International consultant on conducting training seminars for State Legal and Legal Affairs Departments of the highest state authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including Presidential Administration, the legislative body Kurultai,

Background:

UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, is an active advocate for the interests of women and girls at the global level. UN Women assists UN Member States in setting international norms and standards for achieving gender equality and collaborates with governments and civil society in developing laws, policies, programs and services necessary to implement these standards.

UN Women actively promotes the equal participation of women in all spheres of life, focusing on five priority areas of action: strengthening women's leadership and participation in society; elimination of violence against women; involvement of women in solving the whole range of issues of ensuring peace and security; empowering women in the economy; ensuring the central role of gender equality in national development planning and budgeting processes. UN Women also coordinates work to promote gender equality throughout the UN system.

In 2025, UN Women in Kazakhstan in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Information and with support of the National Commission on Women's Affairs and Family and Demographic Policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, launched a new project for the period of 2025-2027: "Promoting increased legal protection for women, strengthening gender equality, and ensuring women's full participation in the socio-political life of the country".

The new project builds on existing achievements and aims to achieve long-term change in the empowerment of women and girls in Kazakhstan. It includes coordinated capacity building for national partners, deeper integration of gender aspects into budgeting and policymaking, and consistent application of gender expertise of legal acts in Lawmaking processes. The project includes measures to support the National Commission, through provision of the informational support and logistical support to organize its experts and members to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Concept of Family and Gender Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2030, enhance media coverage of gender equality issues, and support women's political participation and professional development.

As part of the project, in 2025 within the project UN Women with support of national partners established a Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Knowledge Center (GEWE Knowledge Center) in Almaty. The GEWE Knowledge Center will become a national platform for capacity building, policy dialogue, and evidence-based implementation. It will serve as a hub for capacity development, research, dissemination of best practices, and knowledge sharing.

The GEWE Knowledge Center's activities will ensure the long-term sustainability of project initiatives by providing stakeholders with the necessary tools and resources to maintain momentum in advancing gender equality. Institutionalizing gender-responsive budgeting and integrating gender equality policies into national and regional strategies will promote equitable governance, improved resource allocation, and systemic, long-term policy change.

In 2024, within the framework of Tied grant project (Phase 1), UN Women considering best international practices developed a methodology for implementing gender expertise and developing recommendations for harmonizing the gender expertise system in the legislation of Kazakhstan and integrating it into the legal analysis process and started its capacity building strategy of ministries and institutions on gender expertise.

In 2025, UN Women continued to strengthen the professional capacities of staff from the legal departments of 23 ministries and other relevant government institutions in conducting gender analysis and gender expertise of normative legal acts, with a particular focus on institutionalizing these processes within national law-making and regulatory frameworks. In addition to a series of capacity-building activities, a pilot gender analysis of internal regulatory documents was conducted within a line ministry and a national company, generating practical recommendations for integrating gender-responsive approaches into institutional policies and procedures.

Building on these achievements, in 2026 UN Women plans to further strengthen the capacities and raise awareness of representatives of the state legal and legal affairs departments of the highest state authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including the Presidential Administration, the legislative body Kurultai, and the Government Apparatus. The initiative will focus on enhancing their knowledge and practical skills in conducting gender analysis of normative legal acts and promoting the systematic integration of gender considerations into legislative and policy development processes.

The international consultant will be reporting to Programme Specialist and supported by Project Manager, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist and Project Manager, the International Consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables:

1. Review the materials provided by UN Women on the integration of gender expertise into normative legal acts in Kazakhstan, including the Methodology for Conducting Gender Expertise of Legal Acts, relevant analytical materials, and recommendations on mainstreaming gender perspectives into legislative and regulatory development processes. Based on this review, provide technical support to the UN Women Country Office in Kazakhstan in developing presentations, briefing notes, and other advocacy materials for national partners. The support should aim to strengthen awareness and institutional commitment among representatives of state legal and legal affairs departments of the highest state authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including the Presidential Administration, the Government Apparatus and the legislative body the Kurultai, and promote the systematic application of gender expertise in the development, review, and amendment of normative legal acts.
2. Analyze opportunities for integrating gender expertise requirements into the regulatory and strategic planning framework of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including the Law on Legal Acts, the National Development Plan of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2029, and other relevant strategic and policy documents, and prepare proposals for strengthening the regulatory framework governing the application of gender expertise in legislative and policy-making processes.
3. Develop proposals for institutionalization and establishing a specialized organization within Kazakhstan Institute for Public Development (KIPD) that would provide advisory and training services on Gender analyses to central government bodies and local executive authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in a sustainable manner.
4. Organize a meeting to discuss with key interested Ministries and KIPD on integration of gender expertise and presenting the latest developments to the national partners, including preparation of a summary report with recommendations and agreed next steps.
5. Conduct a one-day training on conducting gender expertise of legal acts for the state legal and legal affairs departments of the highest state authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including the Presidential Administration, Government Apparatus and the legislative body Kurultai, and the of the Republic of Kazakhstan including preparation of training materials and a brief training report.
6. Conduct a one-day inception training course for the KIPD aimed at creating conditions for establishing, within KIPD, a specialized unit providing advisory and training services on Gender expertise including recommendations for its operationalization and sustainability.

Deliverables:

The payment for the service will be completed as follows:

1. 40% of the contract amount will be paid after acceptance of the deliverables 1-3;
2. 60% of the contract amount will be paid after the acceptance of the final report and deliverables 4-7.

UN Women support to the international consultant:

UN Women Kazakhstan, within its capabilities, will provide support to an International Consultant to facilitate communication within the project. International Consultant will work under the direct supervision of UN Women Kazakhstan Programme Specialist and Project manager. Final report should be submitted in Russian.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

International Consultant is expected to work remotely and travel to Astana to conduct the training in Astana as well as meeting with KIPD, National Commission, Ministry of Culture and Information and relevant ministries. All expenses related to travel will be included in the contract sum.

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:

• Technical Expertise in Gender Mainstreaming and Gender Analysis
• Policy and Legislative Analysis
• Institutional Development and Capacity Building
• Training Design and Facilitation
• Stakeholder Engagement and Partnership Building
• Strategic Communication and Advocacy

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• A minimum of a master's degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, law, or related fields.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in conducting social/gender research or research in the field of gender expertise of regulatory legal acts.
• Proven experience in reviewing legislation and developing recommendations for improving the regulatory framework in the field of gender expertise.
• Proven experience in conducting training sessions on gender expertise for government agencies
• Experience working with UN agencies or other international organizations and government bodies (provide copies of supporting materials or links to websites with documents)

Languages:

• Excellent written and spoken Russian is mandatory.
• Working knowledge of English will be an asset.

Payments will be made after the presentation and approval of the results by UN Women Project Manager and/or Programme Specialist. The work of the International Consultant will be evaluated based on criteria such as timeliness, responsibility, initiative, sociability, accuracy, and quality.

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.