Background

Background

Mainstreaming a gender perspective in all types of activities (referred to as gender mainstreaming) is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality. Mainstreaming is not an end in itself but a means to the goal of gender equality. Mainstreaming involves ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities - policy development, research, advocacy/dialogue, legislation, resource allocation, planning, implementation and monitoring of programmes and projects.

In view of the importance attached to gender equality and the empowerment of women, all organizations of the UN system, including Funds, Programmes and Specialized Agencies, are mandated to support the achievement of gender equality.
Gender Mainstreaming in UN System
 
Gender mainstreaming was reinforced within the United Nations system in three important documents:

1. The ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions 1997/2, which established some basic overall principles of mainstreaming:
 
Responsibility for implementing the mainstreaming strategy is system wide, and rests at the highest levels within agencies, departments, funds, and commissions; and adequate accountability mechanisms for monitoring progress need to be established.
The initial definitions of issues/problems across all areas of activity should be done in such a manner that gender differences and disparities can be diagnosed – assumptions that issues/problems are neutral from a gender equality perspective should never be made. Gender analysis should always be carried out, separately or as part of existing analyses.
Clear political will and allocation of adequate resources for mainstreaming, including if necessary additional financial and human resources, are important for translation of the concept into reality.
Gender mainstreaming requires that efforts are made to broaden women’s equitable participation at all levels of decision-making.
Mainstreaming does not replace the need for targeted, women-specific policies and programmes, and positive legislation; nor does it do away with the need for gender units or focal points.
 
2. The Secretary General’s communication on gender mainstreaming, 13 October 1997 , providingconcrete directives and guidance to heads of departments, programmes, funds and regional commissions:

• Analytical reports and recommendations on policy or operational issues within each area of responsibility should take gender differences and disparities fully into account.
• Specific strategies should be formulated for gender mainstreaming; priorities should be established.
• Systematic use of gender analysis, sex-disaggregation of data, and commissioning of sector-specific gender studies and surveys is required.
• Medium-term plans and budgets should be prepared in such a manner that gender perspectives and gender equality issues are explicit.

3. The Outcome Document from the Special Session of the General Assembly, 10 June 2000 , following up on the first five years of implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action which specifically requested the United Nations to ensure gender mainstreaming:

• Allocation of sufficient resources and maintenance of gender units and focal points.
• Provision of training to all personnel at headquarters and in the field as well as appropriate follow-up.
• Promotion of full participation of women at all levels in decision-making in development activities and peace processes.

4. The importance of gender mainstreaming and implementation of women-specific programmes was reiterated in a number of other documents including the Triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system, 22 October 2007, which clearly specified the actions required from the organizations of the United Nations system, including at the country level:, which clearly specified the actions required from the organizations of the United Nations system, including at the country level:

• the organizations of the United Nations development system, within their organizational mandates, to mainstream a gender perspective and to pursue gender equality and the empowerment of women in their country programmes, planning instruments and sector-wide programmes and to articulate specific country-level goals and targets in this field in accordance with national development strategies;
• to further enhance the effectiveness of gender specialist resources, gender focal points and gender theme groups, inter alia, by establishing clear mandates, ensuring adequate training, access to information and adequate and stable resources, and by increasing the support and participation of senior staff;
• the organizations of the United Nations development system, within their organizational mandates, to further improve their institutional accountability mechanisms and to include intergovernmentally agreed gender equality results and gender-sensitive indicators in their strategic frameworks;
• the United Nations development system to further improve qualitative and quantitative reporting on gender equality, including gender disaggregated data;
• the Secretary-General to ensure that the annual report of resident coordinators includes adequate and concise information on progress on the above;
• the organizations of the United Nations development system, in accordance with their respective mandates, to take a coherent and coordinated approach in their work on gender-related issues and to share good practices, tools and methodologies through appropriate means.

Gender Equality in Kyrgyzstan

The past decade has seen great advances in terms of commitments of the Kyrgyz Republic to gender equality and women’s rights. The country has joined the Beijing Platform for Actions, ratified the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Convention on the Rights of the Child and signed the Millennium Declaration. The international standards and norms have been agreed upon by the government. In the country, the Government has adopted strategies, such as the National Action Plan for Gender Equality, and passed laws, including the Law on the Social and Legal Protection from Domestic Violence and the Law on State Guarantees for Equal Rights and Opportunities for Men and Women.  While these commitments constitute important milestones for the country they are still to be matched by real results.

