Purpose of Consultancy:

To conduct a regional analysis on gender equality setbacks and pushbacks in Eastern Europe and in Central Asia with agreed policy recommendations and advocacy messages to address regressive gender equality trends and pushbacks across the two subregions.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Scope of Work:

Desk based analysis of setbacks to gender equality including:

• Identify the main areas/issues of contestation, their drivers and alternative narratives needed to respond to them in the following fields:
  a) Pushback to the policy discussions and changes in the legal and normative frameworks as laid out in the ICPD and consequent human right instruments and platforms.
  b) Changes in social norms and individual behaviours and believes that explains or contest the pushback to gender equality, women’s rights and Sexual and reproductive health and rights using national, regional and global data sources such as but not limited to, images studies, World Value Surveys, HDRs, etc.;
  c) Changes in access to rights and services envisioned in the ICPD and consequent human right instruments and platforms.
  d) Changes in political, civic, or religious platforms towards utilising misconceptions of the term “gender” for socio-political mobilisation.
• Identify key main narratives driving the pushback in Eastern Europe and in Central Asia and the spaces of influence where it is manifested.
• Identify and analyse the sectors driving the narratives and ideologies of the actors and groups engaged in advancing setbacks to gender equality, and explore, their strategies and agendas.
• Draft key policy recommendations and advocacy messages to address regressive gender equality trends and pushbacks across the region, with granular analysis as pertinent to clusters of countries or subregions, taking into account shifting socio-economic realities, conflicts and political trends.

Duration and Working Schedule:

July 2023 – 31 December 2023

Location:

Primary hiring location will be Istanbul, Turkiye however selected candidate can work remotely/home-based.

Deliverable and Schedule:

Deliverable	# of days	Schedule
Product 1: Draft outline with proposed methodologies	3	20 August 2023
Product 2: First Draft of the pushbacks of the pushbacks to gender equality for feedback	25	20 September 2023
Product 3: Final document based on desk-based analysis of the pushbacks to gender equality including strategies and methodology of engagement.	10	30 October 2023

Expected Travel:

No travel is foreseen

Qualifications and Experience:

The consultant should have the following educational background, qualifications and expertise:

Education:

• Advanced degree in social sciences, gender or other field directly related to the substantive areas of this position is desirable.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant professional experience in social and political analysis in a comparative international focus
• Demonstrable technical skills in critical analysis of data and evidence qualitative and quantitative
• Demonstrable experience in the field of gender equality
• Strong writing and analytic skills with;

Languages:

• Fluency and excellent writing skills in English, Russian is desirable.

Other relevant information:

Payment will be made in two instalments for a total amount of daily fee rate for 38 workdays.
Initial Instalment upon successful completion of Deliverables 1 and 2 (lumpsum for 28 workdays )
Final Instalment upon successful completion of Deliverable 3 (lumpsum for 10 workdays)

Disclaimer:

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm

In accordance with the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations, persons applying to posts in the international Professional category, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.