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.

Gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment (GEWE) is integral to realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and all SDGs. In line with the Management Accountability Framework, and to ensure that GEWE are integrated throughout the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), UN development system entities shall put gender equality at the heart of programming, consistent with the minimum requirements agreed upon in the UNCT SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard. The UNSDCF (2022- 2026) incorporate gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment (GEWE) into strategic Outcome 3 under which to strengthen the capacity and accountability of institutions across public and private sector and government at national and local levels; and to support civil society and the women’s movement to enjoy expanded political space to effectively represent women and girls, and drive policy and social change for the promotion of gender equality and elimination of GBV.

To ensure and proceed with a common understanding of GEWE in programming, advocacy and operations, and as per the UNCT Gender Equality Scorecard Action Plan, the UN’s Gender Equality Theme Group (GTG) oversee the implementation of a capacity needs assessment and design of a capacity building plan to strengthen the UNCT. The GTG has planned for undertaking capacity needs assessment under GTG Work Plan 2024 (Output 5.2: Enhance and develop the capacity of UNCT personnel) to examine the levels of understanding and to identify capacity gaps and learning needs among staff. It will cover staff knowledge and understanding about particular concepts (e.g., gender equality, women’s empowerment, etc.), policies (gender parity strategy, gender mainstreaming strategy) and procedures (reflecting gender equality in procurement and recruitment processes, etc.); and staff capacity to implement these and other gender-related processes. The information will feed into a capacity building plan that will be rolled out in January 2025.

Within the UN system, UN Women is mandated to lead, promote and coordinate efforts to advance the full realization of women’s rights and opportunities. The UN General Assembly has called on all parts of the UN system to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women within their mandates, and to ensure that commitments on paper lead to progress on the ground. In Thailand, UN Women co-chairs the GTG with UNFPA, and together with UNRCO make up the secretariat of the GTG.

The consultant will be reporting to Country Programme Coordinator for Thailand, and will be supported by Programme Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

• Design and undertake a capacity needs assessment of the UNCT in Thailand on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (Q3-4 2024). The capacity needs assessment will align with the Gender Equality Scorecard Action plan, the Joint Work Plan of the UNSDCF, and the Joint Programming Framework.
• Design a capacity building plan (2025-2026) on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, for the UNCT in Thailand.

Under the guidance of the GTG secretariat, and in consultation with the GTG, the consultant will

• Design a capacity needs assessment on GEWE, of the UNCT in areas covering advocacy, programming and operations. The assessment will apply and build on the relevant tools of UN Women resource pool.

• Carry out the assessment, including questionnaires and surveys, focus groups, and interviews with staff and relevant groups under the UNCT including PMT, OMT, M&E group, Comms group, and the UNCT itself.
• Formulate and validate a UNCT gender equality capacity building plan for 2025-2026, including a pooled funding mechanism to fund the capacity building activities.

Expected Deliverables and Timeframe

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

his assignment is home-based with online communication. No DSA will be paid at the duty station. If unforeseen travel outside the duty station not required by the Terms of Reference is requested by UN women, and upon prior agreement/approval, such travel shall be at UN women’s expense and the individual contractor shall receive a per-diem not to exceed United Nations daily subsistence allowance rate in such other location(s).

Supervision

The consultant will be supervised by Country Programme Coordinator for Thailand who will be responsible for the quality assurance of the deliverables. All the deliverables, including annexes, notes, and reports, should be submitted in writing in English. Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt.

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:

• Excellent analytical skills;
• Strong knowledge of UN Women processes and systems;
• Strong networking skills;
• Strong interpersonal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;
• Ability to work in a highly pressured environment.
• Strong research and writing skills, with strong coordinating skills.
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, Internet and email.
• Excellent facilitation and training skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, public policy/administration, governance, gender studies or similar.
• A first-level university degree in similar fields 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’ experience working with the UN system on gender equality and gender mainstreaming, including experience in developing and conducting system-wide capacity needs assessments at the policy and programming levels.
• Experience in planning and undertaking consultations, training, and participatory design with different stakeholders and UN agencies is required.
• Strong knowledge of the UN Gender Equality Scorecard and UN architecture at country level is required.

• Previous experience in Thailand or the Asia-Pacific region would be an asset.

Language:

• Excellent writing and editing skills, as well as strong communication and presentation skills in English.

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit an electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org with a copy to Pornviva.oliva@unwomen.org no later than 25 October 2024, 23:59 Bangkok time.

The submission package includes:

• 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 outlining relevant work experience (maximum length: 1 page)
• Samples of work will be requested from shortlisted candidates.

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without any of the items listed above will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further processing.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.