Desk Study on Key Challenges of Promoting Women’s Political Participation in Somalia (International Consultant)

Background and Context

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 engagements globally are guided by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (PFA). The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, adopted in 2000, is of particular importance for fragile states as it recognized that war impacts women differently, and reaffirmed the need to increase women’s role in decision-making with regard to conflict resolution and prevention. Six consequent additional resolutions on women, peace and security were added, together representing a critical framework for improving the situation of women in fragile and conflict affected countries. Also, the Sustainable Development Goals set time-bound and measurable targets to promote gender equality.

A key issue for the empowerment of women and promotion of gender equality is the increased involvement of women in the political sphere of Somalia. Especially the run-up to the 2016 elections in Somalia has shown that there are numerous shortcomings in the political empowerment of Somalia’s women, and their involvement in government affairs at all levels.

Promoting women’s political participation is therefore one of UN Women’s key strategic areas of work in Somalia. Since 2016 it has been leading a Joint Programme on Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership. In addition, UN Women Somalia has been increasing its strategic role through improved coordination, technical advice, catalytic interventions, advocacy, research, and knowledge management.

UN Women Somalia is therefore planning to engage in in-depth analytical work on women’s political empowerment in Somalia, in order to inform the Joint Programme on Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership, as well as inform other crucial activities of its country programme. The analytical work will be commenced through a State-of-the-Art paper on women’s political empowerment in Somalia. The research paper shall summarize existing knowledge, and point out key knowledge gaps on how women enter politics, and key constraints denying women equal participation. The desk research should identify new questions, raise awareness and provoke new thinking.

UN Women is seeking an international consultant to conduct a desk study – jointly with a national consultant- on the Key Challenges of Women’s Political Participation in Somalia.

Purpose and Objective

Identify key challenges, identify new questions, raise awareness and provoke new thinking on issues of women’s political participation in Somalia. The desk study should help frame the different challenges and knowledge gaps in regards to women’s political participation as they pertain to the specific context in Somalia. The results of the desk study will inform the Joint Programme on Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership in Somalia, as well as contribute to UN Women’s general knowledge management and advisory capacity in Somalia.

Scope of Work and Responsibilities

The scope of work will be:

1. Review relevant existing reports, analytical work and other existing knowledge on women and political participation in Somalia;
2. Aide the national consultant in developing key interview questions and aide the analysis of interview outcomes;
3. Summarize the existing knowledge and identify key challenges and new questions;
4. Suggest further areas and key questions for research.

Deliverables and Time Line

• A draft research paper on the findings of the desk study (15 December 2016);
• A final research paper on the State-of-the-Art knowledge on women’s political empowerment in Somalia, including recommendations of further analytical questions, ca. 30 pages (31 December 2017)

The selected consultant will be responsible to ensure close coordination with the local consultant, and with the UN Women Somalia Country Programme Manager and the Research Coordinator.

The consultancy will start 15 November 2016 and last until 31 December 2016. The contract will be a total of 20 working days.

Competencies

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge or the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Core Values and Ethics:

• Demonstrate cultural sensitivity and ability to work in a multi-national environment;
• Support the Organization’s corporate goals;
• Comply with UN WOMEN rules, regulations and code of conduct;
• Integrity.

Teamwork:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Build effective client relationships and partnerships;
• Interact with all levels of staff in the organization;
• Excellent interpersonal skills;
• Build and share knowledge;
• Make valuable practice contributions.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication;
• Excellent oral and written skills;
• Listen actively and respond effectively.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.

Functional Competencies:

• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
• Possess basic knowledge or organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master degree in Social Science, Gender Studies, International Relations, Political Science or related field;
• Minimum 10 years of experience in collection and analysis of information within the relevant topic areas;
• In-depth familiarity with gender equality and women’s empowerment issues in Somalia;
• Excellent research, analytical and writing skills;
• Proven track record of publications on gender issues in Somalia;
• Experience as lead researcher in similar assignments;
• Full command of the English language.
• High level of proficiency in computer systems, internet navigation and various office applications.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in the English language required, with strong, confident command of both written and oral English.

To apply please follow the link: https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=69339