Background

I. Organizational Context

UN Women (the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of 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.

In Türkiye, in line with its global Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and Country Strategic Note (2022-2025), and the overall UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Türkiye (UNSDCF) (2021-2025), UN Women works towards the overarching goal of “Women and girls including those at greatest risk of being left behind fully exercise their human rights, enjoy a life free from violence and discrimination, and lead, influence and benefit from sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development towards the advancement of gender equality in Turkey”. UN Women works in four thematic areas: (i) governance and participation in public life; (ii) women’s economic empowerment; (iii) ending violence against women and girls; and (iv) women, peace and security, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. UN Women contributes to three UNSDCF outcomes: 1) Women and girls have improved and equal access to resources, opportunities, and rights, and enjoy a life without violence and discrimination; 2) By 2025, Persons under the Law on Foreigners and International Protection are supported towards self-reliance. 3) By 2025, governance systems are more transparent, accountable, inclusive and rights-based with the participation of civil society, and quality of judicial services is improved.

The project ‘Strengthening civil society capacities and multi-stakeholder partnerships to advance women’s rights and gender equality in Türkiye–Strong Civic Space for Gender Equality’ implemented by UN Women between April 2021 and September 2024 with funding from the European Union aims to reduce gender inequalities by enhancing the ability of CSOs to be agents of transformative change towards gender equality and women’s rights. The specific objective of the project is “Women's rights groups, women-led CSOs and other relevant rights based CSOs, including those representing youth and groups facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination/marginalization, more effectively influence the gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda at the national and local levels.” One of the outputs of the project is that ‘Women’s rights / women-led CSOs and other relevant rights-based CSOs have increased access to and expertise in gender responsive research and data generation, to address current knowledge gaps and to use in programming and in evidence-based advocacy on gender equality’.

Ensuring women’s access to justice is essential for the realization of all women’s rights enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). As highlighted by the CEDAW Committee in its General Recommendation (GR) No. 33, States have obligations to ensure women’s rights to access justice[1] and to take measures to remove barriers which include various forms of structural discrimination and issues of accessibility of judicial mechanisms. GR No. 33 recommends the states to take specific measures on six interrelated and essential components of access to justice: justiciability, availability, accessibility, good-quality, accountability of justice systems, and the provision of remedies for victims.

Türkiye has developed a range of legislative and policy measures to address discrimination against women and advance women’s rights in recent decades.[2] Despite legal reforms, as highlighted by the CEDAW Committee in its concluding observations  on the 8th periodic report of Türkiye in 2022 [3] access to justice challenges for women persist, ranging from ‘legal illiteracy among many women and girls; language barriers impacting minority and refugee women, limited scope of legal aid, both economically and substantively, resulting in non-eligibility for legal aid of women earning the minimum wage, the cumbersome procedure to prove eligibility, limited knowledge of women’s rights on the part of law enforcement officials and legal practitioners.’[4] Women from minority groups and refugee backgrounds, women with disabilities, and women in rural areas, in particular face compounded discrimination and barriers. Women continue facing major barriers in accessing legal information and assistance, and particular difficulties in accessing legal aid, especially in civil proceedings such as divorce and alimony cases.[5] Further, women experience various impediments to physically accessing institutions, which include costs of access, transportation difficulties, and limited mobility due to home and childcare responsibilities.[6] Even when women successfully navigate legal proceedings and obtain court orders, there are widespread challenges with enforcement of legal rulings and orders.[7]

Women’s rights groups increasingly report access to justice concerns with regards to constitutional, civil, family and criminal law, stemming from gaps both in the supply and demand side of the justice system. Further, they note the inadequacy of institutions to respond to justice needs, and the scarcity of expert personnel related to gender issues.   One particular difficulty the women’s CSOs face is limited engagement with duty bearers, preventing the delivery of needs and demands of women. To increase civic engagement and facilitate policy dialogue, UN Women conducted a series of dialogue meetings in Ankara, Istanbul (Europe and Asia) and Izmir within the scope of Sida-funded "Strengthening Women's Access to Justice Project" in 2022 and 2023. Dialogue meetings aimed to bring CSOs, and government entities and professionals engaged in services related to ending violence against women, including but not limited to judges, public prosecutors, Legal Support and Victim Services Directorates, law enforcement personnel, and personnel affiliated to the Ministry of Family and Social Services. These meetings revealed a need to support civil society and the public institutions for an engagement strategy.

