UNWomen: International Consultant- Conducting mid-term review of the Governance Peace and Security Regional Framework in Asia and the Pacific, Home-Based

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. Its mandate is anchored in three key functions: normative support, by helping to establish and monitor international standards and agreements; coordination, by leading and coordinating the United Nations system's efforts to advance gender equality; and operational programming, by implementing high-impact initiatives to address pressing gender equality challenges at global, regional, and national levels.

The portfolio of UN Women’s work on Governance, Peace and Security (GPS) in Asia-Pacific is based on “The Regional Framework Towards Peaceful, Inclusive Societies: Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Inclusive Governance in the Asia Pacific Region (The GPS Regional Framework)” (2023-2027)[1]. The framework stands on two pillars of programming: 1) Women, Peace and Security (WPS); and 2) Inclusive Governance. The former focuses on implementing the WPS agenda to the specific context of Asia-Pacific region, such as development and implementation of WPS national action plans; conflict prevention and building peace and resilience; women’s participation and leadership in emerging or non-traditional security issues such as climate change, cybersecurity and peacebuilding in the digital space. The latter covers women’s access to justice; gender responsive budgeting and planning; women’s leadership, including women’s political participation. 

Through the GPS Regional Framework, UN Women is employing the following overarching strategies:

Description of the programme

Programme title: The Regional Framework Towards Peaceful, Inclusive Societies: Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Inclusive Governance in the Asia Pacific Region (2023-2027)

Geographical Coverage: South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific with particular attention to Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Programme period: January 2023 – December 2027 (5 years)

Key partners: At the regional level, UN Women partners with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA). In parallel, UN Women co-chairs the United Nations WPS Coordination Group in Bangkok with DPPA. The group included representatives from the United Nations Development Coordination Office (UNDCO), the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy on Myanmar, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). At the country level, UN Women partners with government and non-government organizations and academia. 

Targeted beneficiaries: Women and men, youth, CSOs, women’s groups and networks, and government institutions.

Programme management structure: The programme is managed by the Governance Peace and Security (GPS) unit at UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), in close coordination with County Offices and presences. The Regional Policy Advisor for Governance, Peace and Security is responsible for providing technical advice to ensure implementation of programme objectives. The total budget is approximately 7 million USD.

Expected Results: 

Impact: Women advance inclusive governance and build sustainable peace and security and resilient communities; and women and girls benefit equally from sustained peace and gender-responsive laws, policies, budgets, services, and accountable institutions in Asia and the Pacific (Linked to Strategic Plan (SP) 2022-2025[2] Impact 1 & 4)

Outcome 1 (WPS Pillar): Women meaningfully participate and lead in peace and security processes that contribute to sustaining peace and resilience in Asia and the Pacific (Linked to SP 2022-2025 Impact 4 and Outcome 1 & 5)

Output 1.1: Regional and national state actors are capacitated (technical support, skills-building, research and data) to implement commitments on WPS, with UN Women’s support (Strategic Note (SN) Output 1.1.5, linked with SP Outcome 1)

Output 1.2: Regional and national women’s rights organizations and movements are supported (platforms for dialogue, coordination mechanisms) to engage with state actors in promoting regional and national commitments on WPS (SN Output 1.1.6, linked with SP Outcome 1)

Output 1.3: Capacities of women’s rights organizations at regional, national and community levels are strengthened (skills-building, networking support, technical and financial assistance) to ensure women’s meaningful participation and leadership in peace and security, in development and crisis-affected contexts (SN Output 1.4.1, linked with SP Outcome 5)

Outcome 2 (Inclusive Governance Pillar): Women and girls fully and equally participate in leadership and decision-making and benefit from gender-responsive governance in Asia and the Pacific (Linked to SP 2022-2025 Impact 1 and Outcome 1,4 & 5)

Output 2.1: Regional and national actors and mechanisms are supported (technical and policy advisory support, skills building, research/data and tools) to ensure women’s meaningful participation and leadership in advancing gender-responsive and inclusive laws (including fiscal laws), policies and institutions, in line with international human rights standards (SN Output 1.1.1, linked with SP Outcome 1)

Output 2.2: Capacities of women’s rights organizations at regional, national, and community levels are strengthened (skills building, networking support, technical and financial assistance), to ensure women’s meaningful participation and leadership in governance, in development and crises-affected contexts (SN Output 1.4.1, linked with SP Outcome 5)

Output 2.3[3]: Regional, national and community level justice institutions and other governance actors have increased awareness and capacities (technical skills, data and tools), to apply a gender-responsive people-centred and inclusive approach to governance, including access to justice, in development and crisis-affected contexts (SN Output 1.3.1, linked with SP Outcome 4)
 

[1] For more information, please visit ROAP GPS website: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/focus-areas/peace-and-security/governance-peace-and-security

[2] https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/09/un-women-strategic-plan-2022-2025

[3] Activities under this output ended in 2024

Projects linked with the GPS Regional Framework:

The following projects are linked to the GPS Regional Framework and are expected to be reviewed as part of the MTR. 

