Gender, Legal and Policy Analysis Expert (Homebased)

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.

UN Women has entered into an Agreement with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to implement a project on women’s economic empowerment in the Eastern Caribbean. The project, “Build Back Equal” (BBE), which is led by UN Women and jointly implemented with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is being implemented from 2022 – 2025, and will contribute to women’s economic resilience in the Eastern Caribbean by taking a comprehensive approach to addressing the barriers women face to economic empowerment and providing increased sustainable opportunities for women’s economic growth. Government and the private sector in four Eastern Caribbean countries will benefit from strengthened capacity and access to financing to sustainably alleviate women’s unpaid care work burden through subsidized quality childcare. Globally, women work 2.8 hours more than men on unpaid care and domestic work. This implies that women, and particularly the poorest and most disadvantaged, have the double burden of both paid and unpaid work, or in other words they are often more time poor than men. Women bear the multiple burdens of productive and reproductive responsibilities  that severely limits their economic opportunities and remains a barrier to their engagement in paid work. Data on unpaid care work and specifically  to measure SDG Indicator 5.4.1 (Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location) is sparse in CARICOM.  However, the UN Women MCO-Caribbean is leading efforts to close this data gap in the region.  Unpaid care and domestic work is usually invisible in policies and budgets because they are not part of the conventional definition and measurement of the economy (Sharp, 2003).

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.

Deliverables

The Gender, Legal and Policy Analysis Expert is expected to work remotely for the full duration of the consultancy; but will have to deliver presentations in person (see details below), unless agreed otherwise with UN Women. Therefore, if the consultant is not resident in any of the target countries s/he will be expected to include in their fee proposal travel, accommodation and meals costs; and make arrangements to cover these directly during the assignment.   

The Gender, Legal and Policy Analysis Expert is expected to deliver the following results:

1.   Desk review of global better practices: Legislative, policy and financing measures to address unpaid care and domestic work.

2.  Conduct Gender-responsive review of Laws and Policies in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines on the following:

• Maternity leave.
• Nursing break and breastfeeding regulations and policies.
• Minimum wage laws
• Equal Pay for Equal Work laws.
• Labour Codes/Employment Laws.
• The Public Assistance Act in Public Assistance Act, 1989 of St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

3.   Facilitation of 16 stakeholder consultations (4 per country)  on the abovementioned gender-responsive review and to obtain guidance on model legislation to be developed. UN Women will cover venue and refreshment costs of convening the consultations. The stakeholder consultations should be co-convened with the National Gender Machineries and represent the following sectors:

• Senior policymakers and programme managers in government in the social protection sector: social welfare, health, social security/national insurance, attorney general’s offices/ministries at a minimum.
• Civil Society: Women’s groups, men’s groups, youth groups, NGOs/CSOs working on poverty alleviation, at a minimum.
• Private Sector, Labour Unions and Ministry of Labour: Employer confederations, organizations representing workers, including domestic workers, and labour inspectorates within the Ministries of labour.
• Judiciary.

4.   Drafting of Model Legislation per countries 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
• Nursing Break Law

5.  Drafting Model Legislation on Decent Work for Domestic Workers for Grenada.

6.   Revision and updating of the Public Assistance Act, 1989 of St. Vincent & the Grenadines to ensure gender-responsiveness and alignment with to international human rights frameworks.

7.   Preparation of a Draft National Care Policy for St. Lucia.

8.   Facilitation of 4 stakeholder consultations (1 per country) to validate and provide feedback and input on the abovementioned Model Legislation with representation from government, civil society, private sector, labour unions and the judiciary. In the case of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, there will be an additional task of including the update of the Public Assistance in the consultations for that country. In the case of St. Lucia, there will be an additional task of including the Draft National Care Policy in the consultations for that country. In the case of Grenada, there will an additional task of including the Draft Legislation on Decent Work for Domestic Workers  in the consultations for that country.

9.   Presentation of Model Legislation to 4 convenings of parliamentarians (1 per country). In the case of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, the presentation of the Revised/Updated Public Assistance Act, will take place during the convening of the parliamentarians in that country. In the case of St. Lucia, the presentation of the Draft National Care Policy, will take place during the convening of the parliamentarians in that country. In the case of Grenada, the presentation of the Draft Legislation on Decent Work for Domestic Workers will take place during the convening of the parliamentarians in that country.

10.  Conduct Gender analysis of complaints received from workers in the care sector for Grenada.

11.  Conduct Gender analysis of work permit applications received in the care sector for Grenada.

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:  

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.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

• The consultancy will be home-based, with travel expeacte to the four target countries
• The consultant will be engaged for a maximum of 200 working days within the period, 1 August 2024 to 31 December 2026.

Remuneration

• The consultancy fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.
• The remuneration for this contract type is an all-inclusive fee, the organization will not be liable for additional cost or benefits.  Hence, it is the responsibility of the consultant to take out adequate medical insurance for the duration of the contract and it is recommendable that the policy includes coverage for COVID-19 related illness.   The medical coverage should be international when the contract requires missions or international assignment.
• If selected for this consultancy, proof of medical coverage should be presented within the first two months of the contract.

Hardware, Software, And Communication

• The consultant must be equipped with a fully functional laptop, which must run at least Windows 7. The consultants must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based (Skype or equivalent) is required.

Other:

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