National consultant to review the programmes of the Territorial Employment Offices and assess their effectiveness in addressing gender-specific barriers

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.

Through its programs and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental), including private sector, in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life.  

The work of UN Women in the Republic of Moldova is guided by its Country Strategic Note 2023 - 2027, aligned to the UN-Moldova Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2023-2027 and the UN Women Global Strategic Plan (SP) (2022-2025), and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  

The overarching vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is inclusive and sustainable growth with its promise to leave no one behind.  Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, target 5.5. calls to “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of the decision-making in political, economic and public life”. Gender equality is mainstreamed throughout the SDGs, including SDG 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth”. Gender equality by 2030 requires urgent action to eliminate the many root causes of discrimination that still curtail women’s rights in private and public spheres. At its core, the economic empowerment of women depends on the quantity and quality of paid employment, the provision or absence of public services, the amount of unpaid care work borne by women, as well as coverage or lack thereof under core social and labor protections.  

The Country Strategic Note 2023 - 2027 focuses on four impact areas: 1. Governance & participation in Public Life 2. Economic Empowerment & Resilience, 3 Ending Violence against women & girls, 4 Peace& Security, Humanitarian Action & Disaster Risk Reduction. To achieve progress under these areas, UN Women works with variety of national and international partners and as part of different national and regional initiatives.   

Within Outcome 2 of the UN Women Country Strategic Note on Economic Empowerment and Resilience, UN Women is implementing complementary initiatives that support women’s access to quality employment, family-friendly workplaces, and sustainable livelihoods. Current efforts also address climate resilience in rural areas by promoting sustainable management of natural resources and by strengthening the skills and employability of women and girls, especially those most vulnerable. Together, these initiatives aim to enhance women’s economic opportunities, reduce vulnerabilities, and contribute to more inclusive and resilient communities.

The projects support the key reforms and programmes under the MLSP, specifically the Reform on improving NEA services 2023-2026, by strengthening territorial offices' capacities to reach better quality, and effectiveness of employment opportunities for women with children, women with disabilities, and other categories of vulnerable groups, addressing significant gender and socioeconomic disparities.

Rationale 

Women's participation in Moldova's labour market is progressing, albeit at a slow pace. Women from vulnerable groups (women with disabilities and those who take care of a disabled family member, women migrants, women from ethnic and linguistic minorities etc.), especially women with children, face meagre employment rates. Contributing factors include inadequate skill supply, limited career choices, and insufficient job availability, particularly in rural areas for women with children and women with disabilities. Women in Moldova are predominantly employed in sectors such as education, health, and social work, which are traditionally lower-paid sectors. Conversely, men are more likely to work in higher-paid sectors such as technology or engineering. Due to care responsibilities, women are more likely to work part-time compared to men. This affects their overall job opportunities and long-term career progression, contributing to the gender pay gap. 

Additionally, poor working conditions, employer attitudes, societal stereotypes about women's roles and capabilities, and scarce family-friendly opportunities and childcare facilities exacerbate these issues. Besides the lowest employment rates in the region, there are additional challenges, such as an ageing population and high emigration, leading to a 'brain drain' of qualified employees. The low unemployment rate is underestimated due to a large, economically inactive population. Changing migration flows and the ongoing war of Russia against Ukraine have altered remittance inflows and led to an influx of refugees.  

Currently, under Outcome 2 of the Country Strategic Note, UN Women is implementing two complementary initiatives. One focuses on strengthening women’s resilience through skills development, inclusive employment measures for vulnerable groups (including NEET women, women with children, and the elderly), and promoting family-friendly infrastructure in partnership with local authorities, VET institutions, and the private sector. The second addresses rural development challenges by supporting women’s access to climate-smart agriculture, leadership, and business opportunities, while also tackling barriers to education and finance and promoting evidence-based, gender-responsive policymaking. 

Together, these initiatives promote inclusive governance, strengthen sex-disaggregated data collection, and foster evidence-based, gender-responsive policymaking. By building resilient communities and addressing gender disparities in both economic and environmental sectors, they contribute to women’s economic empowerment, inclusive growth, and climate resilience in Moldova.

