Background

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on 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, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

  • Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW);
  • International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW);
  • Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI);
  • United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

 The main roles of UN Women are:

  • To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms;
  • To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society;
  • To lead and coordinate the UN system’s work on gender equality as well as promote accountability, including through regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

UN Women works with government and non-governmental partners to help them put in place the policies, laws, services and resources that women require to move towards equality. It draws on extensive knowledge and experience with which interventions work best in a given environment, and which do the most to unlock rapid national progress in attaining national and international commitments to women. A large part of this work is research for the production of knowledge documents.

This assignment pertains to copyediting of knowledge products created with UN Women India MCO support in 2015 on themes ranging from women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women and gender responsive budgeting.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of GRB Specialist, EVAW Specialist, and WEE Specialist, UN Women India MCO who will be responsible for the quality assurance of the deliverables. The consultant will work with the programme staff of UN Women India MCO.  The consultant will work closely with UN Women to perform the following tasks:

  • Edit, revise and rewrite content in English. Must ensure it is produced in high quality, reader-friendly and timely. The final edited document must be aligned with UN Women’s established standards and formats, and in compliance with UN Women India MCO’s clearance and routing process;
  • Prepare specific report-related feedback to relevant UN Women offices for improvements of quality.

Deliverables

Copyediting of WEE documents (15 days):

  • Monograph on female headed households;
  • Process document on engendering the CENSUS 2011.

 Copyediting of GRB documents (30 days):

  • Towards Gender Responsive Banking in India;
  • Gender audits;
  • The Macroeconomics of Gender, Labour and Property Rights in India;
  • Analysis of the Gender Responsiveness of Budget, Policies, Legislation & Programmes, from the Lens of Women and Girls with Disabilities.

 Copyediting of EVAW documents (30 days):

  • Caste Based Discrimination;
  • Community Based Models on Anti-Trafficking;
  • ICRW Report;
  • Sexual Harassment Handbook.

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 and valuing diversity:

  • Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

  • Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

  • Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Work in teams:

  • Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

  • Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

  • Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.

Conflict Management:

  • Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Functional Competencies:

  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
  • Focuses on impact and result for the partners and responds positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Bachelors degree in one or more of the following disciplines: social sciences, international development, and/or communications.

Experience:

  • Minimum 15 years of high-level experience in writing, editing, reporting, and communicating complex programmatic information in reader-friendly formats and style;
  • Demonstrated abilities and track record writing high quality English-language content;
  • Excellent understanding of and experience with gender-sensitive and results-based management and reporting;
  • Understanding of international development, resource mobilization, and the UN context is an asset;
  • Must be capable of effectively using MS Word.

Language:

  • Fluency in English is required.

Application Requirements: