International Consultant-to Develop UN Women Liaison Office to AU and UNECA (2023-2025) Strategic Note

Contract

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Background

UN WOMEN works to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and works on the basis of several international agreements that guide the work of UN Women; namely i) the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Optional Protocol. The “Women's Bill of Rights” is the cornerstone of all United Nations programs for women. More than 185 countries are party to the Convention; ii) the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) which sets out the commitments taken by governments to strengthen women's rights; iii) 1325 United Nations Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security (2000) which recognized that wars have different consequences for women and reaffirmed the need to empower women’s greater role in decision-making in terms of prevention and resolution of conflicts.

The Beijing + 25 assessment and review process reiterated many persistent and emerging challenges for the achievement of gender equality, with women and girls especially affected by multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. In this context, increasingly the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic threaten to exacerbate long-standing obstacles to the full enjoyment of the fundamental rights of women. In particular, the loss of livelihood and job security combined with the increasing burden of care and the dramatic increase in reported cases of gender-based violence in many countries, including millions of women who are locked up with their attackers. In light of these consequences and other effects of the pandemic on women, it is clear and urgent to combine health measures aimed at containing the virus with fiscal stimulus packages which take into account the needs of women and girls.

Likewise, the triple mandate of UN Women gives it a unique capacity to: (i) support the strengthening of international norms and standards; (ii) promote coordination, consistency and more effective gender parity across the UN system in support of commitments to gender equality and the empowerment of women; and (iii) support Member States, at their request, in translating international standards and rules into legislation, development policies and plans at regional, national and local levels, as part of its operational activities. It also allows the Entity to inform support for development of international standards and rules with national experiences.

The UN Women Liaison to African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa provides support to the AUC and its organs and other partners for the continental implementation of key global commitments such as SDGs and Agenda 2063.The Office also provides technical assistance to the African Union Commission through the Women, Gender and Youth Directorate (WGYD) to effectively mainstream gender issues in AU and its programs and policy processes. In addition, the office collaborates with relevant departments of the AUC including but not limited to the Office of the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Department of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation for the gender responsive development and implementation of regional initiatives

Moreover, the Liaison Office plays a convening role of regional and international Inter-Governmental process (including the Africa Union Summits, the Africa Pre-CSW ministerial consultations and Beijing review processes). The Office also facilitates greater synergy and strategic linkages between UN Women programming at country level with regional priorities and policies. In addition, the Office aims to broker and facilitate effective partnerships between regional and sub-regional African women’s rights networks and AUC for a stronger link between regional policies and advocacy and national level actions.

In 2022, The UN Women Liaison to African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) that has operated under the Ethiopia Country Office as a unit will be established as a separate Liaison presence to advance continental GEWE priorities in policies, processes, and initiatives. Due to the new structure, the office will be guided by a new Strategic Note which is a multi-year plan for the period 2022-2025. Working with internal and external partners across the region, the Liaison Office will develop its new Strategic Note that is anchored in and guided by the new UN Women Global Strategy (2021-2025) and the AU Strategy for Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) for 2018-2028. This will be preceded by a mini-Liaison portfolio evaluation exercise to assess how UN Women through the Liaison Unit (structure, resources and programmes) has leveraged on its mandate to have a focused and tangible impact in influencing and impacting regional GEWE priorities, processes and partnerships. The evaluation will also assess the integrated mandate, its comparative and collaborative advantages and the synergies among thematic areas. The findings will inform the different components of the proposed Strategic Note.

In order to build an inclusive participatory Strategic Note that responds to the regional priorities, the Liaison office is seeking to engage the services of an international consultant who will work in close collaboration with UN Women Liaison team and the Coordination and Strategic Planning Unit of UN Women Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office under the direct supervision of the Representative to the AU and UNECA.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Representative to AU and UNECA, the consultant will be responsible for:

• Conducting a desk review of key documents including the results and recommendations of the, Africa Strategy review, SN end term evaluation, and key development frameworks of the region, as well as any regional gender related strategies that feed into the Theory of change (ToC);

• Facilitating initial consultations with select the Liaison Office and UN Women Africa ( ESAR, WCAR and ROAS) staff to provide the key foundation elements and initial framework;

• Conducting regional level consultations with relevant (1) civil society partners (including partners, members of youth, marginalized and other identified group leaders) (2) Relevant Departments of AUC and UNECA (3) (inter) government/Member State representatives and (4) relevant regional UN agency partners for initial inputs into strategy content and direction from their respective perspectives;
• Drafting a comprehensive report with findings of the strategic consultative sessions and initial SN draft outline;
• Drafting the first version of the Liaison Office’s Strategic Note with content support/inputs from relevant staff including coordination, M&E, operations, programming, partnerships, etc;
• Preparing background documents and facilitate the validation workshops with all the actors and partners involved in the implementation of activities in the region linked to the areas of intervention by UN Women;
• Preparing the final version of the 2023-2025 Strategic Note and all of the appendices (including results framework, M&E framework, organizational chart, resource matrix and others details in UN Women Guidance Note on SN development).

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

Functional Competencies:

• Have a good knowledge of the norms and standards of evaluations of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG);
• Good command of data collection and analysis techniques quantitative and qualitative;
• Have excellent analytical, writing and synthesis skills;
• Demonstrate responsiveness, objectivity, organization and have a good methodology in carrying out the work.
• Demonstrate an ability to produce quality results on time outsourced and work under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree in international relations, gender, sociology, demography, economics, law or other disciplines related.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of planning, programming, reviews and/or evaluation experience, seven years of which in strategy planning/reviews in development programs related to human rights, gender and results-based management.
• Experience in designing and conducting inclusive strategic planning workshops including facilitating theory of change;
• Knowledge and experience with Africa regional development, policy and legislative frameworks;
• Extensive experience with UN programming, and the Africa regional context with intergovernmental organizations such as AUC and RECs;
• Experience working on women’s human rights and gender equality; familiarity with the relevant context in Africa;Demonstrated experience collaborating with institutions, partners in development and civil society organizations in the region in especially those focused on promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment activities;
• Experience with the United Nations system, good knowledge of the UN Women mandate and its programmatic frameworks and rules and United Nations procedures would be an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Working knowledge of French language is an asset.

Application:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) a completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment.
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment and candidates are required to include in the P-11 form links for their previously published reports and articles completed within the last two years. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided?on the basis of?qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)