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 in Georgia supports state and nonstate partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls.

In December 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark has engaged in partnership with UN Women Georgia Country Office, supporting the implementation of its fiveyear Strategic Note (20212025), among others in the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment. Under the Strategic Note’s Output 2 “The capacities of the representatives of government, public institutions and private companies strengthened to develop and deliver legislation, policies, services and programs for women’s economic empowerment”, UN Women Georgia CO intends to carry out 42 To develop a business environment conducive  to women’s entrepreneurship.

Georgia has started putting women’s economic empowerment (WEhigh on the national policy agenda. The Parliamentary Gender Equality Council has adopted the first ever national concept note on WEE which forms a basis of future policy interventions to advance women’s participation in the economy. At the same time, the private sector has been undertaking certain initiatives to advance gender equality within and outside their companies using the international platform Women’s Empowerment Principles. These interventions, albeit important, have been less coordinated, and their impact on the investment climate is not consistent. Furthermore, greater efforts are needed to understand the effects of gender equality in the private sector in Georgia, and how reforms fostering gender equality translate into financial and organizational benefits for a more equal and inclusive investment climate.

EBRD’s supported Investors Council (Iis an independent platform of publicprivate dialogue chaired by the Prime Minister of Georgia, with the objective of promoting dialogue between the business community, international financial institutions, donors and the Government of Georgia with the objective of promoting business and investment climate in Georgia. The IC identified the need to elaborate Gender Lens Investing (GLFramework that would allow the council to assess the investment climate through gender lenses.

The Investors Council Secretariat (ICis established and operates in accordance with the Decree No 829 of the Government of Georgia dated 20 April 2015 and the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government of Georgia and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRdated 12 April

Among other initiatives, the IC initiated the development of the new law on investment.  International Experts are conducting a regulatory impact assessment (RIto evaluate its potential effects. This RIA aims to examine the potential economic, social, and environmental impacts of the proposed legislation, helping to ensure that it fosters a favorable investment climate without causing unintended negative consequences. It is anticipated that the findings of this RIA will further inform the deliverables spelled out in this ToR.

UN Women Country Office in Georgia decided to join forces with IC towards developing an GLI Assessment Framework methodology to become a standing tool utilized by the IC on a systematic basis. The GLI Assessment Framework shall be designed to allow for understanding of how investment policies and practices can inadvertently perpetuate or exacerbate gender inequalities, or conversely, how they can be leveraged to empower women and promote gender equality. Moreover, this Assessment Framework can serve as a valuable tool for the IC as a PublicPrivate Partnership Platform to advocate for genderresponsive changes in investment policy and practice. The Assessment, routinely produced by the IC, can provide evidencebased insights to encourage collaboration between the government and the private sector to create an investment environment that is not only profitable but also equitable and inclusive.

The Assessment Framework will allow Investors Council to highlight opportunities to invest in sectors that provides significant benefits, particularly to women, or to support businesses that are owned or led by women, also in general, to consider the gender dimension when making investment decisions. It can also encourage the adoption of gendersensitive investment definition, criteria and due diligence processes.

In essence, this assessment framework can be a catalyst for positive change, helping to ensure that Georgia’s new investment law and related policies are not only economically sound but also contribute to a more just and equitable society. The tool can facilitate integration of gender dimension into the governance process and private investment practices, thereby enhancing efficiency, and promoting gender equality in the investment landscape.

For this assignment, UN Women Georgia seeks to contract an international consultant, who, in close cooperation with the Investors Council’s gender equality working group will develop the GLI Assessment Framework methodology tailored to the Georgian context, incorporating also international best practices. The GLI Assessment Framework should enable generation of data and analysis allowing  decisionmakers, investors, and businesses to identify, assess, and manage genderrelated risks and opportunities in their investment decisions and operations.

The consultant will be reporting to Programme Analyst from the UN Women’s Economic Empowerment portfolio, and the Project Assistant from the same portfolio who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities / Scope of Work

• Conduct desk research for the Investors Council based on the overview of the relevant GLI definitions, guidelines, methodologies, metrics, and best practices, and develop an initial vision of GLI Assessment Framework tailored to the Georgian context, and international best practices, primarily aiming to increase the IC’s and its members’ awareness and capacity on gender lens investing.
• Conduct up to 8 online interviews with the relevant stakeholders from the public and private partners (selected jointly by UN Women and Ito inform the GLI Assessment Methodology development process.
• Develop contents / presentations on GLI more broadly (definition, good practice, and initial vision of the GLI Assessment Framework for Georgia for the stakeholders group mobilized by the IC that will be validating and finalizing together with the Consultant the GLI Assessment Framework.
• Conduct one fullday workshop for the key stakeholders (for both, public and private sector partners in one settinmobilized by the IC on GLI in Tbilisi, Georgia, to enhance their understanding and capacity to integrate gender considerations into their investment strategies, policies, and practices and also, to have a better grasp of local context
• Based on the reflections from the key stakeholders develop a GLI Assessment Framework for and in close cooperation with the Investors Council that will allow the IC to routinely assess investment climate through gender lenses, together with concrete and actionable recommendations on how to incorporate the GLI framework into the laws and regulations for fostering effective publicprivate partnerships to promote GLI in Georgia.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a homebased consultancy.

As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum one trip to Tbilisi, Georgia with 2 working and 2 travel days.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Technical credibility in policy research
• Technical credibility in legislative analysis
• Business acumen
• Negotiation
• Partnerships building

Education and Certification:

• Advanced University degree (at least Masterin Economics, Sociology, Law, Gender, Human Rights, Labor relations, or similar fields is required.

Experience:

• At least five years with Master’s degree or minimum seven years with Bachelor’s degree of experience in developing and implementing GLI frameworks, instruments, and tools, with a strong understanding of gender analysis in the investment landscape, particularly focusing on womenled businesses and female investors, as well as extensive experience in women’s economic empowerment and evaluating the genderrelated effects of policies and programmes is required.
• At least five years with Master’s degree or minimum seven years with Bachelor’s degree of working experience providing capacity development trainings on gender equality and gender mainstreaming to various stakeholders, including representatives of national and local governments, private sector, CSOs etc. is required.
• Demonstrated experience in working on legal and policy reforms, especially integrating gender considerations into governance and investment practices within both public and private sectors would be a strong asset.
• Previous experience in working with UN agencies, and other international organizations would be a strong asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.

How to Apply:

• Personal CV and P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UNWomenP11PersonalHistoryForm.doc
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 pag

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFE, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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 any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zerotolerance 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(and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)