Global Compact for Refugees - Consultant

Background

Delivering on the Commitments of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants

through the Integration of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in to the

Global Compact for Refugees

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 is committed to the achievement of equality between women, men, boys and girls as partners and beneficiaries of humanitarian action. In October 2012, UN Women established its Gender and Humanitarian Action Unit to consolidate its advocacy, coordination and capacity development role for the integration of gender equality across humanitarian action. This includes disaster risk reduction with a focus on prevention, mitigation and preparedness, humanitarian response and early recovery.

On September 19, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of commitments to enhance the protection of refugees and migrants. These commitments are known as the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. The New York Declaration reaffirms the importance of the international refugee regime and represents a commitment by Member States to strengthen and enhance mechanisms to protect people on the move.

Contained with the NY Declaration, is the call for the creation of a Global Compact for Refugees that will provide guidance to the international community on how to respond to large movements of refugees (both in protracted and new situations). It will have four key objectives:

1. Easing pressures on countries that welcome and host refugees;

2. Build self-reliance of refugees;

3. Expand access to resettlement in third countries and other complementary pathways;

4. Foster conditions that enable refugees voluntarily to return to their home countries.

The global compact on refugees will have two parts: 1. The Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, as already agreed to by Member States in the New York Declaration and supplemented by a preamble and concluding paragraphs.

2. A programme of action (PoA) that will draw upon good practices from around the world, and set out specific measures to be taken by UN Member States and others to operationalize the principles of the New York Declaration.

The PoA is intended to set out the necessary actions required to bring about the kind of comprehensive refugee response envisaged by the New York Declaration. As such, it is essential that the strong commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment laid out in the New York Declaration are reflected in the final version of the PoA.

These commitments include:

· Mainstreaming a gender perspective in all refugee response initiatives

· Promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls

· Fully respecting and protecting the human rights of women and girls.

· Combatting sexual and gender-based violence.

· Provision of access to sexual and reproductive health-care services

· Tackling multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against refugee and migrant women and girls.

· Recognizing and facilitating the significant contribution and leadership of women in refugee and migrant communities, to ensure their full, equal and meaningful participation in the development of local solutions and opportunities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Process of Developing the Global Compact for Refugees

Tasked with facilitating the development of the GCR, UNHCR have set out a road map outlining the steps of consultation and collaboration towards its completion. These are:

· Thematic discussions held in Geneva that will inform the development of the programme of action:

o 10 July Thematic Session 1: Past and current regional approaches

o 17-18 October Thematic Session 2 & 3: (i) Measures to be taken at the onset of a large movement of refugees (including the elements set out in the ‘Reception and admission’ section of the comprehensive refugee response framework); (ii) Meeting needs and supporting communities (including the ‘Support for immediate and ongoing needs’ and ‘Support for host countries and communities’ sections of the framework).

o 14-15 November Thematic Session 4 & 5: (i) Measures to be taken in pursuit of durable solutions (in accordance with the final section of the framework); (ii) Issues that cut across all four substantive sections of the framework, and overarching issues.

· A stocktaking in late 2017 of progress made and lessons learned that identifies best practices in refugee response, actions that are required to bring about the type.

· Formal consultations with member states, UN, NGOs and other stakeholders on a prepared draft based on outcomes of CRRF trials and thematic discussions.

· Final consideration at the 2018 General Assembly.

Consultancy

Under the overall guidance of UN Women’s Gender and Humanitarian Action Advisor and the direct supervision of the Humanitarian Specialist, the incumbent will develop an overall position paper - supported by advocacy and briefing materials - that will provide guidance on what is required within the GCR’s PoA to ensure that the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment are reflected and delivered upon.

The position paper and the supporting materials will provide direct guidance on the inclusion of gender equality and women’s empowerment across the GCR thematic discussions, which are based on the four key pillars of the comprehensive refugee response framework (CRRF), namely:

· Reception and admission;

· Support for immediate and ongoing needs;

· Support for host countries and communities;

· Durable solutions.

In addition, the incumbent will facilitate a series of briefing events for member states and other stakeholders in advance of each of the scheduled thematic discussions.

Additional materials will also be developed for the formal consultations and the final consideration at the General Assembly. These will be based on the outcomes of the thematic discussions.

