Gender, Legal and Policy Analysis Expert

Position description

With support from the BBE project, women’s livelihoods will be made more resilient as most marginalized women, including VAW survivors and elderly women will have their livelihoods strengthened through increased access to comprehensive social protection packages (that will also have a focus on reducing unpaid care work), and reliable referral pathways which are shock responsive and include sexual and reproductive health services. Capacities will be strengthened across health care systems to ensure the availability of quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services to women and youth.

The project’s overall theory of change is that if women in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, especially the most marginalized, have increased access to subsidised childcare, reliable sexual and reproductive health services, to climate and shock-responsive social protection which includes gender-based violence services and opportunities for and access to innovative financing, digitization and climate-smart and environmentally-friendly practices to grow their businesses; then they will experience economic resilience and their countries will benefit from their increased productivity to Build Forward Equal.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO – Caribbean Representative, the Gender, Legal and Policy Analysis will spearhead multi-country research on gender gaps in relevant legal frameworks in the following countries: Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines; and informed by this research, draft model policy and legislation to address unpaid care and domestic work.

A major goal of this consultancy is to address lacunas in policy and legal frameworks that would support the implementation the 5Rs strategy to recognize, reduce, redistribute, represent, reward – of paid and unpaid care and domestic work. The study should also build on and be informed by an ongoing Gender Gap Analyses of Social Protection Frameworks currently taking place in the abovementioned countries. These Gender Gap Analyses have identified whether or not gender-specific risks and vulnerabilities are taken into account in the design and operation of social protection programmes and policies in the abovementioned 4 countries. Country and context specific policy and legislative gaps have been identified in all the countries.

However, the following gaps have been identified in all countries across the life-course:

• No universal child benefits, child grants, or child tax credits;
• Twelve to thirteen weeks maternity leave, and not a minimum of fourteen weeks as per ILO Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) which has not been ratified by all countries;
• Nursing Breaks are not required by law and there are no breastfeeding policies;
• No mandatory paternity leave;
• Gender pay gap persists even in countries where there is legislation on equal pay. This is due to the fact that women tend to be overrepresented in specific sectors of the labour market (services sector for example) signalling that the problem is not only about comparison with men’s pay; but an overall undervaluing of the work women do. This indicates a need for pay equity legislation across the countries that would need to address not only “equal pay for equal work” but “equal pay for equal work of equal value”;
• Domestic workers not entitled to redundancy pay. There is a need for greater compliance to ensure social security contributions by employers of domestic workers;
• Need for gender-responsiveness in estimation of pensions particularly as older women might earn lower income due to lower cumulative earnings while employed prior to retirement.

Taking the above into consideration, this multi-country study will:

• Review better practices in legislative, policy and SIDS-appropriate financing measures to address unpaid care and domestic work;
• Undertake, in the four project countries, a gender-responsive review of existing laws and policies in the following areas:
  • Maternity leave;
  • Nursing break and breastfeeding regulations and policies;
  • Minimum wage laws;
  • Equal Pay for Equal Work laws;
  • Labour Codes/Employment Laws.
• Draft Model Legislation per country on the following:
  • Maternity Leave, to ensure compliance with C183 – Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183);
  • Parental Leave;
  • Child Benefit Law for Low Income Working Parents and Legal Guardians;
  • Pay Equity;
  • Paid Nursing Break and Nursing Facilities Law.
• At a national level revise and update the Public Assistance Act, 1989 of St. Vincent & the Grenadines to ensure gender-responsiveness and alignment with to international human rights frameworks;
• At national level, support the development of a National Care Policy for St. Lucia;
• At a national level support the following for Grenada:
  • Model Legislation on Decent Work for Domestic Workers;
  • Gender analysis of complaints received from workers in the care sector;
  • Gender analysis of work permit applications received in the care sector.

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:

• Strong legal analysis and social research and analytical skills;
• Excellent written and oral communications skills including the conveying complex concepts and recommendations, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences;
• Ability to interact independently as part of a team;
• Ability to multi-task and operate effectively in stressful situations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• The Gender, Legal and Policy Analysis Expert should meet the following criteria:
  • An LLB/Bachelor of Laws Degree is required;
  • An LLM or PhD in Law and Human Rights is preferred but not required.

Experience:

• At least five years’ experience conducting research and analysis on law and human rights within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is required;
• At least five years’ experience working on gender equality and/or human rights is required;
• At least three years’ legislative drafting experience is required.

Languages:

• Fluency in written and oral English is required.

Application instructions

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