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.

Collecting data on violence against women (VAW) is crucial for understanding the scale and nature of this pervasive issue. Reliable and timely data on prevalence of various forms of VAW is one of key priorities for countries for informing national interventions and policy but also to track their progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, as well as other commitments like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Istanbul Convention. However, due to limited technical capacities, data on VAW prevalence is often scarce, underutilized, or collected in ways that are unethical, unreliable, or difficult to compare.

To address this issue, UN Women, UNFPA and DCO is implementing a regional project on Empowering Equality: Strengthening Gender Data Systems for Sustainable Development in Europe and Central Asia, financed by the UN Joint SDG Fund and implemented collaboratively by both agencies. The project’s primary objective is to strengthen national statistical systems in the region to enhance the measurement and reporting of SDG 5 indicators—ensuring we have accurate, timely, and disaggregated gender data to drive policy and decision-making. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of selected national statistical systems to design, collect, analyze, and disseminate data for SDG 5 indicators, mainstream gender into statistical processes; and institutionalize these practices through robust gender data coordination mechanisms. It takes a two-pronged approach: three countries targeted from the different subregions (Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Caucasus) for specific interventions and a regional component running in parallel. The selected countries were chosen primarily based on the current status of SDG 5 indicators, particularly focusing on the missing indicators for which both agencies are custodians.

Out of the three countries participating in the project, the National Statistics Offices of Moldova and Kyrgyzstan will be supported to design and conduct VAW prevalence pilot survey. For this purpose, the International Consultant on VAW Data will be hired to strengthen capacities of the National Statistics Offices in designing and conducting VAW prevalence survey for meeting policy needs and reporting commitments under the 2030 Agenda and the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action. The international consultant will work closely with respective NSOs, UN Women Regional Gender Statistics Specialist and UNFPA Population and Development Advisor. S/he will be providing the technical guidance at all stages from the design of survey methodology through implementation of pilot survey data collection to the data analysis. A National Reference Group will be set up from the onset of the survey, which will include all relevant partners working on VAW in the country (i.e. government, UN and other international organizations, CSOs, academia). This group will be involved/consulted in the definition of the objectives and scope of the survey, as well as along other phases. This will contribute to the survey being owned by all those stakeholders working on VAW in the country, so that the results can be used for policy and programming. Specifically, the assignment envisages provision of support to the National Bureau of Statistics of Republic of Moldova and the Kyrgyz Republic. For the Republic of Moldova, given its current status of the candidate country for the EU accession which is a core priority for the country at the policy level, all the envisaged methodological support is to follow also the methodology for the EU survey on gender-based violence against women and other forms of inter-personal violence (EU-GBV)[1].

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The main objective of the consultancy is to support the design and data collection for VAW prevalence pilot survey. The Consultant will have the following responsibilities and tasks:

• To guide and support NSOs to develop a robust survey methodology defining survey objectives, scope, sampling strategy, data collection methods and tools (including the questionnaires, data collection protocols, advance letter, flyers, etc.), ethical and safety considerations in alignment other international standards and best practices.
• To support the user-producer dialogue with national stakeholders to identify survey priorities.
• To conduct at least three online and one in person training and working sessions on VAW survey methodology in each of two countries.
• To guide and support cognitive testing of the questionnaire survey.
• To support the refinement of the survey design based on cognitive testing.
• To support and guide the NSOs on development of a training package for field workers (questionnaire step by step guide, interviewer manual, role-play exercise, hand-outs etc.), building on existing training resources, ensuring that all methodological and ethical considerations are reflected in the data collection process.
• Provide technical guidance during pilot survey data collection process to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and completeness, if required.
• Provide technical support and guidance to NSOs in the analysis of pilot survey results (tabulation plan, compilation of main survey indicators, etc.).
• Conceptualize and participate in the validation workshop to present the results of the pilot survey.

Deliverables

Payment for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payment will be based on the submission of the SSA report along with the timesheet and relevant reporting documents per the agreed working methodology and timeline. The deliverables will be cleared by UN Women and UNFPA focal points at the regional and country levels.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. As part of this assignment two travels are envisaged and will be covered separately.

Throughout the assignment, UN Women and UNFPA will provide:

• Background and resource materials beyond those available online or otherwise published that the Consultant will need to obtain directly.
• Technical inputs when reviewing key conceptual documents and knowledge products, including methodologies, desk review analysis, agenda, research reports and training materials.
• Support to coordinate activities with National Statistics Offices and other key stakeholders, when and if required.
• Full logistical and communications support to strengthen visibility of the project.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Competencies in coordination, planning and teamwork.

A commitment to quality product and deadlines.

Education and Certification:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or Ph.D.) in gender, human rights, women’s studies, sociology, psychology, public health, statistics or a related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in leading or coordinating primary research studies and development of analytical reports in the area of ending violence against women.
• Proven track record of leading design, planning, data collection and analysis of at least 2 VAW prevalence surveys.
• Previous working experience with National Statistics Offices, preferably in the area of violence against women data and research is required.
• Previous experience on the use of statistical software such as Stata, SPSS, or R is required;
• Proven knowledge of existing recommendations and tools on measuring violence against women such as Eurostat methodology on gender-based violence against women and other forms of interpersonal violence (EU-GBV), European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Violence Against Women: an EU Wide Survey methodology, the WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women or other internationally recognized survey methodology focusing on prevalence of GBV/VAW is required;
• Previous experience in Europe and Central Asia region is an asset.

Languages:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Russian language is a strong 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)

Statements :

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.