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 in Georgia supports 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 Country Office in Georgia with the generous support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is implementing the third phase of the “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus” (WEESC) project. The project’s overarching goal is to ensure that women, particularly the poor and socially excluded, in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are economically empowered and participate in relevant decision-making. The WEESC project applies a holistic approach to reach this goal, enabling linked interventions at three levels: grassroots, policies and legislation, and institutions. The chosen approach and the implementation of the WEE agenda in the South Caucasus during Phase I (2018-2021) and Phase II (2021-2024) of the WEESC project served as a catalyst for action at all levels and supported the state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in all three countries (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan). WEESC Phase III aims to build upon the successful track record of UN Women and its partners in previous phases of the project. It will prioritize alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (2021-2025) in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to enhance compliance with international human rights commitments, particularly under CEDAW and other legal instruments. This alignment will focus on promoting equitable economic development and addressing women’s rights in all three countries.[1]
During WEESC Phase II, UN Women provided technical support to various state institutions, including the State Employment Support Agency (SESA), to strengthen gender mainstreaming within these entities through Participatory Gender Audits (PGA), gender mainstreaming assessments, and follow-up policy and capacity-building initiatives. As part of this work, UN Women collaborated intensively with SESA, producing a comprehensive PGA report with corresponding recommendations. In Phase III, UN Women plans to continue providing technical assistance to SESA to implement the recommended gender-responsive measures.
SESA, as the public employment service provider in Georgia, plays a critical role in assisting job seekers in securing employment and supporting employers in recruiting qualified workers. These services are provided by employment counsellors and guided by two key documents: 1. The Handbook of Employment Counseling and 2. The Practical Guide for Career Planning Specialists. To ensure the mentioned guiding documents integrate gender sensitivity, UN Women seeks to engage a national consultant to review and update both. The main goal of the assignment is to revise these documents to include gender considerations and address specific challenges women face in the labour market, such as unpaid care responsibilities, gender bias, employment stereotypes, and structural inequalities. The updated documents should reflect strategies and practices that promote inclusion and economic empowerment of women in the labour force. Once the review and updates are completed, the national consultant will be responsible for training SESA’s employment counsellors following the updated guiding documents, to ensure they are equipped with the relevant skills and knowledge to apply the gender-sensitive guidelines in their daily work.
The consultant will be reporting to the WEESC Programme Analyst and the WEESC Project Analyst and will be supported by the WEESC Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.
Description of Responsibilities/Scope of Work
The national consultant will be responsible for performing:
2. Revision and update of SESA’s Employment Counseling and Career Planning Documents:
3, Consultation and validation of the updated guiding documents:
4. Development of a training program for SESA counsellors based on updated guiding documents:
5. Training delivery for SESA counsellors:
6. Final Report and Recommendations:
Deliverables
Deliverable | Expected completion time (due day) | Payment Schedule (optional) |
1. Inception Report: An inception report is prepared, including the initial review and assessment of SESA’s Employment Counseling and Career Planning documents, identifying gaps and areas where gender considerations are inadequately addressed (2 working days). | 10 December 2024 (2 working days) | By January 25, 2025 (60%) |
2. Draft of Revised Guiding Documents: A draft of the revised guiding documents is prepared and shared with UN Women for feedback, including:
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27 December 2024 (7 working days) | |
3. Consultation with SESA Staff: Consultations are conducted with relevant SESA staff to ensure the updated content is practical and actionable (1 working day). | 27 December 2024, (1 working day) | |
4. Final Versions of Updated Guiding Documents: The final versions of the updated guiding documents are prepared and shared with UN Women for feedback, including:
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20 January 2025 ( 2 working days) | |
5. Presentation and Validation of Updated Documents: The updated Handbook of Employment Counseling and Practical Guide for Career Planning Specialists are presented to SESA for validation. Feedback is gathered, and revisions are incorporated to the final documents. | January 31, 2025 (1 working day) | By March 31, 2025 (40%) |
6. Training Program Development: A training program is developed for SESA employment counsellors based on the updated guiding documents. | January 31, 2025 (1 working day) | |
7. Training Delivery: SESA’s employment counsellors are trained in accordance with the updated guiding documents. Training materials and resources are shared with participants to support continuous learning and the practical application of the updated content. | February 28, 2025 (5 working days) | |
8. Final Report: A final report is prepared and submitted to UN Women, summarizing the changes made to the documents, the outcomes of the training sessions, and further recommendations for sustaining gender-responsive employment counselling and career planning practices within SESA. | March 20, 2025 (1 working day) |
Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This consultancy is primarily home-based. However, travel will be required as part of the assignment for the delivery of training sessions.
[1] The subchapter has been prepared based on the WEESC end-of-phase report and external final evaluation.
Competencies :
Core Values:
Core Competencies:
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Education and Certification:
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How to Apply:
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:
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