UN Women: Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion - Home based, Retainer International Consultant

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.  

Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. UN Women is mandated to lead, coordinate, and promote accountability for the implementation of gender equality commitments across the UN System.  

One of the key areas of concern is the economic empowerment of women. It is expressed in targets and indicators of SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and SDG 8 (Promote inclusive and sustainable development, decent work and employment for all). Progress toward it depends not only on the adoption of a set of public policies by governments, but also on the existence of an enabling environment and active engagement of the corporate sector. This is also relevant to the achievement of SDG 1 (Poverty Reduction), SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities) and SDG 17 (Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development).  

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. UN Women’s global Economic Empowerment Strategy  focuses on the key strategic priorities, namely: 

WE RISE Together (WRT) – Advancing gender-responsive procurement in the Mekong sub-region is a four-year Mekong-Australia Partnership (MAP) project developed by UN Women. It sits under MAP’s Economic Resilience Fund (MAP-ERF) and addresses its four drivers of resilience (including macroeconomic, household, business, and government resilience). The project responds to the prioritisation of women’s economic empowerment by expanding market access for Women-owned Businesses1 (WOBs) and Gender Responsive Enterprises1 (GREs) through procurement opportunities.   

WRT tackles the structural gender inequities that exist within the global procurement market in which WOBs secure only one per cent of spending worldwide.2 By introducing and advancing increased market access through gender-responsive procurement1 (GRP), WRT operates with the overall objective to empower more women to equally access, lead, and benefit from expanded market opportunities in the Mekong subregion.   

The project works across the Mekong subregion, namely in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam, leveraging the capacity, network and insights build during its phase 1 implementation. The project will work towards three interlinked outcomes:  

Outcome 1: Increased awareness and commitment towards GRP at the ecosystem level & and more gender-responsive institutions through the collection of sex-disaggregated data & improved national data infrastructure  

Outcome 2: Strengthened national policies and public procurement systems that are aligned with Mekong and ASEAN frameworks  

Outcome 3: Increased market connections and opportunities for WOBs and GREs  

A core objective of WRT—and the broader Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) work of UN Women—is to increase leadership and economic participation of women, including women with disabilities and other marginalized or underrepresented groups. To realize this ambition, the programme must not only design inclusive activities but also deliver outcomes that reflect meaningful change. To ensure that GEDSI principles are systematically integrated into the planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of all programme interventions, a dedicated GEDSI Consultant is required. This role will help enhance the programme’s capacity to operationalize inclusivity by  defining appropriate indicators and capturing the different impacts on diverse groups  so  that the “leave no one behind” (LNOB) commitment leads to measurable and meaningful change. Therefore, the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) aims to establish a diverse pool of consultants for placement on a retainer pool, accessible to the Regional Office, Multi-Country Offices (MCOs), NPPs, and Country Offices, particularly the Mekong countries (Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Lao PDR).

It is seeking technical support from international consultants under a retainer contract to contribute to provide technical assistance to mainstreaming GEDSI as a cross-cutting and measurable dimension of programme effectiveness. This includes ensuring that interventions are inclusive of and responsive to the needs and realities of diverse women and girls, particularly those from marginalized and underserved groups, such as women with disabilities, ethnic minorities, rural women, and LGBTQI+ communities as part of efforts to implement the WE RISE Together as well as the broader Women’s Economic Empowerment portfolio and targeted activities. The consultant will be integral in advancing UN Women’s deployable response capacity to support UN’s coordinated responses in the region. 

The detailed terms of reference for specific assignments will be developed by the hiring manager in consultation with selected consultants. All qualified candidates with experience in one or more of the areas of expertise outlined in the Vacancy Announcement are encouraged to apply. Each consultant will be expected to work on specific deliverables as required by the relevant office, within their respective expertise.  

 *Note: While on retainer, there is no guarantee of work, and selected consultants retain the right to decline assignments based on their availability and expertise.  

The objective of this consultancy is to provide specialized support in providing ad-hoc technical support and advisory to UN Women country offices, including strategic guidance and technical support to ensure that gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) principles are fully integrated across the design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting phases of the WE RISE Together (WRT) Phase 2 programme, as well as the broader Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) thematic portfolio of UN Women in the Asia and Pacific region.

UN Women’s corporate strategy The empowerment of women and girls with disabilities: Towards full and effective participation and gender equality  directly aligns with the Leave No One Behind principle, which recognizes the importance of addressing the intersecting and systemic barriers faced by marginalized groups, including women and girls with disabilities. The overarching objective of the strategy is to support the full inclusion and meaningful participation of women and girls with disabilities across all UN Women’s priority areas through the implementation of its mandate, as well as through reviewing its accessibility as an organization.  It outlines a comprehensive approach to ensure their full inclusion, participation, and empowerment across all areas of UN Women’s work. It goes beyond addressing barriers by tackling systemic discrimination, promoting intersectional inclusion, and advancing leadership and agency of women and girls with disabilities. The strategy integrates disability rights into gender equality efforts through normative frameworks, strategic partnerships, and inclusive organizational practices, aiming to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind.

 UN Women will retain the copyright of the assignment. Each consultant will be expected to work on specific assignments as required by the relevant office within their respective expertise. 

 An immediate deliverable for one of the chosen retainer consultants will be producing the GEDSI analysis for Thailand and Viet Nam and overseeing the GEDSI analysis part of Cambodia and Lao PDR rapid assessment reports. 

Furthermore, the consultant's work will lay a solid groundwork on GEDSI mainstreaming for UN Women programming on women’s economic empowerment.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work 

Under the supervision of the Regional Advisor in the Women’s Economic Empowerment Section at UN Women and/or Technical Experts in the ROAP WEE Unit the consultant will be responsible for a timely delivery of all agreed deliverables, subject to UN Women's satisfactory acceptance. UN Women will lead and organize quality assurance on all deliverables and facilitate communication between the consultant and UN Women's HQ, regional and country offices, as required.  

The consultant may be responsible for a selection of the following, based on experience and need: 

*Note: The service will be rendered on “on call” basis.  UN Women does not warrant that the maximum of contract amount will be purchased during the term of the Agreement. While on retainer, there is no guarantee of work, and selected consultants retain the right to decline assignments based on their availability and expertise. 

Competencies : 

In addition to aforementioned requirements and qualifications, it is important that the consultants share the core values and core competencies of the organization.  

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:

Consultant’s Workplace and Payment

This is a home-based consultancy. UN Women does not warrant the maximum of 200 days. The service will be purchased during the term of the Agreement. The consultant will be engaged under a retainer contract, which facilitates direct engagement of the consultant depending on need and availability within the contract period for a pre-agreed fee.  

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each assignment and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated assignment within the indicated timeframes.

 

How to Apply

Complete the online application form and upload the required documents to the system.

Submission package includes 

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, so please merge all documents into one document before uploading. When filling the online application form, applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. 
 

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.