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 active participation of women and girls in shaping their future, based on a recognition of their dignity and capacities, is posited in several global policy frameworks as a basic condition to promote gender equality and women’s rights. SDG 16 “Peace, Justice and effective, accountable, inclusive Institutions” and SDG 5 “Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls” are understood and implemented together, as interdependent and synergic goals. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the 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 to build effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In Nigeria, gender inequality is widespread due to patriarchy, imbalance in socio-economic opportunities, cultural and religious factors and inadequate enabling legal and policy frameworks, among other factors. The violence or threat of violence that women and girls face is a consistent thread, ranging from domestic violence, traditional harmful practices, fear of standing for elected office, sexual harassment of girls and young women, among others, with consequences that constrain women’s autonomy and life chances. Against this backdrop, UN Women works to support Government’s national priorities, which prioritizes the empowerment of women and girls and their contribution to all areas of economic, political and social development. The objective of building and sustaining peace and security across the country is critical for Nigeria, which faces several security challenges including the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, the Farmers/Herders conflict in the Middle Belt, and conflicts over natural resources in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

Nigeria’s National Action Plan (NAP) for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 acknowledges the need to promote gender-responsive security sector reforms, although full-scale implementation at policy and operational levels remains a challenge to date. Despite ongoing measures by security institutions and partners amidst increasing commitment to gender responsive operations and security institutions, critical gaps and challenges remain. In April 2020, UN Women launched the project “Enhancing Gender Responsive Security Sector Reform and Strengthening Community-Security Relations” with support from the Government of Germany. The project was launched in response to gaps identified in women’s representation in the security sector and the wider need for a gender-responsive approach to security operations. This project aims to enhance gender sensitive security sector (SSIs) operations and foster community dialogue between women affected by conflict and security sector actors through three pillars of engagement. First, at the strategic level, the project will seek to put in place an enabling gender-sensitive policy environment including through policy dialogue and policy development. Second, the project will support capacity building for security personnel through the development and roll-out of relevant training curriculum and materials, particularly for front-line personnel.  And lastly, support to meaningful engagement and collaboration by affected women, and women's organizations with security sector institutions and personnel in community security.

Under the first component, UN Women has supported the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to launch and convene the Security Sector Gender Reference Group, comprising of Gender Advisers and Focal Points from a wide range of security sector institutions, co-chaired by the Armed Forces of Nigeria. The Group objectives include to:

• Serve as an inter-agency platform for identifying strategic issues and gaps (policy and programming) with regards to gender responsive security sector in Nigeria;
• Exchange existing research and good practice, as well as discuss emerging developments and needs across the various institutions;
• Ensure greater collaboration and interaction between gender-specific structures of security sector actors;
• Undertake periodic assessment of the overall performance/gender responsiveness of the security sector.

As it relates to the last objective, the group has identified as part of its annual work-plan, the generation of an annual report on the gender performance of Nigeria’s security sector institutions, case studies of good practice, and emerging developments and entry points for policy engagement. It has also developed a basic monitoring framework in this regard. Moreover, UN Women intends to develop a consolidated report of  good practices linked to its support on gender-responsive security sector interventions in Nigeria over the last three years. To provide technical support towards this endeavour, UN Women will recruit a national consultant to develop the Annual Report on Gender Performance of Nigeria’s Security Sector, as well as a  consolidated report of good practices on gender-responsive security sector intervention in Nigeria, supported by UN Women over the last three years (2019-2021). 

The overall objective of the consultancy is to develop a Report on the Gender Performance of Nigeria’s Security Sector Institutions, and a  consolidated report of good practices on gender-responsive security sector intervention in Nigeria, supported by UN Women over the last three years.  Both reports will also include case studies of good practice, lesson learned, and developments and entry points for enhanced policy engagement and performance.  

Under the supervision of the UN Women and working closely with the chair and co-chair of the Reference Group, and strong engagement with its members, the consultant will:

1. Undertake consultative and planning meetings with UN Women and the co-chairs of the Reference Group;
2. Map and review past assessments and reports on the gender performance of various security institutions in Nigeria;
3. Review and refine the basic monitoring framework developed by the Group;
4. Undertake desk review and KIIs/FGDs to collate relevant data, information, and case studies;
5. Draft and present draft reports to the Group, UN Women and other key stakeholders for validation and incorporate inputs
6. Generate final reports, including a dissemination strategy.  

In addition, under the supervision of the UN Women management, programme and communications team, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

1. Map and review past assessments and reports on the gender performance of various security institutions in Nigeria supported by UN Women over the past three years (2019 – 2021);
2. Develop a report on UN Women’s interventions in support of different arms of the security sector and other relevant institutions in Nigeria, including NAPTIP. The report will be disseminated to a wide range of stakeholders and partners at national, regional and global levels, including upload on UN Women’s  websites.

The selected consultant will be expected to complete the following key-deliverables within the indicative timeframe:

Reporting

Under the strategic guidance of the Country Representative and in partnership with the UN Women and Reference Group chairs, the proponent will develop and deliver the above listed outputs in accordance with the above outlined timeframe and specifications.

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;
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative;
• Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic 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 behavior towards others;
• Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution;
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge;
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Knowledge of international human rights treaties and instruments, and the gender dimensions of these legal frameworks;
• Excellent analytical capacity;
• Experience drafting case studies, lessons learnt, and assessment report;
• Ability to speak and write in a clear and gender-sensitive language;
• Familiarity with the UN system and knowledge of UN Women;

Education:

Master’s degree in Law, Social Science, Gender Studies, International Development, Human Rights, Political Science, International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies or any related field.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of relevant experience at national or international level in policy or programming work on gender, security, or WPS; 
• Knowledge of international, regional, and national instruments, policies, protocols and institutional frameworks that relate to gender and security sector;
• Previous experience in security sector support in Nigeria, particularly gender/human rights mainstreaming;
• Proven experience in documenting case studies, lessons learnt, assessments;
• Fluency in English is required
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN system is an asset;

Duration of the Assignment

The assignment is expected to take 55 working days from the date of signing the contract.