National Consultant to Support Analysis and Adaptation of International Care Models for Strengthening Gender-Responsive Care Services in Georgia

Background/Context

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 in Georgia supports state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls.

The economic empowerment of women (WEE) – to succeed and advance economically and to make and act on economic decisions – is a prerequisite for realizing gender equality and empowering women in all areas of life. It is also a cornerstone for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, as well as the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action. UN Women defines economic empowerment as a transformative, collective process through which economic systems become just, equitable and prosperous, and through which all women enjoy their economic and social rights, exercise agency and power in ways that challenge inequalities and level the playing field and gain equal rights and access to ownership of and control over resources, assets, income, time and their own lives. 

Unpaid care work is a crucial policy target in the global development agenda, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN General Assembly 2015). Under SDG 5 on gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, one of the six targets (SDG 5.4) calls for “recognition of unpaid care work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility”. Furthermore, the global framework for action by the UN Secretary-General, Our Common Agenda calls on Member States to prioritize the care economy as a strategy to achieve two key objectives: (1) advancing women’s economic inclusion by reducing unpaid care work, thus tackling gender inequality and accelerating progress toward SDG 5, and (2) creating decent jobs by expanding formal care services, supporting productive employment, and advancing SDG 8. In alignment with this, the UN System Policy Paper on Transforming Care Systems, developed through an inter-agency effort with UN Women as penholder, provides a shared vision and coordinated guidance for transforming care systems as a cornerstone of sustainable development and gender equality ( United Nations. (2024). Transforming Care Systems in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals and Our Common Agenda: UN System Policy Paper. Available at: https://unsdg.un.org/resources/transforming-care-systems-un-system-policy-paper).

There is widespread consensus in research and policy evaluations of gender inequalities that women’s disproportionate shouldering of unpaid care work constitutes a root cause of their economic and social disempowerment. The huge gender gaps in unpaid care work time translate into parallel gaps in paid work time and systematically generate gender inequalities in the form of a multitude of market outcomes, including the gender employment gap, horizontal and vertical gender jobs segregation, the gender earnings and wealth gap, as well as gender gaps in political representation and decision-making. 

Care work encompasses both paid and unpaid dimensions (for example, childcare workers, pre-school and schoolteachers, health-care professionals and long-term care workers provide care services on a paid basis), but the majority of care work is performed on an unpaid basis at home, by women and girls. Furthermore, the data reveals the vast number of hours required to sustain the care economy and highlighting the significant gender gap. 

In Georgia, the recent Time Use Survey (TUS) indicates that the unpaid care work responsibilities, including domestic chores, caregiving, and community work, fall disproportionately on women. Women spend five times more time on unpaid domestic and care work than men. This gender ratio is highest in other urban areas at 5.1, compared to 4.6 in Tbilisi and 4.5 in rural areas. This disparity is reflected in women’s economic inactivity rate. In 2024, women’s labor force participation rate was just 44.9%, showing a significant 21.3 percentage point gap compared to men’s participation rate of 66.2 %. (National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat), Labour Force Survey, 2024.) A substantial majority of women, 55.1%, were economically inactive, meaning they were neither employed nor actively seeking jobs. Notably, this trend has remained consistent over the years. Contributing factors to women's economic inactivity, alongside the unequal distribution of domestic and care responsibilities, include limited access to public care services. Global studies have demonstrated a clear link between unpaid care work, gender equality, and women’s economic empowerment. As a result, the issue of women’s unpaid care work has recently gained increased attention, while the provision of care services can speed up economic growth through increased women’s labor force participation, improved revenue, expanded consumption and livelihood options; and job creation in the care sector and non-care sectors, thereby, benefitting families, communities, and country’s economy at large. 

To address the disproportionate share of care responsibilities shouldered by women in Georgia and provide a strategic response to national and local authorities, UN Women Country Office Georgia seeks to engage a national consultant to support an international consultant in exploring and adapting innovative approaches to care service delivery. These include models such as the Care Blocks and the Octopus Model, both of which promote integrated, community-based care systems. Care Blocks are neighbourhood-level hubs that provide a range of care services, such as childcare, eldercare, and support for persons with disabilities, in one accessible and coordinated space. By centralizing these services within communities, Care Blocks aim to reduce the time of caregiving, promote the creation of decent jobs for care workers who are predominantly women, and enable women to pursue education, training, or employment opportunities. (OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation. (n.d.). Bogotá Care Blocks. Accessible at: https://oecd-opsi.org/innovations/bogota-care-blocks) The Octopus Model of care refers to a multisectoral, decentralized care system coordinated across different government levels and service providers, ensuring that care needs are met holistically and responsively. The model emphasizes linkages between public services, private actors, and community-based organizations to offer flexible, equitable, and user-centered care options. Healthcare Central London. (2024). What is the Octopus? Accessible at:  https://healthcarecentrallondon.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/What-is-the-Octopus-19.9.pdf. 
 

The initiative aims to produce a strategic paper, which includes a desk review, qualitative key informant interviews, and offers actionable, locally relevant policy and programmatic recommendations to strengthen Georgia’s care infrastructure, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work, and support the development of inclusive, gender-responsive, and sustainable care models.

This initiative will directly support the development and implementation of care-related policies and interventions that promote women’s economic empowerment and strengthen institutional capacities, in alignment with the priorities of the TransformCare Results Framework and SIDA SPFIII indicators, international, regional and national standards, including the UN System Policy Paper on Transforming Care Systems.  The consultancy will be co-funded through UN Women’s global TransformCare initiative under the Care Technical Assistance mechanism and co-financed by the UN Women Georgia Country Office through the Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus (WEESC) Project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

The consultant will report to the WEESC Programme Analyst and WEESC Project Analyst and will be supported by the WEESC Project Assistant, who will serve as the primary contact for contractual and payment matters.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The national consultant will be responsible for: 

Deliverables: 

All deliverables to be submitted to UN Women by 29 October 2025 – up to 15 working days. Specific timelines for each deliverable will be agreed upon in coordination with the international consultant (see ToR for International Consultant). Payment will be issued in one installment upon submission and approval of all deliverables, by no later than 15 November 2025.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel:

This is a home-based consultancy in Tbilisi, Georgia; however, travel outside Tbilisi to regions of Georgia might also be required.

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women's Core Values and Competencies:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Functional Competencies:

Education and Certification:

Experience:

Languages:

Fluency in English and Georgian is required.

How to Apply:

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