Result of ServiceGuidelines for judges on how to estimate the value of unpaid care provide by women in cases where unpaid care is involved including marriage and divorce. Guidelines will be used to draft Family code amendment. Work LocationRemotely Expected duration1.5 months Duties and ResponsibilitiesBackground: Globally, women perform the majority of all types of care work. They make up 65% of the paid care workforce and carry out two-thirds of all unpaid care work. It is widely recognized by stakeholders in sustainable development and gender equality spheres that women’s disproportionate engagement in house and unpaid care work negatively impacts their economic empowerment. The time-consuming nature of unpaid care work limits women’s participation in the labour market, restricts their career advancement, and weakens their financial independence. Morocco, with its well-developed statistical infrastructure, provides valuable insights into how time of individuals is allocated across various activities. The National Time Use Survey, conducted by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) in 2012 and published in 2014, shows that, on average, individuals aged 15 and older spend 3 hours and 20 minutes per day on professional work, including the production of goods and services for the market, which accounts for 14% of a typical day. This time allocation varies across different age groups. In contrast, household activities, which include care, household management and external responsibilities such as shopping and administrative tasks, take up about 2 hours and 55 minutes per day, or 12% of a typical day . The survey highlights a significant gender gap in the division of labour. Men spend on average, 5 hours and 25 minutes per day on professional activities—four times more than women. In comparison, women devote seven times more time than men to unpaid work. Approximately 95% of women engage in household chores, dedicating an average of 5 hours per day to activities such as cooking, laundry, cleaning, and running household errands. By contrast, only 45% of men participate in household chores, with most of them being divorced or widowed. It is also important to note that women’s daily workload, which includes both professional and household responsibilities, totals 6 hours and 21 minutes, with care and domestic work making up 79% of their daily activities . Assessments of unpaid care and domestic work highlight the significant contribution women make to the national economy. In 2012, the monetary value of care and domestic work was estimated at 39.7% of GDP when calculated using the minimum wage, and 49.3% of GDP when based on the average national wage. These gaps reflect the persistence of deeply rooted stereotypes and social values that depict men as the primary breadwinners and women as caregivers. This disparity affects women’s participation in the economy, as their disproportionate share of unpaid care work, as seen in many countries around the world, hinders their ability to enter the workforce or advance professionally, even if they find access to employment. In light of this, women’s involvement in unpaid care work and their exclusion from the labour market lead to a range of consequences. The data previously presented show that, despite the significant number of hours women spend on domestic and caregiving tasks, their contributions remain invisible: a. Unpaid care work prevents them from accessing formal employment, which is primarily tied to health insurance, pension plans, and other social guarantees. b. Unpaid care work is not counted within the economy, meaning women are not able to gain social protection through their work. c. The lack of income prevents women from saving, and combined with the absence of social protection, it increases their risk of poverty and reduces their ability to escape it. d. Thus, there is an urgent need to recognize and value unpaid care work, not only to quantify its economic value but also to protect the rights and dignity of those who provide this work, both women and men. Legal recognition and the ability to assess its value can ensure that women receive their legal rights in courts, especially in cases of divorce or inheritance, where women are often left without income or social protection, making them vulnerable to poverty and marginalization. This is despite that they have provided care work throughout their lives, which is unpaid, invisible, and unrecognized. Therefore, it is essential to develop a reference framework that allows for the valuation of unpaid care work and its official and legal recognition in courts to ensure women’s rights are upheld. Morocco has been witnessing significant legislative momentum, particularly in advancing gender equality. This progress is reflected in recent legal reforms, which pave the way for further measures to legally recognize unpaid care work and ensure that women are compensated for their caregiving contributions. A sectoral gender analysis conducted by the Ministry of Justice in 2019 and 2024 highlighted Morocco’s efforts to promote gender equality while acknowledging persistent disparities and challenges that still need to be addressed within various legal frameworks. One of the key milestones in this regard was the 2004 Family Code, which introduced fundamental reforms, including greater equality in marriage and divorce. To address the gaps revealed by the implementation of the Family Code and to align it with Morocco’s evolving societal landscape, the Code is currently under review. This revision aims to ensure its consistency with the 2011 Constitution and to introduce new rights benefiting women, particularly by strengthening and protecting family members’ rights—more specifically, the recognition and valuation of unpaid care work. In this context, a royal directive addressed to the Prime Minister outlined the approach for revising the Family Code, explicitly considering unpaid care work as a contribution to wealth accumulated during marriage. In this context, ESCWA provides technical support to the Ministry of Justice and the Inter-Ministerial Delegation for Human Rights in Morocco to develop specific proposal for amending the Family Code, namely guidelines for judges on how to estimate the value of unpaid care provide by women in cases where unpaid care is involved including marriage and divorce. ESCWA is thus seeking to hire a consultant to prepare the guidelines. Duties and Responsibilities: Under the direct supervision of the Social Affairs Officer responsible for the care economy stream at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), and overall guidance of the gender Justice, Population and Inclusive Development cluster leader, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks and deliverables: - Familiarize him/herself with the legal and social context of the on-going reforms in Morocco on valuing unpaid care work; - Review and add to/modify the literature review/benchmark on previous experiences and practices around the world on valuing unpaid care work in family codes and similar legal frameworks; - Propose elements and principles to be taken into consideration for the valuing exercise; - Prepare the methodology leading up to the methods/means/formulas to estimate the value of unpaid care work within household at the microeconomic level; - Discuss the methodology in a national meeting with relevant stakeholders towards mi-March; - Prepare accordingly the guidelines required, including proposed methods/means/formulas to feed into the reformed Family Code by end of March. The guidelines will include the elements and principles impacting the valuing exercise and the methods/means/formulas to estimate the value of unpaid care work within household at the microeconomic level. Qualifications/special skillsA Masters degree in economics, gender studies, international law or related fields is required. All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. A minimum of 10 years of professional work experience in gender economics is required. Previous experience in working on care-related issues is required. Previous experience in research and or academia is required. Previous experience in working on the Arab region is desirable. LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA. For this position, fluence in English is required. Knowledge of French and/or Arabic is desirable. Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas. Additional InformationNot available. No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.