An important precondition for active labour market policies to improve overall labour market functioning is that they are effectively implemented at the local level, with a clear focus on groups most at risk of exclusion. Strengthening the institutional capacities of local government institutions is therefore critical, as they are on the frontline of delivering employment services, coordinating with VET providers, and engaging with the private sector. This involves both reviewing internal policies, procedures, regulations, and programmes, and strengthening the capacity of relevant stakeholders to deliver inclusive, data-driven, gender-sensitive, and family-friendly employment services. Strengthening capacity requires improvements in knowledge, skills, and practices, particularly in the use of disaggregated data, gender equality mainstreaming, and working with vulnerable groups (including NEET women, women with disabilities, women with children, Roma women, etc.). These efforts will ultimately inform the development of more inclusive policies and programmes.

The projects will be implemented in eight selected regions of the Republic of Moldova (Chisinau, Balti, Hincesti, Straseni, Cimislia, Cahul, Stefan Voda and ATU Gagazia) where innovative approaches will be developed to support women’s access to the labor market. The selection and implementation process are evidence-based and representative, ensuring that the needs of the most vulnerable women beneficiaries are fully addressed.

In this regard, UN Women aims to contract a team of national consultants, that are expected to  work in a team to support in designing and implementing a capacity-building program for Territorial Employment Offices (TEOs), staff of the social assistance service, and professional training providers in eight regions and in reviewing the internal capacities and operations of TEOs and their ability to support women and vulnerable groups, aiming to improve TEO-specific processes. The overall goal of this comprehensive initiative is to support the relevant national stakeholders strengthen their knowledge, attitudes, and tools for gender mainstreaming, with a particular focus on addressing the needs of vulnerable groups, including women with children, women with disabilities, and NEET. 

Thus, under the current ToR, UN Women seeks to engage a national consultant to review existing active employment programmes and labour market placement measures implemented by TEOs in the targeted regions. 

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under this assignment, the consultant will assess the effectiveness of existing active employment programmes and labour market placement measures in addressing gender-specific barriers and meeting the needs of diverse groups of women, including those from vulnerable groups such as NEET women, women with disabilities, women with children, elderly women, and Roma women. The assessment will generate actionable recommendations to strengthen the gender-responsiveness and inclusiveness of employment programmes and services.

The scope of work includes, but is not limited to, the following tasks and responsibilities:

The contracted consultant will provide specialized expertise to carry out the following tasks and deliverables: Activities  Deliverables  Expected completion time (due day)   1. Programmes mapping and assessment 

 Report assessing the existing programmes and their effectiveness in addressing gender-specific barriers and inclusiveness (draft)

By mid-December 2025 

  2. Stakeholder Consultations

Conduct interviews and/or focus groups with TEO staff, programme beneficiaries (women and men), and other relevant stakeholders (e.g., training providers, NGOs) to gather qualitative insights on programme effectiveness, barriers, and opportunities for improvement.

 Up to 10 interviews and/or focus groups conducted 

Final Report on assessing existing programmes and their effectiveness in addressing gender-specific barriers and inclusiveness 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

Language of deliverables  

The reports and timesheets delivered to UN Women shall be prepared in English.                                                                                         

The assignment should be carried out within a period of 6 months (with possibility of extension following satisfactory performance and needs for support expressed by national counterparts). 

The start date of the assignment is envisaged for November 2025 and will be completed by March 2025, unless extended by UN Women based on amended ToRs.

Financial Arrangements

Payments shall be made following certification by UN Women that the services related to each deliverable, as described above, have been satisfactorily completed and the deliverables have been achieved by or before the specified due dates.

Performance evaluation

The consultant’s performance will be evaluated against performance criteria such as timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

Under the current assignment the consultant will be travelling to visit eight regions to build awareness, collect data and ensure smooth information. The payment of the consultant will include the transportation costs. All travel shall be coordinated with UN Women.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

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

Functional Competencies:

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

Experience:

Languages:

Fluency in Romanian and English is required. 

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.