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 in Georgia supports state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls.

Since 2018, UN Women ECA RO and UN Women Georgia CO are implementing a Flagship Programme Initiative (FPI): Making Every Woman and Girl Count: Supporting the monitoring and implementation of the SDGs through better production and use of gender statistics (MEWGC), that aims to affect a radical shift in the production, availability, accessibility and use of quality data and statistics on key aspects of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Women Count Phase II (MEWGC II) was launched in 2022 and will contribute to driving results across the three Outcome areas: i) creating an enabling environment, ii) increasing the production of gender data and iii) improving data accessibility and use. UN Women, through its flagship programme MEWGC II, is supporting the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) in strengthening the production, analysis and use of gender related statistic.

Mainstreaming gender statistics activities in official statistics in is one the key priorities of the National Strategy for Development of Official Statistics of Georgia for 2024-2027 (NSDS) which was recently endorsed by the Government of Georgia. It emphasizes the importance of harmonizing the official statistics with international recommendations including those of the EU Statistical Requirements Compendium. The NSDS strategic objectives raise the importance of improving the production of official statistics to support evidence decision making and EU integration strategic. One of the areas of intervention specified in the Objective 1.1 is conducting new surveys to meet specific national needs, particularly to pilot a survey on structure earnings (SES) in line with EU recommendations.

The Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) is a large survey of employees that examines the relationships between pay levels and individual characteristics of employees (such as sex, age, occupation, length of service, highest educational level attained) as well as those of their employers (including economic activity, size, and location of the enterprise)[1]. This survey is conducted every four years and collects data on gross earnings, hours paid, and annual days of work for workers. This is the primary data source used by Eurostat to compile and analyse the harmonized Gender Pay Gap for EU countries. The SES are typically conducted using a two-stage random sampling approach of enterprises or local units (first stage) and employees (second stage). The data collection methods differ across countries considering the existing surveys and administrative data sources.

The SES plays also a crucial role in providing a comprehensive overview of earnings structures and disparities within the EU and understanding the gender pay gaps for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 8, which focuses on decent work and economic growth. The data generated by SES enables policymakers to develop targeted interventions and 

regulations to promote pay equity. It also allows businesses to assess and align their wage practices, ensuring compliance with equal pay laws. Furthermore, SES data supports advocacy and awareness efforts, driving systemic changes towards achieving equal pay for equal work.

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) states that men and women should have "the right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and to equal treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality of work" (CEDAW, Art 11, d). Moreover, the right to equal pay for the same work between female and male workers is one of the founding principles of the European Union, articulated in the 1957 Treaty of Rome. In Georgia, in September 2020, the Parliament of Georgia adopted an extensive package of changes to the Labour Code. According to one of the main amendments, employers are now obliged to ensure equal remuneration for female and male employees performing equal work. Article 4 (“Prohibition of labour discrimination”) states that “employers shall ensure equal remuneration of female and male employees for equal work performed”. The Labour Code identifies unequal pay as a form of discrimination.

UN Women is seeking to contract an international consultant who will provide guidance and expertise in the design and implementation of pilot SES in Georgia in line with the EU standards and best practices in the region[1].  In close partnership with GEOSTAT and under the overall coordination from UN Women, the international consultant will assess available data sources, support customization of survey methodology, including questionnaire and sample design; provide capacity development support to the SES implementation team at Geostat, oversee data collection and analysis, and co-lead the survey report preparation. The report should also include recommendations for conducting full-scale SES in Georgia. The consultancy is expected to start in September 2024 and end in March 2025, when the results and final report will be finalized.

The consultant will report to Regional Gender Statistics of UN Women ECA regional office and will be supported by Data and Research Analyst from UN Women Georgia, who will liaise with Geostat and other stakeholders as required.

[1]  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32005R1738&from=EN

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/structure-of-earnings-survey

Duties and Responsibilities

The international consultant will be responsible to:

• Assess the available data sources relevant for conducting SES in Georgia.
• Support the customization of survey methodology and tools, including the questionnaire and sample.
• Provide technical support and mentorship to GEOSTAT in preparing and conducting the pilot survey, including data collection, validation and database preparation in line with international standards.
• Support GEOSTAT to analyse the results of pilot survey and validate it against available data sources, if any.
• Prepare a comprehensive survey report.
• Propose recommendations for full-scale Structure of Earnings Survey.
• Present the methodology and findings of the pilot Structure of Earnings Survey and recommendations for full-scale Structure of Earnings Survey with relevant stakeholders.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. / This is an office-based consultancy. As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum of one trip to Tbilisi, Georgia.

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 problem-solving skills
• Technical credibility in research
• Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills
• IT literacy 
• Partnerships building

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, statistics, economics or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with ten additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of seven years of previous working experience in the area of earnings and/or business statistics at the country and/or international level.
• A minimum of seven years’ experience in designing and implementing quantitative enterprise surveys (including SES) at the national and /or international level.
• Proven experience using statistical software (STATA, SAS, R) for analyzing enterprise surveys.
• Previous professional experience with development agencies and/or the United Nations is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

How to Apply 

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

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.)