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 Ukraine, UN Women supports the Government and civil society in advancing gender equality and implementing national and international commitments, including the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda. Its work focuses on four priority areas: (1) Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action; (2) Ending Violence against Women and Girls; (3) Women’s Economic Empowerment; and (4) Governance and Participation in Public Life. UN Women also contributes to the integration of gender equality across the United Nations system in Ukraine.

UN Women’s Strategic Note (2025–2029) is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Ukraine and supports national priorities across humanitarian response, early recovery, and long-term reconstruction, with a focus on the humanitarian–development–peace nexus.

One of the key thematic impact areas of the UN Women Strategic Plan 2026-2029 is women’s leadership and decision-making. The efforts shall bring the following expected results in this area: 

  • Greater parity in decision-making, particularly at local levels, enabled through legal reforms, special measures and institutional safeguards that prevent and respond to violence against women in public life. 
  • Strengthened institutional capacity, across legislatures, public institutions, statistical offices and national women’s machineries, to track and deliver on commitments to women’s leadership. 
  • Increased capacity and influence of diverse women’s rights organizations and networks, particularly those led by young women and those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, to hold duty bearers accountable and drive change through transformative leadership and social norms change. 
  • Enhanced power and visibility of women leaders and their networks, including in public and private domains where women are underrepresented.

The full-scale armed invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022 is a grave violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the UN Charter. It caused untold destruction, displaced millions, and resulted in unacceptable violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and the most significant modern challenge to global peace and security. The invasion drastically changed the country’s context from development to humanitarian. Since then, there have been devastating effects in the country. Many of displaced people are particularly vulnerable, pregnant and breastfeeding women, elderly persons, those with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and people directly affected by violence. In order to support the national partners in responding to the humanitarian crisis UN Women has introduced a range of the activities to address the needs of women in the affected communities and support key stakeholders in applying the gender mainstreaming approach to humanitarian response and early stage of recovery.

The recovery and reconstruction of post-war Ukraine offers an opportunity to address many of the country’s longstanding inequalities between men and women. Despite the consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion since 2022, the Government of Ukraine has demonstrated that women’s rights and gender equality remain a priority, through the adoption of gender responsive policies and legislation in 2022-2025. It is crucial that these policies and legislative commitments are translated into action to deliver a gender equal and inclusive society. Implementation of Ukraine’s recovery agenda should match this political goodwill and ensure a gender transformative approach which not only applies to the rebuilding of physical infrastructure but expands to all socio-economic spheres including social protection, labour force participation, care economy, education representation, peace building, security and defense, as well as access to quality services such as legal aid, psychological, sexual and reproductive health, political decision making, etc.

UN Women recognizes that Ukraine's recovery process needs meaningful engagement and participation of women leaders and activists to represent different voices and needs of different groups of women and girls. The women activists and leaders are leading the change in achieving transformative GEWE results at all levels: national, regional and local. Ukraine has made some progress in creating preconditions for achieving gender equality in political sphere by adopting relevant legislative framework and establishing 40% quotas. However, women remain seriously under-represented in the country’s political institutions of all levels. Women representation in the Verkhovna Rada is 21%, 36% in regional and city councils, out of 17 members of the Cabinet of Ministers only 4 are women. 

In line with the 2025-2029 UN Women Strategic Note in Ukraine, UN Women Ukraine, in cooperation with the Central Election Commission and the Equal Opportunities Caucus of the Ukrainian Parliament, has been implementing a new programme to support women’s political participation (WPP). Established in 2024, the initiative “She Leads Ukraine” draws on UN Women’s extensive global expertise in this area and mapping the needs related to women’s political participation in Ukraine. In 2024 UN Women Ukraine trained 35 trainers specializing in women’s political leadership. The trainers delivered leadership and candidacy cascade trainings that strengthened the capacities of more than 600 women leaders from diverse backgrounds and from all regions of Ukraine in 2025. The trainings, based on UN Women’s global curriculum, covered a wide range of topics, including transformative leadership, communications, voter outreach, fundraising and financial planning, as well as campaign management. Alongside the trainings, UN Women in cooperation with CSO partners conducted a research on the full-scale war’s impact on women’s roles in political processes in Ukraine, organized the National Forum “She Leads Ukraine” and started with the regional forums by conducting one for the southern oblasts of Ukraine in Odesa (Odeska, Mykolaivska, Khersonska) and for the northern oblasts (Chernigivska, Sumska, Kyivska) in Kyiv. The forums bring together local and community women leaders, civil society representatives, politicians, and international partners to discuss the future of women’s political participation and share lessons learned from ongoing efforts to ensure equal representation in decision-making.

To support coordination with other national and international partners supporting women’s political participation (WPP), UN Women initiated the creation of a WPP Task Force in Ukraine in November 2024. It gathered different stakeholders – government, Parliament, CSOs and development partners. 

As part of its work, UN Women is looking for a National Consultant on Women’s Leadership and Participation to provide expert and advisory support on implementation of the She Leads Ukraine initiative to ensure women’s participation and representation in all spheres of public life. 

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist/Project Manager, the National Consultant will provide expert and advisory support on implementation of the She Leads Ukraine initiative to ensure women’s participation and representation. 

The assignment will include but not be limited to the following tasks:

1.Ukrainian women, local community and national leaders are trained in leadership and candidacy

  • advising on the development of training activities for Ukrainian women, local community and national leaders to ensure strategic, sustainable, context-wise and participatory approach; 
  • supporting organization of a series of trainings for women candidates at local level to be conducted by UN Women-certified trainers on women's political participation;
  • providing support with conducting networking and learning events for the trainers' community and developing information and methodological products to support the trainers’ work, as needed.

2. Ukrainian women, local community and national leaders are supported through networking, upskilling and experience exchange

  • advising on conceptual and strategic ways to support the networking, upskilling and experience exchange for the trained participants; 
  • supporting organization of national and regional She Leads Ukraine Forums, including developing the agenda, inviting and briefing speakers and facilitators, and developing an outcome document following the event;
  • providing support in conducting communication campaign on women's political participation and leadership (e.g., support with developing a landing page, visual identity of the program, developing communication messages etc.);
  • supporting with conducting other events on women's political participation to support the trained participants (e.g. webinars, thematical sessions etc.);
  • contributing to data collection, and providing analytical papers on women’s political rights in the context of war in Ukraine.

3. National and international partners coordinate through the Task Force on supporting women’s political participation in Ukraine

  • supporting coordination and functioning of the WPP Task Force of key stakeholders from the Parliament, government, CSOs and development partners;
  • organizing bi-lateral/multi-lateral working meetings with WPP Task Force members. 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is primarily a home-based consultancy. It may require occasional travel to training locations within Ukraine, contingent upon the consultant obtaining security clearance. All travel arrangements will be made based on UN Women’s rules and regulations.

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:

  • Innovation
  • Resilience  
  • Research experience
  • Partnership building
  • Negotiation 
  • Commitment to continuous improvement
  • Crisis management skills

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in Political Sciences, Public Policy and Administration, Social Sciences, Law or related field is required.

Experience:

  • Minimum five years of progressive professional experience in the field gender equality and women’s empowerment.
  • Proven experience in coordination of partnership and analysis of gender-related documents, policies. 
  • Knowledge of the Ukrainian context and gender equality would be a strong asset.
  • Previous experience with development agencies and the United Nations will be an asset, especially work with UN Women. Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.

Languages:

  • Fluency in English and Ukrainian 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.


 

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