Antecedentes

The political situation in Ukraine has been fragile since November 2013. The decision of then President Viktor Yanukovych to pull out of an association deal with the European Union sparked widespread protests, which were met by a violent response leading to his ouster in February 2014. This was swiftly followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and a series of armed occupations of official buildings by pro-Russian protestors in the South-Eastern part of the country. The Presidential elections held on 25 May 2014, which were declared legitimate by the OSCE, were won by Petro Poroshenko. Since the elections and swearing in of President Poroshenko, fighting has continued and, in some cases, intensified. According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, human rights violations are most prevalent in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. Instances of abduction, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment continue at an increased pace and there are a significant number of allegations of enforced disappearances and executions by both rebel and government forces.

Recent reports from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR] have outlined a number of serious human rights violations in the areas of rule of law, right to life, liberty and security, access to information, political and minority rights. The report of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities also identified a number of areas of human rights violations, with regard to the rights of minorities, rights of military personnel and their families, safety of journalists and overall lack of control of the national government over the security situation in some areas of the country. However, these reports fail to adequately address gender equality concerns and comprehensively cover how women have been affected by the crisis. There is also a lack of safe humanitarian corridors for women and children in the areas of active armed operations, which are often targeted at ordinary people.

An estimated 3.9 million people live in areas directly affected by the violence, which has claimed at least 1,367 lives since mid-April. As of 31 July 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that the number of reported internally-displaced people [IDPs] has exceeded 100,000 [97,537 from East Ukraine and 14,079 from Crimea], and 168,677 people are estimated to have fled to Russia since the beginning of 2014 due to the unrest in the eastern part of the country. Women and children comprise the majority of IDPs. The main challenges facing women are access to social services, long-term shelter, transferring residence registration so that they can access their economic and social rights, access to documentation and access to livelihoods.

Although women and women’s organizations in Ukraine participated on equal terms with men in the Euro-Maidan protests, they are now being excluded from peacebuilding and decision-making processes. Attempts to bring peace to the ongoing conflict were made in May 2014, with three All Ukrainian Roundtable of National Unity dialogues being organized by the national government, with the participation of political, public and scientific authorities. Women were not visible contributors. At the same time, women are under-represented in public decision making positions. Less than 10 percent women representatives were elected in the 2012 elections, and there were just three women out of a total 21 ministers in January 2014. Local women’s organisations have separately identified the priorities for women and girls including the following areas:  promoting women’s participation in peace processes, political transition and other critical decision-making processes and institutions, protecting women and girls from violence and abuse, engaging women in crisis and conflict prevention and investing in women’s and girls’ economic empowerment to promote a strong, stable society, ensuring safe, equitable access to relief and recovery assistance for the internally displaced population and promoting links between women’s groups in Crimea, Eastern and Southern parts of Ukraine and the rest of the country.

Deberes y responsabilidades

The international consultant will report to the UN Women Programme Specialist at the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office [RO] in Istanbul and will work in consultation with the UN Women National Coordination Officer in Ukraine, the UN Women Planning and Coordination Specialist at the Istanbul RO as well as with colleagues from the Policy and Programme Divisions at UN Women HQ in New York.

Specific tasks and responsibilities:

Needs Assessment:

• In close collaboration and consultation with the UN Women RO, prepare an inception report which outlines the methodology and detailed work plan [with milestones and timeline] for conducting the needs assessment;
• Facilitate consultations/dialogues with all constituencies listed in the work plan to identify women’s issues, priorities and needs in both the Eastern and Western parts of the country, as permitted by the security situation at the time;
• Prepare draft needs assessment;
• Share draft needs assessment with the aforementioned UN Women colleagues for their feedback and comments;
• Finalise needs assessment by integrating the feedback and comments of the aforementioned UN Women colleagues to the satisfaction of the UN Women Programme Specialist at the Istanbul RO.

Strategic Positioning Paper:

• In close collaboration and consultation with the UN Women RO, based on the findings of the needs assessment and mapping of stakeholders and ongoing initiatives and in line with UN Women’s mandate as detailed in the UN Women Strategic Plan [2014-2017], develop a draft Strategic Positioning paper to inform UN Women’s future programming and presence in Ukraine;
• Share the draft Strategic Positioning paper with Policy and Programme Division colleagues at UN Women HQ in New York for their feedback and comments;
• Finalise the Strategic Positioning paper by integrating the feedback and comments of the aforementioned UN Women colleagues to the satisfaction of the UN Women Programme Specialist in the Istanbul RO.

Programme Document:

• In close collaboration and consultation with the UN Women RO, based on the Strategic Positioning paper and in line with UN Women’s mandate as detailed in the UN Women Strategic Plan [2014-2017], identify the priority area of intervention and develop a detailed work plan [with milestones and timeline] for drafting the ProDoc;
• Facilitate consultations/dialogues, including undertaking missions to the Eastern part of the country if required and the security situation permitting, with all constituencies listed in the work plan to identify programming gaps and opportunities in the priority area of intervention, and build consensus and support for the future programme;
• Based on this participatory approach, work with the UN Women RO to draft a ProDoc on the priority area of intervention; the ProDoc will follow the programme formulation guidelines detailed in UN Women’s Programme and Operations;
• Share draft ProDoc with the aforementioned UN Women colleagues, the UNCT and other key stakeholders and partners for their feedback and comments;
• Based on the feedback and comments and following consultations, finalise the ProDoc to the satisfaction of the Programme Specialist at the Istanbul RO.

Deliverables Timeline:

• Inception report including the methodology [qualitative and quantitative] and work plan [with milestones and timeline] for the needs assessment - Week 1;
• Final needs assessment – Week 4;
• 3-5 page Strategic Positioning paper - Week 5;
• Detailed work plan [with milestones and timeline] for the development of the ProDoc - Week 5;
• Mission reports from any missions undertaken in the preparation of the needs assessment, Strategic Positioning paper and ProDoc - As undertaken;
• Final “donor-ready” ProDoc -  Week 8.

Competencias

Functional Competencies:       

• Familiarity and experience with UN system;
• Mature judgment and initiative;
• Ability to think out-of-the-box;
• Ability to present complex issues in simple and clear manner;
• Ability to produce analytical reports;
• Cultural, gender, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver high quality results on time;
• Initiative and independence.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in development-related disciplines, women’s studies, public policy or other social science fields.

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in programming and coordination, preferably in conflict and post-conflict settings;
• At least 5 years of experience with programming and capacity development on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Strong record in results-based programme planning, formulation, implementation and monitoring;
• Knowledge of relevant national and international gender equality standards;
• Experience working with different stakeholders to build trust among various (ethnic, religious, etc.) groups is an asset;
• Knowledge of the relevant country and sub-regional context and current political, social and economic situation is an asset.

Language:

• Written and oral proficiency in English is required; knowledge of Russian is an advantage.

Application procedure:

 Interested candidates are invited to submit their online applications by 16 September 2014 with the following documents as a single document.

• Cover Letter including brief information about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position;
• Financial Proposal (Specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference). The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days, travel tickets, per diems and any other possible costs);
• P11 form including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

Payment schedule:

• 50% of the amount specified in the Financial Proposal will be disbursed upon submission of the approved Needs Assessment, and the remaining 50% following the approval of all deliverables and certification by the UN Women Programme Specialist at the Istanbul RO.