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 integration of women’s rights and gender equality in all spheres of UN work. The 2023 Strategic Note is aligned with the UN Transitional Framework covering the following areas: humanitarian response; humanitarian-development-peace nexus and early recovery.

UN Women works in integration of women’s rights and gender equality in governance, in particular within its project “Transformative Approaches to Achieving Gender Equality in Ukraine”, funded by Sweden, aimed at employing transformative approaches to the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment through removing the root causes, structural barriers, and restrictive social norms, that underpin the persistence of gender inequalities in various areas of life. The project is partner with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration (DPMO) and engage the following key institutions at the same time: the government, the parliament, women’s organizations, media and the private sector.

The impacts of war are uneven, with the greatest effects on women, children, and people with disabilities[1]. Women are most refugees and displaced from Ukraine, and they face significantly increased safety and protection risks, including multiple forms of gender-based violence. They also face a myriad of other challenges to accessing housing, food, sexual and reproductive health, and employment. To respond to these uneven impacts and perform early recovery in a way so that all diverse groups of men and women benefit equally, gender-responsive approaches should be mainstreamed in all phases of governance at all levels and processes.

Despite the challenges arising from the full-fledged Russian invasion of Ukraine, many national duty bearers continued demonstrating a consistent commitment to gender equality. In addition to developing and/or approving the legislative and policy framework, government authorities as part of the National Women’s Machinery demonstrated strengthened capacities to implement their GEWE mandates.

The Constitution of Ukraine, its political and legislative frameworks guarantee equality of men and women in Ukraine in all sectors. Ukraine has endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), acceded to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and has ratified major international instruments on gender equality and women’s rights, including CEDAW. The list of the GEWE commitments includes the following documents:

• National State Strategy on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men till 2030,
• the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Concluding Observations to the Nineth Periodic Report of Ukraine on UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women Implementation,
• the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence,
• the revised National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 "Women, peace, security" until 2025,
• the UN-Government of Ukraine Framework of Cooperation on CRSV Prevention and Response,
• the Biarritz Partnership on Gender Equality,
• the Equal Pay International Coalition,
• the Generation Equality Action Coalitions to which Ukraine has committed,
• other national programs and strategic documents on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men,

UN Women consider it is crucial to provide expert, technical and capacity development support to key institutions of the National Women’s Machinery to implement its mandate on the above mentioned GEWE commitments. In 2023 in alignment with the government’s priorities, the UN Women continues to support the Government, the Parliament and women’s CSOs to advocate and design a gender responsive legal framework within the country recovery and an EU accession process. Cooperation includes support to Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro Atlantic Integration, the Government Commissioner on Gender Equality Policy, Ministry of Social Policy, Ministry of Economy and other institutions of the National Women’s Machinery to make gender analysis of legislating and improve it in compliance with national and international GEWE commitments of Ukraine.

Cooperation with and expert support to the Ministry of Social Policy, as an institute of the National Women’s Machinery, responsible for gender equality legal and policy framework development, is a priority for UN Women in Ukraine. As part of this work, UN Women Ukraine is looking for a National Consultant to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine on the Gender Equality Legal Framework to provide the legal expertise to ensure that gender equality and human rights are mainstreamed in legal and policy frameworks of Ukraine in accordance with its national and international GEWE commitments and to ensure gender-responsive recovery and EU accession process.

[1] Rapid-Gender-Analysis-of-Ukraine-en.pdf (unwomen.org)

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist/Project Manager, the National Consultant will provide expert support to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine (MoSP) with legal expertise and gender and human rights mainstreaming to the legislation and policy framework. The assignment will include but not be limited to the following tasks:

1. Provide expert support to the Ministry of Social Policy in consultations with the UN Women Office in Ukraine to monitor legislation and draft legal acts in all areas related to ensuring the principle of equal rights and opportunities for women and men according to the national and international GEWE commitments of Ukraine, including, but not limited to CEDAW, UN SCR 1325, EPIC, Istanbul Convention, as well as EU acquis.
2. Prepare analytical conclusions and recommendations for amendments to draft legal acts and current legislation of Ukraine in order to ensure the principle of equal rights and opportunities for women and men and to prevent the adoption of legal acts whose provisions do not comply with the principle of equal rights and opportunities for women and men.
3. In coordination with the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and the UN Women Office in Ukraine, organize and facilitate multi-stakeholders’ consultations, including government, parliament, CSOs and development partners, to validate the proposed amendment to the legal and policy framework.
4. In coordination with the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and the UN Women Office in Ukraine, organize and facilitate advocacy activities on draft laws developed in accordance with the principles of equal rights and opportunities for women and men.
5. In coordination with the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and the UN Women Office in Ukraine, organize training to develop the capacity of all relevant stakeholders at the national and local levels to analyze and develop legal and policy framework in compliance of the legal and policy framework with the principle of equal rights and opportunities for women and men in legislation.

Assignment Deliverables:

*All reports should be submitted in English language and include the full set of supporting documents, such as analytical briefs, meeting notes, concept notes and agendas, handouts and lists of participants, etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian.

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment.
• The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer.

Performance evaluation:

• 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 on a delivery by delivery basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

• Payment will be disbursed in three installments upon receipt of the deliverables (as per above matrix) and their certification by UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Competencies

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

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in law, gender studies or similar.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of relevant experience in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Proven experience on gender analysis of national legislation and policy documents;
• Proven experience with providing expert advice on improvement of national legislation and policy framework on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Proven knowledge of international practices and instruments on the protection of human rights/women’s rights;
• Previous professional experience with development agencies and the United Nations would be considered an asset.

Languages and other skills: 

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

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable.
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria - 70% of total evaluation. Total max 70 points:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Application and submission package:

All applications must include as one attachment:

1. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unwomen.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FHeadquarters%2FAttachments%2FSections%2FAbout%2520Us%2FEmployment%2FUN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 23:59 EEST 29 April 2024.

Applications without P11 may be treated as incomplete and may 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 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).