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 supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programs, and services needed to implement these standards.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG), including domestic violence, continues to be a widespread social problem and a serious violation of fundamental human rights. This type of violence is still seen and tolerated as a “socially acceptable behavior” and is justified by traditional and patriarchal conceptions of the role and status of women in society.

Women’s right to live free from violence is upheld by international agreements such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), especially through General Recommendations 12 and 19, and the 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.  UN Women works with countries at the global level to advance the international normative framework through support provided to inter-governmental processes, such as the General Assembly and the CSW. At the country level, UN Women supports Governments in adopting and enacting legal reforms aligned with international and regional standards. In this regard, adoption of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence (also known as the Istanbul Convention), the first legally-binding instrument in Europe in the field of violence against women and domestic violence, is very critical as it provides a comprehensive legal and policy framework for the protection and assistance to all victims of violence against women and domestic violence.

UN Women Europe and Central Asia supports Governments, UN agencies, civil society organizations and other institutions to advocate for ending violence, increase awareness of the causes and consequences of violence and build capacity of partners to prevent and respond to violence. UN Women works with  Governments to develop dedicated national action plans to prevent and address violence against women, strengthening coordination among diverse actors required for sustained and meaningful action and advocates for the integration of violence in key international, regional and national framework.In this regard, UN Women’s partner -  DENTOS legal company -providing pro-bono legal service - conducted an analysis of compliance of the legal frameworks of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with the provisions and standards of the Istanbul Convention.

The purpose of this consultancy is to engage a EVAW/women’s human rights expert to review and validate findings of the analysis, ensure human rights and gender equality standards/perspectives are included and provide recommendations to governments on how to improve their efforts to harmonize their legislation on  violence against women and domestic violence with the legal areas covered by Istanbul Convention (social protection and assistance to survivors of domestic violence, security, health care, judiciary, social assistance, judiciary, safe houses and other).  It is also important to integrate perspectives of CEDAW and its General Recommendations N19 and 35 to provide stronger evidences to strengthen the legal response to VAWG.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist of the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and in close collaboration with programme team, the International Legal Analysis Consultant will be responsible for the below:

• Review the pre-developed analysis of gaps of national legal frameworks of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (by DENTOS experts) in regard of the existing approaches and best practices of integration of international standards and provisions of the Istanbul Convention into the national legal frameworks;
• Provide inputs regarding the links and gaps within the national legal frameworks in relation to CEDAW and its General Recommendations on EVAW N19 and 35;
• Discuss and validate findings of the analysis with experts and CSOs activists to ensure the conclusions and recommendations regarding the changes and amendments to the national legal and normative frameworks of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are incompliance with the Istanbul Convention and CEDAW; and
• Finalize the analysis, based on findings of the discussions, and submit the final report for each country.

Expected deliverables

Competencies

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/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Background knowledge of status of legislation in ECA region including CEDAW and relevant human rights instruments;
• Proven intellectual and practical capacity to understand and interpret different texts and provide a sound synthesis and analysis;
• Ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Ability to use critical thinking, conceptualize ideas, and articulate relevant subject matter clearly and concisely
• High level logical and methodical organizational skills;
• Excellent oral and written skills in English

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from a variety of sources;
• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

Judgment/Decision-Making

• Mature judgment and initiative.
• Proven ability to provide strategic direction to the project implementation process.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in law, international relationships, international development, political science, gender/women's studies, or a related field is required
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in producing legal analysis
• At least 5 years’ experience in human rights, and gender and equality in the ECA region,
• Experience in international human rights obligations (CEDAW and Istanbul Convention)
• Previous experience working/consulting for UN and international projects/programmes is an asset
• Experience in drafting legal documentation for international organisations an asset.

Languages:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Russian is a strong asset.

Other skills:

• Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point)

Application process

The application should include:

• Personal History Form (P-11 form) - including experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted

• Cover letter outlining the submitter’s qualifications and interest in the consultancy

• Financial Proposal:  Specify a lumpsum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference, this should include a daily rate.

Candidates should have the ability to quickly produce degree certificates and medical certification (of good health) should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy post.

Note: As specific travel will be confirmed with monthly review of work plan, any travel will be paid separately by UN Women

Evaluation of applicants:

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process. Applicants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications/skills and their financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive to and compliant with the ToR; and
• Having received the highest score out of below combined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

• Short Letter of interest, including financial proposal in USD, indicating a total lump sum for the delivery as per above description.
• Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form, that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
• UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.