International Consultant – Women Political Participation in Pakistan

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.

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. Through its Leadership and Governance section, UN Women works to implement Output 4 of the Entity’s Strategic Plan 2018-21 “More women of all ages fully participate, lead and engage in political institutions and processes”.

To promote the leadership and participation of women in all levels of decision-making processes, UN Women works with a range of stakeholders including women leaders and aspiring candidates, national parliaments and parliamentarians, political parties, media, civil society organizations, and electoral management bodies, in coordination with UN partner Entities, through a wide range of interventions which include: i) support gender responsive legal reforms, and institutional processes to advance women’s participation and representation (including initiatives to address violence against women in politics); ii) build capacities of women leaders and aspiring candidates; iii) promote change of gender norms through advocacy and outreach initiatives targeting communities, political leaders and the media; iv) and support women leaders in gender responsive political institutions.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the supervision of the UN Women Technical Advisor on WPP in Pakistan, the international consultant, while working remotely, will undertake the following tasks:

Task 1: Provide technical assistance for development of Programming on democracy, women, youth and minorities logframe

• Host(online) consultative sessions with UN Women team on development of logframe for the programme
• Coordinate with UN Women team to support the development of logframe

Task 2: Support Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on gender responsive elections:

• Based on past KII, FGDs and surveys su,pport development of gender audit
• Develop first draft of the ECP gender audit report

Task 3: Design and deliver workshop for local CSOs on Gender Election Observation

• Based on existing literature, develop workshop material including agenda, presentations, and reading guide
• Deliver (online/ hybrid) workshop to CSO partners working on elections and women political participation

1. DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE

Key deliverables are:

• ECP gender audit report
• Logframe
• Gender Election Observation Workshop

All the documents and reports should be submitted in English language.

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

Competencies

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant findings for the preparation of quality papers and reports.
• Strong inter-personal skills, communication, networking and team-building skills.
• Ability to deal with politically sensitive issues.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
• Shares knowledge and experience actively.
• Demonstrates commitment to UN Women mission, vision and values.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Urdu.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in gender studies, Political Science, international development studies, human rights, law, or other related field.
• At least 7 years of experience integrating gender equality and political participation and representation; including proven experience integrating gender equality and electoral cycle, women’s political participation, and gender based electoral violence mitigation;
• 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;
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, CSOs, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions. 
• Experience in programme design and results-based management;
• Experience with UN electoral assistance processes;

Application: All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P11) which can be downloaded  from https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc  Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. 

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains,  compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law.  All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. 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 zerotolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible 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’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.) 

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