International consultant to support gender mainstreaming in UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2026-2030

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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world.

It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. In support of UN Women’s Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (GEWE) mandate and the realization of women and girls rights contend in key normative frameworks such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms  of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), Agenda 2030.

The UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) is the foundational and most important instrument for planning and implementation of UN Development activities at country level, translating the vision of Member States into UN actions and impacts on the ground. Embodying a spirit of true partnership, the UNSDSF maps the UN development system’s collective response to the 2030
Agenda and national development priorities, in agreement with each host government. It is critical that all UNSDCFs adhere to the system wide accountability the guiding principles: gender equality and women’s empowerment, leave no one behind and human rights-based approach (GEWE, LNOB and HRBA) (the first three of the six guiding principles).

The Common Country Analysis (CCA) is an integrated evidence-based analysis by the United Nations system of the prospects for sustainable development in a country in which it maintains operational development activities. The CCA serves as the analytical baseline for the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (Cooperation Framework) and provides the basis for policy dialogue and prioritization with stakeholders on sustainable development strategies and solutions. The Common Country Analysis (CCA) responds to the urgency of the 2030 Agenda by delivering an evidence-based analysis of the context for sustainable development in the country. The analysis
integrates the overall commitment of the United Nations (UN) to UN Charter values, the Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principle, and international norms and standards. It rests on traditional and nontraditional quantitative and qualitative data and sources, including a broad, regular consultation process. The CCA, a UN independent analysis of the country context, is a living document which is updated annually to examine changes in the national context and related impacts on sustainable development. 

The new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2026-2030 is being developed to replace the current one covering 2021-2025 which guided the work of the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Kazakhstan, ensuring coherence in UN programmatic engagement within the country.
Kazakhstan remains politically stable with upcoming Presidential elections in 2029 and Parliamentary elections in 2028, indicating no expected power rotation until the adoption of the new UNSDCF. The Government of Kazakhstan under the coordination of the Agency on Strategic Planning of the Republic of Kazakhstan in cooperation with UN Kazakhstan developed the National Development Plan until 2029. Also, the Concept on Gender and Family Policy until 2030 and its Action Plan had been updated in 2022. Furthermore, Kazakhstan developed and adopted its first National Action Plan on the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2022 and updated it in 2024. In December 2023,
President signed the Action Plan on Human Rights and Rule of Law in Kazakhstan where the set of actions were introduced to address issues of discrimination against women and ensure that gender equality mechanisms were strengthened. Moreover, on June 16, 2024, the Law on Amendments and Additions to Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Ensuring Women’s Rights and Safety of Children came into force. The Law included the criminalization of light bodily harm and assault, establishment of Family Support Centres across the country, strict measures towards protecting children against violence and pedophilia, as well as work with perpetrators and other measures in fifteen national legislative acts. Ongoing reforms initiated by the President aim at accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including a commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

The new Cooperation Framework will align closely with the strategic development priorities and plans of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It will address cross-cutting issues such as gender equality and women’s empowerment, human rights and non-discrimination, disability inclusion, intersectionality and environmental sustainability.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective:
• Provide full-fledged expert and technical support to UN Women Country Office Kazakhstan in coordinating and facilitating processes during the development of the new UNSDCF 2026-2030 with aim at integrating visible and strong gender aspects and ensuring gender mainstreaming of all UNSDCF documents.
• To ensure that gender mainstreaming is incorporated into the strategic priorities, outcomes, result matrix, and theories of change of the UNSDCF.
• To facilitate technical consultations with key stakeholders, including civil society, government experts, private sector, and other actors.
• To provide expert guidance on aligning the Cooperation Framework with international best practices and standards for gender equality.
 

Duration of the contract and location:
The contract is expected to commence in August 2024 and come to an end on the satisfactory completion of the services in December 2024. The consultant will work remotely but maybe required to travel to 
Kazakhstan to fulfill the tasks.
 

Direct Supervision:
The tasks will be performed under the direct supervision of the UN Women Head of Office Ad Interim.
 

Scope of work:

• Work closely with, but not limited, the UNCT, UN Kazakhstan UNSDCF Chairs of Results Groups, Chairs of Thematic Groups, the Evalutation team, the Resident Coordinator Office in Kazakhstan to integrate gender perspectives into all aspects of the Cooperation Framework.
• Consult and work closely with members of the UN Women Civil Society Advisory Group.
• Facilitate consultations and workshops with stakeholders to gather inputs and ensure gender considerations are reflected.
• Review and provide feedback and concrete recommendations on draft versions of the UNSDCF to ensure gender integration.
• Collaborate with other consultants and experts working on UNCDCF development.
• Prepare regular briefs and talking points for UN Women Head of Office a.i. to advocate for strong and visible UNSDCF gender-mainstreaming.
• Participate in person in the strategic prioritization exercise with national partners (dates will be confirmed). Provide support to UN Women Kazakhstan in preparation to this exercise and prepare reports and recommendations.

Deliverables:
• Detailed work plan for the period of the assignment considering the UNSDCF 2026-2030 Road map, other relevant documents and discussions with involved partners.
• Report and recommendations for the development of the new UNSDCF using the provisions of the UNSDCF 2021-2025, the UNSDCF Evaluation Report (2024), Common Country Analysis, UNSDCF Internal Guidance (UNSDG), UN Women UN Women Strategic Plan and UN
Women Kazakhstan Strategic Note 2022-2025.
• Gender analysis and recommendations using draft (working versions) of UNSDCF Outcomes architecture, Theory of Change, Results Matrix and other mandatory documents.
• Consultation materials, including agendas, presentations, and summary reports.
• Regular progress reports on activities and achievements.
• Final report summarizing the gender mainstreaming process and outcomes in the UNSDCF 2026-2030
 

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:  
 

Required Skills and Experience

Required Qualifications:
• Advanced university degree in gender studies, social sciences, international development, or related fields.
• At least 5 years of experience in the field of gender mainstreaming in development programmes/projects at national and international levels;
• Previous experience working on UNCDCF development is an asset;
• Proven track record of working with UN agencies, government counterparts, and civil society organizations.
• English is mandatory, knowledge of Russian is an asset.
 

Others:
The contractor shall warrant that no official, or Individual/Service Contract holders of the United Nations has received or will be offered by the contractor any direct or indirect benefit arising from this contract or the award thereof. The contractor agrees that breach of this provision is a breach of an essential term of this contract
 

Application Process
The application should include:
– Personal History Form (P-11 form) – including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at , a signed copy should be submitted;
– Technical proposal describing how the expected assignment will be performed. The technical proposal should also include supporting materials to learn about candidate’s experience and skills.
 

Evaluation process
Candidates will be evaluated based on set technical qualification requirements:

#	Evaluation Criteria	Scoring schedule
1	Advanced university degree in gender studies, social sciences, international development, or related fields.	Yes – 150 points No  – 0 points
2	At least 5 years of experience in the field of gender mainstreaming in development programmes/projects at national and international levels;	Yes – 500 points No – 0 points
3	Previous experience working on UNCDCF development is an asset;	Yes – 200 points No – 0 points
4	Proven track record of working with UN agencies, government counterparts, and civil society organizations.	Yes – 100 points No – 0 points
5	Knowledge of Russian	Yes – 50 points No – 0 points

Kindly note, that the system will only allow one attachment, hence all supporting document e.g., P11, CV must be scanned as one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants. Due to the large number of applications received, UN Women will inform only the successful candidate about the outcome or status of the selection process.
 

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.

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.)