UN WOMEN: Consultants on Women’s Economic Empowerment (Retainer), International Consultant, Home-based

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.

The UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office provides support and oversight to Country Offices in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova , Turkiye and Ukraine. In addition, the Regional Office directly supports programme and project presence in  Kosovo (under UN Security Council Resolution 1244), Serbia, The Republic of North Macedonia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Women’s economic participation and paid and unpaid work contribute enormously to sustainable development and are key for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. Women make major contributions to the economy, directly and indirectly contributing to economic growth and development. The most direct route is via workforce participation, which boosts production – and thus income, savings, and tax contributions at the household, community, and national levels. And while the world has advanced significantly in ensuring equality in women’s and men’s legal rights to work, rights at work and access to economic resources, structural barriers continue to constrain women and girls from enjoying their full rights. Discriminatory laws, policies and social norms persist in impeding women’s full and equal participation in the economy. Additionally, shifts in the global economy and demographics, technological advancements, and protracted crises are driving a changing world of work, which presents both challenges and opportunities for women’s economic empowerment. Addressing the barriers to economic empowerment and unlocking opportunities requires work at multiple scales: from the attitudes, beliefs and practices of individuals and communities to institutions including workplaces, community organizations and public services, to economic markets and laws, policies, norms and regulations at national and international levels. It also requires engagement with and action from diverse stakeholders, each of which has a role to play: from women’s movements, civil society organizations and workers representatives; to private sector employers and organizations; to multilateral organizations including international financial institutions; to public sector policy-makers and decision-makers.

In 2023 UN Women has adopted Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy which articulates UN Women’s vision for enabling women’s economic agency, autonomy and wellbeing. Anchored in UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, its objective is to provide a framework that galvanizes internal and external stakeholders to work together at the local, national and global level through transformative solutions that improve the lives of women and girls with no one left behind. The strategy has been informed by data-driven analysis, extensive consultations, and UN Women’s Independent Evaluation Service’s 2022 corporate evaluation of UN Women’s contribution to women’s economic empowerment by advancing gender responsive laws, frameworks, policies and partnerships and its recommendation to undertake such a strategy. 

The Strategy follows a 3 by-3 by-5 framework. It identifies three key priority areas, or gender-equality accelerators where UN Women can make the most progress. These include women and the world of work, gender-responsive climate action, and transforming care systems. These three priority areas are underpinned by three cross-cutting areas on gender responsive macroeconomic policies, addressing discriminatory social norms and increasing financing for gender equality. The strategy then identifies five key pathways leveraging UN Women’s comparative advantage in advancing gender equality through global norms, public policy and government collaboration at the country level, partnerships with women’s organizations and other diverse stakeholders, generating gender data and convening key actors to engage collective action[1].

In order to put Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy into action in Europe and Central Asia region, UN Women is opening a call for applications to set up a Roster of Experts/consultants on various specializations under the umbrella of Women’s Economic Empowerment. 

[1] Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy, UN Women, 2023

Areas of expertise the Roster covers include, but are not limited to: 

Women in the world of work 

Transform Care Systems

Gender Responsive Climate Action

Gender Responsive Private Sector 

Cross cutting areas 

The consultant will be reporting to Program Specialist on Women’s Entrepreneurship Acceleration, with overall guidance of the Deputy Regional Director of UN Women Europe and Central Asia. In case the assignment is led by country office, the consultant will be reporting to the relevant responsible person from the CO. 

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

Depending on the assignment, consultants are expected to perform one or several of the following duties. Please indicate in your application which of the following tasks fall within your area of expertise: 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. As necessary, the consultant should be able to travel to countries covered by UN Women Europe and Central Asia (listed above). In such a case, the consultant will be paid DSA as per rules and procedures of UN Women applicable to the country of travel. 

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:

How to Apply 

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.)