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.
In Türkiye, in line with its global Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and Country Strategic Note (2022-2025), and the overall UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Turkey (UNSDCF) (2021-2025), UN Women works towards the overarching goal of “Women and girls including those at greatest risk of being left behind fully exercise their human rights, enjoy a life free from violence and discrimination, and lead, influence and benefit from sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development towards the advancement of gender equality in Turkey”. UN Women works in four thematic areas: (i) governance and participation in public life; (ii) women’s economic empowerment; (iii) ending violence against women and girls; and (iv) women, peace and security, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. In line with its coordination mandate, UN Women promotes coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment, including through joint programmatic and advocacy actions and initiatives, standardized tools and guidance and services to strengthen the relevant capacities of the UN system.
Towards these goals, UN Women implements programmes and projects that aim to advance gender equality, improve women's access to opportunities, rights and services in political, social and economic life and combat gender stereotypes, discrimination, and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments. UN Women collaborates with numerous partners – central and local level government authorities, civil society organizations, including women's organizations and platforms, academia, private sector companies, other UN agencies. It commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle by supporting targeted actions to remove the obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women face in accessing their rights and to promote them as agents of change.
Globally and in Türkiye, UN Women engages with and supports civil society organizations (CSOs), in particular women's organizations, as key advocacy and knowledge partners, as well as implementing partners in operational activities in advancing women's economic, political and social rights. UN Women's work with civil society encompasses facilitating and expanding spaces for CSOs to come together for coordinated actions and to engage in dialogue with duty-bearers and decision-makers at local, national, regional and international levels, and in the context of inter-governmental processes. UN Women is focused on convening multi-stakeholder partnerships and engaging a wide variety of stakeholders, including men and boys and young people, to bring forth transformative change towards gender equality, in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Sustainable Development Goals and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Under this framework, UN Women embarked on the second phase of “Strong Civic Space for Gender Equality Phase II“with the financial support of the European Union. The overall objective of the project to be implemented until September 2027 is to reduce gender inequalities by enhancing the ability of CSOs in Türkiye to be agents of transformative change towards gender equality and women's rights. The specific objective is “Women's rights groups, women-led CSOs and other relevant rights-based CSOs more effectively influence the gender equality and women's empowerment agenda at the national and local levels.”
Within the scope of the Project, UN Women will award Partner Agreements to minimum 7 women’s civil society organizations and CSOs working on gender equality in the implementation of programmatic initiatives to address persistent gender inequalities and rights violations. These CSOs will implement projects (with budgets ranging from USD 100,000 to USD 200,000) at the national level are in the following thematic areas:
Elimination of violence against women and girls Advancing women’s economic empowerment Gender responsive climate action and/or disaster risk reduction Civic and political engagement of young womenPartnership agreements with women/women-led CSOs that will be signed in April 2025 as a result of a competitive selection process. The partner CSOs are required to submit financial and technical progress reports on a quarterly basis. The financial reports, using the FACE (Funding Authorization and Certificate of Expenditures) Form, shall report the eligible expenditures and include supporting documents of financial expenditures to fulfill the principles of transparency and accountability. By reviewing the financial and technical reports and providing continuous technical support UN Women Project Team will ensure effective implementation and financial management.
