International Consultant to prepare two thematic background papers on Violence against Women, and Women and the Economy in the ECA region for Beijing+30 review. 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.

In 2025, the global community will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), and 10 years of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.

States are called upon to undertake comprehensive national-level reviews of the progress made and challenges encountered in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. Governments should collaborate with relevant stakeholders at all levels of preparations for the 2025 review to benefit from their experience and expertise.

National reports should cover trends, achievements and remaining gaps and challenges, as well as future plans to accelerate implementation at the national level. The regional commissions will use the national reports to prepare regional synthesis reports over the course of 2024. Regional review processes include the preparation of regional reports and the organization of regional intergovernmental meetings by the United Nations regional commissions. 

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) will jointly organize the Regional Review Meeting on the 30-year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in the UNECE region and its alignment with the 2030 Agenda in Geneva on 21-22 October 2024.

Furthermore, in the lead-up to the Regional Review Meeting, UN Women ECARO will organize a series of subregional consultations including multi-stakeholders consultations, civil society and youth mainly focused in programmatic counties () to prepare for and inform the Beijing+30 review process key milestones.  The review takes place around key multilateral and intergovernmental processes and moments, including the global review of the SDGs at the (July) and the (September).

Duties and Responsibilities

Within this framework, UN Women ECARO is seeking the services of an international consultant to develop two thematic background papers on violence against women and women and the economy in relation to the relevant priority thematic areas of the Beijing Platform of Action. The thematic papers will provide an overview on the progress and challenges in these two critical areas across the 56 member states of the UNECE region.

Specifically, the main objective of the assignment is to undertake a thematic review of the 56 national progress reports. This will involve performing substantive comparative analysis of achievements, challenges and gaps encountered by countries in addressing Violence against Women and Women and the Economy in the UNECE region, as well as analyzing information from available official data sources. This thematic report will be aligned with the review of UN Women’s global priorities to draw key messages for the achievement of gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment related to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The consultant will also draw on resources beyond the country level reports (including data from World Bank, DHS, MICS, VNR, and others) and will benefit from the compilation of the statistical data for the countries in the region, prepared by the consultant (International Consultant to prepare two thematic background papers on Violence against Women, and Women and the Economy in the ECA region for Beijing+30 review (1 or 2 Consultants, please state in your cover letter if you wish to apply for one or both thematic background papers)) who prepares the regional synthesis report on Beijing+30. 

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women ECARO Strategic Partnerships, Intergovernmental and Normative Engagement Specialist, and in consultation with UNECE Senior Social Officer and Gender Focal Point, as well as in collaboration with the International Consultant tasked with preparing the ECA Regional Synthesis Report on Beijing+30 Review, the International Consultant will lead the development of the Thematic Background Papers on Violence against women and Women and the Economy, which will include, but will not be limited to the following tasks:

• Develop detailed timeline of the assignment with the support of the UN Women ECARO and UNECE.
• Develop methodology and detailed outline of the thematic report and its alignment with the 2030 Agenda.
• Prepare the initial and final drafts of the thematic report, through analysis of the national-level reports and desk review of other sources of information, including those provided by UN Women ECARO, such as programme and policy documents; studies and research publications on both thematic areas. 
• The following key issues have to be addressed: overview of the progress towards the BPfA’s priority actions under assessment and related SDGs enforcement including SDG 1, 5, 8 and 10; and key trends; overview of national legal and policy frameworks in line with CEDAW, BPfA and SDGs targets, and results and perspectives of their implementation;
• Main gaps and challenges to Violence against Women and Women and the Economy; recommendations for policy actions to address the existing gaps and challenges to ensure efficient enforcement of BPfA and SDGs 1, 5, 8 and 10 in the region.
• Coordinate, analyze and collate inputs from UN Women and UN entities (through the Issue-based Coalition on Gender Equality and the Regional Coordination Mechanism) for inputs into the thematic report.
• Identify key thematic messages on priorities emerging from the country-level and regional analysis to support briefing materials for delegations to the Beijing+30 regional consultations to be conducted in partnership with UNECE in Geneva on 21-22 October 2024.
• Based on the analysis done, draft two thematic background papers to be used for the discussions at the B+30 Regional Review Meeting in Geneva on 21-22 October 2024.Each paper will have a maximum of 8,500 words.
• Based on findings of the peer review for the draft paper, finalize and submit its final version to UN Women.

UN Women HQ and Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia will participate in the peer review process of the thematic background papers to ensure consistency of the approach and methodology used for production of the Regional Synthesis Report and the global progress report. Also, respective UN Agencies will be invited for peer review for thematic papers.

Deliverables

Expected completion time (due date)

1. A detailed outline of the thematic background papers and timeline of the assignment, including proposed methodology for the thematic assessment.

By 15 May 2024

1. Initial draft of both thematic background papers.

By 1 June 2024

1. Final version of the thematic background papers, including key messages and conclusions from the Beijing+30 Regional Review Meeting

By 15 July 2024

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

Competencies

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 

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 Core Values and Competencies:  

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Advanced (Masters) degree or PhD in social sciences with a focus on gender/women's rights, sustainable development and economy or other fields relevant to the TOR is required.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible work experience in women's rights and gender equality in ECA region.

• At least 7 years of professional experience in conducting research on EVAW, poverty, social protection, unpaid care work, and economic security and rights.
• Previous publication of academic research related to GEWE is required.
• Previous experience in the Europe and Central Asia region with similar responsibilities is an asset.
• Previous professional experience with development agencies and/or the United Nations is an asset.

Languages and other skills

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: )

• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Candidates should have the ability to quickly produce degree certificates and medical certification (of good health) should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy post.

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, colour, 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.)