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's mandate (GA resolution 64/289) is to lead, coordinate and promote accountability of the UN System to deliver on gender equality and women empowerment with the primary objective of enhancing country-level coherence, ensuring coordinated interventions, and securing positive impacts on the lives of women and girls, including those living in rural areas.

It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. UN Women commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle, by intentionally supporting targeted actions aimed at addressing obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women and girls face in exercising their rights.

The UN Women Strategic Note (SN) for Rwanda 2019-2023 was developed in 2018 and informed by rigorous participatory processes involving government institutions, representatives of women’s organizations, the Civil Society Advisory Group, research institutions, donors, UN Sister Agencies and other development partners. Based on the extension of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) to December 2024, the Country office SN was also extended by one year to December 2024. The SN contributes to the national development priorities in Rwanda, including Rwanda’s Vision 2020 and 2050, and the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1 2017-2024) whose subsequent plan is under development. The current SN is also aligned to the UNSDCF and its related Gender Mainstreaming Strategy, the UN Women Global Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the SDGs, the UN Women Africa Strategy, and the Africa Agenda 2063. 

The country Strategic Note focuses on three main pillars in addition to the coordination of gender within the UN System. These are: 1) Women’s leadership and participation, 2) Women’s Economic Empowerment as well as 3) Ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG).

In order to develop an inclusive Strategic Note 2025-2029 that responds to the national priorities of the Country, the Office proposes to engage the services of an international consultant who will support the development of the Strategic Note by consulting relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Objective of the Assignment:
To support UN Women Rwanda Country office in developing its Strategic Note for 2025-2029 aligned to the new UNSDCF 2025-2029, the National strategy for transformation (NST 2: 2024-2029) and other relevant frameworks.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of the UN Women Rwanda Country Representative and the direct supervision of the Program Management Specialist, the Consultant will be responsible for the following specific tasks: 

• Develop an inception report outlining the approach, methodology and key steps of the SN development work.
• Based on the findings and recommendations of the Country Portfolio Evaluation (CPE), conduct a desk review to identify the trends/issues related to gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEWE) in the country and the contributions of the UN Women and UN system to advance the GEWE agenda, with practical and substantial recommendations for improved programme cohesion and coherence within the framework of the proposed Strategic Note.
• Facilitate initial internal and external consultations with key stakeholders (including within the UN e.g., the Gender Coordination Group, and Resident Coordinator’s Office) to solicit insights to the preliminary findings and initial inputs into strategy content;
• Support the development of the Draft Strategic Note 2025-2029 based on UN Women’s global guidance and requirements for the Country Office Strategic Note Development. 
• Prepare background documents and facilitate the final stakeholder workshops to validate preliminary analysis, results framework, and other key elements of the Strategic Note.
• Develop the final Strategic Note for the UN Women Rwanda Country Office including Integrated Resource Results Framework, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research Plan, Knowledge Management Plan, Theory of Change and all the required documents based on UN Women’s global guidance/requirement for SN- in consultation with relevant thematic and functional leads in Rwanda Country Office.
• Incorporate inputs from UN Women Regional office (RO) and HQ reviews and submit the final Strategic Note along with key annexes

Deliverables:

• Reports of the consultations with various stakeholders and the desk review of key documents
• Draft SN document containing all the relevant attachments as per the UN Women SN Development Guidance
• Final SN document integrating inputs from a validation workshop with key stakeholders including RO and HQ
• A soft and hard of the final SN along with all the relevant attachments as per the UN Women Guidance.

Methodology

• Participatory consultation tools with stakeholder groups and a plan for inclusion of women, people and groups who are vulnerable and / or discriminated against will be maintained in the consultation process.
• Adopting a gender-sensitive approach based on the Gender Equality Marker / “UN-SWAP 2.0” [1] is recommended.
• It will also be important to specify the ethical guarantees that will be used. The results of the analysis, data collection and information must be approved during workshops or debriefings involving various key players and integrated into the situation analysis of the Strategic Note.
• The construction of the theory of change will be done through a participatory process and advisory during the start-up phase. This process will be guided by a gender analysis and human rights (HRBA) and results-based management (RBM) and shared in the strategic planning workshop. 

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 

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Strong commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Strong organizational skills and self-direction.
• Ability to prioritize and work under pressure with colleagues at all levels.
• Strong communication and interactive facilitation skills.
• Have excellent analytical, writing and synthesis skills.
• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Demonstrate an ability to produce quality results on time outsourced and work under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree in international relations, gender, sociology, demography, economics, law or other relevant disciplines

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in programme management, including programme design, programme coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building, ideally in gender equality and women’s empowerment focused programmes particularly in the East and Southern Africa region.
• Demonstrated experience in strategic planning including the preparation of or guiding teams on results frameworks and theories of change related to gender equality and human rights issues.
• Experience in participatory planning and coordination, including the ability to coordinate, probe and stimulate discussions.
• Experience with the United Nations System, good knowledge of the UN Women mandate and its programmatic frameworks and rules and United Nations procedures would be an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge any other UN official language is an asset.

All applications must include (as an attachment) a completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc, and cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

Please note that the system will only allow one attachment and candidates are required to include in the P-11 form links for their previously published reports and articles completed within the last two years. Applications without the completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply

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.