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.

As per the General Assembly’s 2020 resolution on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR, A/75/233), accelerating progress on gender equality is a core function of UNCTs. Within the UN system, UN Women is mandated to lead, promote and coordinate efforts to advance the full realization of women’s rights and opportunities. The UN General Assembly has called on all parts of the UN system to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women within their mandates and ensure that commitments on paper lead to progress on the ground. Towards these ends, UN Women helps strengthen effective UN action on the global, regional and national levels. UN Women helps bolster capacities to make achieving gender equality central to programmes and policies, to advocate for greater resources, and guide and implement joint development programmes. UN Women supports measures upholding accountability for commitments to women, and has a key role in increasing knowledge about gender equality in the United Nations.

One of the coordination mechanisms, at UN Women in Bangladesh, is the UN Gender Equality Theme Group (GETG) which was established in 2017 as the interagency coordination group to provide strategic support and advice to United Nations country teams in enhancing their gender mainstreaming efforts. UN Women and UNFPA co-chair the GETG and UN Women also provides the secretariat support. The GETG focuses on enhancing the collective efforts, impact, and accountability of the UN in Bangladesh to contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Gender equality is a common agenda for all agencies and gender mainstreaming is the responsibility of all UN agencies. Broadly, the main functions of the GETG can be classified into programme support, policy advisory, and technical assistance including quality assurance as needed and capacity development of UNCT. These functions cover all UNCT processes, monitoring, and reporting, supporting communications, advocacy, and partnerships for national gender equality priorities. Across these functions, the GETG’s role is to promote adherence to gender equality as a guiding principle and adherence to the UNCT-SWAP gender mainstreaming minimum standards.

Additionally, the Strategic Priority Groups are constituted at strategic priority level of the UNSDCF 2022-2026. The Strategic Priority groups comprise of experts from all UN entities represented in the UNCT and the RCO. Strategic Priority Groups improve internal coordination and ensure a coherent UN system-wide approach of analysis, planning, implementation and monitoring vis-à-vis a strategic priority/outcome. They promote complementarity and synergies and reduce overlaps and gaps within and across priority/outcome areas. The objective of Strategic Priority Group-5 (SP-5) which is also co-chaired by UN Women and UNFPA is for women, girls and gender diverse people to benefit from an environment in which they are empowered to exercise their rights, agency and decision-making power over all aspects of their lives and are free from all forms of discrimination, violence and harmful norms and practices.

UN Women is seeking the services of an international consultant to support the coordination unit to implement key priorities for 2024. The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Coordination and Partnerships Analyst. He/she/they will be an essential part of the coordination team, supporting office-wide key priorities, partnerships, stakeholder management and overall coordination across UN agencies.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work:

• Support the coordination analyst to implement the GTG and SP 5 Pillar Workplans for 2024-25
• Support with carrying out UN-wide activities outlined in the UN Gender Equality Scorecard
• Support with youth and CSO coordination

Deliverables:

Payment:

Payment will be made on a monthly basis, upon the submission a monthly progress report with evidence of support provided in line with terms of reference. Evidence may include meeting minutes, background notes, technical review and inputs of key documents, knowledge and advocacy products amongst others.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

The assignment will require fulltime presence at UN Women premises at the Dhaka office, in order to support with overarching goals and priorities of the UN Women office. Travel maybe required outside of the Dhaka duty station, depending on emerging needs and deliverables. Duration of travel will be determined as per need.

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:

• Analytical skills

• Understanding of including a gender/feminist lens and mainstreaming gender

• Partnership Building

• Coordination and negotiation skills

• Commitment to continuous improvement

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

Masters degree in Gender Studies, International Development or equivalent.

Experience:

• Experience of working on gender equality and gender mainstreaming for atleast 2 years.

• Experience of working at the UN, supporting in coordination work for atleast 2 years.

• Excellent analytical skills, interpersonal skills, with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.

• Excellent English communication and writing skills; (Samples of previous work will be required.)

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.

How to Apply

• CV and P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc)

• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) highlighting the candidates work in coordinating, and on gender equality.

• A financial proposal aligned to the deliverables mentioned above.

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.
• Applications without the financial offer will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• The individual consultants should take the mandatory learning security course prior to commencement of assignment– details will follow before the issuance of contract.

Only applications will all items mentioned above will be considered

Note: The individual consultant who does not meet the above eligibility criteria shall not be considered for further evaluation. Necessary documentation must be submitted to substantiate the above eligibility criteria

• 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 based on 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. (Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check).