UN WOMEN Jobs - 49099- UN Women Consultant - Global Technical Consultatio

UN Women Consultant - Global Technical Consultation on Social Services - Responding to Violence Against Women and Girls

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

29-Sep-2014

Application Deadline :

10-Sep-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

4 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

4 months

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Violence against women and girls is one of the most universal and pervasive human rights violations in the world. It constitutes a global pandemic of alarming proportions, with country data showing that about one third of women in the world report experiencing physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime, mainly by their partners. The magnitude of violence against women translates into very high costs – for women and girl’s lives and well-being, health and safety, as well as for school achievement, productivity, public policies and budgets. It has impacts on children, other family members, and whole communities. If unaddressed, these human rights violations have serious cost implications and consequences, on poverty reduction and development, including for efforts to achieve the MDGs and any post 2015 development goals. Access to corresponding essential services can provide women and girls the opportunity to break recurrent cycles of violence and mitigate the consequences.

At policy levels, few countries in the world have national strategies that include explicit prioritization of improved and expanded access to quality multisectoral services for all women and girls victims/survivors of violence. The Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence (‘the Joint Programme’) co-managed by UN Women and UNFPA in partnership with UNDP, UNODC and WHO is aimed at responding to these critical gaps and challenges, with a particular focus on developing countries. It aims to achieve greater access for all women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence to a set of essential quality and coordinated multisectoral services.

The joint programme includes partnering with other key UN agencies and working with experts, researchers, practitioners, governments and civil society to:

Reach an agreement on the set of essential services that are required to be provided to women and girls vulnerable to or that have been subjected to gender based violence;
Develop and/or adapt standards and/or guidelines for the provision of the essential services in the four key areas of 1) health, 2) police and justice, 3) social support services, and 4) coordination and governance. These standards/guidelines must apply in all income/resource settings (ranging from the minimum required even in the least developed countries to the more optimal in middle income countries);
Identify, develop or adapt methodologies, guidance or tools to assist implementation at the country level; and
Provide technical assistance to assist implementation at the country-level.

Duties and Responsibilities

Role of the Consultant

The consultant will prepare background materials including a technical background paper for a global technical consultation to identify the essential social services, their core elements as well as the development and/or adaptation of standards and guidelines for the provision of social services to violence against women. The consultant will be expected to lead and facilitate the process for the consultation together with nominated representatives from UN Women, UNFPA, and other relevant UN entities.

Objectives of the consultancy

The objective is to assist UN Women, UNFPA, and other relevant UN entities in preparing for the global technical consultation on social services (scheduled for 2-4 December 2014 in Mexico City) to identify the essential social services and their core elements for addressing/ responding to violence against women and girls and to develop and/or adapt standards and guidelines for the provision of the various components of such a response. The various components comprising essential social services are to be agreed through the technical consultation but they may include e.g. VAW hotlines; safe accommodation/shelters; psycho-social counselling; and some forms of financial/housing support services.

For several components of the above mentioned package of social services, specific global/technical agreements/guidelines already exist (e.g. shelters/safe accommodation and counselling) as they have been developed over the years under specific global programmes/VAW initiatives and VAW/women’s networks. As much as possible, these guidelines should be reviewed and used as the basis for the work to be completed by the experts at the technical consultation where such guidelines/standards have been prepared and used by credible institutions, following evidence-led processes

Work assignment

The following activities will be undertaken by the consultant in close collaboration and consultation with UN Women (EVAW Section), UNFPA, and other relevant UN entities:

Prepare a technical background paper (max.20 - 35 single-space pages) for the global technical consultation that will provide the context for the development and/or adaptation of standards and guidelines for the provision of specific components of the social services which provide care, support and assistance to women and girls vulnerable to or who have been subjected to violence;
This paper is expected to develop and further explore various issues including: reviewing existing global (UN and others)/regional standards and guidelines for specific components of the package of social services available for responding to VAW; identifying what policy/legal frameworks and structures have to be in place for the delivery of rights-based responses to survivors of violence; proposing a set of essential services for the social services sector, and the core elements of such services, whether government or non-government services;
Developing and/or adapting draft standards and/or guidelines for the provision of a quality response for consideration by experts at the technical consultation; and discussion of the practical guidance for implementing the standards, particularly in low to medium income countries;
Assist in the identification of a range of technical experts, representing various regions to participate in the consultation;
In close cooperation with UN Women, UNFPA, and other relevant UN entities, lead and facilitate the technical consultation on social services;
Present the technical paper and lead the discussions during various sessions at the global technical consultation;
Draft and finalize the final technical consultation report and the final set of standards and guidelines; and
Undertake any other activities as appropriate to assist UN Women, UNFPA, and other relevant UN entities in organizing the global technical consultation.

Outputs:

Technical background paper on “The social services sector’s response to violence against women and girls;”
Coordination and facilitation of the global technical consultation and presentation of the technical paper;
Final report of the technical consultation;
Final set of standards and guidelines for the provision of a social services.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

Self-development, initiative-taking.

Working in Teams:

Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

Creating synergies through self-control Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other.

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A Masters degree in the area of social work, social policy or other relevant field.

Experience:

A qualified practitioner from the government or non-governmental social services sector or suitably qualified expert, with post-graduate qualifications in the area of human services, social work, social or public policy, sociology or other relevant discipline; and
At least 10 years work experience in the field of violence against women and girls including at international level. It is preferable that applicants have practical experience in working with social services in developing countries. Practitioners working in specific violence against women services are encouraged to apply.

Language:

Fluency in English is required (oral and written);
Proficiency in another UN working language is desirable.

Additional Consideration

Please provide an example of your work. You can do this by attaching this document to your P11 in the one PDF/scanned file or by providing a link to your publication in the P11.