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 Georgia Country Office (CO) Provides technical support to the state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls. UN Women puts special emphasis on the work towards gender mainstreaming in good governance reforms and enhancing women’s political participation, ending violence against women, promoting and supporting women’s economic empowerment, and Women, Peace and Security agenda. Along with these key priority areas that constitute UN Women’s mandate, UN Women interventions in Georgia are anchored in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for the years 2021-2025 with the government of Georgia.
UN Women, with the generous support by the European Union assists the Government of Georgia to meet its obligations undertaken on the international, regional and local levels inter alia in terms of eliminating violence against women and girls (EVAWG) and in particular domestic violence and sexual violence. Alongside with the government and development partners, UN Women is working towards addressing gender inequality in a coherent and comprehensive manner, covering a wide range of issues, including prevention and response to violence against women and girls.

UN Women has been supporting national partners to end violence against women and girls and domestic violence (VAWG/DV) since 2010. Throughout the past decade, technical assistance has been provided to the Government of Georgia to align national legislation and policies with the relevant international legal frameworks and standards. To enhance implementation of the laws and policies, UN Women Georgia has supported the establishment of specialized services for survivors of domestic violence, such as the first state-run shelters, crisis centers and hotlines and rehabilitation programmes for perpetrators.

In Georgia, current research points to widespread experiences of violence against women across the country. According to the second round of the National Study on Violence against Women in Georgia, conducted by GeoStat and UN Women in 2022 with generous funding from the EU, 37.2% of men and 21.4 believe that violence between husband and wife is a private matter and others should not intervene[1]. Intimate partner violence, as well as early and forced marriage, are among the most prevalent forms of violence against women in Georgia. These types of violence cut across all divisions of income, culture, and class. Despite its scale and socioeconomic impact, violence against women remains largely underreported and under-researched in key areas. The same study showed that 26.5 per cent of women (aged 15–69) reported having experienced some form of physical, sexual and/or psychological intimate partner violence in their lifetime; some 23.7 per cent of women experienced psychological abuse; 8.4 per cent experienced economic abuse; and 7.7 per cent experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a partner during lifetime with 0.9 per cent within the preceding 12 months.

In order to further enhance compliance of the acting Georgian legislation with the Istanbul Convention and other relevant international and regional standards, as well as rectify gaps revealed during practice, UN Women will provide technical support to the Inter-Agency Commission in the drafting as well as in the implementation of the subsequent round of the national action plan on VAWG/DV (VAWG/DV NAP) as well as relevant policies in the area and assist the government to further improve the VAWG/DV legislation.

Furthermore, UN Women has worked with the Government in developing the institutional and individual capacities of key service providers in the area of VAWG/DV. In order to continue supporting national partners in Georgia to end VAWG/DV, under the UN Joint Programme on Gender Equality (UNJP), UN Women aims to support relevant state agencies, such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia (CPOG) and other service providers to VAWG/DV survivors to strengthen their capacity and to ensure efficient response to VAWG/DV cases and sexual crimes.

For this purpose, UN Women will recruit a National Consultant – Legal Expert, who will be responsible for engaging with relevant state and non-state stakeholders to work on the development of legislative and policy initiatives on VAWG/DV and capacity development interventions.

The consultant will be reporting to EVAW Programme Analyst, and will be supported by Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

The consultant should provide reports to UN Women, describing the completed work in a reporting format provided by UN Women. The reports should be submitted by 20th of each month worked.

[1] GEOSTAT, UN Women and the EU, National Study on Violence against Women in Georgia 2022. Available at; https://georgia.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/12/national-study-on-violence-against-women-in-georgia-2022

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will be responsible to:

• Develop draft amendments to VAWG/ DV related legislation, legislative initiatives, and relevant policy papers;
• Develop explanatory notes to the draft amendment and legislative initiatives;
• Lead/engage in the meetings of the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CGE) together with UN Women team and collect feedback expressed on the above drafts;
• Facilitate consultations with civil society to collect comments and integrate in the relevant draft policy documents and bills;
• Participate in relevant Parliamentary Committee hearings of the bills;
• Cooperate and assist the CGE in drafting the DV/VAW NAP;
• Work with relevant state agencies on their capacity development to ensure efficient response to VAWG/DV cases;
• Review and update relevant training modules on VAWG/DV for different professionals and conduct training, as necessary;
• Provide support to CSO service providers in the revision/design of internal procedures, processes and case management systems in line with international standards;
• Perform other duties as necessary in relation to the policy and legislative initiatives (such as further research, data collection, inquiries, etc.).

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

As a part of this assignment, there might be need to travel to regions of Georgia.

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:

• Commitment to continuous improvement
• Risk management
• Partnerships building
• Resilience
• Negotiation

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Background:

• University degree (Master’s) in public policy, law, human rights
• Bachelor’s degree with additional 2 (two) years of experience may be taken into consideration in lieu of Master’s degree.

Relevant Work Experience:

• At least two (2) years of professional experience in legislative drafting and analysis in the area of gender equality and domestic violence
• At least two (2) years of experience in working in the area of gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence in Georgia
• At least five (5) years of experience in working with national and international domestic violence and gender equality related legislation and policy instruments
• At least five (5) years of experience in developing pieces of material and procedural legislation in the areas of Administrative, Criminal and Civil Law of Georgia

Languages:

• Fluency in Georgian is required, knowledge of English will be an asset.

How to Apply:

• 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)

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 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.).