Background/Context

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. 

Women’s political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the role of women’s leadership in strong and stable democratic processes and inclusive societies. It is covered under the Entity’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 Impact Area 1 – Participation and Governance in Public Life: “Women and girls participate in leadership and decision making and benefit from gender responsive governance” and involves several key initiatives. Among these are the support for global normative frameworks and gender-responsive laws, policies, and institutions, including local and national legislatures, where UN Women is committed to strengthening women’s capacity and influence. UN Women supports gender-sensitive and gender-responsive legislatures in several ways, including capacity building through technical assistance to women's legislative networks (e.g., gender equality committees and women’s caucuses) or for instituting gender-sensitive parliamentary culture and norms reforms.

In this context, UN Women has developed a legislative induction training manual for legislators/parliamentarians. The training manual is designed to support women office holders to enhance their leadership and decision-making capacities to deliver their mandates and mainstream gender throughout critical functions of legislation, representation and oversight. UNW intends to undertake a pilot training of trainers in Serbia and is seeking an expert who can tailor the training of trainers for the national context and co-facilitate the training with the international lead facilitator. 

UN Women Serbia will organize a Training of Trainers (TOT) for qualified trainers in November 2025. Participants will have the opportunity to learn UN Women’s curriculum, deliver some of its components and receive a certificate upon completion of the five-day programme.

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of Programme Management Specialist/HoO and Programme Analyst (and Capacity Development and Knowledge Management Specialist from HQ). 

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

The consultant will undertake the following:

1.Localization of the training manual 

• Review the training manual and develop a country profile (annex I of the training manual) by conducting research and providing inputs such as national government mechanisms, data and relevant case studies. 
• Review the training manual and identify if there are gaps or irrelevant content for the national context; work with the lead consultant to fill in any gaps. Identify the parts of the training that could benefit from localization; and work with the lead consultant to adapt the relevant content. 
• Share the revised training manual with UN Women colleagues for review.
• Reflect changes on the training manual on the PowerPoint presentation and handouts and submit them to the UNW and lead facilitator for peer review.

2. Co-facilitation of the training session

The consultant shall support the piloting of the training manual in collaboration with the lead facilitator, UNW HQ and CO through following steps:

• Review the agenda developed by the lead facilitator, and support adjusting the content to reflect local culture, customs and tradition
• Work together with the lead facilitator to co-facilitate components of the training course to trainees together with international consultant and UN Women staff. 
• Co-facilitate post-training discussion to receive feedback on the manual from the trainees
• Prepare a summary report on the training of trainers, with recommendations for improving the draft manual.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. Any travel expenses will be covered by UN Women.

Competencies 

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues 
• Accountability 
• Creative Problem Solving 
• Effective Communication 
• Inclusive Collaboration 
• Stakeholder Engagement 
• Leading by Example 

• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and proactively solve problem;
• Capacity to plan, priorities and deliver tasks on time.
• Capacity to engage with stakeholders to receive inputs for analysis and reporting;

Ability to research, analyse, compare and present complex information.

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Political Science, Social Sciences, Philosophy, in governance or a related field 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.
• A certificate as a facilitator would be an added advantage. 

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years’ experience in the field of political science, / women’s political participation, gender, women’s rights, legal and policy reform is required.
• Experience in facilitating workshops and training to local councilors, national parliamentarians or women’s organizations.
• Experience working with government, and Women Rights Organizations is a strong asset 
• Strong experience and knowledge about local national and international law and engaging with legislative functionaries.
• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
• Previous experience with the United Nations or similar organizations in this or a related field would be considered an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in Serbian and English is required.

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 Unit-ed 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.)