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.

In support of the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women (NSEEW), the work of the UN Women Egypt Country Office (ECO) is grounded in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA).

Under the Egypt/UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027 and the Entity’s portfolio therein, UN Women implements its triple mandate of supporting normative standard-setting to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, implementing national and grassroots programmes grounded in international norms and best practices in partnership with national stakeholders, and strengthening UN system coordination. Over two decades of work in the country has resulted in UN Women ECO consolidating its expertise, partnerships, and investments around three main areas of work: women’s leadership and system-wide support to advancing gender equality; women’s economic empowerment; and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, including harmful practices.

Ending violence against women and girls is an ongoing national priority in Egypt, as a key driver to achieving the country’s socio-economic goals. The Government of Egypt and its partners, including UN Women, have prioritized prevention and response strategies to reduce the prevalence of violence against women and girls in public and private spaces. Violence against women and girls has far-reaching consequences for women, their children and society. Women who experience violence suffer from a range of problems, and their ability to earn a living, participate in decision-making and to participate in public life is diminished. Their children are also significantly more at risk of health problems, poor school performance and behavioral disturbances.

Research shows that news media reporting has a strong role in perpetuating discriminatory gender norms and stereotypes, as well as the normalization of violence. The media industry has an important sphere of influence on how people shape their gender norms. On the other hand, media reporting also has the potential to shed light on the root causes of violence against women and girls, promote positive social and gender norms, and help in risk mitigation through the provision of essential information to survivors/victims and those who wish to support them.

In support of the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women (NSEEW), and through the support of USAID, UN Women is recruiting a consultant to provide an overview of the media landscape in reporting on incidents of violence against women and girls using discourse analysis, map the existing evidence of the relationship between news media reporting of gender-based violence against girls and the normalization of violence, and showcase key existing frameworks and approaches that may help catalyze more gender-and-age sensitive reporting.

The consultant will be reporting to the UNW Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Programme Specialist and will be supported by the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Programme Associate, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

The main objective of the consultant is to undertake a critical discourse analysis to examine how violence against women is discursively represented in the media guided by the theories of News Framing Analysis and feminist theory.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

The national consultant will be responsible for:

• Develop a detailed inception report for the consultancy, in consultation with UN Women technical team and in coordination with the NCW.

The inception report should include:

• Workplan, timeline
• Methodology for this assignment.
• Desk review

Once feedback is received from partners, the inception report will be updated and finalized by the consultant.

• Draft a comprehensive study, in consultation with UN Women and NCW
• Upon receipt of feedback from UN Women and NCW, finalize the study.
• Conduct a roundtable discussion on study results.

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Knowledge and expertise in gender and policy analysis.
• Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent negotiation skills.
• Ability to draft and communicate high quality clear and concise outputs.
• Familiarity with statistical analysis and indicators, especially gender-related statistics and indicators.
• Capacity to set priorities, self-organize research work and to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time.
• Capacity to engage and communicate with governmental entities.
• Knowledge and use of computer office tools (word, database, spreadsheets, etc.)

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification

• A master’s degree in political science, Anthropology, Sociology, Gender Studies, or another relevant science area is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;

Experience

• At least 8 years of experience in qualitative research, is required.
• Demonstrated record of experience of discourse analysis research, is required.
• Demonstrated knowledge of international and national gender equality standards, is an asset.
• Experience working in the UN System, is an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency (written & spoken) in English is required.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 100% (100 points)

• Criteria 1: Master’s degree in political science, Anthropology, Sociology, Gender Studies, or another relevant science area (20 points)
• Criteria 2: At least 8 years of experience in qualitative research (25 points)
• Criteria 3: Demonstrated record of experience of discourse analysis research (25 points)
• Criteria 4: Demonstrated knowledge of international and national gender equality standards (15 points)
• Criteria 5: Experience working in the UN System

Application:

Interested Individual Candidate must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11). UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; make sure that you sign the form, and
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment, and
• A cover letter (no more than 400 words) explaining your suitability for the assigned task in Arabic or English.

The above-mentioned documents MUST BE merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to uploading one file per application.

You can merge your documents by using Online resources.

Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification. Make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications.

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.)