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 supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and work with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and benefit women and girls worldwide. Against this background, and in response to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s call to leave no one behind, UN Women works to promote peace by supporting women of all backgrounds and ages to participate in processes to prevent conflict and build and sustain peace. In this regard, UN Women’s is guided by ten UN Security Council resolutions, bolstered by a number of related normative frameworks, which make up the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda.

Cybersecurity and digital security for women and girls have emerged as a critical area of work within the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. As societies are becoming increasingly digitized and technology-dependent, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity concerns are presenting novel human and national security challenges to countries in Southeast Asia and globally. While digital platforms are increasingly used by civil society to engage in rights-based activism, politics and peacebuilding initiatives, they are simultaneously used to facilitate the spread of violent, hateful and misogynistic narratives. As insecurity and curtailed civic and political rights impact women and girls disproportionately, women’s human rights online and the space for online engagement by women’s civil society and cyber defenders is shrinking. With few laws and policies addressing the gendered dynamics of online harms and cybercrimes, the means of recourse to counter these issues remain limited.

Within this context, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is undertaking a project on Women, Peace and Cybersecurity, under the broader Regional Framework for Peaceful, Inclusive Societies in Asia-Pacific, with the ambition to enhance conflict-sensitive and gender-responsive digital security initiatives and support a prosperous digital environment where the human and digital rights of women and girls are promoted and protected.

The first phase of the project ‘Women, Peace and Cybersecurity: Promoting Women’s Peace and Security in the Digital World’ underwent a light review in 2022. As the second phase of the project is now also coming to an end, on 30 June 2024, UN Women is seeking to conduct an external light review exercise of the entirety of the second phase of the project focusing on the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of key processes and outputs will foster reflection on this new area of work of UN Women and will inform possible future development on the same thematic area. In this context, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific will hire an International Consultant to support the Regional Office and relevant Country/Project Presence Offices by conducting a light review of the Women, Peace and Cybersecurity programme.

The consultant will be reporting to Regional Policy Advisor for Governance, Peace and Security, and will be supported Regional Specialist on Governance, Peace and Security, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

The International Consultant for the advertised External Light Review Exercise will be working under the supervision of the Regional Policy Adviser for Governance, Peace and Security, with a technical reporting line to the Regional Specialist on Governance, Peace and Security, of UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific to ensure the following:

UN Women will provide technical guidance where possible. The consultant shall be required to bear all the related costs and work independently to successfully achieve the end findings.

The consultant will be responsible for the following costs:

• Indirect costs such as printing, stationeries, and communications concerning the scope of work or services.
• All costs related to quality assurance, data collection (including through desk review and virtual interviews), data entry, data cleaning, and data processing.

Methodological Approach
The anticipated approaches to be used for data collection and analysis by the consultant include desk review, key informant interviews and interviews with other relevant stakeholders, and other participatory techniques as deemed fit by the consultant. The external light review must integrate gender and human rights-based approaches throughout each of the areas of analysis outlined above and throughout its methodology[1]. This is particularly important in order to give a full picture of the complex and intersectional nature of women’s human and digital rights touched upon by the programme. ([1] Please see “Integrating human rights and gender equality in Evaluation: towards UNEG guidance” available in English, Spanish, French and Arabic)

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy; no travel is expected.

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 interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills;
• Ability to work independently and proactively solve problems;
• Capacity to plan, prioritise and deliver tasks on time;
• Capacity to engage with national and international staff, provide clear feedback and maintain effective rapport with different kinds of people;
• Ability to research, analyse and present complex information;
• Ability and willingness to work as part of a team to meet tight deadlines and produce high-quality work.

Ethical Code of Conduct[1]:
The light review of the programme is to be carried out according to ethical principles and standards established by the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG).

• Anonymity and confidentiality. The evaluation must respect the rights of individuals who provide information, ensuring their anonymity and confidentiality.
• Responsibility. The report must mention any dispute or difference of opinion that may have arisen among the consultants or between the consultant and the heads of the Programme in connection with the findings and/or recommendations. The team must corroborate all assertions, or disagreement with them noted.
• Integrity. The evaluator will be responsible for highlighting issues not specifically mentioned in the TOR, if this is needed to obtain a more complete analysis of the intervention.
• Independence. The consultant should ensure his or her independence from the intervention under review, and he or she must not be associated with its management or any element thereof.
• Incidents. If problems arise during the fieldwork, or at any other stage of the evaluation, they must be reported immediately to the manager of the evaluation. If this is not done, the existence of such problems may in no case be used to justify the failure to obtain the results stipulated in these terms of reference.
• Validation of information. The consultant will be responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the information collected while preparing the reports and will be ultimately responsible for the information presented in the evaluation report.
• Intellectual property. In handling information sources, the consultant shall respect the intellectual property rights of the institutions and communities that are under review.
• Delivery of reports. If delivery of the reports is delayed, or in the event that the quality of the reports delivered is clearly lower than what was agreed, the penalties stipulated in these terms of reference will be applicable.

[1] Please review http://www.unevaluation.org/ethicalguidelines

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in International Development Studies, Social Sciences, Politics, Law, Human Rights, Gender, Women Studies, Economics, Monitoring and Evaluation 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:

• A minimum of 7 years relevant experience undertaking evaluations, assessments or reviews is required.
• Substantive experience in assessing similar development projects in the area of Women Peace and Security.
• Previous experience in the field of Gender and Cybersecurity would be considered an asset.
• Substantive experience in evaluating or assessing projects with a strong gender focus is preferred.
• Experience working in Asia and the Pacific is preferred. Previous experience in Viet Nam and the Philippines would be considered an asset.
• Experience working on gender, particularly having expertise in undertaking gender-sensitive evaluations is preferred.
• Excellent analytical skills with a 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
Interested candidates are encouraged to submit an electronic application to [email protected] with -cc to [email protected], no later than 25 April 2024, COB (GMT+7).

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• List of the most relevant previous evaluations performed.
• Brief summary of the proposed methodology for the light review exercise (1 page)
• At least three sample reports from previous evaluation/review (all samples will be kept confidential) or links to a website where reports can be retrieved (highly recommended).

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 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