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.

Within the framework of its Governance and Participation in Public Life (G&PPL) portfolio, UN Women Georgia works to ensure that women, fully and equally, participate in leadership and decision making and that women and girls benefit from gender-responsive governance. The equal participation of women and men in politics, and opportunities for women’s leadership at all levels of decision-making, have been globally acknowledged as vital contributors to more prosperous and stable societies in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.[1] There has been progress: more women than ever hold public office and engage in electoral processes as staff, voters, candidates or campaigners. Yet, from the local to the global level, women’s political participation and leadership are restricted. Women are underrepresented as voters, as well as in leading positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, private sector and the academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic processes.

Until recently, violence against women in politics (VAWP) received little attention, yet it remains one of the most serious obstacles to the realization of women’s political rights today. According to the UN Secretary-General, the “underrepresentation of women in politics and public life … is caused and exacerbated by discrimination, harmful stereotypes and gender-based violence” and that some data “show that the violence targeting women who hold public office and political decision-making positions has a chilling impact on the political ambitions of young women, with intergenerational consequences for the full realization of their political rights.”[2]

VAWP occurs in all corners of the globe,[3] including in Georgia—as extensively documented by the recent 2022 UN Women National Study on Violence against Women in Politics in Georgia. Political violence can emerge in many contexts, but it has unique and adverse impacts on women during an electoral period. Political tensions and fierce competition during elections can create vulnerabilities for women’s political participation, which in many cases is already disadvantaged compared to men and can result in women’s exclusion from the process. Tactics such as physical assault, intimidation and psychological abuse affect both men and women but have differential gender impacts on each, and some gender-based forms of violence are specific to women. Responses to prevent and mitigate political violence during elections must reflect these important gender dimensions.

The building of media capacity to raise awareness about VAWP and increase the visibility of gender equality concerns is an important contribution to addressing VAWP. When the media devalues or trivializes women’s contributions to decision-making, they help normalize gender-based violence. At the same time, the media can be a critical ally in all its forms as a powerful vehicle for denouncing violence and transforming public perceptions of women as leaders equally legitimate to men. News coverage of VAWP as a human rights violation – both within and outside electoral contexts and not only among high-level women politicians or national-level politics – is critical for documenting all forms and acts of violence and to dismantle the perception that GBV is something that is simply to be expected. News media can be encouraged to conduct gender-sensitive political reporting (e.g. by avoiding gender stereotypes or focusing on women’s appearance more than their policy positions) and balanced reporting of women and men electoral candidates in terms of types and levels of coverage.

To facilitate a critical dialogue and support capacity development of media on VAWP, particularly in the run up to Georgia’s 2024 Parliamentary Elections, UN Women Georgia intends to hire an international consultant. The main objective of the consultancy is to conduct capacity development trainings on VAWP for media representatives in Georgia. The consultant will be reporting to the G&PPL Program Specialist and the G&PPL Project Analyst and will be supported by the G&PPL Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

[1] For more information, see https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld.

[2] United Nations General Assembly, Violence against women in politics: Note by the Secretary-General, A/73/301 (6 August 2018). Available at https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/A/73/301.

[3] There is an increasing body of literature on the phenomenon of violence against women in politics and elections worldwide. For more, please see: UN Women and UNDP, Preventing Violence against Women in Elections: A Programmatic Guide (2017), available at https://www.undp.org/publications/preventing-violence-against-women-elections-programming-guide; and UN Women, Guidance Note: Preventing Violence against Women in Politics (2021), available at https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2021/Guidance-note-Preventing-violence-against-women-in-politics-en.pdf.

Duties and Responsibilities

The international consultant will be responsible to:

• Design training materials on women’s political participation and VAWP relevant for media representatives
• Conduct and facilitate training on women’s political participation and VAWP for media representatives

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy with a maximum of 5 travel days to Tbilisi where the training will take place.

UN Women will cover the expenses related to travel (Travel fares, DSA).

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

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

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Technical credibility in policy research
• Technical credibility in legislative analysis
• Business acumen
• Negotiation
• Partnerships building

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or higher in gender, development, human rights, journalism or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with seven additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least five years of experience in media/journalism or related field
• At least five years of experience in gender sensitive reporting, would be a strong asset
• Previous experience of working on VAWP issues would be a strong asset
• Experience of conducting trainings/workshops on media standards, gender sensitive reporting and/or VAWP would be a strong asset

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.

How to Apply:

• Personal CV and 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)

How to Submit the Application:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11) – https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), CV and Motivation Letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click ‘Apply Now’ button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click ‘Submit Application’;
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

• UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

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.).