UN WOMEN: National Consultancy for “The Global Accelerator on Decent Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, 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.

UN Women is present in Uzbekistan for more than two years, focuses on Women’s Economic Empowerment, Gender Responsive Budgeting, Tackling Harmful Social Norms and Gender Stereotypes and strengthening Gender Statistics. These thematic areas are identified based on the needs of the country to accelerate the Gender Strategy 2030. In addition to various reforms on going in the country, Uzbekistan has been selected as one of the pathfinder countries for the Global Accelerator on Decent Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions (herein after, Global Accelerator).

The Global Accelerator is an initiative of the UN Secretary-General launched in September 2021 to help countries address multiple crises, accelerate economic recovery, investing in decent jobs and social protection, and respond to current and future challenges (formalization, youth employment, gender equality, green transition, digital economy, etc.) while facilitating just transitions for all. The Global Accelerator aims to support the creation of 400 million decent jobs, the extension of social protection to the 4 billion people who are currently excluded, and to facilitate "just" transitions for all. UN Women is one of the implementing agencies of Global Accelerator in Uzbekistan will contribute to the decent work for women through various activities.

To achieve these ambitious targets, the Global Accelerator will support: 

• Strategic investments in sectors of the economy (renewable energy, agriculture, digitalization, care, etc.) with high potential for decent job creation, formalization of employment and enterprises. 
• Strategic investments in social protection to increase the sector’s integration, effectiveness, efficiency and ability to respond to shocks of different nature.
• Strategic investments in public social protection and labour market institutions, to put the State closer to people, respond to the needs of workers and enterprises and incentivize them to contribute their fair share of taxes and social security contributions, and further capacitate institutions to design and manage social protection programmes. 

The Global Accelerator works through three inter-connected pillars simultaneously: 

Pillar 1 - It supports the development and implementation of integrated policy approaches to create productive jobs and achieve universal social protection to foster just transitions and a virtuous cycle or economic growth, public revenue generation and reinvestment in key sectors, as well as to reduce poverty and cushion vulnerable population from the impact of shocks.

Pillar 2 - It helps countries to develop and operate financing strategies using the full range of available funding sources (including tax revenues, social security contributions, official development assistance, debt relief/reduction/restructuring, private investment). 

Pillar 3 - It seeks to elicit high-level buy-in and commitment among governments, social partners, civil society, and the development community and facilitates effective intersectoral coordination and national social dialogue at the country level.

Context

This assignment will be undertaken under Activity 1.7 Ensure gender equality and non-discrimination at work. 

Discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favorably than others because of characteristics that are not related to the person’s competencies or the inherent requirements of the job. According to the ILO Convention No.111, discrimination covers direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination occurs when “less favourable treatment is explicitly or implicitly based on one or more prohibited grounds”. Indirect discrimination refers to “apparently neutral situations, regulations or practices which in fact result in unequal treatment of persons with certain characteristics. It occurs when the same condition, treatment or criterion is applied to everyone, but results in a disproportionately harsh impact on some persons based on characteristics such as race, colour, sex or religion, and is not closely related to the inherent requirements of the job. Despite advances in many countries, the concept of indirect discrimination does not appear to be clear and recognized in some regions and countries, where treatment is extended equally to everybody, but leads to discriminatory results for one group, or a disproportionately harsh impact on some people because of certain characteristics. 

It is well known that women face discrimination at all levels starting even before hiring, on the job or upon leaving. Discrimination based on different grounds can have a significant impact on women’s ability to access and progress in employment and occupation. Women are most affected by sex-based discrimination and, more especially, indirect discrimination. Examples of such discrimination may include: promotions awarded on the basis of workers’ available hours; pay increases depending on the hours of service; lower minimum wage levels in sectors or occupations where women predominate; lower wages for informal homeworkers who undertake piecework and whose wages are calculated on a piece-rate basis (who are predominantly women) in comparison to workers with wages calculated on a time-rate basis; or collective agreements and laws excluding parttime workers from certain bonuses. All workers and job seekers have the right to be treated equally, regardless of any attributes other than their ability to do the job. Freedom from discrimination is a fundamental human right. It is essential for workers but especially for women to be able to choose their employment freely, to develop their potential to the full and to be rewarded based on merit. With this activity, legislative scanning accompanied by its interpretation to practice will be assessed and accordingly legislative and implementation related proposals will be developed.

Deliverables

UN Women seeks to engage a national expert to conduct a research study on workplace discrimination, including both direct and indirect forms of discrimination, with a particular focus on gender-related dimensions. The study will culminate in a report presenting key findings, as well as policy and programme recommendations to address identified gaps and promote gender equality in the workplace. The national expert will work in close collaboration with an international expert, who will undertake a desk review of international legislation and policies, assessing/comparing their alignment with national standards. More thoroughly, the assignment will envisage desk review of the national legislation, studying obligations on discrimination, gap analysis, cases and decisions analysis, employment vulnerability considering discrimination aspects, etc. During the second part of the assignment, the consultant is expected to provide interviews with related/required experts of national entities such as the Ministry of Poverty Reduction and Employment, Confederation of Employers of Uzbekistan, Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan, Ombudsman of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights, Business Ombudsman with special focus on complaints/issues handling in discrimination cases. The consultant is expected to collect information examples of direct and indirect discrimination practices and good cases for addressing discrimination in the world of work. 

In addition, the consultant is expected to conduct at least three interviews with workers, including with informal workers and those employed in the private sector, as trade unions only represent formal workers, many of whom are employed in the public sector. The Trade Unions of Uzbekistan had approximately 5.5 million members in 2025, representing only about 40% of the national workforce. Engaging directly with workers outside this structure would therefore help ensure that the report reflects a broader range of experiences and perspectives. The consultant will be reporting to Country Programme Manager and will be supported by Programme Associate. The assessment will be conducted and published jointly with the ILO as part of the UN Joint Programme on the Global Accelerator. The ILO will provide technical support in reference to key ILO conventions, including those on discrimination (C111), equal remuneration (No. 100) and violence and harassment (No. 190). 

The findings are expected to be presented at the Tripartite Round Table after finalization of the assignment. 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. No travel is envisaged within this assignment. 

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:

• Ability to research, analyze and draft reports using complex information.
• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills;
• Ability to work independently and proactively solve problems;
• Capacity to plan, priorities and deliver tasks timely;
• Engagement with national and international staff to provide clear feedback and maintain effective rapport;
• Continuous learning and skills sharing with others to support the local capacity development;

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree in legal, Political or Social Science, Economics, International Development studies, Gender/Women's Studies, or in areas relevant to the TOR is required.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of proven experience in developing concept papers, policy documents, methodologies, and guidelines
• Extensive experience in labour relations, decent work, macroeconomics, and gender equality
• At least 5 years of demonstrated expertise in women’s economic empowerment
• Strong knowledge and professional experience on the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region

• Computer literacy (MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point).

  Languages:

Proficient in written and spoken English.

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.