National Consultant to Monitor the UN Women Project: Pathways to Peace NAP WPS: Realising the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in Sri Lanka (Local post for nationals of Sri Lanka)

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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system’s 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 towards building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.  

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325), unanimously adopted in October 2000, stressed the importance of the equal participation and full involvement of women in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security. In the years since, seven additional resolutions on WPS have been adopted. That created a robust framework for implementing the WPS agenda and reinforced global commitments, treaties and conventions on women’s rights, including the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. To deliver these commitments at the national level, the United Nations has encouraged Member States to adopt policies to implement the resolutions and monitor the progress of the WPS agenda, including National Action Plans on WPS (NAPs-WPS). 

In Sri Lanka, the Government adopted country’s first-ever National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in February 2023. The development of this National Action Plan was led by the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs, and Social Empowerment, with technical support from UN Women in partnership with the Government of Japan, in consultation with Sri Lankan women across all 25 districts of the country. Following the adoption of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, UN Women is committed to support the implementation of the Women Peace and Security agenda through the increased engagement of national and local level government authorities, civil society organizations, women leaders and the development community. The project “Pathways to Peace: Realising the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in Sri Lanka” specifically focus on this objective with project related interventions in the districts of Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Mannar and Mullaitivu.

Against this background, UN Women seeks to hire a national consultant to develop a comprehensive monitoring  system for the project and to monitor the progress of the implementation of the project.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision and guidance of the UN Women Head of Office of Sri Lanka, the consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks. The consultant will remain accountable for the timely submission of the deliverables as per the timeline given below.

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

The consultancy is expected to be started on 12 August 2024 and continue until 15 July 2025. The Consultant is expected to visit the project locations , if travel is not restricted by national health authorities or UN Women due to the COVID 19 health emergency. For all travel, the cost of most economic and direct travel on mission must be pre-approved by the Head of Office of UN Women Sri Lanka and will be reimbursed following UN Women travel guidelines. Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) and travel costs in compliance with UN Women Travel Guidline will be reimbursed to the consultant at actual amount upon submission of receipts and travel stubs.

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:

• Good knowledge of programme formulation, implementation, and Results Based Management
• Good knowledge of monitoring and evaluation, evaluation design, data collection and analysis, and reporting
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports
• Analytical and report writing skills

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Conflict and Peace Studies, Gender and Development, International Relations, Public Administration, Statistics, Law, Human Rights 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 2 years of progressively responsible experience at the national and/or international level in monitoring and evaluation of development projects/ programmes.
• Experience in the United Nations System is an asset.
• Field experience is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Sinhala or Tamil is required.

How to Apply

Interest candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application to with cc to    no later than 7 August 2024.

Submission package includes:

• Personal CV and P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Two Sample evaluation/assessment report developed for similar assignments will be requested from shortlisted candidates

Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will be based on the number of days worked in correlation to the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes. Payments will be made upon submission of deliverables with an approval of the Head of Office of UN Women Sri Lanka.

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 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.)