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.

In order to achieve this goal UN Women works to support the elimination of gender based discrimination; the economic empowerment of women and the most vulnerable. The fundamental objective of UN Women is to enhance national capacity and ownership to enable national partners to deliver on national commitments to gender equality.

A major element of UN Women’s operational work is on data and statistics. There is a dearth of data regarding issues related to social exclusion, and gender inequality in particular, in the Caribbean. For the Caribbean region, gender based violence (GBV) is one of the most prevalent manifestations of gender inequality. and it directly impacts citizen security, including the stability and health of a family and community. For the Caribbean in general, GBV is one of the most prevalent forms of violence and it directly impacts citizen security, including the stability and health of a family and community.  Despite the prevalence of GBV in the CARICOM territories, citizen security approaches too often fail to give consideration to GBV – including sexual violence and online harassment - as “serious” citizen security issues. 

While there have been notable efforts by police and key Ministries in the collection of administrative data on GBV, lack of comprehensive, systematic data remains a serious bottleneck in determining the scope of the problem in the region. At present, no CARICOM member state generates regular and comprehensive national data on the prevalence, nature and response to GBV, including violence against women.  Government and Non-Government organisations in the Caribbean have expressed concern about the lack of both types of data, and UN Women, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNDP and others will work to support nationally-owned processes to address these gaps throughout the CARICOM region.

To this end, with the support of the UN, CARICOM statistical experts and governments reviewed the various models of assessing prevalence of GBV, and agreed to have CARICOM pilot and implement research studies on GBV in the Caribbean. Violence against women is one form of GBV.

The U.N. defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts.” A 2015 report titled "Cyber Violence Against Women and Girls: A Worldwide Wake-Up Call." by UN Women and the UN Broadband Commission estimates that 73% of women have endured cyber violence, and that women are 27 times more likely as men to be harassed online. The report notes that cyber violence is an extension of that definition, that includes acts like trolling, hacking, spamming, and harassment. There is a lack of data specific to the Caribbean on cyber violence.

No! to Online Abuse and Harassment (NOAH) is a newly formed community group that intends  to provide resources to victims of online bullying, stalking, revenge pornography or any other forms of cyber harassment. NOAH also aims to use social media to educate the Barbadian public about online abuse, its effects on our citizens and how they can protect themselves.

UN Women will partner with NOAH to complete research on online harassment in Barbados and the wider Caribbean.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO - Caribbean Representative the consultant will be contracted to undertake research on online harassment and abuse.

Scope of Work and Deliverables

The consultant is expected to deliver the following results:

• Workplan outlining research methodology;
• Draft report which:
  • Outlines prevalence of online harassment in Barbados and one other Caribbean country;
  • Presents sex disaggregated data; and
  • Apply a gender and social exclusion analysis;
• Final report no longer than 15 pages.

Reporting Requirements

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO-Caribbean Representative, with direct reporting to the Deputy Representative.

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

Integrity and Fairness:

• 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. Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.

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.

Core Competencies:

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.

Conflict management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Minimum Requirements

The consultant should meet the following criteria:

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, development studies, international relations or other related disciplines.

Required skills and experience:

• Minimum 5 years’ completing social research;
• Sound knowledge of gender equality;
• Professional experience in working in the Caribbean region is required.

Languages :

• Fluency in English is required.

References:

• Minimum of three client references that include the name of the contact person, title and contact information.

Remuneration:

• The consultancy fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.
• A financial proposal must be submitted which should include the following:
  • Consultants’ fees (listed as daily rate x number of days);
  • Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) (listed as DSA x number of days);
  • International transportation costs (number of round trips between destination x price);
  • Local transportation costs (if any);
  • Other relevant costs.

Hardware, Software and Communication:

• The consultant must be equipped with a laptop, which must be portable and must run at least Windows 7. The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based (Skype or equivalent) is required.

Location and Duration:

• The consultant will work from home;
• The consultant will be engaged for a maximum of 60 working days during the period 13 November 2017 to 30 April 2018.

Other

• The consultant contracted will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality and freedom from any conflict of interest with potential future contractors with respect to the TORs and work that they will be delivering.

Note: Submissions to UNDP Jobs are limited to a maximum of 10 MB, virus-free or corrupted contents to avoid rejection, and no more than 1 email transmission.