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 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.

Assignment Background

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most serious, life threatening and widespread violations of human rights worldwide. In Asia and the Pacific, the levels of intimate partner violence remain unacceptably high. Over 37 per cent of women in South Asia, 34 per cent of women in South East Asia and up to 48 per cent of women in the Pacific have experienced violence at the hands of their partners. Violence against women and girls occurs at home, in workplaces, in public spaces and online, and can culminate in femicide, the murder of women and girls.

Violence against women devastates lives, fractures families and communities. Diverse groups of women suffer from multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and inequalities, making them especially vulnerable to violence. Those vulnerability factors include age, ethnicity, poverty, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion, indigeneity, nationality, immigration status and other factors. VAWG impedes human development and has serious negative consequences, ranging from multiple immediate to long-term physical, sexual and psychological impacts, which often prevent women and girls from fully participating in society. VAWG significantly undermines women’s educational and employment opportunities, income earning capability and advancement in the workplace, which greatly limits their economic development. It is a major impediment to women’s empowerment, gender equality and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Violence against women is firmly rooted in gender inequality, discrimination and harmful cultural and social norms. It is firmly grounded in unequal power relations between women and men and is reinforced by discriminatory and gender-biased attitudes, norms and practices. Deeply ingrained patriarchal, cultural and religious norms in society and institutions place a lower value on women and girls and contribute to high levels of acceptance of violence by both men and women. The widespread cultural acceptance of violence allows it to continue, often unchallenged.

VAWG is exacerbated by COVID-19 pandemic, other emergencies, and periods of conflict. At a time when service providers are less available, violence is worsening for many women and girls in the region.

To mitigate the devastating impact of violence, women who face violence and abuse need access to services that respond to their multiple needs: health care systems and justice, police protection and social support services. Critical gaps remain in service provision for survivors of violence in terms of availability, quality and coordination. Most women who experienced violence do not receive the full range of services and many do not receive any services at all. When services are available, they are often underfunded, understaffed, and mostly available in capitals or larger cities. When quality, coordinated and safe services are available to survivors, it is more likely that survivors will disclose violence and seek help to stop it. Coordinated quality services are affordable and essential to mitigate the devastating impacts of violence and to prevent it from reoccurring.

To effectively respond to VAWG, it is critical to ensure the quality, integrated and survivor-centered multi-sectoral essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors. The Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence was developed by UN Women, in partnership with UNFPA, WHO, UNDP and UNODC to provide greater access to a coordinated set of essential and quality multi-sectoral services for all women and girls who have experienced VAWG. The Programme identifies the essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors as well as guidelines for the coordination of essential services, the governance of coordination processes and mechanisms and guidance on estimating resource needed. Service delivery guidelines for the core elements of each essential service have been identified to ensure the delivery of high-quality services, particularly for low- and middle-income countries, for women and girls experiencing violence. Taken together, these elements comprise the “Essential services package” (ESP).

Strengthening the justice sector response, particularly that of law enforcement, has consistently been cited as one of the most challenging issues when responding to violence against women and girls, but a positive initial contact experience with police and high-quality police and justice response is crucial for survivors of violence. In 2021, under the Joint Global Programme on Essential Services, UN Women, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) published the Handbook on gender-responsive police services for women and girls subject to violence[1] to provide police with guidance on the prevention of and response to VAW. UN Women is providing technical assistance with the rollout of the Police Handbook in in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2022, UN Women and the World Health Organization published the resource for Improving the Collection and Use of Administrative Data. Useful for diverse sectors and contexts, this resource identifies eight steps for improving the collection and use of VAW administrative data which is crucial to inform the policies and programmes developed by governments to prevent and respond to VAW and provide insights into who is not accessing services to ensure no one is left behind.

Through the roll-out and adaptation of the ESP[2] in the Asia-Pacific region, UN Women continues to support and enhance essential services provision. This includes, inter alia, strengthening and updating a global database on national helplines and increasing awareness of available services; building the capacity of service providers, e.g. police and judicial actors and shelter staff; developing guidance on quality multi-sectoral services and responses for crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, e.g. on the use of safe technologies in the provision of essential services, especially remote service delivery; as well as documenting and sharing good practices of what works in terms of effective response.

Through this line of work on ESP, UN Women will consolidate its work on coordinating, convening, and supporting governments and partners achieved during the previous two years (Phase I) to strengthen the availability, accessibility, and quality of essential survivor-centered services, with a focus on institutional change. The Senior Consultant will support regional and country-focused support on responding to VAWG. The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical assistance, capacity building and support knowledge management on the Essential Services Package based on needs in Asia and the Pacific. Further, the aim is to support the implementation, monitoring & evaluation, knowledge sharing, cross country exchanges and documentation of the implementation and adaptation of the essential services package, including for the crisis planning and situations.

In fulfilling the objectives of this assignment, the Senior Consultant (team leader) will collaborate closely with and oversee the activities of a Team Member. The two consultants will work seamlessly as a team to execute the responsibilities outlined in their respective Terms of Reference (TOR). The culmination of their efforts will be reflected in the joint submission of deliverables, presented in the form of comprehensive reports.

This role will contribute to a DFAT-funded project to expand the reach and quality of services for women and girls survivors.

