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.

The United Nations in PNG has been actively engaged in Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and peacebuilding initiatives for more than a decade, with programming primarily centered on facilitating the sustained implementation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and promoting peacebuilding and conflict mitigation efforts in Hela and the Southern Highlands provinces, with a strong focus on women and youth empowerment.

UN Women, together with UNDP, UNFPA and OHCHR, is implementing a peacebuilding project entitled “Empower Her-PNG Peace Initiative” (2024-2026). The overall objective of the UN’s support is to empower women and girls and enhance the capacity of key actors to strengthen the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in PNG via targeted support to the policy frameworks and the implementation of effective and measurable local initiatives in Hela and Southern Highlands provinces and in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARB).

Under Outcome 1, UN Women is implementing a range of activities towards building an enabling environment for active participation of women in decision-making and leadership roles. The interventions focus on developing trust between government stakeholders, civil society, and citizens to build a common understanding and consensus by supporting champions of the women, peace and security and gender equality agenda within the institutions and communities, while building a critical mass of supporters to advocate coherent GEWE and WPS policies. To this end, it is critical that relevant departments are connected and sensitized on the WPS agenda, and that actionable plans, resources, and clear roles and responsibilities accompany policies towards effective and accountable implementation.

The objective of the consultancy is to build the evidence base for and support development of on WPS and related gender equality, while strengthening the participation of youth, women, and the communities’ in policy and dialogue initiatives government stakeholders at national and sub-national levels. To this end, the consultant will undertake the scope of work detailed below.

The consultant will be reporting to National Programme Specialist, and will be supported by National Project Manager, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UN Women National Programme Specialist and WPS Programme Manager and working closely with the International Consultant on WPS, the Consultant will complete the following deliverables, corresponding to the outcome areas of the Empower Her initiative:

Outcome area 1. An enabling environment is created and strengthened for active participation of women in decision-making and leadership roles.

• Deliverable 1: An inception report and consultancy workplan developed based on a desk review of relevant documentation provided by UN Women and a consultation with UN Women team;
• Deliverable 2: Develop a mapping and analysis of existing national policy frameworks relevant to the WPS agenda.
• Deliverable 3: Develop a mapping of existing data sources, data collection process, and indicators on GEWE

• Deliverable 4: Develop a discussion brief on women’s leadership in decision-making and WPS in PNG drawing on the regional consultation of CEDAW draft General Recommendation 40
• Deliverable 5: Support the planning of a workshop for CSO representatives, Members of the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus, and DfCDR on women’s leadership on women’s leadership in decision-making in PNG, to present the civil society call to action on WPS and discuss a vision for an enabling policy environment on WPS.

Outcome area 2. Women, men, and communities proactively advance the Women, Peace, and Security-led initiatives in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and post-conflict recovery in the Highlands of PNG.

• Deliverable 6: Develop a mapping of existing PNG youths and women’s organisation working on WPS and YPS in the project’s focus regions
• Deliverable 7: Prepare documents to the Joint Programme Committees for launching the call for proposal for civil society organizations under the “Empower Her – PNG Peace Initiative” (2024-2026)
• Deliverable 8: Design, organize, and conduct workshops for women and youth-led civil society organizations in Port Moresby, Hela, Southern Highlands provinces and AROB, to present and validate he discussion brief from the CEDAW GR40 consultation, gauge and raise awareness of women, peace and security policy and programming, consult them on locally-appropriate approaches to WPS, and to launch the call for proposal for civil society organizations under the “Empower Her – PNG Peace Initiative” (2024-2026), and jointly develop a civil society call to action on WPS.
• Deliverable 9: Develop a post-workshop report including an assessment of CSO capacity needs and gaps on WPS and a capacity-strengthening plan for CSO.
• Deliverable 10: A final report and handover note

All the deliverables, including annexes, notes and reports should be submitted in writing in English. Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the first installment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of the review is one week after receipt.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. As part of this assignment, there will be trips to Hela and Southern Highlands provinces and ARB.

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:

• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills;
• Ability to work independently and proactively solve problem;
• Capacity to plan, prioritise and deliver tasks on time;
• Capacity to engage with national and international staff, provide clear feedback and maintain effective rapport with different kinds of people;
• Actively work towards continuing learning and sharing with others to support local capacity development;
• Required experience and qualifications

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies, law, social science or other related fields

Experience

• At least 5 years of experience in the field of WPS;
• Proven experience facilitating high level consultative workshops for governmental institutions and CSOs;
• At least 2 years of experience in providing policy advice and technical assistance on WPS to governmental institutions;
• Proven experience in conducting research in the area of gender equality and women empowerment;
• Previous experience in developing National Action Plans on UN SCR 1325 will be an asset;
• Practical knowledge on Results Based Management (RBM).

Language and other skills

• Proficiency in oral and written English is required;
• Working knowledge in Tok Pisin is an asset;
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email;
• Excellent facilitation and training skills.