Background

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

Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental), including private sector, 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.

The work of UN Women in the Republic of Moldova is guided by its Country Strategic Note 2023 - 2027, aligned to the UN-Moldova Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2023-2027 and the UN Women Global Strategic Plan (SP) (2022-2025), and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The overarching vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is inclusive and sustainable growth with its promise to leave no one behind.  Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, target 5.5. calls to “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of the decision-making in political, economic and public life”. Gender equality is mainstreamed throughout the SDGs, including SDG 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth”. Gender equality by 2030 requires urgent action to eliminate the many root causes of discrimination that still curtail women’s rights in private and public spheres. At its core, the economic empowerment of women depends on the quantity and quality of paid employment, the provision or absence of public services, the amount of unpaid care work borne by women, as well as coverage or lack thereof under core social and labor protections.

The Country Strategic Note 2023 - 2027 focuses on four impact areas: 1. Governance & participation in Public Life 2. Economic Empowerment & Resilience, 3 Ending Violence against women & girls, 4 Peace& Security, Humanitarian Action & Disaster Risk Reduction. To achieve progress under these areas, UN Women works with variety of national and international partners and as part of different national and regional initiatives.

UN Women is looking for a national consultant with expertise in the area of gender equality and women economic empowerment (WEE), to provide programmatic support to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of WEE portfolio of UN Women Country Office.

Duties and Responsibilities

In order to design and implement standards at work, there is a need for a comprehensive employment policy, strong and effective social dialogue involving the social partners in all processes, and an effective system of labour inspection. Labour administration along with its State Labour Inspectorate, play a vital role in the implementation and enforcement of legal provisions concerning equality of opportunity and treatment. In doing so they should be gender balanced and gender-sensitive, and equipped with the knowledge, attitudes and tools to be able to address gender equality.

The Government of Moldova included the reinforcement of the State Labour Inspectorate (SLI) as a target in its Activity Programme for 2020–23. As an important first step, Moldova adopted a new law, which brings labour inspection services in line with the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) and Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129). Further, Moldova has taken steps towards the ratification of Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161).

To support this national effort, UN Women in Moldova will contract a national consultants to support the State Labor Inspectorate in mainstreaming gender into the promotion, improving the collection and analysis of disaggregated data, supervision and implementation of labour laws and the principles of labour policy in the workplace and thus, ensuring decent working conditions, safe working environments, non-discrimination and equal opportunities for men and women nationwide – all based on the principles of gender equality -related international and European standards.

Specifically, the Consultants will be responsible for:

1. Strengthen the capacities of the State Labour Inspectorate with a focus on gender mainstreaming through the following tasks:
   • Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the State Labour Inspectorate's current policies, procedures, and activities to identify gaps and opportunities for improvements and for integrating gender considerations;
   • Develop a gender mainstreaming strategy for the State Labour Inspectorate;
   • Provide technical expertise and guidance to the State Labour Inspectorate in integrating gender perspectives and develop gender-responsive guidelines and protocols for handling complaints, petitions and conducting investigations related to labor rights violations, ensuring a gender-sensitive approach;
   • Assess current data collection tools and support the development and implementation of gender-responsive tools and sex-disaggregated indicators to enhance the understanding of the effectiveness of the State Labour Inspectorate's activities in promoting gender equality in the labor market, as well as to measure and monitor progress towards set targets and to align them to the indicators requested by NBS.
   • Conduct capacity-building workshops and training sessions for the State Labour Inspectorate staff on gender equality, gender-sensitive approaches to data collection and analysis, and tools for mainstreaming gender in their work.

The United Nations in Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply

Competencies

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity; 
• Integrity; 
• Professionalism. 

Core Competencies: 

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues; 
• Accountability; 
• Creative Problem Solving; 
• Effective Communication; 
• Inclusive Collaboration; 
• Stakeholder Engagement; 
• Leading by Example. 

For more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies visit this: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

 University degree in one of the area of law, public administration, social science or/and any other relevant for this assignment,

Experience:

• Professional experience in developing, managing and/or altering corporate social responsibility policies in public or private sectors.
• Experience in the area of gender equality, gender meanstreaming and /or advocacy for equal rights on labor market;
• Demonstrated experience in development of gender equality statistical indicators, data collection methodologies, the use of data analysis to inform interested Parties, M&E frameworks, and/or other data and analysis tools and processes
• Experience in development and implementation of gender related training materials, strategies, and analysis;
• Experience working with UN Women, UN or other major international organizations/institution is an asset;
• Experience with different data collection methods (surveys, interviews, focus groups) and proficiency in data analysis software (Excel, SPSS, or qualitative analysis tools)