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.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a widespread problem that affects communities and cities everywhere. While many advances have been made in the elimination of VAWG, much of the focus was on intimate partner violence (IPV) inside the home, rather than women’s safety in urban spaces. Outside the domestic violence can affect women and girls in the workplace, at school, in streets, parks, public squares, and on public transport, and limit their opportunities. Many factors influence the relationship a person has with a public space in a city, and the other people who are in it. Gender is strongly linked to a sense of safety, which in turn affects behavior and shapes how the city is used, and its resources accessed.

Access to infrastructure and public spaces for women and girls represents an important aspect of ensuring gender equality and human rights. This area shall encompass key elements as ensuring safety for women and girls in public spaces (e.g. proper street lighting, surveillance cameras, police patrols, and urban designs that minimize isolated areas etc.); public transportation, with well-maintained and monitored trains, buses, and stations; infrastructure accessibility for everyone, including women with disabilities and those with young children (e.g., sidewalks, ramps, adapted public transportation, and baby-changing facilities in public areas etc.), sanitary facilities (e.g. access to clean and safe public toilets), as well green spaces and recreation areas (e.g. parks and recreational areas), etc.

In 2023, urban localities in the Republic of Moldova had 6.6 thousand hectares of green spaces, accounting for 12.8% of the total land area within urban boundaries. Urban green spaces are composed of 69.0% general-use green areas (squares, gardens, parks, etc.), 18.6% limited-access green spaces (sports parks, green areas around educational institutions and residences, spaces for children’s and youth recreation, etc.), 7.8% green spaces in tourist and recreational areas, 2.7% specialized green spaces (botanical, zoological, and dendrological gardens, etc.), and 1.9% utility green spaces (plantations for land consolidation and water source protection, etc.). The distribution of urban green spaces by region shows that 66.4% of the total area of green spaces belongs to Chi?inau municipality.

The level of street lighting in urban areas across the country was approximately 82%. In the regional profile, localities in UTA Gagauzia (94.9%) and Chi?inau municipality (91.0%) had the highest level of street lighting coverage, while the lowest levels were recorded in the Southern (76.8%) and Northern (76.1%) regions. Overall, more than 90% of the total street length had adequate street lighting in a total of 24 urban localities.

Building on over 50 years of sustained efforts undertaken by women’s organizations, grassroots, international networks, local governments in cities around the world, UN Women launched the Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Initiative that began implementation in January 2011 to prevent and respond to various forms of sexual violence against women and girls (SVAWG) in public spaces. It supports local and national governments to address multiple sustainable development goal targets across multiple goals. “Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls” Global Programme which began with 5 cities, now spans nearly 60 cities to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls (SVAWG) in public spaces in different settings (urban, rural, online).

The Global Initiative contributes to the emerging international knowledge based on effective strategies to prevent and respond to harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in urban and online public spaces and aims to build more inclusive, sustainable, and safe cities. It was designed with local, regional, and global partners in response to the growing concerns about everyday experiences of women and girls all over the world as they experience sexual violence in public spaces as they go about their daily routines, whether on city streets, parks, in markets, on buses and trains or in their own neighborhoods, or online. This reality reduces women’s and girls’ freedom of movement. It reduces their ability to participate in school, work, and public life. It limits their access to essential services and their enjoyment of cultural and recreational activities, and negatively impacts their health and well-being.

Impact level results of each safe city/safe public spaces with women and girls’ programme includes (i) women and girls enjoy a greater sense of safety, and increased comfort in public spaces; (ii) amplified use of public spaces and increased autonomous mobility of women and girls in the city and (III) a decrease in number of sexual harassment or other forms of sexual violence in public spaces.

UN Women Moldova seeks a National Consultant on Public Spaces Accessibility for Women and Girls to support the Scoping Study in Chisinau municipality and the development of a Programme Design (guided by UN Women’s Global Guidance for Scoping Studies and Guidance Note for Developing a Programme Design), which can be adapted to local city context, and provide technical assistance in developing a comprehensive, multistakeholder, evidence-driven Safe City programme with women and girls.

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will work under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Project Manager, EVAW, including with technical inputs from the EVAW section in Headquarter and in close cooperation with the National Consultant on Ending Violence against Women and Girls, that will lead the process of conducting the Scoping Study and developing a Programme Design document. The work under this consultancy will involve preparing information and formulating recommendations on Public Spaces accessibility for women and girls in Chisinau municipality, which will be incorporated into the aforementioned report/document.

UN Women aims to identify gender-responsive locally relevant and owned interventions related to public spaces for women and girls, through conducting a scoping study and through holding a consultative validation and programme design workshops. These design workshops are used to engage key stakeholders in active reflections on the findings of the scoping study, and to enable them to develop programmes with a specific set of results, based on the local context, vision, and joint stakeholders’ accountability.

Scoping study objective shall encompass provision of the (i) evidence-base for stakeholders to identify solutions, including valid and specific data to ensure a deep understanding of local forms of sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces and the context in which it occurs, as well the situation regarding the accessibility of public spaces for women and girls, aiming to foster local ownership by establishing multi-stakeholder partnerships through an inclusive and participatory process.

Led by UN Women’s Guidance on Scoping Studies, the Scoping study will gather data from both literature review and local stakeholders including local governments, civil society organizations and groups of women and who may be more likely to experience such violence (e.g., women with disabilities, young women, Roma women etc.). This aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of city-specific issues concerning the safety of women and girls in public spaces. It will also assess the accessibility of public spaces and their inclusivity for women and girls.

The selected consultant is responsible for ensuring the successful completion of the tasks, as described below.

Shall be noted that implementation of the tasks will require close teamwork with the National Consultant on Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW). This includes, but not limited to, preparing information related to public spaces accessibility for women and girls at every stage of the development of the Scoping Study and the Programme design document, as follows:

• Development of a qualitative methodology for a scoping study, in line with UN Women’s Guidance for Scoping Studies. The methodology should be guided by key lines of request included in the Guidance and should also reflect the public accessibility of the local context for women and girls. Also, an explained outline with a list of key informant interviews (short guide outlining questions), including a planned list of key informants and the composition of FGD groups, will be provided.

• Conducting a desk review of documents regarding legislative framework and policies available at the national and Chisinau municipality level, as well as existing quantitative studies, surveys, reports etc.
• Conducting qualitative data collection (e.g., key informant interviews, focus group discussions) with select local stakeholders, including local government, women’s rights organizations and other civil society organizations, and diverse local grassroots women, ensuring that the principle of intersectionality and leaving no one behind (LNOB) in to better understand public accessibility concerns of women.
• Submitting first draft report on the scoping study to UN Women for inputs and comments and incorporate feedback. The Scoping Study should follow the suggested structure provided by the Guidance for Scoping Studies.
• Produce a Power Point Presentation on the findings of the scoping study regarding public spaces accessibility for women and girls, which will be used in validation/programme design workshops.
• Provide technical support to ensure the development of a robust programme design during workshops organized by UN Women, engaging multi-stakeholders (e.g., governmental/local authorities, civil society organizations, UN agencies, etc.) This includes but is not limited to, delivering the Power Point Presentation on scoping study and highlighting main findings, facilitating the discussions and consultations during workshops. This process shall be in accordance with the Guidance Note for Developing a Programme Design.
• Submitting a final report of the scoping study, which incorporates all inputs and comments from validation workshops, including from UN Women.
• Submit a draft of the Programme Design, including preliminary inputs from relevant stakeholders during the design workshops to UN Women for inputs and comments.
• Submit a final Programme Design, which incorporates all inputs from UN Women.

Deliverables.

The National Consultant on EVAW area will be responsible for submitting the deliverables, resulting from collaborative efforts with the National Consultant on Public Spaces Accessibility for Women and Girls in conducting a Scoping Study and developing the Programme Design Document. These deliverables will encompass information on public space accessibility for women and girls, as well as the EVAW component.

All written deliverables should be agreed with UN Women, including with beneficiary partner and be provided in English, in electronic copy. Note that all materials, including images will remain property of UN Women and cannot be used without UN Women’s permission.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

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 critically review relevant documents, including local policies and plans, reports about local problems and services, and relevant research reports.
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to critically appraise and analyze data sets and published statistics collected by government agencies service providers and other organizations.
• Ability to collect and interpret qualitative information through key informant interviews and observation.
• Ability to integrate and synthesize information collected from varied sources to make it useful and accessible to diverse interested parties.
• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded, and reported.
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource.
• Focuses on result and responds positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in urban planning, architecture, civil engineering, social sciences, law or a related field for the assignment.
• A first-level university degree in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

• Additional training and certification in the field of human rights, urban planning, public infrastructure, or related fields would be an advantage.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of proven professional experience in leading comprehensive projects that enhance public space accessibility is required
• Experience in leading comprehensive projects that enhance public space accessibility for women, girls, and marginalized groups is an advantage.
• At least 2 years of experience in conducting needs assessments, and data analysis related to public infrastructure and accessibility or related field is required.
• Expertise in analyzing, developing, and promoting policies focused on public space accessibility and gender equality would be an advantage.
• Experience in working with international organizations is an advantage.

Languages:

• Fluency in written and oral English and Romanian is required.
• Working knowledge of Russian is an advantage.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE

Interested candidates are invited to submit their online applications with the following documents:

• Duly completed and signed 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 ) Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page);
• Any materials conducted by the applicant, such as reports, surveys, publications, studies, or other relevant materials. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Please note that only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

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.

The United Nations in Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.