Background

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

Forms of discrimination that women face in their daily lives are interlinked, overlapping and intersecting, and affect their full enjoyment of their rights. Agenda 2030, including the SDGs, have at their core the mandate of “leaving no one behind.” At international and regional levels, UN Women recognizes the challenges of reaching the most marginalized populations and those who are dealing with overlapping discriminations. This recognition is also being incorporated into many national human rights systems through anti-discrimination provisions and other legislation and policies aimed at protecting people from violence and discrimination.

UN Women must therefore take an intersectional approach to its work at all levels - country, regional and global, programmatic, normative, coordination and operational. Intersectionality is defined as the understanding that people’s identities and social positions are uniquely shaped by several factors at the same time, creating unique experiences and perspectives. These factors include, among others race, sexuality, gender identity, disability, age, class, nationality, and faith.

In her 2011 report (A/HRC/17/26), the Special Rapporteur on violence against women noted a continuing lack of response to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, both inter- and intra-gender, and its nexus with violence. She noted how the lack of attention to intersectionality not only inhibits policymakers from assessing inequalities between women and men, but also inhibits their ability to assess how differently positioned women experience discrimination and violence. The Special Rapporteur considered how violence is contingent on women’s material conditions, individual attributes and social locations, and recommended a holistic approach that addresses systematic discrimination and marginalization. The holistic approach is based on the notion that, unless women can achieve economic independence and be empowered socially and politically, the realization of all human rights will remain abstract (Manjoo, 2014).

As part of its contributions to achieving the SDGs and “leaving no one behind,” as well as enhancing our knowledge base, the Policy Division is seeking a consultant to produce a guidance note and training module on mainstreaming intersectionality into our work. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work under the guidance and supervision of the Director of Policy at UN Women HQ. She or he will develop internal guidance for the organization, including through a consultative and participatory process embracing internal expertise and external input from intersectionality experts from across the regions to highlight the most relevant programmatic focus in each context. The consultant will identify a set of performance indicators to progress organizational approaches to intersectionality in all its work. 

The assignment will be undertaken over a period of 20 days from 3 July to 20 October 2017 and specifically will consist of the following products and accompanying time frames:

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrating 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/Valuing diversity:

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

Ethics and Values: 

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness: 

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
• Self-management and emotional intelligence;
• Creating synergies through self-control.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Functional Competencies:

• Substantive knowledge and experience in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Ability to appreciate the complexity and relevance of promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of women’s rights;
• Strong communications skills, with proven expertise in writing in English and to produce convincing concise policy and programme documents;
• Proven analytical and problem solving skills;
• Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance; and
• Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills;
• Excellent negotiation skills.

Communication: 

• Excellent communications skills; strong interpersonal skills;
• Ability to prepare succinct, evidence-based analytical papers.

Teamwork: 

• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations, both within the UN system and externally;

• Ability to work in a multicultural and multi-ethnic environment with respect for diversity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree in a relevant area, such gender studies, human rights, gender and development, political science, international relations or a related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant and progressively responsible experience in the field of gender;
• An understanding of how multilateral systems and organizations, like the UN, work;
• Background in analytical work and understanding of approaches to programming, including awareness of discussions around SDGs delivery;
• Experience in leading consultative/participatory processes