Ending Violence against Women Senior Technical Consultant (Home-Based, Retainer)

Position description

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.

UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality. In East and Southern Africa, UN Women covers 25 countries through twelve country offices, a programme presence and a multi-country office, as well as support to the UN Country Team as a Non-Resident Agency.[1] The UN Women Liaison Office to the African Union, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is the most pervasive human rights violation globally and the East and Southern Africa region remains off-course from reaching the 2030 SDG 5 targets. It occurs in various forms and takes place in all settings, both physical and increasingly, virtual spaces. Decades of advocacy and other efforts by feminist and women’s rights organizations and networks have elevated public attention and increased State commitments to address the issue, with actions identified to counter the immediate and long-term consequences and costs of VAWG. This includes the adoption of dedicated laws and policies for ending VAWG, with 18 of the 25 countries in East and Southern Africa having dedicated action plans or strategies to address VAWG.

However, many women and girls continue to experience violence, across all stages of their lives, which are exacerbated in the context of the poly-crises we have seen in recent years (related to COVID-19, economic shocks, conflict and climate change). Prevalence estimates show that 20% of ever-married/partnered women aged 15–49 in Sub-Saharan Africa have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past 12 months, the highest compared to other regions, while 33% have experienced violence in their lifetime, also higher than the global estimate of 27%.[2] Tolerance for domestic violence against women and girls also remains high, is linked to the alarming situation of femicide, where there were 20,000 femicide victims in 2022 recorded in Africa– the highest among other regions.[3]

Considering this context, UN Women East and Southern Africa is working to close the implementation gap and enhancing accountability for ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG), by supporting regional and national institutions to implement their commitments on the issue. This entails advancing capacities in evidence-based policymaking and programming with attention to preventing violence before it begins and enhancing access to quality essential services for survivors, promoting increased investments on the issue, and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships, engaging both traditional and non-traditional EVAW partners, and supporting collaboration toward the delivery of impactful, context-specific and transformative interventions across the region. UN Women also seeks to transform the EVAW ecosystem through intentional efforts to promote feminist leadership principles in action. This leverage EVAW expertise in the region and follows the decades of progress made by Pan-African women’s movements, while centering the experiences of diverse women and girls through intersectional analysis and inclusive processes of engagement.

In support of this work, UN Women ESARO seeks to hire an EVAW Senior Technical Consultant on retainer to support quality assurances of EVAW knowledge products and provide strategic advice and accompaniment for EVAW programme development, implementation and monitoring in East and Southern Africa. 

[1] UN Women has 12 country offices (Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe), 1 Program presence country (Somalia) and one Multi-Country Office (based in South Africa and covering countries of Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) i.e. Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland). In addition, ESA Regional Office provide support on demand basis to additional 12 non-Resident agency countries: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius/Seychelles, Namibia, and Zambia

[2] WHO (World Health Organization) (2021). Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018. Global, Regional and National Prevalence Estimates for Intimate Partner Violence against Women and Global and Regional Prevalence Estimates for Non-partner Sexual Violence against Women. Geneva: WHO, on behalf of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence Against Women Estimation and Data (United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United Nations Statistics Division and UN Women).

[3] UN Women, UNODC 2023 Report: Gender-related killings of women and girls (femicide/feminicide): Global estimates of female intimate partner/family-related homicides in 2022)

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will be reporting to the Regional Policy Specialist for Ending Violence against Women and will be supported by the Programme Analyst for EVAW, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. The consultant is responsible for the following:

1. Plan and facilitate virtual learning sessions (~2 hours) for the UN Women EVAW Community of Practice as requested based on the EVAW Learning Plan for ESAR. This will involve: review of UN Women past learning sessions, existing EVAW training material and other materials developed by UN Women and external EVAWG experts, plan and facilitate the virtual learning session, and capture recommendations for subsequent learning sessions. A maximum of 4 sessions will be conducted over the contract period.
2. Provide tailored accompaniment for UN Women EVAW Teams/personnel in relation to programme design, implementation or monitoring queries. Time required will be determined based on needs, but should not exceed 2 days / 16 hours of work per request).
3. Provide inputs on EVAW programme, policy documents or knowledge products from ESAR offices and as requested, from UNCT where UN Women is a non-resident agency. This might include review of concept notes, programme documents, results frameworks, ToRs, training materials, etc. Time required will be determined based on specific request but should not exceed 3 days / 24 hours of work per request.
4. Support design and co-facilitation of tailored training sessions (virtual and/or in-person) on VAWG prevention for UN Women personnel and partners as requested in East and Southern Africa.

Deliverables

The consultant will be engaged under a 1-year retainer contract, which facilitates direct engagement of the consultant depending on the need and availability within the contract period for a pre-agreed fee. Examples of possible deliverables include, but not limited to:

1. Evidence of inputs provided to CO teams for tailored accompaniment sessions (emails, references shared, etc.)
2. Learning session material (agenda, presentation, summary (no more than one page) of learning/key recommendations from session
3. Evidence of inputs/ review provided to EVAW Teams (documents with track changes, emails, etc.)
4. Training materials, summary report with recommendations

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy, with the possibility of travel to East and Southern Africa for in-person assignments to be discussed and agreed with Consultant as relevant for the specific request.

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 programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills.
• Ability to synthesize programme performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Strong Facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems.
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate.
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• A Master’s Degree in International Relations, Sociology, Social Work, Community Development, Human Rights, Gender and Development, or similar field.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in diverse contexts related to the design, planning, implementation, monitoring or evaluation of EVAWG programmes or policies, including evidence-based approaches to VAWG prevention, particularly in middle and low-income countries.
• Demonstrated experience in the design and delivery of capacity development initiatives, including through virtual modalities, on EVAW for multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.
• Proven ability to support development and implementation of high-quality programme and policy frameworks on EVAW in line with the latest evidence.
• Experience with UN system EVAW programmes would be highly desirable

Languages:

• Fluency in English
• Knowledge of French or any other UN official language is an asset.

Application instructions

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