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 Türkiye, in line with its global Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and Country Strategic Note (2022-2025), and the overall UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Turkey (UNSDCF) (2021-2025), UN Women works towards the overarching goal of “Women and girls including those at greatest risk of being left behind fully exercise their human rights, enjoy a life free from violence and discrimination, and lead, influence and benefit from sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development towards the advancement of gender equality in Turkey”. UN Women works in four thematic areas: (i) governance and participation in public life; (ii) women’s economic empowerment; (iii) ending violence against women and girls; and (iv) women, peace and security, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. In line with its coordination mandate, UN Women promotes coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment, including through joint programmatic and advocacy actions and initiatives, standardized tools and guidance and services to strengthen the relevant capacities of the UN system. Towards these goals, UN Women implements programmes and projects that aim to advance gender equality, improve women’s access to opportunities, rights, and services in political, social, and economic life, and combat gender stereotypes, discrimination, and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments. UN Women collaborates with numerous partners – central and local level government authorities, civil society organizations, including women’s organizations and platforms, academia, private sector companies, and other UN agencies. It commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle, by supporting targeted actions to remove the obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women face in accessing their rights and to promote them as agents of change.

On February 6^th, 2023, Türkiye was struck by two significant earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6 that resulted in widespread devastation in the Southeast region of the country. Thousands of aftershocks followed. The earthquake affected 11 provinces with a population of around 14 million (16.4% of the total population of the country) including approximately 1.7 million Syrian refugees¹. Over 50,000 people lost their lives, and over 107,000 have been injured making it the deadliest such disaster since the country’s founding 100 years ago and one of the deadliest worldwide during this century. Thousands of buildings have suffered serious damage, including schools and health care facilities and other public infrastructure such as roads, airport, ports, oil terminals, electricity lines, water provision and sewage. Overall, about 15 million people in the region were indirectly and directly affected by the earthquake, of whom half are women and girls. Estimated 2.7 million people have left the affected region and migrated to other parts of the country.

It is widely recognised that women and girls suffer disproportionately in disasters and their aftermath. This is mainly due to multidimensional and structural inequalities women experience. Evidence suggests that these inequalities aggravate the position of women, girls and disadvantaged groups amplifying their exposure to hazards and susceptibility to damage, while diminishing their ability to cope with and recover from such damage. Gender inequalities compounded by intersecting inequality axes are often overlooked in policies and programs in responses to disasters. Besides, first line respondents, who are mostly women, are also traumatized as being survivors of the disaster and trying to provide support to the disaster-affected people.

Since the early days of the earthquake, UN Women Türkiye CO has been working with relevant stakeholders (including public institutions, sister UN agencies and civil society organizations) actively to assess the needs and priorities of women and girls impacted by the earthquake so that they have increased access to multisectoral services, support for their urgent needs and recovery, and opportunities for their agency in humanitarian response. The CO has been collecting and disseminating data and analysis on the needs and priorities of women and girls and advocating for gender responsive humanitarian and early recovery efforts; and been providing direct assistance and immediate support to women and girls affected by the earthquakes as well as to service providers.

As a part of its long-lasting partnership with Ministry of Family and Social Services, UN Women has been collaborating with Directorate General on the Status of Women to enhance service providers’ capacities to cope with the earthquake trauma since it was revealed that those staff need psycho-social support as they themselves are survivors of the disaster but also working with traumatized women and girls in need. A supervision and support programme was designed for the well-being of frontline workers and first line responders to enable them to continuously update their knowledge and skills on trauma and gender-based violence response, while taking into consideration the emotional and psychological well-being of those professionals and supporting them to cope with secondary trauma.

In the first phase, which was completed in November 2023, advanced therapy methods (EMDR therapy method, etc.) were provided to the 135 service providers working in the earthquake region. Institute of EMDR and Psychology provided online psycho-trainings, followed by online individual therapy, online group therapy and face-to-face individual therapy. The “Impact of Events Scale” was administered to all participants who requested it. The results of the scale were evaluated by the institute, and it was decided which therapy method to support the participants according to their trauma levels. 25 EMDR practitioner therapists took part in the program.

For the second phase of the study, it is planned to provide professional supervision assistance and guidance for selfcare support to the personnel of MoFSS who provide services in the earthquake region. It is evaluated that sessions for increasing the wellbeing of the personnel of SONIMs, women shelters and social service centers in the earthquake region, with a focus on trauma and psychological first aid, self-care, how to respond/work in the field of violence against women in emergency/disaster settings, etc. is necessary to enable the personnel to overcome their own trauma and to provide more effective support to survivors of gender based violence.

Funded by Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, UN Women has been implementing “Addressing the Urgent Needs of Women and Girls Impacted by the Earthquake for Multi-sectoral Services” project since December 2023 to respond the urgent needs of earthquake affected women and girls. The Project aims at the following results:

Outcome 1: Urgent needs of women and girls impacted by the earthquake for multi-sectoral services are addressed.

