National legal consultant(s) to support the review of the Gender Equality Law in Albania

Contract

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

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.

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Albania ratified the CEDAW Convention in 1994, and since then it has submitted five periodic reports to the Committee, providing an update on the implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations and recent developments on gender equality in the country. As part of its latest reporting cycle, the CEDAW Committee issued in October 2023 a set of concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Albania. As part of the Concluding Observations, the Committee indicated a few priority concerns that Albania is recommended to follow up on and report back to the Committee in 2025, including revising the Law on Gender Equality in Society (GEL), which dates back to 2008. The revision of the GEL is also included as a specific measure part of the National Strategy on Gender Equality 2021-2030, as a key step to strengthen the promotion of a gender equal and just society. The UN in Albania has highlighted that while the GEL has been instrumental to create a strong normative framework on equality between women and men, it would benefit from further alignment with most recent developments in the legal frameworks on gender equality. These include the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, EU Gender Equality Law and recent EU directives that guarantee equal treatment on the basis of sex. The revised GEL should draw from the experience of other countries with progressive gender equality and non-discrimination legislation, such as EU member states or candidate countries (e.g. France, Spain, Serbia) or non-EU countries (e.g United States). The European Commission’s Gender Equality Law in Europe also provides an overview of how EU gender equality law is implemented by EU Member States, countries in the European Economic Area and EU candidate countries.

As a EU candidate country, currently undertaking accession negotiations, Albania needs to ensure that its national legislation on gender equality and non-discrimination is fully compliant with the EU acquis. In addition, important developments in national legal framework have taken place since the adoption of the GEL in 2008, to which the GEL should align with. Therefore, the revision of the GEL should address gaps that have impacted its effective implementation in practice, including lack of gender quotas across all sectors to promote consistent women’s representation and participation in public life; insufficient provisions and secondary legislation for gender mainstreaming and gender analysis in government action; lack of effective accountability system for the gender equality mechanism; and lack of clear administrative and judicial complaint mechanisms to ensure enforcement of gender anti-discriminatory measures. It is also critical that the new Gender Equality Law establishes systematic links with the National Strategy on Gender Equality and related costing, to allow for relevant investments.

The Government of Albania has already demonstrated strong commitment to fully adopt and implement the recommendations issued by CEDAW Committee, including revising the GEL. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MoHSP) established an inter-ministerial working group which is tasked to lead the drafting of the amended GEL.

In this context, UN Women Albania is seeking to recruit legal expert(s) to support the revision of the existing law and engage with the working group, including by providing best practices from other countries and prepare technical inputs. The consultant(s) should also engage in reviewing and providing inputs into the sub-legal acts related to the GEL. The incumbent(s) will be expected to work under the overall supervision of the UN Women Head of Programme and in close collaboration with other UN Women gender equality and human rights experts, as well as with national counterparts especially the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and other institutional members part of the working group.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Head of Programme, the consultant(s) will:

• Regularly take part in the meetings of the inter-ministerial working group on the GEL.
• Provide inputs to the group (e.g. PowerPoint presentations, written inputs and others) on strengthening key aspects of the existing GEL, including anti-discrimination provisions, legal/judicial remedies, as well as the functioning of the gender equality machinery.
• Draft and provide feedback for the overall and specific provisions of the GEL.
• Prepare relevant analyses, provide examples and best practices from other countries, including EU countries and others in a similar path of EU accession process, on gender equality legislation.
• Provide feedback, inputs and engage in the drafting of specific sub-legal acts.
• Prepare presentations, briefs and other inputs in English and in Albanian, as required.
• Support public consultations on the revised GEL as needed.

Deliverable

Minutes/meeting summaries prepared for UN Women Albania and submitted, as well as oral and written inputs provided to the inter-ministerial working group on the GEL in English and/or Albanian as needed - By end of October 2024

Draft portions and feedback provided for specific provisions of the GEL - On a regular basis until end of October 2024

Analyses, examples and best practices from other countries, including EU countries and others in a similar path of EU accession process, provided and submitted to UN Women on gender equality legislation, in English and/or Albanian, as needed - On a regular basis until end of October 2024

Written feedback, inputs and drafting of specific sub-legal acts in English and/or Albanian, as needed - By 15th December 2024

Presentations, briefs and other inputs in English and in Albanian, as required - By 15th December 2024

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

The consultant shall work home-based for a total of up to 40 working days, and be available for regular meetings with the working group and UN Women.

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

• Strong interpersonal and good communication abilities
• Excellent writing and speaking skills in English and Albanian
• Proven ability to produce comprehensive reports
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in Human rights, Law, International Law, International Relations, Gender Studies, Political Science, or related fields

Experience:

• At least ten years of experience in drafting legislation, preparing legal analyses and support legal reforms in the field of human rights with a focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Previous experience in approximation of legislation with EU and international law.
• Experience in monitoring and reporting or supporting the implementation of gender equality legal and policy framework.
• Previous experience with the UN system or other international organizations would be desirable

Languages:

• Fluency in spoken and written Albanian and English is required

How to Apply:

• Filled out Personal History Form (P11 form) including past experience in similar assignments and contact details of referees (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 ) Please share the P11 instead of your CV
• A cover letter explaining the consultant’s interest in the position (maximum 1 page in length)

How to Submit the Application: To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11) and Cover Letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement).
• Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above).
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

• UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications, we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
• The consultancy post is open to local (Albanian) individuals or foreign individuals with valid temporary or permanent residence in Albania.
• The individual consultants should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.

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.)

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