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.

The past several years have been extremely challenging for the people of Afghanistan. Already suffering from decades of conflict and instability, Afghanistan’s human rights, governance, humanitarian, and development situations deteriorated sharply after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. This transition impacted not only the political and security situations but also had particularly severe implications for human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment. The United Nations and its partners recognize that humanitarian aid alone will not be enough to sustainably address the large-scale and increasing human suffering of the Afghan people in the medium and long term. As such, humanitarian efforts should be complemented and reinforced with interventions addressing basic human needs that aim to reduce the humanitarian caseload over time and support Afghans, particularly women, girls, and other vulnerable groups, to a) build resilience to shocks, b) sustain livelihoods, c) protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, d) strengthen social cohesion and build social capital, and e) preserve hard-won development gains achieved over the past two decades, including with regard to service delivery. This approach is also important for the identification and achievement of durable solutions to displacement caused by conflict, climate change, and sudden onset natural disasters.

The United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) 2023-2025 articulates the UN’s approach to addressing basic human needs in Afghanistan. In close consultations with our Member States, partners, and stakeholders, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) has identified three complementary and mutually reinforcing joint priorities as it supports the basic human needs of the Afghan people:

Priority 1: Sustained Essential Services

Priority 2: Economic Opportunities and Resilient Livelihoods

Priority 3: Social Cohesion, Inclusion, Gender Equality, Human Rights, and Rule of Law.

With the Humanitarian Country Team, the UNCT has also agreed on two collective outcomes: to 1) reduce food insecurity and 2) reduce maternal and child mortality rates. Partners across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus have agreed to work together toward these outcomes.

In February 2024, the UNCT has endorsed the development of the country-level UNCT Gender Parity Strategy. This process will be led by the UNCT Operations Management Team (OMT) with support of GTG. Country-level strategy will build on the United Nations System-wide Gender Parity Strategy, and supplementary documents, which sets targets for equal representation of women and men, with specific commitments in the following areas: leadership and accountability; senior management; recruitment and retention; creating an enabling environment; and field operations. The goal of the strategy is not simply about achieving quantitative goals, but about fostering an inclusive workplace, and transforming the institutional culture so that the Organization can fully deliver on its mandate.

As part of its commitment to integrating gender considerations into strategic system-wide processes for use by the UN, including UNCTs, UN Women is looking for a consultant to support the work of the GTG and OMT. The consultant will be reporting to the Gender Equality Coordinator (RCO).

Duties and Responsibilities

Deliverables

The primary objective of this consultancy is to support OMT and GTG in creating a UNCT Gender Parity Strategy, taking stock of various initiatives undertaken to date in this regard, as well as identifying any gaps. The final document will take stock of response composition figures, but also various recommendations made to date for special temporary measures and set annual targets to recruit and retain female staff and improve a safe and conducive working environment.

The envisaged time frame of the consultancy is estimated to be 23 working days (13 days homebased, 10 working days in Kabul) during the period from March to May 2024. Payment will be made upon satisfactory receipt and approval of the following deliverables:

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This consultancy is homebased with one-off travel to Kabul, Afghanistan in compliance with the do no harm principle, safety protocols and measures recommended by the United Nations Department for Security Services. The working week in Afghanistan is Sunday-Thursday.

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:

• Substantive knowledge and experience related to current analyzes, policies, and practices in the fields of gender equality, including in gender analysis, program planning, and policy advice;
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy;
• Expertise in research, data analysis, and report writing; and
• Adept at queries, report writing, and presenting findings;

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in social and political sciences, human rights, gender equality etc.

• 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 seven years of practical experience of work on gender mainstreaming in development programs/projects at national and international levels;
• Previous experience with the development of gender parity documents in a country context is an asset;
• Previous experience in gender data collection and analysis, including interviews, survey, and focus groups is required;
• At least 3 years of experience in results-based management, review, and/or evaluation is an asset.

Languages:

Fluency in English is required.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from Application and recruitment process | About us: Careers at UN Women | UN Women – Headquarters Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Inclusion Statement:

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.)