The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UN Women, is the global champion for gender equality, working to develop and uphold standards and create an environment in which every woman and girl can exercise her human rights and live up to her full potential. We are trusted partners for advocates and decision-makers from all walks of life, and a leader in the effort to achieve gender equality.

UN Women has a three-pronged mandate focusing on normative, coordination and programmatic engagement. Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is supporting national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life.

Programmatically, UN Women works in five thematic areas, such as leadership and participation, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, women peace and security, and gender responsive governance. UN Women also invests significantly in the coordination within the UN, with the national institutions, with the civil society organizations and with the international development partners.

One of the significant parts of UN Women work in Tajikistan is addressing the HIV vulnerabilities of women and girls that requires work at many levels – from developing national policies to providing or facilitating support to local community groups. It requires strategies for supporting behaviour change among men and social change to develop social, cultural, and legal environments that empower women. UN Women identifies key opportunities for networks of WLHIV to engage and participate in events and dialogues where policy is determined at global, regional, and national levels. UN Women supported representatives of networks of WLHIV and community-based organizations to highlight examples of women’s leadership in shaping HIV policies and programmes, creating constituencies, and advocating for greater accountability to advance women’s priorities and needs within the AIDS response.

People living with HIV (PLHIV) and civil society organizations have played a central role in the AIDS response in Tajikistan. CSOs has been – and continues to be – actively involved in every phase of the response, from advocacy to service delivery, from policy to programme design and implementation to monitoring and evaluation. It is widely acknowledged that without the efforts of civil society, the global AIDS response would be significantly weaker.

UN Women worked collaboratively with civil society organizations in HIV/AIDS response in many ways and different contexts, through direct small grant mechanisms, programme implementation support, technical assistance, trainings, and support for participation in advocacy forums such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), CEDAW and awareness-raising campaigns as well as web-based platforms for communications and experience sharing.

In 2018 UN Women supported Tajikistan Network of Women Living with HIV in submission of the first Alternative report to CEDAW committee specifically developed on the issues related to women living with HIV. National Action Plan on CEDAW in response to each recommendation has been developed in 2019 and implemented. UN Women CSO partners, including Tajikistan Network of Women Living with HIV were able to meaningfully contribute to the NAP development process and its implementation.

Due to the situation with COVID-19, the country CEDAW report has been postponed to 2022, therefore, this year will be an important year for Tajikistan to submit its 7th CEDAW periodic report from the country, 4th alternative report from CSOs in which addressing violence against women is a pivotal issue, and lastly the 3rd CEDAW alternative report specifically on issues related to women living with HIV.

In this respect, an international consultant hired, to make the review of the progress on CEDAW NAP implementation with the support from local specialist and through the engagement of national stakeholders, conduct consultation and based on the recommendations and findings prepare the third alternative thematic report to be submitted from CSOs in 2022.  

Therefore, UN Women is looking for a local consultant, to provide support to international consultant in preparation of the 3rd Alternative Thematic Report on implementation of the CEDAW recommendations on the issues related to women living with HIV from the affected groups.

Under the guidance and technical support of UN Women Country Programme Manager and the direct daily supervision of the National Programme Coordinator, as well as direct support from international consultant, the Consultant will be responsible to contribute to the development of a second alternative report to CEDAW on HIV.

More detailed tasks include, carry out the following main tasks:

• Preparation of the work plan with detailed indication of the timeframes under each delivery.
• Provision of support to the International Consultant in preparation for desk review of data related to WLWH situation, provision of documentation for the detailed review of conducted assessments, reports, including the first alternative on women living with HIV submitted in 2018, and other related legal documentation.

• Provision of support to the International Consultant in review and assessment of the policy and legislation system related to WLWH from gender, non-discrimination perspective, referring requirements of CEDAW, including support with meeting arrangement upon the request of the international consultant.  
• Provision of direct technical support to the international consultant in developing a comprehensive questionnaire aiming at collecting data, mainly statistics and precise information for the second alternative CEDAW report from CSOs on the issues related to women living with HIV from the affected groups.
• Provision of support with technical arrangements for at least 2 consultative meetings with various Civil Society Organizations stakeholders to obtain feedback and insights on the implementation of CEDAW with the strong focus on HIV via statistics and information gathered and make sure the process of reporting on the implementation of CEDAW in Tajikistan is participatory. The support will include identification and preparation of the list of participants, coordination of the presentations, and preparation of any necessary handouts and any other materials related to the meeting.
• Provision of support to international consultant in analyzing the collected information and responses received from various sources and support in drafting of the second alternative CEDAW report on the issues related to women living with HIV from the affected groups and as per the regular procedure guidelines of the Committee and as per CEDAW reports chapters.
• Support the international consultant in facilitation of the mock-up session for the representatives selected from the country to present the report to the committee.
• Participate in and facilitate a validation meeting of final draft with key stakeholders, prepare the list of participants, draft protocol of the meeting.

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Good knowledge of the training topic on medical aspects and ethical norms in the field of HIV counselling.

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:

• Possesses the ability to work independently, under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Good knowledge of technical area;
• Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to detail;
• Experience in report writing.
• Proven excellent communication and facilitation skills;

Education:          

• University degree in Social Science, Research methods, Gender studies, Development studies, International Law, Public Policy, and other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional experience of work with vulnerable HIV.
• Good understanding on international commitment on gender equality, including CEDAW, and other international instruments. Familiar with CEDAW report process, procedures, and contents of the report.
• Experience with UN agencies and other international organizations, as well as with government agencies for promoting gender equality in HIV response is an asset.

Knowledge of languages:

Fluency in Russian and Tajik required, knowledge of English is an advantage