UN Women CONSULTANCY: SUPPORT THE PREPARATIONS OF THE 65TH COMISSION OF THE STATUS OF WOMEN (CSW65) ON WOMEN’S FULL AND EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION AND DECISION-MAKING IN PUBLIC LIFE

Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women 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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Women’s leadership and political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work as mandated in its inception, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. UN Women works to implement its Strategic Plan 2018-2021, Outcome 2, which focuses: Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems. Specifically, UN Women focuses on increasing the number of women of all ages who are fully participating, leading and engaging in political institutions and processes; it also focuses on increasing the political participation and leadership of young women, indigenous women and women with disabilities. These efforts are designed to guide countries towards reaching Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 5.5: “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.”

As part of its normative mandate UN-Women provides support to intergovernmental and normative processes, particularly the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW), as the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women supports all aspects of the Commission’s work and facilitates the participation of civil society representatives. UN-Women serves as the substantive Secretariat for the Commission, and is responsible for all preparations, substantive support during the session, and follow-up.

The sixty-fifth session of the CSW (CSW65) is expected to take place in March 2021 and focus on the priority theme Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

In this context, UN Women will contract an International Consultant for a 5-month period to support UN Women’s substantive preparations of CSW65.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Political Participation Advisor in HQ, the consultant will support UN Women’s substantive preparations of the CSW65 priority theme under review, specifically by undertaking background research and  assisting with UN Women’s data collection and compilation efforts on the priority theme, as well as supporting all preparations for an Expert Group Meeting on the priority theme.

The Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

Task 1: Support preparation and implementation of the Expert Group Meeting:

In preparation for CSW65, UN-Women will convene a virtual Expert Group Meeting (EGM) (tentatively scheduled for 28 September – 1 October 2020). The purpose of the EGM is to take stock of current research, prepare an analysis and make informed, practical and action-oriented recommendations. Tasks include:

• Conduct background research for EGM concept note and provide support with drafting other relevant background documents for the EGM.
• Support coordination for the commissioning of background papers (on sub-topics relevant to the priority theme).
• Identify and consolidate key trends and recommendations provided by the two lead experts’ papers and the additional papers commissioned ahead of the EGM to inform meeting preparations.
• Support the preparation of the EGM as needed. Support the drafting and review process of the EGM report
• Undertake other tasks as required.

Task 2: Support UN-Women’s research and data collection work on the current situation on participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, including by:  

• Compile and analyse previous CSW general conclusions and other normative references on the CSW65 theme, including relevant recommendations of the CEDAW Committee.
• Mapping and compiling data on: i) women Heads of State and Government; ii) women’s representation in executive cabinets (including analysis of portfolios held by women); and iii) women’s participation in public administration and/or other relevant leadership positions.
• Updating UN-Women’s repository of legal frameworks and regulations that promote women’s participation in decision-making.
• Undertake other tasks as required

KEY DELIVERABLES:  

• Summary of previous CSW and other normative references on the CSW65 theme, including CEDAW Committee’s recommendations, is compiled and summary analysis prepared.  
• Codification of key recommendations and common trends identified in the papers commissioned by global experts.
• Consolidated EGM notes prepared, and report supported.
• An overview of the current situation on women’s participation and decision-making in public life based on available data.
• UN-Women’s global data base on gender quotas is updated.
• Information on the number of women in cabinet positions is compiled

Competencies

Functional Competencies

• Sound expertise in gender equality and women’s empowerment, including on women’s political participation.
• Good research and analytical skills
• Good communication skills.
• Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, donors and civil society.
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds.
• Ability to produce well-written documents demonstrating excellent interpersonal communication skills

Required Skills and Experience

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Education-related fields, Political Science, Sociology, International Relations, or relevant field and/or equivalent practical experience.

Experience:

• A minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment, including proven experience integrating and/or researching gender equality and political participation and representation;
• Demonstrated capacity to draft and produce well-written, reports.
• Experience with UN organizations and programmes or intergovernmental processes, including those related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and gender equality is an asset.
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, CSOs, and the UN/multilateral/bilateral institutions. 
• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights and related instruments;
• Experience with UN Intergovernmental processes including those related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and gender equality;
• Familiarity with local level structures in multiple contexts;
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, CSOs, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions. 

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.
• Working knowledge of other UN languages is an asset.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION PROCESS:

Please submit the following to demonstrate your interest and qualifications:

Price proposal (All-inclusive daily fee): interested individuals are kindly requested to submit an all-inclusive daily consultancy fee.

P11 Form: interested individuals must submit their applications online through UNDP Online Recruitment System including a  signed  P11 Form. The P11 Form can be obtained at http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.

Application Evaluation Process

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Substantive knowledge of and experience (minimum 3 years) of gender equality and women’s empowerment, including proven experience integrating and/or researching gender equality and political participation and representation
• Demonstrated capacity to draft and produce well-written, reports.
• Experience with UN organizations and programmes or intergovernmental processes, including those related to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

UN Women is applying fair and transparent selection process that would consider both the technical qualification of Consultants as well as their price proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores