Background

UN Women (UNW), 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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women’s triple mandate, along with its global network and deep policy and programming expertise, continues to endow the Entity with a unique capacity to: (i) support Member States to strengthen global norms and standards for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and mainstream gender perspectives in other thematic areas; (ii) promote coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and (iii) undertake operational activities to support Member States, upon their request, in translating global norms and standards into legislation, policies and strategies at country level.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). In line with the national priorities, the work of UN Women for the period 2023-2025 is aligned with three of the Palestine United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework’s (UNSDCF) outcomes:

• Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector.

• Palestinians, including the most vulnerable, have equal access to sustainable, inclusive, gender responsive and quality social services, social protection, and affordable utilities.

• Palestinian governance institutions, processes, and mechanisms at all levels are more democratic, rights-based, inclusive, and accountable.

Its three-year Strategic Note supports the efforts to achieve measurable results in country in terms of four UN Women global Strategic Plan impacts (2022-2025): (SP Impact 1). Governance and participation in public life; (SP Impact 2). Women’s Economic Empowerment; (SP Impact 3). Ending Violence Against Women and Girls; SP Impact 4. Women peace and security, Humanitarian & Disaster Risk Reduction.

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to achieve gender equality and combat Violence Against Women (VAW), and in full partnership with the Justice, Security and Social Sectors, UN Women within its joint programme with UNDP and UNICEF- “ Reinforcing equal access to justice for all Palestinians – SAWASYA III” is supporting the Justice, Security and Social institutions to mainstream gender into their plans, procedures and policies, and develop and provide gender responsive services to women victims and survivors of violence. Within this framework, UN Women is providing technical support to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), High Judicial Council (HJC) and the Attorney General Office (AGO) to mainstream gender into their policies, plans, procedures and practices.

Based on this, UN Women is planning to recruit a national Gender Expert to continue supporting the Gender Units at the MoJ, HJC and AGO, to mainstream gender into the work of their respective institutions as per the Council of Ministers (CoM) Decision issued in 2008 ; and to support the programme’s efforts in the area of institutional behavioural change (BC) to promote gender positive behaviour towards women’s rights and gender equality.

The consultant will be reporting to Sawasya III Programme Specialist and will be supported by the Finance Associate who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

The assignment has two main objectives. The first objective is to strengthen the capacities of the Gender Units at the MoJ, HJC and AGO to mainstream gender into the policies, plans, and budgets of their respective institutions, while the second objective focuses on supporting the institutional behavioural change (BC) within these three institutions to promote gender positive behaviour towards women’s rights and gender equality.

Responsibilities:

• To develop an assessment on the progress achieved in the capacity of the Gender Units at the three institutions through UN Women Sawasya II programme support, highlighting related barriers and opportunities.
• To develop capacity building and monitoring plan to address the gaps; monitor change and progress at these Units and support its implementation.
• To liaise with the Planning and the Human Resources Units/Departments at the three institutions to strengthen their capacities in mainstreaming gender lens and perspectives and supporting women’s effective engagement in these institutions.
• To support the programme’s efforts in the area of behavioral change by developing an analysis on what people at these three institutions foresee, what they value, what motivates their behavior, and what is their perception of accepted behaviors when it comes to women’s rights and gender equality.
• To Prepare monthly progress report outlining and describing progress made in line with approved monthly work plan; In addition to a monthly workplan for the next month.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a full-time office-based consultancy.

The expert will work four days from these 3 institutions and one day form UN Women Office in Ramallah at Abraj building.

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:

• Ability to conduct needs assessment through consultation with stakeholders;
• Very strong background on gender;
• Ability to manage time and meet tight deadlines;
• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Proven networking, organizational and communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• A BA degree in Gender Studies or Sociology or related fields. Master’s degree is considered an asset. (Max 10)

Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional working experience in the field of gender, women’s rights and women access to Justice. (Max. 20)
• At least 3 years of professional experience in the field of developing and delivering training programmes on women’s rights and gender. (Max. 20)
• At least 3 previous assignments in areas related to developing gender analysis or gender policy papers or gender assessments. (Max. 20)
• Previous experience in advocacy on women’s rights and gender equality is an asset. (Max. 10)
• Previous experience with the justice sector is an asset. (Max. 10)

Languages:

• Fluency in Arabic and professional knowledge of English