In this context UN Women Türkiye plans to procure services to formulate a civil society and public institutions engagement strategy. The task will be based on a desk review for the  needs analysis and consultation meetings with experts and civil society organizations whenever necessary. The National Consultants will work under the supervision of the Programme Specialist, and in close collaboration with the Programme Analyst.

Duties and Responsibilities

II. Functions

The objective of the assignment is to formulate an Advocacy/Engagement Strategy for civil society and all relevant stakeholders to increase the capacity to ensure that policies reflect the concerns of women’s and rights-based CSOs asses in regard to access to justice; to increase awareness on the role of public authorities and mechanisms, and the role of citizens in ensuring justice for all, and to provide national institutions with expertise on critical matters such as legal support, accessibility issues, international norms.

The methodology of the study is expected to adopt a rights-based and gender equality perspective. The study will make use of different methods of data collection, including desk review, individual interviews and consultations which will be discussed and agreed with UN Women Team. Recognizing the importance of ensuring the meaningful participation of different stakeholders the study should also include expertise and views of different groups ranging from experts to women’s civil society organizations. Within the scope of the assignment, the National Consultant will be responsible in undertaking the following tasks:

TASK 1: Conduct a desk review comprising a contextual and situational analysis of the relevant legal framework and existing research studies and reports related to women’s access to justice. The desk review will inform the introductory and needs analysis preparing the groundwork of the Engagement/Advocacy Strategy.

TASK 2: Formulate a CSO Engagement/Advocacy Strategy based on the input and recommendations from consultations as well as a review of secondary literature and various interviews and meetings with key stakeholders.

III. Deliverables and Payment Schedule

Duration of the assignment is from 15 July 2024 to 29 September 2024. The National Consultant is expected to dedicate approximately 15 working days per month on average for this assignment and to spend up to 30 days on non-consecutive basis throughout the assignment.

Expected Deliverables and Payment Schedule:

The following table summarizes the main activities and expected deliverables against the targeted submission deadlines and indicative working days to be invested by the Consultant.

All deliverables shall be received and cleared by UN Women in Türkiye. All reports shall be presented in Turkish, in electronic version.

Note: The mentioned number of working days has been estimated as being sufficient/feasible for the envisaged volume of work to be completed successfully and is proposed as a guideline for the duration of assignment. It cannot and shall not be used as criteria for completion of work/assignment. The provision of envisaged deliverables approved by the UN Women in Türkiye shall be the only criteria for the Consultant's work being completed and eligible for payment/s.

Payment Schedule:

The amount paid to the Consultant shall be gross and inclusive of all associated costs social security, pension and income tax etc. Payments will be made upon submission and approval of deliverables above and certification by the UN Women supervisor that the services have been satisfactorily completed. Travel and accommodation costs of the Consultant will be covered by UN Women.

The Consultant's payments will be carried out on the basis of the deliverables, monthly timesheets and reports presented (if applicable) _and approved by the supervisor, as stipulated in the deliverables chart above. Payment shall be affected only if deliverables, monthly timesheets and/or reports in this TOR are submitted to UN Women within the timeframes stipulated in the TOR and are approved by the supervisor. Without submission and approval of the deliverables, monthly timesheets and reports (if applicable), the Consultant shall not receive any payment even if s/he invests time for this assignment.

Competencies

V. 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

 Functional Competencies

• Awareness and sensitivity regarding gender Issues and intersectionality
• Knowledge of climate and environmental issues
• Creative Problem Solving
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf (unwomen.org).

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.)  

Required Skills and Experience

VI. Required Skills and Experience