Under this project, UN Women will provide ‘Small Grants’ to minimum 10 women's CSOs and women-led CSOs operating in Turkiye working in fields gender equality and empowering all women and girls
The first call for applications for Small Grants was publlished in February 2025 and the Grantees will be contracted indicatively in May 2025. Small Grants are intended for contributions to CSOs in the range of USD 2,500 to USD 30,000 for a maximum duration of 12 months to finance a limited range of activities to support the development or strengthening of a CSO's institutional capacity. The eligible activities to be supported under the Small Grants are:
Introducing and improving organizational systems, tools, and processes; Training of workforce in technical and managerial skills; Supporting with equipment such as copiers, scanners, printers, laptops and computers as long as the cost of such equipment is limited to 30% of the proposed Small Grant budget or USD 5,000, whichever is lower.UN Women Türkiye Office seeks to hire two national consultants to provide substantive and technical support to UN Women Türkiye Office and to the CSO as per the functions specified below.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
Within the scope of the assignment, under the direct supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist and in close collaboration with the Programme Analysts and UN Women staff, the national consultants will be responsible for the below listed tasks:
Provide guidance and substantive support to partner CSOs to submit quality and timely financial reports by reviewing supporting documents via regular contact and communication via online tools e.g. Zoom, prepare checklists and minutes during the implementation period. Provide technical support to the UN Women Türkiye Office in reviewing financial submissions from Partner CSOs. Collaborate with Programme Analysts to ensure that financial expenditures are accurate, within budget limits, and aligned with planned activities and results. Provide expertise and input to the formulation and delivery of online/offline capacity development workshops on financial management organized by UN Women. Provide technical support to UN Women Turkiye Office for the selection, contracting and monitoring processes of the Small Grants. Provide substantive support, regular guidance and advice to the CSOs for the implementation of the Small Grants as per the agreed Utilization Plans, which sets forth the Allowed Activities to be performed with the small grant, completion dates and budget with an explanation for how the Allowed Activities develop or strengthen the CSOs institutional capacity. Provide technical support to UN Women Türkiye Office to review the Utilization Plans, progress and financial reports submitted by the Small Grantee CSOs. Provide guidance and substantive support to the Small Grantees to submit quality and timely progress, final and financial reports, as well as any ad hoc report required. CSOs will submit one or two brief progress and financial reports (depending on the amount of the Small Grant Agreement) during the lifetime of the Small Grant. Provide technical support to CSOs for formulating their internal policy documents such as for procurement, administration, human resources, data privacy/protection, strategic plan, protection against sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), etc. Provide expertise and input to the formulation and delivery of online/offline capacity development workshops organized by UN Women.The amount paid to the Consultant shall be gross and inclusive of all associated costs such social security, pension and income tax etc. Payments will be made on a monthly basis, based on the provision of timesheets and supporting deliverables approved by the UN Women Programme Analysts, who shall confirm Consultant’s work is completed and eligible for payment. The total duration of the contract is maximum 65 working days until 30 May 2026 (approximately 5,5 days per month).
Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based assignment with no travel foreseen. In case of an unforeseen travel, UN Women Türkiye Office will cover the organization and the costs of the consultant’s travel as per UN Women’s rules and regulations. UN Women will not be responsible for covering any transportation costs within the duty station, including taxi fares.
Mandatory Training Courses:
The Consultant shall complete all the mandatory and other required UN training courses and modules on time. The certificates shall be submitted to the supervisor.
Competencies :
Core Values:
Integrity; Professionalism; Respect for Diversity.Core Competencies:
Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues; Accountability; Creative Problem Solving; Effective Communication; Inclusive Collaboration; Stakeholder Engagement; Leading by Example.Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:
Functional Competencies:
Good knowledge of gender equality and women’s rights organizations Strong knowledge of regulations governing associations and foundations, as well as expertise in financial reporting standards Good knowledge of RBM or LogFrame for programmatic interventions Previous experience in providing technical and financial support to CSOs Effective communication skills to engage with both local and national CSOsEducation and Certification:
Master's Degree or equivalent in social sciences including gender studies, political science, business management, development studies or another related field. A first-level university degree in social sciences in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience in capacity building of civil society may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.Experience:
Minimum 5 years of experience in the field of capacity development of CSOs both at national and local level is required. Minimum 3 years of experience in the field of financial management of CSOs is required. Substantive knowledge on the legal framework binding civil society organizations specifically, the Law of Associations and the Law of Foundations is required. At least 3 years of progressive professional experience in the field of gender equality and/or women's empowerment is an asset.Languages:
Fluency in written and spoken Turkish 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.