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.

One of the key areas of UN Women work in Ukraine is implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. UN Women supported Ministry of Social Policy (MoSP) of Ukraine with development of the second National Action Plan 1325 (NAP) for Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security for 2021-2025. NAP 1325 was revised on 16 December 2022 to reflect the new war related challenges. UN Women is committed to provide technical support with development of tools and capacity of the staff of the Ministries to implement their WPS commitments and especially to address gender-based violence (GBV). The Russian full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022 raised new challenges and needs in protecting women’s and girls’ rights.

To support the consolidated efforts of the Parliament, Government, women’s groups and civil society organizations (CSOs) to meet the state commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, including United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through governance reforms and security processes, UN Women has been working in enhancing gender responsive security sector reform aiming at women’s to meaningfully participate in and equally benefit from security processes at all levels in Ukraine. The overarching goal of the UN Women’s support to the Government of Ukraine is to ensure that women, particularly the most vulnerable, equally benefit from the law enforcement reforms in Ukraine.

To achieve its objectives, the project applies the strengths of both top-down and bottom-up approaches. New models and good practices for gender-responsive law enforcement reforms are piloted in at community levels. In parallel, policy, technical and capacity development support is provided to the national institutions, responsible for implementation of the law enforcement reforms (Ministry of Internal Affairs (MoIA) and National Police of Ukraine (NPU). The Project focuses on developing the knowledge and skills of the law enforcement bodies in the partnership communities (TBC) to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. The process and results achieved in the field will be documented and shared with the central authorities. This dual approach will enable all parties to cooperate, experience, evaluate and draw lessons that will improve the implementation of reforms.

Informed by the national policies, the project is supporting NPU with inclusion of non-discrimination and Gender Equality principles in the training of the police officers. These same principles are likewise applied during the provision of services to survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG) perpetrated by the police officers.

Providing access to a set of quality, accessible, multi-sectoral and coordinated services can enable women and girls to break recurrent cycles of violence and to mitigate their consequences. Through the UN Joint Global Programme on “Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence” (‘the Joint Programme’), UN Women, UNFPA, WHO, UNDP and UNODC developed guidance on the provision of multi-sectoral essential services (health, police, justice and social services, and coordination of these services) and responses that should be provided for women and girls who are vulnerable or who have experienced violence.

Strengthening the justice sector response, particularly that of law enforcement, has consistently been cited as one of the most challenging issues when responding to VAWG. A positive initial contact experience with police is crucial for survivors of violence. A high-quality police and justice response must be available and accessible to all women and girls who are navigating an often-complex justice system, especially those who are most marginalized and are at greater risk of experiencing violence.

Under the framework of the noted UN Joint Global Programme, UN Women, in partnership with UNODC, and the International Association of Women Police (IAWP), led the process of developing a UN system-wide gender-responsive handbook for law enforcement. The Handbook on Gender-Responsive Police Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence. The Handbook is based on and complements existing global and country-specific handbooks and training materials for law enforcement. It covers in more depth areas: gender-responsive police investigations of crimes of VAWG; prevention; intersectionality; survivor-centered approaches; promoting positive masculinities; coordination; communications; institution-building; and emerging issues such as online violence. The Handbook aims:

• to provide practical guidance to police (primary audience) to enable an effective and gender-sensitive response to VAWG by sharing experiences that promotes a culture of reflection and learning, leading to institutional transformation;

• to promote a police service that seeks to balance effectiveness with accountability in their response to VAWG. The balance is to be achieved through reviewing, evaluating, and monitoring investigation tools, strategies, policies, and approaches, as well as factoring the perspectives of external actors in civil society, women’s and survivors’ organizations and academia.

Considering the interest expressed from MoIA and NPU to roll-out implement the UN-wide Handbook, UN Women Ukraine is seeking to recruit an International Consultant-Adviser to provide expert support to the MoIA and NPU to roll-out and operationalize the Handbook, in close cooperation with the International Consultant-Team Lead. The International Consultant-Adviser will provide the ‘how to’ and an exchange of experiences in relation to responding to VAWG in a transformational way, ensuring a victim-centered approach while building trust and confidence in local communities. The Handbook provides relevant and practical guidance for them to police to “own the problem,” and commit to implementing the Handbook at an institutional level.

The International consultant – Adviser will be reporting to UN Women Programme Specialist and will be supported by International consultant- Team Lead, UN Women Programme analyst, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues, and in cooperation with the Handbook Rollout Team and with full involvement of the representatives of the NPU and the MoIA.

