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.
To mobilize urgent and sustained action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, UN Women leverages its unique triple mandateโencompassing support for norms and standards, UN system coordination, and operational work. To fulfill its UN system coordination mandate, UN Women China serves as the chair and the secretariat of the UN Gender Theme Group (UNGTG) and acts as an active member of all UN inter-agency working groups and task forces, including all Thematic and Results Groups under the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for China.
UN Women in China provides technical and coordination leadership and support to ensure that the UN system in China has strengthened capacity, systems, and accountability mechanisms to deliver on gender equality commitmentsโmainstreaming gender across policies, programmes, communications, and strategic frameworks, and promoting the consistent application of UN-wide gender equality standards in line with the Gender Equality Acceleration Plan (GEAP). The UN system in China is in the process of finalizing key documents, including the new Joint Workplan and Common Country Analysis, and commencing the implementation of the UNSDCF for China (2026โ2030). As the chair of the UNGTG, UN Women will actively participate in and provide technical expertise and coordination support for the implementation of the UNSDCF for China (2026โ2030), while overseeing the UNGTGโs independent workplan as its secretariat.
Launched by the UN Secretary-General on 7 March 2024, the GEAP represents a historic opportunity to drive change at the country level, where women, girls, boys, men, and gender-diverse groups live and experience these challenges firsthand. As chair of the UNGTG in China, UN Women China will partner with the UNGTG, the Resident Coordinatorโs Office (RCO), and other UN entities to ensure inter-agency coordination in support of the GEAP rollout at the country level, guided by the Resident Coordinator.
The UN System Coordination and Policy Consultant will, under the direct supervision of the Country Representative, substantively contribute to UN system coordination and provide strategic research, data analysis, and advocacy support for UN Women China. Specifically, the consultant will manage the day-to-day secretariat functions of the UNGTG, including overseeing the implementation, monitoring, and reporting of its workplan, and support UN joint initiatives such as campaigns, joint programmes, and the UNSDCF for China (2026โ2030). The consultant will also serve as the Youth Focal Point for UN Women China, actively engaging in the UN in China Youth Thematic Group (UNTGY) and coordinating internal youth-related initiatives, where applicable.
Moreover, the consultant will lead on drafting speeches, talking points, op-eds, and various advocacy materials for UN Women Chinaโs senior management team, working closely with the partnerships team and programme portfolio leads. The consultant will also conduct open-source desk research and deliver reports, briefing notes, and other analytical outputs to inform senior leadership and programme strategies in programme development.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
1. Undertake research and analysis, and contribute to normative change and advocacy on key policy, programmatic priority areas of the office
- Conduct desk research and lead on drafting advocacy materials โ including speeches, talking points, PowerPoint, op-eds and scripts for country representative and/or senior leadership.ย
- Support programme development including drafting concept notes, preparing background papers, and conducting research and data analysis in close coordination with relevant programme and partnership teams.ย
- Provide analytical inputs and coordination support to finalize and/or update the Common Country Analysis and to develop the gender equality country profile in line with the GEAP as needed.
2.ย ย Contribute to the UN System Coordination Portfolio in line with the UNSDCFย (2026-2030)ย implementation, and the UN Women China Strategic Note (2026โ2030)
- Support UN Women coordination with UN System in China, including UN Agencies, RCO, Results and Thematic Groups, and liaise with relevant HQ/RO teams on inquiries and requests โ including participation of key stakeholders in intergovernmental processes (e.g.,ย CSO participation in CSW, etc.).
- Serve as the UNGTG secretariat for day-to-day operations, and support, lead or monitor UNGTG workplan activities by coordinating across the UN system in China to implement in a timely manner, and report the results under the guidance of UNGTG chairs
- Represent UN Women/UNGTG in the inter-agency group on Family-Friendly Taskforce and contribute to joint workplan implementationย
- Lead UNCT-SWAP Gender Scorecardย Annual Progress Assessment and the implementation of its Action Plan throughout the year
- Support to organize the UNGTG retreat/training to enhance the gender focal pointsโ capacity for a more effective GTG coordination mechanism
- Develop, monitor and report on UN system coordination related activities and budget implementation, activity progress and expenditures, and perform budget revisions when required.
- Collaborate with the RCO and coordinate with UN agencies to facilitate the country-level implementation of the GEAP.ย
- Provide technical inputs and coordination support to finalize the UNSDCF for China (2026โ2030) and support its gender-mainstreamed implementation, for example, application of Gender Equality Marker.
- Provide technical inputs for the development and implementation of annual/biannual work plan activities, six-month and annual reporting, and budget expenditure under the UN System Coordination Output of the UN Women China Strategic Note (2026โ2030)
- Support internal coordination of the office to contribute to various written outputs in close collaborate with teams as needed
- Strengthen the officeโs understanding of and capacity to integrate UN Womenโs UN Coordination mandate into initiatives, programming, and other activities
- Support UN agenciesโ joint program inter-agency coordination as neededย
3. ย Serve as the Youth Focal Point for UN Women China, to actively participate the UN in China Thematic Group on Youth (UNTGY), support UN in China youth-related joint initiatives and advocacy under the UNTGY workplan, and lead on country level engagement on the relevant UN Women Global Youth initiatives/events.
The expected deliverables for the consultant against the abovementioned would be:ย
- Monthly summary to the assigned task for UN coordination, advocacy and research supportย
ย Payment detailsย
Payments shall be made following certification by UN Women that the services related to each deliverable, as described above, have been satisfactorily performed and the deliverables have been achieved.
Consultantโs Workplace and Official Travel
This is an office-based consultancy.ย
As part of this assignment, the consultant is expected to travel, the travel will be arranged in line with UN Womenโs travel policy.
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 visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:
- Knowledge of Results Based Management
- Strong understanding of and commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment
- Sensitivity and adaptability regarding cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age
- Ability to work under pressure on multiple projects whilst maintaining high-quality and timeliness
Required Qualifications:
Education and Certification:
- Bachelorโs degree or equivalent in social science, international relations, development studiesย or a related field is required.
Experience:
- Minimum 1 year demonstrated understanding on gender and development issues.
- Minimum 1 year on research and analysis, drafting documents.
- Working knowledge of UN system including UN Womenโs mandate is highly regarded.
- Experience working in the UN system on interagency coordination is an asset
Languages:
- Fluency in Englishย and Chineseย 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,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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- Fluency in Englishย and Chineseย is required.
- Bachelorโs degree or equivalent in social science, international relations, development studiesย or a related field is required.
- Monthly summary to the assigned task for UN coordination, advocacy and research supportย