An increasing gender inequality has become one of the main characteristics of transition period in the Kyrgyz Republic. The highest in CIS ranks of the maternal mortality, escalation of violence against women, lack of women’s access and control over economic resources, including control of land assets, property and capital became a vivid examples of the deterioration of the situation in the area of gender.

An emphasis on a national identity and culture as part of the process of nation-building after independence has coincided with the re-emergence of traditional discriminatory practices such as bride kidnapping, exposing the fragility of the advances made by women during the socialist era. A patriarchal tradition enforcing subordination, is powerfully supported by religious and cultural norms and practices, and continues to dominate prevalent social attitudes to women.
UNCT Kyrgyzstan

The UNCT Kyrgyzstan has undertaken a number of actions to support the government and civils society in advancing gender equality in Kyrgyzstan and to enhance its own performance on gender equality at the country level.
Thus, in 2000 the UN established and leaded the Donors' Gender Coordination Group. The primary goal of which was to improve coordination, establish new partnerships with donors, government and civil society.

In 2004, the United Nations Country Team in Kyrgyzstan established a Gender Theme Group (UN GTG), aiming to meet the standards for gender equality and women’s empowerment set out in the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), the Convention on Elimination of All Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The UN GTG, consisting of the Gender Focal Points of eight UN Organizations (ILO, UNFPA, UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, OHCHR and WHO), serves as an instrument for member organizations to jointly coordinate, monitor and evaluate progress in the implementation of the GTG Work Plan, and strengthen the visibility of gender-quality issues within the overall UN agenda at the country level. The UN Resident Coordinator (UN RC) chairs the UN GTG, while the UNIFEM Gender Adviser to UN RC provides a technical leadership.

In 2007 the UNCT developed a UN Gender Equality and Human Rights Amendment to the Joint Country Support Strategy, underlining a special attention UN pays to these strategies.
However, if the collective efforts of the UN organizations in support to the government and civil society organizations lead to some effective results, the individual performance of the organizations in gender mainstreaming and targeting women with specific programmes still needs improvement. Addressing the issue of insufficient commitment and weak performance is of great importance in view of the new UNDAF cycle starting from 2012 as well as the potential perspective of UN Joint programme 2010 onwards.

It is expected that to lead innovative and catalytic country-driven programming on gender equality and women's empowerment the UNCT will develop and endorse the UNCT Kyrgyzstan Gender Mainstreaming Strategy. .
 
Purpose of the consultancy:
 
To develop the UNCT Kyrgyzstan Gender Mainstreaming Strategy for 2010 – 2015, based on a gender mainstreaming and capacity assessment of the UNICEF Kygyzstan country programme/office
 
Objectives of the consultancy:

• To provide advisory support and expertise on developing gender responsive UNCT programming (planning/budgeting/implementation and monitoring) as an essential prerequisite for enhancing development effectiveness. 
• To identify and specify UNCT country level interventions and specific areas, in which key UN organizations should implement the UN commitments, norms and policy recommendations on gender equality and gender mainstreaming, building on the comparative advantage of UN organizations.
• To analyse and support capacity development on gender mainstreaming of the Heads and the key programme staff of the UN Agencies, Gender Theme Group.

Duties and Responsibilities

• A plan for capacity-building on gender mainstreaming in line with UN global frameworks and the national strategies/policies;
• accountability system of the United Nations organizations, including through oversight, monitoring and reporting of UNCT performance;
• an overview of description national advocacy efforts on issues critical to gender equality and women's empowerment in Kyrgyzstan to ensure that emerging, under-recognized and under-resourced issues receive national attention etc.

Competencies

• Extensive working experience (at least 7 years) in gender and women’s issues, including experience in monitoring and evaluating programmes and policies.
• Substantive knowledge and understanding of gender equality issues, as well as more broadly human rights and development cooperation;
• Solid analytical knowledge of gender mainstreaming in UN organizations;
• Strong participatory research and analytical skills;
• Ability to work independently and under tight deadlines;
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills, initiative and dynamism.

Required Skills and Experience

•  Advanced university degree in gender studies, gender and development, human rights, law, political science or related field