Back National Consultants on Policy/Legislative Analysis (2 consultants)

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. 

UN Women Georgia Country Office (CO) Provides technical support to the state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls. UN Women puts special emphasis on the work towards gender mainstreaming in good governance reforms and enhancing women’s political participation, ending violence against women, promoting and supporting women’s economic empowerment, and Women, Peace and Security agenda. Along with these key priority areas that constitute UN Women’s mandate, UN Women interventions in Georgia are anchored in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for the years 2021-2025 with the government of Georgia.

UN Women, with the generous support by the European Union assists the Government of Georgia to meet its obligations undertaken on the international, regional and local levels inter alia in terms of eliminating violence against women and girls (EVAWG) and in particular domestic violence and sexual violence.  Alongside with the government and development partners, UN Women is working towards addressing gender inequality in a coherent and comprehensive manner, covering a wide range of issues, including prevention and response to violence against women and girls. 

UN Women has been supporting national partners to end violence against women and girls and domestic violence (VAWG/DV) since 2010. Throughout the past decade, technical assistance has been provided to the Government of Georgia to align national legislation and policies with the relevant international legal frameworks and standards. To enhance implementation of the laws and policies, UN Women Georgia has supported the establishment of specialized services for survivors of domestic violence, such as the first state-run shelters, crisis centers and hotlines and rehabilitation programmes for perpetrators. 

In Georgia, current research points to widespread experiences of violence against women across the country. According to the second round of the National Study on Violence against Women in Georgia, conducted by GeoStat and UN Women in 2022 with generous funding from the EU, 37.2% of men and 21.4 ofbelieve that violence between husband and wife is a private matter and others should not intervene . Intimate partner violence, as well as early and forced marriage, are among the most prevalent forms of violence against women in Georgia. These types of violence cut across all divisions of income, culture, and class. Despite its scale and socioeconomic impact, violence against women remains largely underreported and under-researched in key areas. The same study showed that 26.5 per cent of women (aged 15–69) reported having experienced some form of physical, sexual and/or psychological intimate partner violence in their lifetime; some 23.7 per cent of women experienced psychological abuse; 8.4 per cent experienced economic abuse; and 7.7 per cent experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a partner during lifetime with 0.9 per cent within the preceding 12 months. 

In order to further enhance compliance of the acting Georgian legislation with the Istanbul Convention and other relevant international and regional standards, as well as rectify gaps revealed during practice, UN Women will provide technical support to the Inter-Agency Commission in the drafting as well as in the implementation of the subsequent round of the national action plan on VAWG/DV (VAWG/DV NAP)  as well as relevant policies in the area and assist the government to further improve the VAWG/DV legislation. 

Furthermore, UN Women has worked with the Government in developing the institutional and individual capacities of key service providers in the area of VAWG/DV. In order to continue supporting national partners in Georgia to end VAWG/DV, under the Swedish funded UN Joint Programme on Gender Equality (UNJP4GE), UN Women aims to support relevant state agencies, such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia (CPOG), as well as with justice sector and service providers to VAWG/DV survivors to strengthen their capacity and to ensure efficient response to VAWG/DV cases and sexual crimes.
For this purpose, UN Women will recruit two National Consultants on Policy/Legislative Analysis, who will be responsible for engaging with relevant state and non-state stakeholders to work on the development of policy analysis and relevant recommendations on VAWG/DV and capacity development interventions.  
The consultants will be reporting to EVAW Programme Analyst, and will be supported by Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

The consultants should provide reports to UN Women, describing the completed work in a reporting format provided by UN Women. The reports should be submitted by 20th of each month worked.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

The national consultants will be responsible to:
•     Conduct analysis of international standards, best practices and experiences on handling VAWG/DV cases in the process of administration of justice and develop recommendations on Georgia’s alignment with these (including but not limited to legislative, procedural or deontological Shield provisions for VAWG/DV survivors in legal proceedings);
•     Conduct analysis of international standards, best practices and experiences on service provision to VAWG/DV survivors and develop recommendations on Georgia’s alignment with these (including but not limited to rape crisis center services, legal aid etc.);
•     Provide support in the development of policy papers, concept notes and reports on the above issues and other topics deriving from the above work and related to gender equality and VAWG/DV programming as necessary; 
•     Support the LEPL State Legal Service of Georgia in the design of the VAWG/DV specialized lawyer units’ architecture across Georgia proper including a case referral system between the State Legal Aid Service and NGOs providing legal aid services on GEWE;
•     Support NGOs providing legal aid on GEWE issues on institutional capacity development, internal procedures and rules, case assignment processes in line with the best international practices;
•     Support UN Women’s diverse partners in the development of internal sexual harassment rules and procedures and provide training of staff as necessary;
•     Perform duties (such as capacity development (training and mentoring), research, data collection, inquiries, report-writing, policy analysis, facilitation of meetings, etc.) as requested by UN Women on the topics outlined above.
In country travel needs will be discussed between UN Women and the Consultants and arranged by UN Women directly.

Consultants’ Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy.
As a part of this assignment, there might be need to travel to regions of Georgia.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

•     Commitment to continuous improvement 
•     Risk management
•     Partnerships building 
•     Resilience 
•     Negotiation 

Required Qualifications:

Academic Background:
•     University degree (Master’s) in public policy, law, human rights
•     Bachelor’s degree with additional seven (7) years of experience may be taken into consideration in lieu of Master’s degree.

Relevant Work Experience:

•     At least 5 (five) years of experience  (or 7 (seven) years with bachelor’s degree) of work on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
•     At least 5 (five) years of experience  (or 7 (seven) years with bachelor’s degree) in developing policies, policy papers, briefs and reports around gender equality and women’s empowerment;
•     At least 5 (five) years of experience  (or 7 (seven) years with bachelor’s degree) in working with or within the justice system or the bar/legal aid services;
•     At least 5 (five) years of experience  (or 7 (seven) years with bachelor’s degree) of work with state and non-state stakeholders on developing strategies, policies and tools, etc.;
•     At least 5 (five) years of experience  (or 7 (seven) years with bachelor’s degree) in designing policies and procedures around sexual harassment;
•     A solid understanding of legal and judicial ethics and disciplinary processes will be considered an asset.
 

Languages:
•     Fluency in Georgian is required, knowledge of English will be an asset.

How to Apply:

•     Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
•     A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.