National Consultant on Gender-Responsive Decentralization and Recovery

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.

UN Women work in Ukraine focuses on supporting the government and civil society in advancing gender equality and implementation of the national and international commitments on gender equality and women's human rights. UN Women Ukraine implements interventions on the following four thematic priorities: Peace and Security, Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction; Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and Women; Women's Economic Empowerment; Governance and Participation in Public Life. UN Women works closely with the UN Country Team in the integration of women's rights and gender equality in all spheres of UN work. The Strategic Note is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework in Ukraine covering the following areas: Humanitarian Response and Coordination; Governance, Participation and Women, Pease and Security; Women's Economic Empowerment.

Russia's military invasion of Ukraine caused untold destruction, displaced millions, and resulted in unacceptable violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and the greatest modern challenge to global peace and security. It has had significant adverse impacts on women and girls, including those who are older, with disabilities, internally displaced persons (IDPs), Roma and LGTIQ . Women and girls face growing protection concerns, including gender-based violence, conflict-related sexual violence, and lack of access to health and other services. The 4th Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment February December 2024 underlines that Russia's invasion has exacerbated gender inequalities in employment, income, and entrepreneurship.

Recovery, reconstruction and reform are the key next steps for Ukraine. Opportunities to support the Government of Ukraine, women's rights organizations, and international partners, to advance gender responsive recovery and reconstruction exist, especially as Ukraine aligns with EU standards on gender equality. In 2023, the Ukraine Facility National Action Plan was approved, embedding the principles of inclusivity, gender equality and social cohesion.

UN Women considers its high priority to support the government and women's CSOs' efforts to ensure gender-responsive recovery, in particular through gender-responsive decentralization reform and support of gender-responsive community development. As part of its work on supporting gender-responsive recovery, UN Women Ukraine is looking for a National Consultant to build strategic partnerships and enhance capacity with all key stakeholders on decentralization and recovery, in particular, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, and provide expert support to the UN Women Country Office (CO) in Ukraine on the development and implementation of interventions in Ukraine on gender-responsive community-based recovery.

The consultant will be reporting to Programme Specialist (Governance) and will be supported by Programme Analyst (GRB), who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Country Representative and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist (Governance), the National Consultant will build strategic partnerships of UN Women with the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine and other relevant stakeholders, as well as provide expert support to UN Women on the development and implementation of interventions in Ukraine on gender-responsive community-based recovery. The assignment will include but not be limited to the following tasks:

1. Provide expert support to the UN Women Office in Ukraine to draft programme interventions on gender-responsive community-based recovery, applying human rights and gender equality principles, following "no one left behind" concept.
2. Provide expert and advisory support to the UN Women Office in Ukraine to build a strategic partnership with the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine and other relevant governmental and non-governmental institutions on the development and implementation of interventions on gender-responsive community-based recovery.
3. In coordination with UN Women Office in Ukraine, provide expert and technical support to the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine and other relevant governmental institutions and women's CSOs at the national and local levels on:

• legal framework development for gender-responsive recovery,
• strategies/programmes/projects developments and implementation for gender-responsive recovery,
• tools development and application for gender-responsive recovery,
• Institutional capacity development for gender-responsive recovery and sharing best practices and exchanging experience,
• organizing consultations/workshops, forums/conferences on gender-responsive recovery.

1. In coordination with UN Women Office in Ukraine, contribute to organizing capacity development support to all relevant stakeholders at the national and local level on gender-responsive recovery.
2. Facilitate multi-stakeholders meetings organized by the UN Women on gender-responsive recovery.

Outputs:

# Outputs Number of working days Deadlines

1

Results-based progress report on expert advice on gender-responsive recovery days By 30 June

2

Results-based progress report on expert advice on gender-responsive recovery days By 31 July

3

Results-based progress report on expert advice on gender-responsive recovery days By 31 August

4

Results-based progress report on expert advice on gender-responsive recovery days By 20 September

Contractor's performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, efficiency, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager which will also be the basis for payment to the consultant based on the delivery of each output.

Consultant's Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy, sometimes presence in the office might be required.

As part of this assignment, no travel is anticipated. In case the necessity for travel arises, all travel expenses are to be covered as per the Duty Travel policy.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Commitment to continuous improvement
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations
• partnership building
• negotiation
• business planning
• reporting

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in Law, Public Policy and Administration, Social Sciences or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years of relevant work experience (after Master's degree) in governance and decentralization. The experience should include work on human rights, gender equality and women's empowerment (GEWE) or other related fields;
• Previous experience of working with or in the governmental institutions at the national and/or local level;
• Proven experience with gender mainstreaming to the governance at the national and/or local level, decentralization reform;
• Experience with support of coordination of multiple stakeholders' activities and liaising with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, including development partners and civil society; experience with UN Women and other UN agencies will be considered as an asset;
• Proven knowledge of human rights and GEWE international and national frameworks.

Languages:

• Fluency in verbal and written English and Ukrainian is required.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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 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 information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.

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