly report to the Monitoring and Reporting -Specialist.
Tasks/Expected Outputs:
- Provide technical leadership in development of the baseline inception report, methodology and conducting baseline research.
- Ensure that deliverables meet quality and timeliness expectations
- Conduct data collections at national and High Court Circuit level
- Develop the draft baseline report
- Design and facilitate the baseline report validation workshop with stakeholders
- Incorporate stakeholder feedback into the draft baseline report
- Produce the final baseline report.
- Update the performance monitoring framework Deliverable Expected completion time (due day) Payment Schedule Inception Report (incl. methodology & data collection tools) 7th July 2025
40%
Draft baseline report (inclusive of primary qualitative and quantitative data) 25th July 2025 Draft baseline report validated with stakeholders 30th July 202560%
Final validated baseline report 15th August 2025 Updated project performance monitoring framework (with indicator methodological notes) 29th August 2025Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy. The consultant will be required to attend in-person meetings at UN Women Uganda Country Office. As part of this assignment, the consultant is expected to travel to all three court circuits (Masaka, Gulu, Nebbi) to collect data.
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 visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:
Functional Competencies:
- Strong knowledge of programme formulation and implementation and Results Based Management
- Ability to objectively collect reliable, valid and accurate information and logically analyse, interpret and present findings.
- Familiarity with human rights concepts and approaches and GEWE normative frameworks.
- Strong knowledge various methodologies in research, both qualitative and quantitative, such as surveys, record reviews, focus groups and interviews.
- Strong knowledge of various sampling techniques and their applications and ability to develop the most accurate sampling technique for the methodology.
- Strong interviewing skills and ability to work independently.
Required Qualifications
Education
- A post-graduate degree (Masters) in social science, preferably Gender or Law, including, evaluation or social research. A PhD in the relevant area would be an added advantage.
- A first-level relevant university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience
- At least 7 years of experience in designing and leading baseline studies and/or evaluations including gender-responsive baseline studies and/or evaluations.
- Experience working on GEWE issues and gender analysis is required; Experience in Access to Justice for Women and girls programming is desired.
- Knowledge and experience in results-based planning, monitoring & evaluation is required.
- Experience with UN Results-Based Management is desirable.
- Experience in conducting research, analysis, interpretation and presentation of findings on gender and human rights issues.
Languages:
- Fluency in English is required.
- Knowledge of any local language in the designated court circuits is an asset.
- Knowledge of any other UN official language is an asset.
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.