Consultant to act as Coordinator and Facilitator for multi-stakeholder dialogues and exchanges

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 September 2017, the EU and the UN launched an ambitious joint partnership to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls worldwide. The Spotlight Initiative (SI) aims at mobilizing commitment of political leaders and contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Initiative aims at ending all forms of violence against women and girls, targeting those that are most prevalent and contribute to gender inequality across the world. The Spotlight Initiative will deploy targeted, large-scale investments in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific and the Caribbean, aimed at achieving significant improvements in the lives of women and girls. Guyana, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago are three of the countries in the Caribbean to benefit from this transformative initiative.

The overall vision of the Spotlight Initiative is that women and girls realize their full potential free from violence. The Spotlight Initiative will directly contribute to the achievement of three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 5 on Gender Equality, Goal 3 on good health and well-being and Goal 16 on inclusive and peaceful societies. The program will contribute to the elimination of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) through the creation of a broad partnership with Civil Society, Government, Private Sector, Media, among others; and, build a social movement of women, men, girls, boys and transgender people as champions and agents of change at the national, subnational and community levels. A specific focus will be on reaching and including in the program women and girls who are often isolated and most vulnerable to sexual & gender-based violence (SGBV) and harmful practices (HP) due to intersecting forms of discrimination.

The SI Country Programmes will use a multi-sectoral, multi-layered, interlinked community-centred approach to the implementation of the interventions on the following six Outcome Areas based on the socio-ecological model for addressing SGBV:

• Pillar One: Legislative and Policy Frameworks
• Pillar Two: Strengthening Institutions
• Pillar Three: Prevention and Social Norms
• Pillar Four: Delivery of Quality, Essential Services
• Pillar Five: Data Availability and Capacities
• Pillar Six: Supporting the Women’s Movement and CSO

 

Spotlight Jamaica

The SI in Jamaica will address three key priority areas within the overall focus on Family Violence against women and girls: 1) Child Sexual Abuse, 2) Intimate Partner Violence and 3) Discrimination against vulnerable groups.

The SI in Jamaica will be national in scope and targeted intervention will focus on the following four parishes: The Kingston Metropolitan Area (Kingston and St. Andrew), St. Thomas, Clarendon, and Westmoreland.

The Women’s Health Survey (2016) has identified a lifetime prevalence rate of 27.8% of physical and/or sexual violence against women aged 15 to 49 years by an intimate partner in Jamaica. This figure is slightly lower than the regional average of 30%. Intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence against women, suggesting that women and girls are especially vulnerable to violence in the home by someone they know.

The meaningful engagement of women's rights groups and relevant civil society organisations, as well as core stakeholders involved in presenting and responding to GBV including those representing young women and groups facing intersecting forms of discrimination (rural, those living with HIV/AIDS, women and girls living with disabilities, LGBTQI persons, etc.), is a key principle of the Spotlight Initiative.

In line with this, the Jamaica Spotlight Initiative, is seeking to coordinate a series of intergenerational multi-stakeholder dialogues including exchanges between men's and women's groups to facilitate more integration and coordination that can support focused direct advocacy and enhance knowledge management capacities around ending VAWG including family violence.

These sessions will allow community leaders, CSO’s, women’s rights groups and community groups to share insights, strategies, best practice and advocacy tools in addressing VAWG in Jamaica.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO - Caribbean Representative, with direct supervision by the Planning and Coordination Specialist, Jamaica, the Consultant will lead multi-stakeholder dialogues including exchanges between men's and women's groups and conduct radical listening sessions to facilitate more integration and coordination that can support focused direct advocacy and enhance knowledge management capacities around ending VAWG including family violence.

 

SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES

The consultant is expected to deliver the following results:

• Develop a workplan and inception report including a strategic framework for coordinating dialogues with stakeholders
• Coordinate listening sessions and dialogues in key Spotlight parishes among CSO’s, women’s and men’s groups, community leaders and community-based organisations to discuss gender issues and strategies to end VAWG
• Convene sessions with CSOs to discuss strategies aimed at ending VAWG, including family violence
• Submit a final report with feedback and recommendations from dialogues including key CSO recommendations and strategies for ending VAWG

 

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

• The Consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO-Caribbean Representative with direct reporting to the Planning and Coordination Specialist in Jamaica.

 

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

• Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organisation and the diversity of its staff; Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.
• Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

 

Core Competencies:

• Results oriented: Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals, generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations.
• Ethics and Values: Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.
• Organisational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Working in Teams: Acting as a team player and facilitating teamwork.
• Communicating Information and Ideas: Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.
• Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control.

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:

• Knowledge of the social, cultural, legal and political context of Jamaica.
• Fluency in English and ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Ability to interact independently and as part of a team.
• Technical knowledge of policies and programmes on gender equality and EVAWG.
• Analytical and report writing skills.

 

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant should meet the following criteria:

 

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience implementing initiatives on human rights, community development, gender equality and women’s rights, including the elimination of violence against women and girls.
• At least 5 years’ experience working within or with women’s rights organisations or civil society, and with key and vulnerable stakeholders
• At least 3 years’ experience hosting conferences, sensitization or capacity-strengthening sessions on human rights issues, gender equality or violence against women and girls (VAWG)
• At least 3 years’ experience producing knowledge products, reports or research on violence against women
• At least 5 years’ experience working within Jamaica is required

 

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.

 

Education:

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in international development, public administration, public policy, or other relevant social science field is required.
• A first-level university degree in the above areas, in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

 

LOCATION AND DURATION

• The consultancy will be required to be based in Jamaica for the duration of the consultancy because of expected regular in-person interactions with local stakeholders.
• The consultant will be engaged for a maximum of fifty (50) working days within the period 3 July – 30 November 2023.

 

TRAVEL

• No travel allowance will be paid to relocate a consultant to be based in Jamaica.
• In-country travel expenses will be negotiated in the finalisation of contract

 

REMUNERATION

• The consultancy fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.

• The remuneration for this contract type is an all-inclusive fee, the organization will not be liable for additional cost or benefits.  Hence, it is the responsibility of the consultant to take out adequate medical insurance for the duration of the contract and it is recommendable that the policy includes coverage for COVID-19 related illness. The medical coverage should be international when the contract requires missions or international assignment.

• If selected for this vacant post, proof of medical coverage should be presented within the first two months of the contract

 

HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND COMMUNICATION

• The consultant must be equipped with a fully functional laptop, which must comfortably run Office 365 programs, using operating systems Microsoft Windows 10/11, or Mac OS X 10.11 or upward. The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based (Skype or equivalent) is required.

 

REFERENCES:

• Minimum of three client references that include the name of the contact person, title and contact information.

 

OTHER:

• Submissions to UNDP Jobs are limited to a maximum of 10 MB, virus-free or corrupted contents to avoid rejection, and no more than 1 email transmission.   All applications must be submitted through UNDP jobs.  Please do not send applications to UN Women staff as they will not be accepted.
• 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, colour, 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 zero-tolerance 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