National Consultant –Women Peace and Cybersecurity for Digital Security and Cyber-Resilience in Community

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) grounded in the principles of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, is dedicated to advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE). Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the endeavors of the United Nations system to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translated into tangible actions worldwide. UN Women provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and initiatives, as well as building impactful partnerships with civil society and other relevant stakeholders, through their commitments fortified by adherence to the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) on Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.

While the Internet has opened up a broad spectrum of venues for civic engagement, digital peacebuilding and activism — particularly for women, young women and marginalized groups who have struggled to access traditional public platforms and decision-making spaces — online civic spaces are shrinking across Southeast Asia as a result of increasing Internet access restrictions, repressive cybersecurity legislation and criminalisation of freedom of expression. These tensions are especially, but not uniquely, prominent in politically volatile contexts and in conflict- and crisis-affected areas.

Along with the potential for more accessible information, rapid communication and network building, digital platforms are increasingly being used to spread disinformation, hate-speech, misogynistic and radicalizing content, and to facilitate illicit activities such as trafficking and sexual exploitation, which disproportionately affects women. Documented experiences of women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs), women’s rights advocates, women politicians and other public figures across Southeast Asia have shed light on the increasing use of harmful tactics such as cyberbullying, trolling and doxing to systematically silence voices and discredit initiatives that favour gender equality and women’s rights; harms to which they are disproportionately exposed.

In addition to interpersonal harms and threats which obstruct women’s equal and safe digital engagement the design of digital tools and platforms, and algorithms on which they are based, tend to include significant gender and racial biases which re-perpetuate discriminatory norms and stereotypes, making them ill-adapted for the needs of women users. Given the critical underrepresentation of women in leadership and decision-making spaces related to cybersecurity, technology development and peacebuilding at large, measures taken to mitigate the gendered implications of these risks are not having proper attention, thus lagging behind.

UN Women is currently implementing a programme on “Women, Peace and Cybersecurity: Promoting Women’s Peace and Security in the Digital World” with the support of the Republic of Korea and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of the Australian Government. The programme is designed to: (i) Undertake research on digital gender security, cybersecurity and the rights of women online; (ii) Build the knowledge of government and civil society on gender-responsive cybersecurity and data privacy; (iii) Increase the digital literacy of young women; (iv) Investigate the gendered impacts of advancements in digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, gender recognition technology and algorithmic decision- making, as well as further sensitise research on digital gender security, cybersecurity and the rights of women online developed; (v) Support women civil society, human rights defenders, journalists and women in ecommerce to assess their digital risks and create and implement digital security protocols to mitigate cyberattacks and data breaches, and; (vi) Facilitate rapid technical assistance for digital security incidents impacting women civil society and drive greater awareness of digital rights by developing user-friendly assessment tools of cyber harms and capacity building modules for women’s civil society.

The project considers cybersecurity issues along the four pillars of the WPS agenda – protection, participation, prevention, and peacebuilding. These pillars inform the programmatic approach by placing emphasis on protecting women’s rights in the digital world; promoting women’s participation in cybersecurity including in the cyber workforce and decision-making on cybersecurity laws and frameworks; supporting women’s capacities to engage in the prevention of cybersecurity threats, including cyber-crime, cyber-enabled trafficking in persons, and online hate speech; and enabling online peacebuilding by women, youth, civil society and cyber-defenders.

In this regard, UN Women seeks a national consultant to build digital literacy skills for women, women’s groups/CSOs and digital rights organisation young bloggers, community leaders and cyber defenders to contribute to online peacebuilding to strengthen their resilience and capacities to prevent cybersecurity threats and cyber-enabled crimes and to contribute to online peacebuilding and social cohesion at communities in the Northern/Southern/Northeastern border provinces on Thailand.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities Under the supervision of Programme Analyst (Thailand), the primary role of National Consultant, through a partnership with local stakeholders both government organisations and non-governmental organisations/CSO, includes:

• Build digital literacy skills for Women CSOs and digital rights organisation young bloggers, community leaders and cyber defenders to contribute to online peacebuilding by conducting the following workshops:

• A workshop on Digital Security and Cyber-Resilience for 20-30 women and youth in communities in the Southern Border provinces.

• A workshop on Digital Security and Cyber-Resilience for 20-30 women and youth in communities in the Northern Border provinces.
• A workshop on Digital Security and Cyber-Resilience for 20-30 women and youth in communities in the Northeastern Border provinces.
• Training materials preparation for the participants.

Expected Deliverables and Timeframe

Key Tasks

Tasks and Deliverables

Target Dates

1. Develop a workplan including selected women groups and targeted communities (in English)

DELIVERABLE 1: A work plan identifying key activities, project areas, beneficiaries, and stakeholders.

25 May 2024

2. Submit the concept note and agenda of the three workshops (in English)

DELIVERABLE 2:

A concept note and agenda of three workshops, inclusive of:

- Detailed agenda and facilitation notes

- Key points of activities

- List of participants

- Recommendations

- Training materials if any (this component can be submitted in Thai only)

1 June 2024

3. Produce a progress report of three workshops with best practice, lessons learned, and recommendations (In English)

DELIVERABLE 3:

Produce a final progress report of three workshops with best practice, lessons learned, and recommendations on future interventions in Digital Security and Cyber-Resilience at community level.

25 June 2024

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel? The assignment is home-based, with travel to Bangkok and the Southern/Northern/Northeastern Border provinces.

Supervision The consultant will be supervised by the Programme Analyst for Thailand who will be responsible for the quality assurance of the deliverables.

All the deliverables, including annexes, notes, and reports, should be submitted in writing in English. Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt.

Contract Period The time required for the consultancy is from 30 May to 30 July 2024 (2 months). A full payment for this consultancy will be based on achieving all deliverables and certifications that have been satisfactorily completed. Payment will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

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/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent analytical skills;
• Strong knowledge of UN Women processes and systems;
• Strong networking skills;
• Strong interpersonal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;
• Ability to work in a highly pressured environment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in the field of Political Science, international relations, international development, social sciences, human rights, 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:

• At least one years of experience in conducting or facilitating capacity building activities or coordinating a project/programme in the area of cybersecurity, digital literacy, women peace and security, conflict prevention, in the Border Provinces of Thailand.
• Knowledge about gender equality or border situation is required.
• Skilled with communications support related to gender equality, violence against women and access to justice is an advantage.
• Strong writing skills and strong coordinating skills are required.
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and civil society organizations is preferred.
• Familiarity with UN agencies is an asset.

Language:

• Proficiency in Thai and English is required.

How to Apply Interested candidates are encouraged to submit an electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org with a copy to [email protected] no later than 24 May 2023, 23:59 Bangkok time.

The submission package includes:

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A Cover letter outlining relevant work experience (maximum length: 1 page)
• Writing sample in English

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without any of the items listed above will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further processing.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement *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 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.*

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