Outcome

The Global Compact for Refugees and its plan of action that sets out the specific measures to be taken by UN Member States and others to operationalize the principles of the New York Declaration, will adequately reflect the Declaration’s specific commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Outputs

Key Deliverables

· A 20 page, context-analysis based position paper outlining the key elements and best practices required – as well as commitments already made - for ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment are integrated across all four of the key pillars of the CRRF and its associated plan of action. Provide recommendations on how to deliver on the key elements, map out identified best practice and commitments from key sources (e.g. Uganda Solidarity Summit on Refugees, the Brazil Plan of Action, pilot CRRFs etc), as well as the means of monitoring their realization.

· Facilitating a series of one hour briefing events in advance of each of the thematic discussions for member states and other stakeholders on what the key GEWE issues are that must be addressed.

· Facilitate affected women’s voices to be included at the thematic discussions – identify entry points, potential attendees, provide capacity support etc.

· Development of briefing and advocacy materials for circulation amongst relevant stakeholders.

· Additional materials developed for formal consultations and the final consideration of the GCR at the General Assembly. These will be based on the outcomes of the thematic discussions.

Process

The development of a position paper and support materials and resources will be done in collaboration with identified partners also seeking to ensure that GEWE is adequately included in the final GCR. These will include the Women’s Refugee Commission, UNHCR, UNFPA, the IASC Gender Reference Group and other to-be-identified stakeholders.

The briefing events will be co-hosted with to-be-identified member states, based on their expressed interest and their involvement in the CRRP pilot phasing.

Timeline

· September 2017 - Consultations and research for the development of the position paper and support materials (15 days)

· October 1st 2017 - Circulation of position paper and support materials.

· October - November 2017 - Briefing events in advance of thematic discussions:

o 10th October - Thematic Session 2 & 3: (i) Measures to be taken at the onset of a large movement of refugees (including the elements set out in the ‘Reception and admission’ section of the comprehensive refugee response framework); (ii) Meeting needs and supporting

communities (including the ‘Support for immediate and ongoing needs’ and ‘Support for host countries and communities’ sections of the framework) - (5 days– 3 days preparation, 1 day for event, 1 day for analysis/reporting).

o 7th November - Thematic Session 4 & 5: (i) Measures to be taken in pursuit of durable solutions (in accordance with the final section of the framework); (ii) Issues that cut across all four substantive sections of the framework, and overarching issues - (5 days– 3 days preparation, 1 day for event, 1 day for analysis/reporting).

· November 2017 - Finalization of additional materials developed for formal consultations and the final consideration of the GCR at the General Assembly - based on the outcomes of the thematic discussions – (10 days)

Competencies

Core values and Guiding principles:

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 of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

· Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;

· Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

· Demonstrate and promote ethics and integrity by creating organizational precedents.

Organizational awareness:

· Build support for the organization and ensure political acumen.

Development and innovation:

· Support staff competence development, and contribute to an environment of creativity and innovation.

Work in teams:

· Build and promote effective teams;

· Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communication and information sharing:

· Create and promote an environment for open and effective communication.

Self-management and emotional intelligence:

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

Conflict management:

Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solutions.

Continuous learning and Knowledge sharing:

· Share knowledge across the organization and build a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and transparent decision making:

· Ensure fair and transparent decision making processes and manage risk.

Functional Competencies:

· Substantive knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of gender equality, women’s rights and humanitarian action;

· Strong communications skills, with proven expertise in writing cogent and convincing policy and programme documents;

· Proven analytical and problem solving skills;

· Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills;

· Effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners;

· Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

· Master’s degree or equivalent in humanitarian, disaster management or development-related disciplines, gender issues, public policy, economics, human rights, or other social science fields.

Experience:

· Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in management of humanitarian programming preferably in refugee response in disaster/conflict and post-disaster/conflict settings;

· Strong knowledge of refugee policy, normative and legal frameworks;

· Experience in inter-agency coordination;

· Experience working with governments, donors and civil society organisations at the international and field levels;

· Familiarity and experience with humanitarian system coordination and results-based management would be an asset.

Language:

· Written and oral proficiency in English is required;

· Knowledge of French or Spanish and or other UN working languages is an asset.

Note

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.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment.

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