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.

As a standard-setting organization, the United Nations has a particular responsibility to lead by example in ensuring the equal and active participation of women at all levels of the UN system. In 1995, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action set a goal of 50/50 gender balance, and this has been reiterated ever since by the UN Member States. UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched his System-wide Strategy on Gender Parity in 2017. This strategy includes recommended actions to reach gender parity by 2028.

UN Women is mandated to lead, coordinate and promote the accountability of the UN system for women’s equal representation, as per the General Assembly resolutions (such as A/RES/78/182). In this context, the Office of the Focal Point for Women in the UN System at UN Women is mandated to monitor and report the System-wide progress on gender parity through the preparation for the Secretary-General’s Report on the Improvement in the Status of Women in the UN System (the SG’s Report). The SG’s Report is produced biennially (see the latest version here) and provides comprehensive insights on women’s representation in the UN System, trends in women’s career life cycles, and organizational culture, with over 20 recommendations aimed at assisting entities to accelerate the progress on gender parity.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will work under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Head of the Office/Senior Advisor and the Gender Parity Specialist, and will have regular meetings with the supervisors and other members of the team on topics of direct relevance, particularly in the context of reporting and monitoring on gender parity progress system-wide, collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, and in drafting the Secretary-General’s Report on the Improvement in the Status of Women in the UN System. The Consultant may also be asked to undertake other priority tasks. In the beginning of the assignment, a work plan with timelines will be developed. Informal feedback will be provided on a daily basis or as needed.

Deliverables:

• Revise a guidance note for developing entity-specific implementation plans to reach gender parity;
• Create a template for entity-specific implementation plans to reach gender parity;
• Organize two webinars for the Gender Focal Point network on the updated guidance note for the entity-specific implementation plans;
• Prepare the 2025 Secretary-General’s Report on the Improvement in the Status of Women in the UN System, including the necessary annexes, with collaboration and under the supervision of the Office of the Focal Point for Women in the UN System;
• Provide two information sessions for the Gender Focal Point network on the survey questionnaire for the SG’s Report;

• Create advocacy and promotion materials such as infographics related to the 2025 SG’s Report;
• Prepare and review related talking points and presentations as needed and requested;
• Perform other official duties and special assignments if requested.
• Deliverables and timeline:
  

  Timeline	Deliverables	Due Date
  June/July 2024	– Develop template and guidance note on the entity-specific Implementation Plan on Gender Parity – Provision of two webinars for gender focal points on the new template	31 July 2024
  November/December 2024	– Revisit survey questions and design of the biennial surveys for the Secretary-General’s Report on the Improvement in the Status of Women in the UN System – Provide two information sessions on the survey questionnaire	31 December 2024
  January – April 2025	– Clean survey data – Survey data analysis – Draft report	31 July 2025
  May-July 2025	– Finalize report as per the given deadline – Prepare submission package
  August 2025	– Design and produce infographics on key statistics	31 October 2025
  October 2025	– Prepare for and present in the session on SG’s report for the Annual Global Gender Focal Point Meeting

  Special note

• The consultancy is offered on a deliverable-basis, and the consultant will be required to take part in all necessary meetings, including requested meetings and consultations. The consultant may be asked to perform other official duties related to the mandate of Office of the Focal Point for Women in the UN System, when asked by the supervisor/s.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work: gender equality.

Functional competencies:

• Excellent drafting skills;
• Strong organizational and planning skills;
• Ability to work well under pressure, and to meet deadlines;
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work as part of a team;
• Excellent knowledge of office software packages.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in International Relations, Communications, Global Development, Public Policy, Management, Social Sciences, Political Science, Gender/Women’s Studies, or related field;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• Strong research experiences, demonstrated by a Ph.D. is desirable.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of relatable work experience required;
• Previous work experience with United Nations’ organizational context and particularly related to communications and coordination as well as gender parity related issues is preferred.

Languages:

• Excellent command of oral and written English is required. Working knowledge of another UN official language will be an asset.

Qualifications

• Experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis;
• Excellent writing skills, including drafting, organizing and presenting information well;
• Demonstrated research skills and knowledge on gender equality;
• Excellent communication, organizational and coordination skills;

• Ability in teamwork.