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 2009, then Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in his report to the Security Council called on all United Nations-managed funds to institute a “gender marker” to assist “in tracking the proportion of funds devoted to advancing gender equality”[1]. Thereafter, intergovernmental mandates emanating from ECOSOC and the General Assembly through various resolutions, including the QCPR, have called on the UN system to track “gender-related resource allocation and expenditure”[2], with UN Women, in collaboration with other entities, spearheading the work on gender equality markers within the UN system.  

In 2011, the Secretary-General’s Policy Committee in its Decision No. 2011/25 tasked the UNDG Task Team on Gender Equality – chaired by UN Women – to develop common principles to ensure the various UN gender marker systems are comparable. The UNDG Task Team on Gender Equality then developed the UNDG Gender Equality Marker Guidance Note and its Background Note in 2013, which contain  common principles and standards for gender equality marker systems and aim to guide the development of an effective and coherent UN system approach for tracking resources that support gender equality results. In 2018, under the auspices of the UN-SWAP Gender Marker Working Group, supplementary guidance notes on Coding Definitions and Quality Assurance were developed.

In parallel to these advancements, work to introduce a Gender Equality Marker (GEM) at country level has progressed, key milestones being the introduction in 2018 of a Gender Equality Marker to UN Joint Workplans in UN INFO, and the finalization in 2019 of the UNCT Gender Equality Marker Guidance Note, the development of which was spearheaded by UN Women. The overall objective of the UNCT GEM is to capture how UNCTs are allocating resources collectively towards Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Girls (GEEW/G) to strengthen the UN’s contribution to improving the lives of women and girls, men and boys in the countries where it serves.

An online planning, monitoring and reporting platform introduced in 2018, UN INFO shows how the UN in each country is targeting resources towards national priorities, thematic sectors, and the SDGs. The number of UNCTs reporting in UN INFO has increased from the 32 UNCTs that participated in piloting UN INFO in 2018 to roughly 60 UNCTs reporting in 2019. UN INFO is expected to progressively expand to the rest of UNCTs, and with this expansion, it is expected that there will be an increase in requests for technical support and advice on the implementation of the UNCT GEM, which the current Helpdesk consultancy is expected to help address.

[1] A/65/354 – S/2010/466, para 36.

[2] Multiple ECOSOC solutions have continued to call upon the UN system to track gender-related resource allocation and expenditure through the use of gender marker systems as early as E/RES/2012/24 and as recently as 2018 (E/2018/L.11) as well as the last two QCPR resolutions A/RES/67/226 and A/RES/71/243.

Duties and Responsibilities

The work of the consultant will be supervised by UN Women (Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist, Silja Rajander).  The consultant will liaise with UNCTs and provide online support to implement the UNCT GEM to UNCT Joint Workplans. Help desk services will be tailored to each UNCT as needed, based on below menu of services. The consultant will coordinate closely with UN Women to input to monitoring, learning, and course corrections needed in rolling out the UNCT GEM. Specifically, the consultant will: 

  • Quality assurance: Provide quality assurance to the application of GEM codes to Key Activities in UNCT Joint Workplans and provide trouble shooting and advice to (primarily) Interagency mechanisms responsible for GEEW/G, which provide technical backstopping on the application of UNCT GEM at country level.

  • Tracking and reporting: Support learning and increased quality and reliability of UNCT GEM reporting through keeping track of UNCTs reporting on the UNCT GEM through UN INFO, including the number of UNCTs reporting, completion rates, and key challenges confronted and lessons learned; and maintain and submit data and analysis to UN Women on these issues.

  • Maintain record of support provided: Tally time allocated to different activities and provide an analysis of requested demand for support.

Competencies

Core Values:

  • Respect for Diversity
  • Integrity
  • Professionalism

Core Competencies:

  • Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
  • Accountability
  • Creative Problem Solving
  • Effective Communication
  • Inclusive Collaboration
  • Stakeholder Engagement
  • Leading by Example

Required Skills and Experience

Required Qualifications, Experience and skills:

  • Master’s degree in development studies, gender studies, social sciences, or other related fields;

  • Minimum 10 years’ experience in gender and development;

  • Demonstrated technical expertise in gender analysis, gender budgeting, and results-based management;

  • Direct experience in providing technical advice and capacity development support to UNCTs on gender mainstreaming in the context of inter-agency processes and systems at the country level, including with respect to GEEW/G planning, programming, and budgeting in the context of UNDAFs/UNSDCFs;

  • Skills in facilitating and supporting inter-agency discussions on GEEW/G issues;

  • Ability to convey/communicate complex processes in a simple and understandable manner.

Language:

Fluency in oral and written English is required.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
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