Duties and Responsibilities

Deliverables

The International Consultant-Adviser, in close cooperation with the International Consultant-Team Lead, will implement a set of tasks, including, but not limited to:

• Co-lead (together with the Team Lead) and perform expert advisory functions, provide timely inputs to the preparation and delivery of meetings on the Handbook’s detailed presentation and further discussions with the MoIA and NPU in collaboration with the Handbook Rollout Team.

• Conduct a gap analysis for up to three agreed-upon pilot sites, based on desk research, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGD).

• Navigate sensitivities and build consensus among internal and external stakeholders to advance agreed priorities.

• Develop a baseline assessment report from the gap analysis findings, reflecting gender-responsive policing (GRP) principles and characteristics for up to three agreed-upon pilot sites.

• Champion a culture of excellence and innovation, inspiring and empowering team members to achieve breakthrough results by providing strategic support to the team on the ground to conduct workshop(s) with police middle managers (PMMs) and relevant staff (working group) at each pilot site to develop and adopt a draft pilot framework for each site (up to three sites).

• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to identify opportunities for innovative and strategic partnerships to sustain and institutionalize the work.

• Lead the development of training agendas and initiatives that address critical challenges and opportunities.

• Mentor and coach peers and colleagues in the assignment, providing guidance and support to help them develop their skills and expertise.

• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of programs and initiatives, driving continuous improvement and adaptation to changing circumstances.

• Strategize and provide innovative solutions to the Police to develop implementation proposals for up to three pilot sites (including a monitoring and evaluation framework with GRP key performance indicators [KPIs]); participate in the presentation of the pilot proposals to police command for consideration and approval).

• Advise, contextualize and innovate strategic initiatives for each pilot site to prepare them for the implementation of the pilots. This may include familiarisation with the handbook, training, or other guidance, depending on the findings from the gap analysis.

• Contextualize and provide one to one mentoring, support, and guidance to the PMMs at the pilot sites and further relevant inputs for other staff during the initial commencement of the pilot(s).

• Provide professional advice, expert support, and recommendations to UN Women Ukraine Country Office on the issues of overall implementation of the Handbook rollout and the monitoring and evaluation process.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

• This is a home-based consultancy;

• All progress reports/final reports and related supporting documents (such as meeting minutes, analytical papers, workshop agendas etc.) should be submitted in English language;

• The International consultant-Adviser is expected to work remotely using her/his own computer but may access the UN Women Ukraine office for printing of relevant documents or should he/she be required to work on-site at any point during the assignment;

Inputs

• UN Women Ukraine will provide the International consultant-Adviser with background materials related to the assignment, including unified draft of the Implementation Framework (plan) for pilot rollout of Handbook, Guidance on Planning for pilot(s) for the Implementation of the Handbook.

• The UN Women Ukraine will support collaboration with the Handbook Roll-out Team.

• The International consultant-Adviser is expected to work using her/his own computer and communication equipment.

• UN Women Ukraine will take expenses necessary for organising the events outlined in the ToR and planned for the Handbook rollout.

Performance evaluation:

• The Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager after receiving and accepting delivery based reports which will also be the basis for payment (delivery basis) to the International Consultant-Adviser.

Financial arrangements:

• Payment will be disbursed upon receipt of the deliverables (as per above matrix) and their certification by UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

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:

• Planning and organizing: Identifies priority activities and assignments; uses time efficiently; sets and meets realistic goals;

• Monitoring and Evaluation: Ability to track progress by applying SMART indicators and advise on related performance management and learning;

• Respect for diversity: Ability to work with different actors, including through remote contact;

• Demonstrates consistency in upholding and promoting the values of the United Nations in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;

• Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability;

• Strong problem-solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Advanced university degree (Masters) degree in law, human rights, public policy/administration, gender studies or similar is mandatory.

Experience:

• At least 15 years of progressive experience in the areas of human rights, gender equality, prevention and response to VAWG, promoting gender-responsive policing and security sector reform, including professional experience in police and judiciary, and/or legal practice;

• Experience of work in Ukraine in the related areas is an asset;

• Familiarity with GRP handbook methodology is mandatory;

• Proven experience of working with relevant stakeholders from the law enforcement, national and local authorities and non-governmental actors relevant to the prevention and response to VAWG;

• Proven Experience of working internationally and/or with the UN system and other development actors on issues related to VAWG is an asset;

• Experience advising justice and security actors and their partners including in complex and fragile environments is an asset;

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, as well as strong analytical skills.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;

• Working knowledge of Ukrainian is an asset;

• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.

All applications must include a completed and signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc

Applications without P11 may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

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).