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.

UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality. Within Generation Equality, UN Women is both a co-leader and a commitment maker to the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence.

Violence against women remains one of the greatest human rights issues of our time. One in every three women will experience some form of physical or sexual violence (not including sexual harassment) in her lifetime. The Beijing Platform for action, a global blueprint for the achievement of gender equality, reminds us that there is still much work to do to stem the scourge of this epidemic. It is twenty-nine years since the Beijing Platform for Action set out how to remove the systemic barriers that hold women back from equal participation in all areas of life, whether in public or in private, yet, despite some progress, real change has been agonizingly slow for most women and girls in the world. Today, not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality. If anything, some are regressing. Multiple obstacles remain unchanged in law and in culture. As a result, women remain undervalued, they continue to work more, earn less, have fewer choices, and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces.

UN Women stands at the center of mobilizing governments and civil societies to keep the promises of the Beijing Platform for Action to all of society. In everything it does, it is committed to making gender equality a lived reality for all women and girls who have historically been marginalized and have waited long to participate and be included. This is a vision of a more prosperous, peaceful, and fair world that is ultimately better for both women and men alike.

In pursuit of this vision, UN Women co-leads the Action Coalition on Gender-based Violence, which is working with an array of actors – women’s movements, feminists, youth and girl-led organizations, governments, faith-based institutions, private sector, international organizations, and more – to prevent violence against women and inspire, scale-up and increase investments in transformative solutions to address gender-based violence.

The Action Coalition on Gender-based Violence was launched as part of the unprecedented USD 40 billion in commitments for gender equality at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris in July and is driving global efforts to eradicate violence against women and girls through its Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality. Through its comprehensive blueprint, the AC GBV is mobilizing governments, civil society, women’s rights and youth led organizations, international organizations, philanthropies and the private sector to take concerted action and deliver concrete change for women and girls worldwide, through four concrete actions: (1) Creating enabling policy, legal and resource environments; (2) Scaling up evidence driven prevention programming; (3) Scaling up comprehensive, accessible and quality services for survivors; and (4) Enabling and empowering autonomous girl-led & women’s rights organizations to exercise their expertise. 

In support of this work, the Action Coalition on GBV is in the process of establishing a Community of Practice (CoP) to facilitate learning, networking and knowledge exchange between commitment makers and leaders of the Action Coalition on GBV. The overarching objective of the CoP is to accelerate progress in the implementation of both individual and collective commitments on GBV and in the achievement of the blueprint targets of the Action Coalition on GBV. In that respect, UN Women is seeking the services of an EVAW technical consultant to develop and facilitate the AC GBV CoP sessions and activities, as well as conceptualize cross-action coalition initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working closely with and reporting to the Thematic lead on AC GBV, the consultant will be responsible for developing a 2024 CoP plan and concepts notes for each session based on an existing needs assessment survey conducted in December last year, curate and facilitate four CoP sessions; lead 4 discussions over discussion boards, engage with CoP members, and provide 2 progressive reports – one for the CoP sessions and one from the discussion boards, based on UN Women corporate guidelines at the end of the year.

Scope of Work

1. Plan and facilitate virtual learning sessions (no more than 2 hours) for the UN Women AC GBV Community of Practice and run and maintain discussions on the discussion boards of EVAW priority themes and emerging issues informed by findings from the CoP Survey and the four action areas of the Action Coalition on GBV. This will involve reviewing AC GBV CMs work in the action areas, existing UN Women EVAW material and other materials developed by external EVAW experts on the four action areas as well as the three priority areas of prevention, TF-GBV and strengthening women’s rights organisations.
2. Working closely with the Thematic Lead, finalize the 2024 AC GBV CoP Plan including developing CoP Concepts Notes (and identifying speakers/presenters) for each session and capture, lessons, and recommendations from each session for subsequent learning. A maximum of 4 sessions will be conducted over the contract period.
3. Facilitate 4 discussions over discussion boards, engage with CoP members, and provide 3 reports (2 bi-annual on the CoP sessions and discussions and one final report at the end of the year

 Deliverables

The specific tasks of the consultant will cover the following:

Competencies

Core Value

• Cultural Sensitivity and valuing Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Ethics and Values
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication and Information Sharing
• Work in teams
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of Generation Equality and specifically the Action Coalition on GBV
• Ability to synthesize information, knowledge and best practices from within and outside UN Women.
• Excellent facilitation skills with ability to keep participants engaged.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in the AC GBV and overall, UN Women’s mandate.
• Attention to detail and good organizational skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in gender studies, social and/or human development, international development/affairs, women’s studies, sociology, public health or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in programming or policy work on addressing violence against women and girls, particularly on prevention of VAWG and response to GBV including essential services for women and girl survivors on violence, women’s movements to combat VAWG.
• Demonstrated experience in the design and delivery of capacity development initiatives, including through virtual modalities, on EVAW for multidisciplinary and multicultural audiences/participants.
• Proven experience in developing and nurturing professional community of practices, particularly on violence against women and girls.
• Demonstrated ability to design, facilitate and lead engaging and productive sessions on a variety of topics on VAWG in line with the latest evidence.
• Excellent knowledge of GBV, drivers, root causes, emerging trends, and evidence of what works to address violence against women and girls.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for effective engagement with stakeholders.
• Relevant experience in related areas in UN Women or a UN agency is an asset.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN official working language is an asset.

Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc)

• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) clearly articulating experience in developing and facilitating CoP sessions and or training sessions, clearly stating contributions made.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)