National Consultant / Legal Expert in Civil and Administrative Law

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  (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.

The United Nations Joint Programme for Gender Equality in Georgia (UNJP4GE or the programme), funded by the Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), is implemented jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The current phase (Phase III) began on 1 July 2022 and ends 31 December 2026.

The overall goal of the programme is to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment by means of strengthening capacities of government at both central and local levels and across the executive, legislative and judicial branches, engaging civil society and raising public awareness about gender equality. The target population of the programme is: society at large, women, men and youth and especially excluded groups of women such as IDPs and conflict affected populations, ethnic and religious minorities, female-headed households, victims/survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence and LGBTIQ+ individuals.

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 ofbelieve that violence between husband and wife is a private matter and others should not intervene. 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 advocate to further improve the civil and administrative legislation to better reflect women’s and girl’s rights, with special pocus on issues such as: property, inheritance issues, alimony and alimony enforcement, child custody and visitation issues in VAWG/DV-related cases, restitution of damages (calculation practices etc.), judicial and legal ethics in relation to treatment of victims in court.

For this purpose, UN Women will recruit a National Consultant – Legal Expert in Civil and Administrative Law, who will be responsible for engaging with relevant state and non-state stakeholders to work on the development of legislative and policy initiatives on gender equality and women’s and girl’s rights.

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.

GEOSTAT, UN Women and the EU, National Study on Violence against Women in Georgia 2022. Available at;

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will be responsible to:

• Develop draft amendments to gender equality related Civil and Administrative legislation, legislative initiatives, and relevant policy papers with the special pocus on property/inheritance right, alimony and alimony enforcement, child custody and visitation issues in VAWG/DV-related cases, restitution of damages (calculation practices etc.), judicial and legal ethics in relation to treatment of victims in court;     
• Develop explanatory notes to the draft amendment and legislative initiatives;
• Lead/engage in the meetings with state and non-state partners and UN Women team and collect feedback around proposed legislative changes or other avenues that may require legal action to enhance women’s rights and gender equality;
• 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 as needed;
• Develop analysis of laws and policies vis-a-vis best 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:  

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 in public policy, law, human rights

Relevant Work Experience:

• At least five (5) years (seven (7) years in case of bachelor’s degree) of experience in working in the area of gender equality, property/inheritance right, alimony and alimony enforcement, child custody and visitation issues in VAWG/DV-related cases, restitution of damages
• At least five (5) years (seven (7) years in case of bachelor’s degree) of experience in working with national and international human rights and gender equality related legislation and policy instruments
• At least five (5) years (seven (7) years in case of bachelor’s degree) of experience in developing pieces of material and procedural legislation in the areas of Civil and Administrative Law of Georgia

Languages:

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

How to Apply:

• Personal CV and  P11 (P11 can be downloaded from:  )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) 

How to Submit the Application:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11) – 
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), CV and Motivation Letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click ‘Apply Now’ button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click ‘Submit Application’;
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

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.

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.)