Background

Candidates who previously applied need not re-apply.

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.

The UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) – Caribbean website supports the Entity’s aim of continued collaboration and information sharing with regional and international partners on the status of gender equality in the Caribbean. Through thematic content and country profiles, this portal provides information on the regional and national contexts for women’s rights and gender equality across the Caribbean. The information provided through the portal will, as much as possible, facilitate a better understanding of the disparities between men and women, with a view to encouraging the development of evidence-based policies and interventions to address inequity and promote gender equality. It supports UN Women’s priorities to gender equality while simultaneously facilitating access to information on which national commitments to equality can be upheld and strengthened.

The present Terms of Reference invites consultant applications from CARICOM Nationals to research and build out the MCO Caribbean programming country profiles.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will research and provide Caribbean country-specific data, as available and as per the fields identified in the web portal. These “national gender equality profiles” will capture the relevant social and gender statistics and data which facilitate gender equality policy setting and programming from an informed basis. The profiles will reflect countries’ status in relation to the international human rights conventions including the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, and reporting for the Universal Periodic Review and regional commitments such as the Belem do Para.

The profiles should be prepared in accordance with an agreed upon template, comparable across countries. Conducted primarily by desk top research, the consultant will also where necessary have interviews with key actors in ministries, NGOs, civil society organisations, academia, in consultation with UN Women. The consultant will draw on the countries’ international human rights reports such as CEDAW and the Universal Periodic Review, the Caribbean Development Bank’s country gender assessments; regional reports on the Belem do Para and Beijing +20 commitments as well as key global portals including the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the UNDP Human Development reports and website.

Outputs and Specific Activities:

Under the day-to-day supervision of the UN Women Communications Analyst and the overall supervision of the UN Women Representative for the Caribbean, the consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables in achievement of the above objectives:

• Produce and submit a work plan with clear timelines for deliverables to UN Women within two weeks’ of the start of the contract.
• Based on an agreed upon “national gender equality profile” template, research and provide country-specific gender statistics and data on:

Normative and Policy frameworks:

• Domestic Violence Act;
• Gender Policy;
• National Strategic Action Plan on Gender Based Violence;
• Ratification and Reporting Status to International and Regional Human Rights Conventions.

Population/Demography:

• Population disaggregated by sex and age;
• Adolescent fertility;
• Life span, disaggregated by sex.

Education and Training:

• Student population disaggregated by sex (ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education);
• Science, engineering, manufacturing and construction graduates disaggregated by sex.

Labour Statistics:

• Employment and unemployment figures disaggregated by sex;
• Disaggregated employment figures by sector;
• Proportion employed part-time by sex.

Leadership and Decision-Making:

• Number and percentage of women and men in Parliament;
• Number and percentage of women and men in the appointed chambers;
• Sex disaggregation of civil service, including level;
• Judicial appointments disaggregated by sex;
• Local government leaders disaggregated by sex (percentage of elected mayor or councilors who are female);
• Share of governmental ministerial positions disaggregated by sex.

Gender Based Violence:

• Number of persons who died at the hands of their intimate partner or former intimate partner; Percentage of homicides that are a result of Domestic Violence;
• Number and percentage of women aged 15 to 49 who have experienced some form of gender based violence (administrative data)

Gender and Poverty:

• Poverty figures disaggregated by sex and age group with particular emphasis on vulnerable populations such as indigenous women, the disabled and the elderly.

Deliverables:

• Country-specific gender profiles for upload to UN Women MCO – Caribbean website. Note, these profiles must not exceed the agreed upon length and template.

To achieve the above, the consultant must also:

• Submit drafts of the country gender profiles for UN Women review;
• Incorporate the UN Women recommended changes to the country gender profiles and submit the draft final by the agreed deadline.

Reporting Requirements:

• The consultant will work day to day with the UN Women Communications Analyst under the overall supervision of the UN Women Representative.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness;
• Demonstrates professional competence;
• Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments;
• Observing deadlines and achieving results;
• Displays cultural, gender, religious, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A Master’s degree in Political Science, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Public Administration, Public Relations, or related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of functionally relevant professional experience in socio-economic research with particular emphasis on gender;
• Solid understanding of the gender dimensions of the Caribbean region;
• Experience working with the UN would be an asset;
• Competent in usage of MS Office programmes;
• Familiarity data collection and analysis, using statistical packages.

Language:

• Excellent command of written and spoken English.

Note:

The consultant contracted will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality and freedom from any conflict of interest with potential future contractors with respect to the TORs and work that they will be delivering.

Administrative Information:

Payment

The 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. 

Hardware, software, and communication:

The consultant must be equipped with a portable computer (laptop). The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based communication (Skype or equivalent) is required.                                      

Application for Consultancy:

Please submit your application by 16 November 2014.

Applications must include:

• A cover letter highlighting the specific post for which you are applying;
• The completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Detailed curriculum vitae including a description of main achievements;
• A price proposal quoted in United States dollars (US$) indicating daily rates and preferred fee structure based on deliverables.

Applications should be submitted by email to the attention of Sharon Carter-Burke (sharon.carter-burke@unwomen.org) UN Women Multi-Country Office - Caribbean, UN House, Marine Gardens, Christ Church, Barbados.