Legal Experts
Contract
This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.
Background
Grounded in the vision of equality and non-discrimination— 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 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. In keeping with its role as a knowledge broker of gender equality issues, UN Women launched the first global constitutional database on gender equality-related provisions in December 2013. Its scope extends to 196 constitutions of Member States and Territories of the United Nations and is organized on the basis of five geographical regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana). As a searchable engine, it is underpinned by 25 categories, reflecting the social, economic, cultural and political perspectives of constitutional provisions which are critical for advancing constitutional rights from a gender perspective.
Duties and Responsibilities
The database is presented in the over 100 languages in which some national constitutions have been published. This promotes and ensures that the database is accessible to constituents such as legislatures, constitutional bodies, academics, students, Civil Society Organizations and United Nations partners around the world. The revised constitutional database is due to be re-launched in March 2021 at the Commission on the Status of Women. UN Women is hiring lawyers to assist in the review of extracts of constitutional provisions of 32 countries in both English as well as the official languages in which the respective constitutions are replicated.
The constitutions and languages for which reviews are needed are as follows: Andorra (Catalan), Belarus (Belarusian and Russian), Bhutan (Dzongkha), Brunie Darussalam (Malay), Bulgaria (Bulgarian), Cambodia (Khmer), Croatia (Croatian), Cyprus (Greek), Denmark (Danish), Estonia (Estonian and Swedish), Finland (Finnish), Greece (Greek), Iceland (Icelandic), the two Koreas (Korean), Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao), Latvia (Latvian), Lithuania (Lithuanian), Moldova, Republic of (Romanian), Mongolia (Mongolian), Montenegro (Montenegrin), Myanmar (Burmese), Norway (Norwegian), Russian Federation (Russian), San Marino (Italian), Serbia (Serbian Cyrillic), Slovakia (Slovak), Timor-Leste (Tetum), Turkmenistan (Turkmen and Russian), Ukraine (Ukrainian), Uzbekistan (Uzbek) and Viet Nam (Vietnamese).
Competencies
Core Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling UN Women values and ethical standards;
- Demonstrates commitment to UN Women’s mission and vision;
- Able to work effectively within a team;
- Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
- Able to multi-task and juggle competing demands;
- Can assess and prioritize work needs quickly; and
Able to relate to external partners, including other international organizations and agencies, NGOs, grassroots community groups, etc.
Functional Competencies:
Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds;
- Ability to translate technical documents with accuracy and proof of certification.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Masters level degree in law or political science.
Experience:
- At least 2 years of working experience as a lawyer in any of the countries for which the ongoing review is taking place.
In-depth knowledge of the relevant constitution and related constitutional review processes.
Language:
Fluency in oral and written English is required.
- Working knowledge of other languages of relevance is an asset.