[1] UNODC, UN Women and IAWP, Handbook on gender-responsive police services for women and girls subject to violence (2021). Available: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/01/handbook-gender-responsive-police-services

[2] Phases I and II of the UN Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls came to an end on 30 June 2019. A new phase of the UN Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls, which continues the work of the previous phases of the Joint Programme, will be developed and launched in 2020, It will consider the preliminary recommendations of the evaluation of Phases I and II, including adapting essential services provision in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of this assignment is to support the implementation of UN Women’s Regional EVAW programming and technical support to country offices in the region through coordinating with partners; research; drafting concept notes for programming and regional actions/events; developing technical content and presentations; and monitoring and reporting on progress. The focus of this assignment is various elements linked with responding to and preventing violence against women.

DELIVERABLES, KEY TASKS AND TIMELINES

Technical Assistance

• Directly engage with UN Women country offices through regular exchange on their current activities and providing technical inputs, considering needs of diverse survivors.
• Provide technical inputs to technical advisory services and inputs on strategy, policy and projects development, implementation, and design of ESP initiatives, and to the implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and documentation of learning of ESP pilot initiatives in Asia and the Pacific.
• Provide technical inputs and advice to offices and partners regarding the integration of safe methods for consulting with survivors to strengthen services.
• Monitor progress of the ESP in the Asia-Pacific region and support in documenting the adaptation of the ESP to specific country contexts in selected countries.
• Support country offices with learning needs, such as femicide, fatality reviews, domestic violence risks assessment tools

Capacity Strengthening

• Conduct regular webinars to build capacity of UN Women staff, and partners who are implementing the ESP (i.e. Ministries, VAW services providers, CSOs, policy makers, other UN agencies). Topics covered will be identified according to country offices’ needs.
• Provide capacity training to service providers and partners identified by UN Women country offices in the region.

Knowledge creation, management and sharing

• Provide technical support and inputs to concept notes, research, reports, and knowledge products on the ESP on existing and new initiatives/activities including on shelter policies, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), National Action Plans (NAPs) and protocols in relation to violence against women and essential services.
• Identify opportunities for cross-country learning and convene regional and national Essential Services meetings between UN Women offices in Asia and the Pacific to learn from each other and identify promising practices, tools, and challenges on essential services across the region. This includes hosting, planning, and facilitating the exchanges.
• Produce a series of papers/stories documenting practice-based learning and knowledge from countries implementing the ESP, written for a public audience.

Monitoring, documentation, reporting

• Coordinate with the UN Women Regional Office, Country Offices and stakeholders as needed.
• Provide regular status and progress reports to the Regional Office regarding support to country offices and partners.
• Maintain a monitoring table, tracking system for country updates and system for file sharing that aligns with the deliverable table below for clear progress tracking per country.
• Document each engagement to capture learning and knowledge.
• Deliverable-based progress report (3-4 pages) capturing progress, reflections, and learning.

The selection of countries to which support will be provided has been developed in consultation with UN Women Country Offices in the region based on needs and requests, however the specific countries are subject to change depending on changing contexts and arising opportunities. This technical support is designed to be context-specific and context-driven. Country offices have been consulted and opportunities will be validated upon the start of contract. Some possible countries are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

This terms of reference supports implementation of the following project activities, at a minimum:

1.1.1.1 Provide technical support to develop and review VAWG-related policies and protocols, guidance and tools on response, developed by HQ and the Asia-Pacific regional office, in line with the Essential Services Package

1.1.2.3 Support use of guidance on survivor-centred approaches in EVAW programming (Safe Consultations with Survivors), and specifically survivor-centred prosecutions

1.1.4.1 Support implementation of tools and guidance on multi-sectoral coordination of VAW Essential Services

1.2.2.1 Strengthen the institutional and technical capacity of service providers to provide survivor-centred and trauma-informed responses for women and girls through the piloting, roll out and dissemination of key guidance and tools in selected countries

1.2.2.4 Support regional and/or national level workshop(s) (including online) for service providers on the Global guidance on survivor-centred approaches in EVAW programming (safe consultations with survivors conducted

1.2.3.1 Support application of the Global Guidance on the Collection and Use of Administrative Data

Final products and deliverables

This role is expected to deliver efficient, timely, responsive, professional, client-friendly and high-quality support to UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and its partners in the accomplishment of their functions, including:

Duration of Assignment and Duty Station

The time required for the consultancy is from March 2024 – May 2025. The consultancy will be home-based with possibility of missions to up to 6 countries in Asia and the Pacific. Travel costs will be arranged by UN Women and the costs will be covered based on UN Women travel policy.

Schedule of Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

Competencies

Core Values

• Teamwork and respect for diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies

• 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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree in in the field of international law, international development, social work, social science, gender studies, or other related area.
• 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:

• A minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in project/programme development and implementation with strong technical expertise in essential services for survivors of violence. Experience working in the field of violence against women/gender-based violence in the development and/or humanitarian setting is an advantage.
• Experience working in international settings is an advantage.
• Experience with proposal writing, donor reporting and resource mobilisation is an asset.
• Experience working in the Asia-Pacific region is an asset.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English, and strong English writing communication skills are required.

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points)

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individuals is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically qualified candidates who may be contacted for validation interview.

VII. Submission of application

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit an electronic application no later than 18 March 2024, COB.

Submission package includes:

• Completed UN Women Personal History form (P11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc
• Cover letter outlining relevant work experience
• Work samples for writing skill

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.)

** Please note, you can only submit 1 file in the UNDP application system. If you submit your application through the UNDP application system, please create one file with all the required documents. Applicants with incomplete submission will not be considered. **