National Junior Consultants on EU Accession, Gender Mainstreaming and Policy Alignment to support Central and Local Authorities (multiple positions)

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, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. 

The Republic of Moldova has entered a new stage of its European integration journey. Following the granting of EU candidate status in June 2022, the country has intensified efforts to align its national policies, legal framework, and institutional practices with the acquis communautaire and the Copenhagen criteria. In December 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Moldova, marking a historic opportunity for the country to advance its reforms, strengthen democratic governance, and consolidate the rule of law. Following Moldova's progress, in March 2024 EU leaders invited the Council to swiftly adopt the draft negotiation framework. The EU adopted also a Growth Plan for the Republic of Moldova and is underpinned by a Reform and Growth Facility for the period 2025-2027. Moldova successfully completed the EU screening process in September 2025 – a key step towards opening and closing negotiation chapters. This phase requires alignment with the EU Gender Equality Acquis, including directives on equal treatment, equal pay, non-discrimination, combating gender-based violence, and gender mainstreaming across all sectors of governance.

The integration process requires continuous adaptation across public institutions, as well as enhanced understanding of the EU acquis, negotiation chapters, and sectoral policies. Ensuring that government staff and institutional partners are regularly updated and trained on EU standards, procedures, and best practices is essential to accelerate the pace of reforms and guarantee effective preparation for accession. Particularly this phase requires alignment with the EU Gender Equality Acquis, including directives on equal treatment, equal pay, non-discrimination, combating gender-based violence, and gender mainstreaming across all sectors of governance.

UN Women is uniquely placed to support the Country Offices in the European Union enlargement process, providing methodologies and frameworks for engagement with governments and other stakeholders in accession countries.

UN Women Moldova supports the Government in aligning with EU Gender Equality provisions under Chapter 19, focusing on work, employment, and women’s participation in the labour market. It also strengthens institutional capacities on gender mainstreaming in policies, budgets, and SDG monitoring to align with EU accession requirements as well as contributes to other correlated chapters. 

In this framework, UN Women Moldova within the Women in Leadership and Governance Area seeks to contract a consultant, or a team of Consultants (here and after “The Consultant”) to support the National Specialist Consultants on EU Accession, Gender Mainstreaming and Policy Alignment to support Central and Local authorities that will work with the State Chancellery and line ministries to identify priorities for gender mainstreaming within accession clusters and chapters and ensure synergies among existing interventions and UN Women staff and personnel who are dealing with project development and coordination on last updates in the terms of EU integration processes. 

The interventions will contribute to the implementation of UN Women Moldova - Strategic Priorities 2023-2027 and the national priorities set the National Programme for the Accession of the Republic of Moldova to the EU, National Government Programme on Gender Equality (2023-2027), The RoadMap for Economic Empowerment of Women, the National Programme on Ending Violence against Women (2023-2027) and the activity of the newly established Parliamentary Standing committee on European Integration.

The consultant or team of consultants will collaborate closely with the National Specialist Consultants on EU Accession, Gender Mainstreaming, and Policy Alignment to support central and local authorities. The consultant(s) will report to the Programme Specialist for Women in Leadership and Gender-Sensitive Governance and Budgets and Project Analyst for the same area, who will also serve as the point of contact for contractual and payment matters.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the guidance of the Programme Specialist, Women in Leadership, and Gender Sensitive Governance and Budgets and in close cooperation with the National Specialist Consultant/s on EU Accession, Gender Mainstreaming and Policy Alignment and with line ministries responsible for the negotiation chapters, the consultant will:

• Contribute to coordinating and prioritizing gender mainstreaming within EU accession
  Support engagement with the Parliament, State Chancellery and line ministries to help identify priorities for gender mainstreaming within accession clusters and chapters and contribute to ensuring synergies among ongoing and planned interventions.
• Support for Enlargement Package and Reporting

Provide inputs to the EU Enlargement Package, country reports, and national progress reports, in coordination with national counterparts and UN Women.

• Support for Legislative Alignment with the EU Gender Equality Acquis

Contribute to legal and policy advice aimed at aligning Moldovan legislation with relevant EU directives, including those related to equal pay, non-discrimination, gender balance in decision-making, work-life balance, and preventing and combating gender-based violence.

• Support the Screening and Approximation Process

Assist in integrating gender equality considerations throughout all negotiation chapters and related harmonization processes.

• Support Institutionalization of Gender Mainstreaming

Contribute to the development and promotion of practical tools and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming in key ministries such as agriculture, economy, finance, labour, justice, environment, and infrastructure. Support efforts to embed gender-responsive budgeting and gender impact assessments into EU harmonization processes.

• Analytical Support and Capacity Development

Contribute and support to the drafting of policy briefs, gap analyses, presentations, and legislative proposals. Support the design and delivery of training and knowledge-building initiatives on the EU Gender Equality Acquis and gender mainstreaming for negotiators, civil servants, Parliament, and local authorities.

The above-mentioned tasks are indicative and subject to further detailing through specific service requests to be made by UN Women Moldova CO during the contract duration; other tasks and duties may be revised/added if required.

Payment Details 

Full payment for the services performed by the Consultant under the conditions of the Contract, per day worked. UN Women shall pay the Consultant upon certification by UN Women that the services have been satisfactorily performed, and upon submission and approval of corresponding deliverables and timesheets. The fee may be payable in installments and the number of days worked is to be determined solely by UN Women. The Consultant agrees and acknowledges that acceptance of the Contract does not guarantee any minimum fee to be paid to the Consultant.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

As part of this assignment, no travel is envisaged. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UN Women and the National Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

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:

• Strong partnership-building skills, with the ability to foster effective collaboration among stakeholders.
• Proven negotiation abilities to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement and learning.
• Good research skills, including data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
• Strong reporting and documentation abilities, with attention to accuracy and clarity

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Law, Public Policy and Administration, International Relations, Gender Studies, Social and Humanitarian Sciences, Data Governance, Economics, or Finance, Human Resources or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 1 years of relevant work experience in the field of governance and public administration, civil service, or other related fields is required;   
• At least 1 years proven experience in providing technical support on drafting/amending national legislation for central public administration or Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is required;
• Work experience in human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and national and international GEWE commitments in Moldova is required;
• Previous experience with the EU institutions on Republic of Moldova’s accession process will be considered an asset; 
• Experience with EU acquis frameworks will be an asset;
• Experience with UN Women and other UN agencies will be considered as an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Romanian is required.
• Knowledge of any other UN official language is an asset.

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.