Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work 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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In 2011, UN Women established a section on Governance and Leadership, with a specific work area dedicated to women’s constitutional reform and access to justice. Under guidance of UN Women’s founding resolution (GA resolution 64/289) and its Strategic Plan, UN Women has developed a Global Initiative on Leadership and Political Participation that comprises the delivery of solid guidance and knowledge on key issues related with constitutional reform. Under the Initiative, two key areas (Electoral assistance and Constitutional Reform) are currently being implemented. 

National constitutions are fundamental guides for organizing governance structures and establishing agreed legal principles. The UN Women Constitutional Database (http://constitutions.unwomen.org) consolidates all existing provisions that relate to gender equality in constitutions worldwide. The database was officially launched in December 2013, and includes all provisions on gender contained in constitutions across the world, in their original language(s) and with English translations, organized by geographical regions.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work under the overall supervision and report to the Justice and Constitutional Advisor, and work with other team members. S/he will be responsible for:

• Ensuring the accuracy of the provisions and links included in the database, for all countries and regions;
• Analyzing newly passed constitutions and include those that are relevant for GE;
• Analyzing all constitutions and create a new category of provisions relevant to LGBTI rights.

 Key Deliverables and Timeframe:  

• Ensuring the accuracy of the provisions and links included in the database, for all countries and regions, notifying the team of corrections that must be made (3.5 days);
• Analysis of newly passed constitutions: document outlining the changes to be made to the website, and updating of the final downloadable documents (3.5 days);
• Analysis of LGBTI rights: document outlining changes to be made and updating of final downloadable documents (3 days);
• All the deliverables will require approval and clearance by the Constitutional and Access to Justice adviser.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling UN Women values and ethical standards;
• Demonstrates a commitment to UN Women’s mission and vision;
• Able to work effectively within a team;
• Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
• Able to multi-task and juggle competing demands;
• Can assess and prioritize work needs quickly; and
• Able to relate to external partners, including other international organizations and agencies, NGOs, grassroots community groups, etc.

• Sound knowledge of constitutional law and reform;
• Academic and research experience of working on gender and politics;
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds;
• Attention to detail and ability to work to tight deadlines;
• Ability to work with databases.

Required Skills and Experience

• Masters level degree in Law, Jurisprudence, Political Science, International Relations, History, or relevant field.

• At least 5 years of working experience, including proven experience researching gender equality and constitutional law;
• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights and related instruments;
• Experience with UN Intergovernmental processes including those related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and gender equality;
• Knowledge of UN Women’s mandate on Leadership & Governance;
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, CSOs, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions. 

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.
• Working knowledge of other UN languages is an asset.