Consultant International PBF

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 Sierra Leone, women have played critical role in harnessing peace during the 11 years’ war. They contributed to bringing democratic rule in the country and to the restoration of peace. In 1995, the Sierra Leone Women Movement for Peace in collaboration with other women’s groups galvanized support for democracy through the Bintumani one and two, calling for elections before peace and negotiating with rebel leaders 17. These conferences were held with relevant stakeholders, government, CSOs, traditional leaders, women groups, from national and sub-national levels The consultations contributed to the conduct of four successful general elections (2002, 2007, 2012 and 2018). Their active involvement through the Elections Situation Room (ESR) in the 2012 and 2018 as a crucial conflict prevention and conflict resolution mechanism have reinforced the pivotal role that women play in peacebuilding. An emerging wave of young feminist groups such as Girl Empower Sierra Leone, Girl-Up initiative have become critical thought leaders in influencing behaviors, practices and shaping ideologies for promoting women’s participation in politics and in protecting women and girls from gender-based violence. Leveraging on media platforms, they have contributed to shaping the social media platforms to promoting girls’ leadership and voice in political and public spaces.The role of CSOs and women groups in the prevention of conflicts, peacebuilding and promotion of women’s political participation have been monumental and well documented in Sierra Leone. Their response to the civil war, the peacebuilding processes and democratic governance has been prominent in ushering in a democratically elected government. Their active involvement through the Elections Situation Room (ESR) in the 2012 and 2018 as a crucial conflict prevention and conflict resolution mechanism have reinforced the pivotal role that women play in peacebuilding. Relying and drawing inspiration from UN Security Council resolution (S/RES/1325) on women and peace and security passed in October 2000, women CSOs have contributed to women political participation, actively demanding affirmative action for equal representation in all spheres of life and advocating for legal reforms that promote and protect women's rights.

In this context, UN Women, UNDP, and World Vision coalition is seeking to promote and sustain Women-Focused CSOs, facilitate shared objectives, joint planning, and monitoring for women political participation, conflict prevention and peacebuilding during the next general elections in 2023 in Sierra Leone

SCOPE OF WORK:

Under the direct supervision of UN WOMEN coordination specialist, the consultant will work with the UN team to implement the responsibilities and tasks defined in the current Terms of Reference (TOR).

Duties and Responsibilities

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.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Good knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment, including women’s political participation, peace and security and women’s movement
• Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to detail.
• Good communication skills.
• Demonstrated leadership and personal examples of promoting knowledge management and a professional learning environment.
• Outstanding networking, team building, organizational and communication skills.
• Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, donors, and civil society.
• Ability to use Microsoft word, excel, e-mail, web-based applications, and databases.
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds.
• Results based management skills.
• In-depth knowledge of development issues.
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice.
• Ability in strategic planning, results-based management, and reporting

Required Skills and Experience

Education

A Master’s degree or equivalent in law, gender equality, Peace and Development, human rights, public administration, social sciences or other relate areas is required; a first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience in the field of gender equality and women’s political empowerment, including proven experience in women’s CSOs or Women peace and security.
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, International NGO, CSOs, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions. 
• Substantive experience in women’s movement.
• Experience in programme design and results-based management.
• Experience in working in a multicultural environment.
• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights and related instruments.
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, CSOs, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions. 
•  Experience in implementing, monitoring, and evaluating development programmes and projects.

The candidates shall provide relevant reports to evidence their experience related to the key activities of this consultancy.

Language:

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

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 . Please note that the system only allows one attachment. Applications without the UN Women P-11 form will be considered incomplete and will not be considered for further evaluation.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating an environment of diversity, inclusion and mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, remunerates and promotes without regard to race, religion, colour, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin or any other basis covered by the appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, skills, integrity and the needs of the organisation.

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 towards behaviour that is inconsistent 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 policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women staff and will therefore be subject to a rigorous reference and background check. (The background check will include verification of academic qualifications and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to complete a background check).

Note: In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly established UN Women, the UN entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women. The creation of UN Women is part of the UN reform agenda, which aims to pool resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously separate parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.