• Output 1.1: UN system-wide coordination and cooperation capacities for gender in humanitarian action at country level are strengthened.
• Output 1.2: Women and girls affected by the earthquake in selected provinces receive gender sensitive protection services in line with their rights, needs and priorities

In order to achieve the planned results, UN Women will recruit the services of two National Consultants on Wellbeing Support to VAW Response Actors. Under the overall guidance of the Programme Specialist, the Consultants will directly report to and be supervised by the Gender Analyst. They will be supported by the Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Objective of the consultancy

The consultants will be responsible for the preparation and implementation of specialized supervision sessions for Ministry of Family and Social Services staff, focusing on:

• Coping with trauma (including grief, loss and depression), trauma focused body works, psychosocial first-aid
• Psychosocial wellbeing and self-care
• How to work with women who are survivors of violence in emergency disaster/post disaster settings (case-based supervision)

The trainings aim to increase the well-being of frontline workers and first line responders working in the earthquake provinces, to enable them to update their knowledge and skills on trauma and gender-based violence response in disaster and post-disaster settings and cope with secondary trauma. The training modules for be designed for three days and will be delivered for two times for approximately 150 personnel (total) of the Ministry in two different provinces.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

Under the supervision of Programme Specialist of UN Women Türkiye Office and overall guidance of the Humanitarian Response Programme, the consultants are expected to provide services for the below listed activities:

• Desk review and preparation of the detailed sessions and materials:
  • Identify the needs of SONIMs, Women Shelters Social Service Centers Personnel working in the earthquake provinces, in collaboration with UN Women and the Ministry of Family and Social Services
  • Ensure the training includes modules on trauma (including grief, loss and depression), trauma responses in post-disaster, trauma focused body works, psychosocial first aid, techniques for Psychosocial wellbeing and self-care, working with VAW survivors in emergency disaster/post disaster settings (case-based supervision)
  • Incorporate practical exercises, role-playing scenarios, and case studies to enhance learning and application.
• Conducting the trainings for service providers working in SONIMs, Women Shelters Social Service Centers in earthquake affected provinces:
  • Prepare and provide all necessary training materials, including handouts, presentations, and evaluation forms.
  • Facilitate two (2) trainings in designated provinces.
  • Equip relevant personnel with skills to cope with trauma and work with survivors of VAW in disaster contexts.
• Post training evaluations and reporting:
  • Prepare final reports on the lessons learned, progress achieved and identified further capacity development or institutional needs from the trainings conducted including materials prepared, post-training evaluation reports, feedback from participants and recommendations for future training.

The above-mentioned duties and responsibilities are indicative and subject to further detailing through specific service requests to be made by UN Women Türkiye Office during the course of the contract duration.

Deliverables and Payment Schedule

Duration of the assignment is from 25 November 2024 to December 2024 (up to 15 days). The Consultants are expected to spend up to 15 working days on a non-consecutive basis throughout the assignment.

Deliverables under the assignment are as follows:

The mentioned number of working days has been estimated as being sufficient/feasible for the envisaged volume of work to be completed successfully and is proposed as a guideline for the duration of assignment. It cannot and shall not be used as criteria for completion of work/assignment. The provision of envisaged deliverables and timesheets approved by the UN Women Gender Analyst shall be the only criteria for Consultant’s work being completed and eligible for payments.

Payments shall be made based on the provision of timesheets and supporting deliverables approved by the UN Women Gender Analyst, who shall confirm Consultant’s work is completed and eligible for payment.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy, full time presence at UN Women premises will not be necessary. As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum of 1 trip to Ankara, and 2 trips to earthquake-impacted provinces which will be selected during Project implementation with the Ministry of Family and Social Services. All the travel arrangements under this assignment will be handled by UN Women as per the UN Women rules and regulations.

Key Performance Indicators

• Adherence to UN Women mandate, standards and rules.
• Timely and quality delivery of the training and capacity building services and technical support as stipulated under Description of Responsibilities.
• Willingness to share knowledge and experience,
• Demonstration of excellent written and oral communication skills and communicating sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies,
• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported,
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify & adjust discrepancies, identify & resolve operational problems,
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource.
• Provision of quality and timely monthly reports and the final report.

Positive feedback from UN Women’s stakeholders regarding the substantive support provided by the Consultants.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Technical credibility in gender equality and/or ending violence against women
• Strong analytical skills
• Partnerships building
• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies,
• Knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues in general, and Türkiye specific context,
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings,
• Good knowledge of technical area, and especially in research, developing findings, recommendations and guidelines,
• Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to detail

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

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s Degree in in Psychology, Social Work, Gender Studies, Public Health or related fields, preferably with a focus on trauma, clinical psychology, counseling, gender issues or violence against women (VAW).

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of experience in providing psychosocial and mental health services is required.
• Experience in developing and delivering training programs with professionals and/or frontliners working on VAW is highly desirable.
• Experience in working with emergency response teams and in humanitarian context is desirable.
• Experience in disaster response, specifically in coordinating and delivering MHPSS activities is a strong asset.
• Demonstrated experience in capacity building and training with public officials in Turkiye is an asset.
• Work experience in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment and/or relevant experience in working with vulnerable communities is a strong asset.
• Previous working experience with UN or other international organizations is highly desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Turkish is required.

Statements :

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)