Duty Station: Home based (remote)
Duration: May - October 2023
Background information
UNFPA works with many women-led organizations (WLOs) at all levels, in recognition of the pivotal role that they have in advancing progress toward UNFPA’s three transformative results by 2030. Evidence shows that an existence of robust and engaged civil society and active women’s movement, helps promote gender equality, and women and girls’ rights.
The UNFPA Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the UNFPA Engagement Strategy with CSOs and Parliamentarians, and the Agency, Choice and Access: UNFPA Strategy for Promoting Gender Equality and the Rights of Women and Adolescent Girls, emphasize the central role that partnerships with WLOs, movements and initiatives have in the achievement of its mandate.
Some examples of actions that can support feminist movements include:
- Bringing feminist voices into international arenas to amplify voices from groups left furthest behind, including women living in humanitarian settings.
- Supporting participation in national development processes and as front-line responders in emergency and protracted humanitarian settings. This can help organizations like UNFPA access hard-to-reach target groups but will require more flexible and advocacy-oriented ways of working, as supporting social movements is different from traditional partnership with more established implementing partners and CSOs.
- Strengthening capacities in lobbying and advocacy fo sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in all settings, including across the development, humanitarian, and peace continuum. This will increase the reach and effectiveness of messaging about gender equality, ending GBV, women’s SRHR and bodily autonomy.
- Facilitating access to human and financial resources for feminist leadership, especially young feminists and advocates, women’s rights organizations and human rights defenders. This will enable organizations to function more sustainably with funding that is flexible, multi-year and directed to core activities. It can also advance transformational change by supporting continuity of staffing and organizational stability.
- Strengthening the administrative capacity of young feminists and their organizations (in financing, networking, convening).
Purpose of Consultancy
Under the overall direction of the Chief of Gender and Human Rights Branch and the Strategic Partnerships Advisor (Parliamentarians and CSOs), the consultant will coordinate UNFPA’s convening of a pre-conference on bodily autonomy and SRHR for the Women Deliver conference. This pre-conference aims to convene key stakeholders and provide recommendations for the Conference outcome. Another critical component will include analyzing how UNFPA can support WLOs, social movements, feminists including young feminists, and leverage their potential for the ICPD mandate.
Tasks and responsibilities:
Specifically, the consultant will perform the following tasks:
- Coordinate UNFPA’s organization of a pre-conference on bodily autonomy and SRHR at the Women Deliver conference including agenda design, participants engagement, preparation of logistics, and all coordination needs
- Build on the existing mapping of UNFPA’s current engagement with WLOs at all levels, and identify key strengths/best practices, challenges and untapped opportunities across the organization
- Identify best practices in the United Nations system and in other international organizations with a view to identifying new and improved ways of partnering with and funding WLOs
- Based on a review of existing guidelines, policies and modalities within UNFPA and across the UN Development System more broadly, propose options for modalities to fund WLOs in a timely and sustainable manner, particularly small organizations with limited capacity working at the grassroots/local level
- Assess how UNFPA can best support or contribute to relevant social movements amidst growing polarization
- Articulate UNFPA’s value proposition and added value to working with women-led organizations, movements and initiatives, and propose concrete parameters to focus our engagement with these priority stakeholders.
Expected Results
The expected results of the consultant comprise developing the following:
- Organization and coordination of a pre-conference on bodily autonomy and SRHR at the Women Deliver conference that will result in recommendations
- A policy brief, with proposed actions/recommendations on how UNFPA should strengthen its engagement with WLOs, social movements and initiatives;
- An accompanying action plan for 2022-2025 to help operationalize the proposed approach going forward.
CORE COMPETENCIES
- Values/Guiding Principles
- Communicating information and ideas/Knowledge Sharing
- Self-management/Emotional intelligence
- Analytical and Strategic Thinking/Results Orientation/Commitment to Excellence
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES
- Promoting organizational learning and knowledge sharing
- Organizational awareness
- Job knowledge/Technical expertise
- Strong coordination and organizational skills
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- Master’s degree or equivalent in women’s and gender Studies, advanced university in public administration, international relations or development;
- 7 years of experience dealing with gender issues and working in an international environment with WLO and movements;
- Fluency in English. Knowledge of another UN working language would be an advantage.
- Familiarity with UN development programmes and working methods, particularly with UNFPA policies and funding modalities.
- Strong research and excellent writing skills.
- Ability to be flexible and respond to changes as part of the review and feedback process.
- Strong interpersonal skills, able to communicate and work with diverse people.
- Participate effectively in a team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating effectively with others.
- Focus and result oriented.
TOTAL DURATION: 130 working days - Remote work (May - October 2023)
Deliverables Deadlines:
- Planning, coordination, completion, and recommendations from the pre-conference on Bodily Autonomy and SRHR at Women Deliver (July 2023) and follow up (until September 2023)
- Inception report including the outline of the policy brief and action plan template to be developed for review June 2023
- First draft of the policy brief and accompanying action plan for review by August 2023
- Finalized version of all deliverables by September 2023
The Consultant's performance will be evaluated against the following criteria: timeliness and quality of the products delivered.
Other Relevant Information or Special Conditions:
The other conditions that may apply in the undertaking of the consultancy include:
Basis of payment based on acceptance of the deliverables and more specifically:
- 25% at the successful completion of Women Deliver Pre-conference
- 25% at acceptance of the draft inception report including the Outline of the policy brief and action plan
- 25% at the acceptance of the second draft of both deliverables
- 25% at the acceptance of finalized deliverables
NOTE TO APPLICANTS:
UNFPA is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fees 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.
HOW TO APPLY:
Interested and qualified candidates can submit their CVs/Resume and Cover Letter to the email: GHRB@unfpa.org with "Consultant on WLOs" in the subject by 2 April 2023
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
