Antecedentes

UN Women (UNW), 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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the 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.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997. UN Women Palestine Office focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely, to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal, and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the Palestinian context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realisation of following strategic goals:  Mainstreaming gender in governance, peace and security; supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

COVID-19 was first confirmed in the West Bank on 5 March 2020 and in the Gaza Strip on 21 March 2020.  As of 31 December 2020, there were 133,405 detected cases in Palestine (MoH). The virus and its consequences have dramatically impacted the Palestinian economy, which the World Bank estimates had contracted by at least 2.5 percent in 2020.  The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) quantifies losses at roughly 2.5 Billion USD, which would represent a 14 percent decline in the GDP. COVID-19 has also exacerbated pre-existing inequalities at the societal and family levels. Women, who were already overwhelmed by domestic tasks, were forced to take on board home-schooling. Mobility restrictions, while part of patriarchal norms in Palestinian society now became even more rigid; economic opportunities, already scarce, were narrowed down even more for women – who were more frequently employed in the informal sector and lack good working conditions. COVID-19 has tested the resilience of families across the world and this situation has in particular intensified pre-existing factors that trigger sexual, and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Palestine.

UN Women is committed to ensuring equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of humanitarian action. UN Women’s work in humanitarian action is guided by global norms and standards. As an emerging crisis, the COVID-19 crisis is expected to affect women, girls, boys, and men differently. As a result, their needs and interests will differ, as do their resources, capacities, and coping strategies. Women are often the first responders to a crisis, and they play a central role in the survival and resilience of families and communities. Understanding how the crisis has a gendered impact on the population is key to ensuring that the response of humanitarian partners guarantee the protection of all members of the affected population and contribute to addressing the needs and priorities of women, men, girls, and boys equitably and effectively.

Against this background, UN Women in Palestine is seeking to hire a Gender and Health Consultant who will be seconded to the Health Cluster for a period of seven months, from 15 May 2021 until 15 December 2021.

Under the overall guidance of UN Women Special Representative and the direct supervision of the UN Women task manager and the Health Cluster Coordinator, the consultant will be responsible for providing technical support on gender mainstreaming in the Health Cluster COVID-19 response in the West Bank and Gaza, including through data collection, capacity development, knowledge management, and policy/technical guidance. 

Deberes y responsabilidades

The Gender and Health consultant will work on the following:

  • Regularly review and input to the Health cluster analysis documents (i.e., sitreps, reports, ICCG briefs, etc.) to ensure that gender content and Sex and Age Disaggregated Data (SAAD).
  • Provide technical support on gender mainstreaming to the health cluster members to ensure the content of their response plans highlight and address gender concerns and that members have increased capacity to respond to emerging gender gaps in health priorities.
  • Organize two online training sessions to the Health cluster members in the West Bank and Gaza on gender and COVID-19 health response.
  • Develop two policy briefs on gender and health including on trends and barriers to women’s vaccination.
  • Review the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plans and the health cluster planning documents (cluster analysis) from a gender lens and provide actionable recommendations to cluster members.
  • Provide guidance and coordinate with relevant actors to increase the participation of women’s organizations in the health cluster coordination meetings and response. At least two online meetings/workshops with women’s organizations and cluster members on gender and health should be organized.
  • Ensure the systematic collection of qualitative and quantitative data and analysis and share with cluster partners to inform their COVID-19 response.
  • Provide analytical feedback on inclusion of SAAD and gender content in cluster analysis and advocacy messages and ensure that gender is included in the Health Cluster assessments and interagency assessments.
  • Support the cluster gender focal point in the assessment of the Gender with Age Marker (GAM) codes during vetting panels and provide feedback on the GAM scoring in the online system.
  • Provide support to UN Women’s team on gender in humanitarian action including technical support and coordination with humanitarian clusters and cluster partners.
  • Produce final report with recommendations for UN Women, OCHA and Health cluster members.

Any other tasks as requested by supervisors. 

Competencias

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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

  • Very strong background on gender;
  • Experience in assessing impact of policies, strategies and measures from a gender perspective;
  • Proven analytical and research skills with understanding of quantitative/qualitative methods and data analysis;
  • Ability to manage time and meet tight deadlines;
  • Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
  • Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;

Proven networking, organizational and communication skills.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education: Master’s degree or equivalent in gender, health sciences, human rights, or other related fields is required.

Experience:

The Consultant should have the following experience:

Language Requirements:

  • Professional fluency of English is required;
  • Knowledge of Arabic is desirable.