UN WOMEN Jobs - 60442- Consultancy on Accountability for the Rghts of Pal

Consultancy on Accountability for the Rghts of Palestinian Women and Girls According to International Legal Frameworks

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home Based, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Oct-2015

Application Deadline :

08-Oct-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 months (40 working days)

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3 months (40 working days)

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The UN Women (UNW), 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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 as UNIFEM. UN Women focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the context in Palestine, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realization of five strategic goals: Engendering governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

Crises have profound and differential impacts on women and men and in particular a disproportionately high impact on women and girls. UN Women and OCHA recently entered into a partnership to join efforts in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in humanitarian action in line with the OCHA gender policy instruction, the OCHA 2014-17 strategic framework and the UN Women 2014-17 strategic plan. Palestine has been chosen as a pilot country for the new partnership between UN Women and OCHA, building on a significant history of joint work between these two agencies on engendering humanitarian response to emergencies in Gaza.

In this context, UN Women OPT is seeking to recruit a consultant to produce a policy paper providing a legal analysis that unpacks the complexities around accountability to Palestinian women's rights within the context of occupation, the recognition of the state of Palestine by the GA and member states (2012-2015), and the ratification of international human rights instruments by the Palestinian Authority (2014)

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Special Representative and the direct supervision of the Humanitarian Gender Advisor, the Policy Consultant will produce an analytical paper that will guide strategic thinking and efforts in OPT around gender equality and efforts in humanitarian and development programmes. The report will provide legal advice examining instruments of international humanitarian law, international law, and human rights frameworks (CEDAW, CESCR, CRC..), as well as Security Council Resolutions (1325 and others) by unpacking the applicability of those instruments in the complex political, legal and historical context. The aim is to strengthen accountability for gender equality and women’s rights in the context of Palestine and effectively communicate that in language accessible to a wide audience.

Detailed tasks and responsibilities of the consultant:

Prepare an outline addressing key research questions based on guidance provided by the Gender Humanitarian Advisor- undertake a desk review of relevant resources;
Prepare a draft A final draft incorporating internal feedback to be shared with key external experts;
Seek opinion from key experts through consultations and interviews;
Incorporate comments into a final report addressing external experts comments;
Compile a comprehensive bibliography of key resources and references.

The objectives of this analysis are to:

Articulate the types of violations faced by Palestinian women and girls;
Clarify the applicable legal framework for ensuring accountability to women's rights;
Outline the gender related accountability implications of the diverse legal statuses of the categories of the Palestinian population with its complex categories – of refugees, non-refugees Gaza residents, Areas A and B West Bankers, Area C West Bankers, Jerusalemites;
Outline scope and practical implications of accountability of the various duty bearers.

It is anticipated that this piece will inform the efforts of various actors involved in advancing women's rights and ensuring accountability to Palestinian women's rights including:

Palestinian women's organizations and gender advocates involved in operationalizing the Palestinian strategic framework for implementation of SCR 1325;
The humanitarian country programme with particular focus on protection cluster work;
The Palestinian authority actors involved in reporting on CEDAW.

Key deliverables

The analysis will be based on a desk review and interviews with key actors. The consultant will complete this task within a period of three months. Within the first week of the assignment, the consultant will prepare a timeline for the following deliverables:

An outline addressing key research questions based on guidance provided by the Gender Humanitarian Advisor - an initial draft;
A final draft incorporating internal feedback to be shared with key external experts;
A final report addressing external experts comments.

Time frame:

The assignment is expected to start on 15 October 2015 and to be finalized by no later than 15 January 2016.

Competencies

Core values / Guiding principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural Sensitivity / Valuing diversity:

Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating differences in values.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrate / Safeguard Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

Creating synergies through self-control.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Functional Competencies:

Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization;
Strong communication skills, both written and oral;
Excellent analytical and drafting skills;
Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all level of the organization;
Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master degree in international law, human rights, international humanitarian law, gender issues and related fields

Experience:

A minimum of 10 years of progressively varied experience in international law and human rights instruments, policy analysis, CEDAW, gender equality;
At least three years experience working on policy and advocacy work on women’s human rights and gender equality in international organizations and the United Nations system;
Excellent understanding of Palestinian protection challenges; and
Track record of research and analysis.

Language:

Written and oral proficiency in English is required.

Note:

Only short listed candidates will be contacted to provide a sample of published research and/or financial offer. Applications should clearly indicate how do they meet the above qualifications.