Women's Political Participation Senior Expert
Location : Freetown, SIERRA LEONE
Application Deadline : 07-Apr-21
(Midnight New York, USA)
Additional Category : Gender Equality
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : National Consultant
Languages Required : English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
03-May-2021
Expected Duration of Assignment : 8 months
UNDP 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.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
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.
Women's leadership and political participation is one of UN-Women's primary areas of work as mandated in its inception, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. Through its Leadership and Governance section, UN-Women works to implement Output 4 of the Entity's Strategic Plan 2018-21 "More women of all ages fully participate, lead and engage in political institutions and processes".
To promote the leadership and participation of women in all levels of decision-making processes, UN-Women works with a range of stakeholders including women leaders and aspiring candidates, national parliaments and parliamentarians, political parties, media, civil society organizations, and electoral management bodies, in coordination with UN partner Entities, through a wide range of interventions which include: i) support gender responsive legal reforms, and institutional processes to advance women's participation and representation (including initiatives to address violence against women in politics); ii) build capacities of women leaders and aspiring candidates; iii) promote change of gender norms through advocacy and outreach initiatives targeting communities, political leaders and the media; iv) and support women leaders in gender responsive political institutions.
In Sierra Leone, women represent today only 12.3% of the parliament while they make 52% of the voters and 50.8% of the population. Women's organisations have indeed been challenging existing barriers to women's political participation through nationwide activism, advocacy and other social norm change actions including engagement of communities and male authorities. However, Parliament has yet to respond to their demand for a 30% women's representation quota at various levels of leadership since no legislated or voluntary quotas are in place. However, the 2004 Local Government Act provides that the Ward Committees shall consist of 5 women and 5 men (Article 95 (2: c).
In March 2023, voters across Sierra Leone will cast ballots again for president, parliament, local councils and mayors in a general election widely seen as a crucial opportunity to increase women's situation in terms of political representation and participation.UN-Women in Sierra Leone is seeking to undertake targeted interventions to increase women's representation in decision making at all levels within the current electoral cycle in coordination with national institutions, UN partners and civil society.
Duties and Responsibilities
SCOPE OF WORK: Under the direct supervision of the Country Representative, the Consultant will work with the UN Women team to develop and rollout a road map on women's political participation in alignment with the recommendations of the recent UN electoral Needs Assessment mission, and in partnership with UN Women partners' on the ground, particularly women's groups and networks currently advocating for legal and policy reforms including temporary special measures to increase women's political participation
MAIN TASKS: Under this assignment, the Senior National Consultant will be responsible to undertake the following duties:
Summary of Key Functions:
Programme design and implementation:
Technical support
on
gender mainstreaming into UN programming on elections
Establish coordination with national partners and other stakeholders and networks
Summary of Deliverables:
Duration of the Assignment: The total duration of this assignment is initially 8 months starting on May 2021.
Contributions: UN Women will put at the disposal of selected individuals all available materials and necessary information for tasks achievement and will facilitate the meetings and discussions, as needed. During assignment's related missions, the Consultants may use the facilities of the office (i.e., internet access, printing, copying, local phone calls, including office laptop etc.). However, he or she is expected to use his/her own personal computer for nor office related matters.
Location of work: The consultant will be located in the UN Women Office for the implementation of the assignment.
Performance evaluation: Performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.
Financial arrangements: Payment will be disbursed in installments upon the satisfactory submission of the deliverables
Competencies
Core Values:
Core Competencies: Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
Core Values and Guiding Principles
Functional Competencies
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Experience:
Language:
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This vacancy is archived.