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's work in Europe and Central Asia is informed by independent evaluations of regional initiatives and country programmes, and extensive consultative processes with a range of partners at country, sub-regional and regional levels. A key lessons learned is the need to deepen strategic partnerships to increase synergies across multistakeholder networks of gender equality advocates, especially in the delivery of normative, coordination and operational results across the region. This includes engagement of partners in key inter-governmental and multi-stakeholder forums at regional and global levels, knowledge management, development and management of strategic partnerships.
In light of the above, UN Women is seeking an international consultant to provide support on strategic partnerships and intergovernmental work in relation to gender equality and women's empowerment initiatives in the region.
Under the direct supervision and guidance of the Strategic Partnerships and Intergovernmental Specialist, the consultant will support the development and management of strategic partnerships and ensure quality engagement in intergovernmental processes. The Programme Specialist will work in close collaboration with UN Women programme and operations teams at regional and country levels, UN Women HQ, government officials, development partners, UN entities, regional organizations, private sector representatives, and civil society organizations/networks.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
The purpose of the consultancy is to assist the Strategic Partnerships and Intergovernmental Unit in strengthening UN Women's relationships with strategic partners in the region. This includes providing technical support to the regional office and country offices in Europe and Central Asia, ensuring high-level quality engagement in intergovernmental processes and regional and global fora to accelerate the implementation of UN Women's current (2022-2025) and upcoming (2026-2029) Strategic Note and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In light of this, the consultant will perform the following tasks:
โข Support the development of the systemic approach to coordinating and managing ECARO's engagement with existing and new development partnerships.
โข Support in the conceptualization and implementation of ECA action plans for engagement in critical intergovernmental processes and multi-stakeholder initiatives, including SDGs, CSW, COPs, and other UN- and member state-led processes.
โข Support the development of project proposals and facilitate coordination between involved parties.
โข Provide institutional support by identifying and researching priority areas of development partners and support internal outreach processes.
โข Prepare briefing notes, talking points, background papers, and presentations to support participation in intergovernmental processes, subregional, regional and global forums and convenings, and resource mobilization and engagement activities.
โข Support engagement with civil society to enhance advocacy influence in policy processes.
โข Perform other duties as assigned, including contributing to strategic planning, conducting and disseminating research, and developing advocacy and communications materials.
Deliverables
Deliverable Expected completion time (due day)
Submission of a bi-monthly summary report of milestones, concrete outputs and results achieved per duties and responsibilities in Terms of Reference, including key information on inter alia: report of medium and large events outcomes; advocacy and communications products development and dissemination; action plans development and execution for engagement in global, regional fora and processes. 30th of every other month
This is a home-based consultancy. The consultant is expected to work 20 days a month, and a monthly rate will be paid upon satisfactory completion of tasks and deliverables that will be summarized in a monthly report.
No documents, tools resources, or analyses (or parts thereof) or comments from UN Women staff will be shared outside the UN Women Office and all documents provided to the consultant will be treated as confidential.
III. Competencies
Core Values:
โข Respect for Diversity
โข Integrity
โข Professionalism
Core Competencies:
โข Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
โข Accountability
โข Creative Problem Solving
โข Effective Communication
โข Inclusive Collaboration
โข Stakeholder Engagement
โข Leading by Example
Please visit this link for more information on UN Womenโs Core Values and Competencies:
https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values
IV. Required Qualifications
Education
โข Master's degree in political sciences, Communications, Social Sciences, or related field.
โข A bachelor's degree with two or more years of relevant experience can be accepted in lieu of master's degree.
Work Experience
โข Minimum two years of professional work experience with member states, development partners, civil society networks and/or other multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development.
โข At least two years of proven experience in designing and implementing communication and advocacy plans, tools and products, monitoring systems and approaches for partnership building and resource mobilization.
โข Proven knowledge of international development, humanitarian, human rights, gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's rights normative frameworks, consultation processes, and reporting mechanisms.
โข Proven experience in project and initiatives development, implementation, management and reporting in multi-country contexts or at subregional and regional levels.
โข Demonstrated experience driving civil society engagement from an intersectional approach
โข Experience with the UN system in the region is an asset.
Language Requirement
โข Fluent in English, written and spoken.
โข Knowledge of other UN languages will be an asset.
V. How to Apply
โข Personal CV or P11. P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
โข A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
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, 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 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.
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