National Technical Consultant on Gender Equality and HIV/AIDs

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.

Through the UN General Assembly Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS adopted in June 2021, the world renewed its strong commitments to the goal of Ending AIDS by 2030, global AIDS targets by 2025 and action and resources to achieve them. The Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026 is a bold new approach to use an inequalities lens to close the gaps that are preventing progress towards ending AIDS and outlines the multisectoral approaches that are required to address the challenges ahead. To translate global commitments into action at country level, the 2022-2026 Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF), through the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), lays down a clear five-year roadmap to support countries and communities to reduce inequalities that contribute to the AIDs epidemic and drive actions to improve HIV responses and services to progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat.

UN Women Philippines, a member of the UN Joint Team on AIDS (UNJTA), together with other UN agencies including UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNODC and WHO, is seeking to recruit a National Consultant on Gender Equality and HIV/AIDs to assist UN Women Philippines in the conduct of a formative assessment of the situation of women living with HIV/AIDs (WLHIV) in all their diversity, focusing on the factors behind the low antiretroviral (ARV) coverage among WLHIV and identifying recommendations for programme implementation. The National Consultant is expected to support UN Women Philippines’ engagement with the UNJTA and civil society partners, including in the planning a national summit of WLHIVs (tentatively scheduled for December 2024) where results of the formative assessment will be presented by the National Consultant for validation.

 

The National Technical Consultant on Gender Equality and HIV/AIDS will be reporting to the Country Programme Coordinator with guidance from Strategic Planning and Coordination Analyst and support from the Operations Associate, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

 

The National Technical Consultant on Gender Equality and HIV/AIDS will perform the following tasks:

 

• Lead the conduct of a formative assessment of the situation of WLHIV in all their diversity, focusing on the factors behind low ARV coverage among WLHIV and identifying recommendations for programme implementation. This includes includes developing the formative assessment study plan, identifying relevant key/target resource individuals, groups and organizations, organizing data collection activities, coordinating with relevant government agencies, the academe and civil society partners, consolidating inputs and feedback and preparing initial and final drafts of the formative assessment study.
• Support UN Women Philippines’ engagement with the UNJTA and civil society partners, including attending UNJTA meetings and events and preparing short reports/minutes linked to UNJTA-related activities.
• Support the planning of a national summit of WLHIVs (tentatively scheduled for December 2024), where results of the formative assessment will be presented for validation, including in the development of concept note and identifying key resource persons, among others.

Deliverables Upon approval of the following:	Expected completion time (due day)
Inception report, including activities to be conducted and key resource persons/groups. (Target date of submission 30 July 2024)	30 August 2024 (15July-30August 2024)
Report on the results of the consultations, focused group discussions, KIIs and meetings attended/organized for the formative assessment. Summary report on engagements with the UNJTA
First draft of the formative assessment report and presentation deck Summary report on engagements with the UNJTA	30 September 2024
Revised draft of the formative assessment report, incorporating feedback from UN Women Philippines and UNJTA, and presentation deck for the national summit of WLHIV Summary report on engagements with the UNJTA and support provided for the planning of the national summit of WLHIV (December 2024)	30 November 2024 (1Oct-30Nov)
Final formative assessment report, reflecting feedback and suggestions received during the national summit of WLHIV. End of project/engagement report	30 December 2024

 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

 

UN Women will provide the National Technical Consultant on Gender Equality and HIV/AIDS with substantive inputs to ensure that the completion of reports is in line with the objectives the organization. The National Technical Consultant on Gender Equality and HIV/AIDS is expected to work remotely, with reporting to UN Women office as needed, he/she may access the UN Women office for printing of relevant documents or should he/she be required to work on-site at any point during the assignment. As part of this assignment, there will be possible at least 1 mission outside the duty station.

 

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: 

• Ability to produce timely, quality outputs
• Ability to multi-task and work independently with little supervision
• Strong interpersonal, negotiation, presentation and communication skills, including ability to listen actively and respond effectively
• Strong resourcefulness, logical thinking
• Demonstrated ability to use Microsoft Office and qualitative and quantitative data analysis software for research

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in public health, social and behavioral sciences, public policy, epidemiological research, 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:

• At least one (1) year of progressively responsible work experience in research, data collection and analysis and scientific and technical writing, particularly on HIV/AIDS and other public health concerns
• Strong understanding and knowledge of HIV/AIDS, gender equality and other development issues in the context of the Philippines
• Understanding/familiarity of government, CSOs, WLHIV and PLHIV networks and UN efforts on HIV/AIDS
• Experience in conducting participatory research and facilitating focused group discussions, KIIs and consultations.
• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
• Excellent English communication and writing skills.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Filipino is required.

How to apply:

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials maybe requested from shortlisted candidates.

 

 

Diversity and Inclusion Statement:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, 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.