SEA: Cambodia, Philippines, Timor Leste

Pacific: Solomon Islands, PNG and Pacific in general

Scope of Work/Description of Responsibilities

The purpose of the MTR is to enhance organizational accountability, provide evidence-based information for decision-making and to contribute to learning on gender equality and the empowerment of women, especially on advancing the WPS agenda and Inclusive Governance. It will facilitate an understanding of UN Women’s programming on GPS in Asia and the Pacific, achievements, the opportunities and challenges as well as gaps in programming and results. The primary intended users of the MTR are the UN Women ROAP GPS team, senior management and programme staff at the regional and country levels with an interest in or working in WPS and Governance. The review may be useful for other actors working in WPS and Governance, including partner governments, CSOs, UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs, and donors.

Overall Scope: Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Policy and Programme Specialist, Governance Peace and Security, and in close collaboration with the Monitoring and Reporting focal point, the international consultant will conduct a comprehensive Mid-Term Review (MTR), assessing relevance and coherence, effectiveness, organizational efficiency and sustainability while providing actionable recommendations for enhancing programme outcomes in alignment with the new UN Women Strategic Plan (SP) 2026-2029 and ROAP Strategic Note (SN) 2026-2029. It will focus on understanding the programme’s current status and identifying opportunities for mid-course adjustments. 

Geographic Scope: The assessments will evaluate regional-level interventions alongside country specific interventions.

Thematic Scope: Women Peace and Security - specifically, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, women’s participation and leadership in emerging or non-traditional security issues such as climate change and cybersecurity and peacebuilding in the digital space; women’s access to justice; gender-responsive budgeting and planning; and women’s leadership, including women’s political participation.

Description of Responsibilities:

No.Duties and Responsibilities 1

Analyze the “The Regional Framework Towards Peaceful, Inclusive Societies: Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Inclusive Governance in the Asia Pacific Region (2023-2027)” including programmes and projects are referring to the framework with a particular focus in regional level work and may include a focus in several countries (TBD by the reviewer).

Remarks:

The timeframe of the MTR will cover from January 2023 to the conclusion of the review. 

Assess the relevance and coherence, effectiveness, organizational efficiency, sustainability and impact of the programme and how the human rights approach and gender equality principles are integrated with a view to responding to the following questions:

Relevance and coherence: The extent to which the programme contributed to addressing the needs and problems identified in the design phase

Specific questions could include:

Effectiveness: The extent to which the programme has delivered projected outputs to benefit targeted population, beneficiaries, participants -whether individuals, communities, institutions. 

Specific questions could include:

Organizational Efficiency: The extent to which the programme has been implemented efficiently and delivered quality outputs, in line with what was originally planned or subsequently revised.

Specific questions could include:

Sustainability: The extent to which the programme took measures to ensure the sustainability of outcomes

Specific questions could include:

Impact: The extent to which the programme has been contributed to long-term changes

Specific questions could include:

Human rights approach and gender equality principles: The extent to which the programme applied the human rights-based approach and identified and engaged the most marginalized groups (e.g. women with disabilities, LGBTQI persons, religious and ethnic minorities).

Specific questions could include:

Methodological Approach:

Anticipated approaches to be used for data collection and analysis by the consultant are desk review, interviews with key stakeholders, and other participatory techniques. The MTR must integrate gender and human-rights perspectives throughout each of these areas of analysis and within its methodology. This is particularly important to understand and assess projects addressing complex, intersectional issues in women’s rights. 

Limitations:

This is a home-based consultancy, and the review will need to be reliant on secondary data sources and online forms of data collection, and the consultant may not be able to reach the same number of individuals through primary data collection. The timeframe for the review is also very tight, thus the review will need to be strategically scoped to deliver more in-depth information.

Expected Deliverables and Target Dates:

No.Tasks & DeliverablesTarget dates  Payment 1

Deliverables: List of documents for desk review, name lists and contact details of key stakeholders

20 October 2025

25%

2.1. Meeting (virtual) with key stakeholders

2.2 Drafting MTR report and submission of draft

Deliverables: Draft MTR report 

2.3 Incorporating comments from UN Women and finalizing the MTR

Deliverables:  The MTR report that contains following element:

Remark:

31 January 2026

75%

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel:

This is a home-based consultancy. No official travel is required as part of this assignment.

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: 

Ethical Code of Conduct[1]:

The MTR is to be carried out according to ethical principles and standards established by the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG).