The Position:

The UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard is a global accountability tool that helps UN Country Teams assess progress on gender mainstreaming through performance indicators based on intergovernmental mandates. Originating in 2008 from the 2006 UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) Policy on Gender Equality, it became part of a UN coordinated approach in 2012 alongside the UN-SWAP and was updated in 2018 to align with UN reforms and SDG-related results, strengthening accountability for gender equality across the UN system.

The UNCT in Syria undertook its first Gender Equality Scorecard exercise to assess its country-level gender mainstreaming practices and performance between Q3 2022 and 2023. In 2024, an annual progress report was submitted for UNCT in Syria outlining key recommendations to enhance gender equality efforts. Starting in 2025, the Gender Equality Acceleration Plan (GEAP) will be integrated into the UNCT-SWAP reporting framework. This will be operationalized through the inclusion of seven GEAP-specific questions within the UNCT-SWAP reporting platform. Accordingly, the United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs) is required to address these questions as part of their 2025 reporting cycle.

Under the leadership of the UNCT and in coordination with the RCO, UN Women and the UN Gender Working Group, UNFPA Syria is leading the 2025 process to develop  the UNCT-SWAP report  in a participatory and timely manner.

To that end, UNFPA Syria seeks to hire a national consultant with expertise in gender issues, and particularly on UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard reporting, to facilitate the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard and assess the effectiveness of the UN Country Team in gender mainstreaming, promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The consultant will also provide a set of actions for improvements and identify relevant reporting milestones for the annual performance review and assessment reporting of the RCO and UNCT. 

The Consultant is required to lead on the process under the supervision of the head of the UNFPA Syria Gender Program and in coordination with the GWG and the UNCT’s member agencies.

This consultancy is expected to be completed in 25working days from signing the contract. However, taking into account the nature and expected time to clear some of the deliverables the consultation may take longer.

The consultant will work independently with regular meetings with the supervisor that can be either in person or online.

The consultancy is home based with no required travel. Meetings and reporting will be conducted remotely.

You will report to the Head of Gender Unit at UNFPA Syria

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

You would be responsible for:

The scope of the consultant work to produce the SWAP report will follow the following steps 

Step  1 – Preparation

• Work with UNFPA as a Co-Chair for the GWG, and as applied with UN Women  on the preparation of the report

Step  2 – Assessment

• Design data collection and analysis tool
• Background document review (Including UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard Technical Guidance and Framework, UNCT-SWAP reports for the countries in the regions and from other countries, CCA, UNCT planning, budgeting, and programming documents, UN Gender Working Group TOR, CEDAW Reports/other national assessments/national Gender Plans and legislation, PSEA Strategy, Protection Strategy and HCT Gender Strategy.
• Conduct meetings with UN agencies and other key stakeholders including WLOs to gather insights on current gender mainstreaming practices, identify gaps and good practices, validate preliminary findings, and inform the overall assessment process. 
• Review and analyze the MoMs of the RC meetings and GWG meetings.
• Gather evidence, analyze data and score indicators and prepare the initial report
• Findings sharing and validation
• Facilitate working sessions with and provide technical support to key stakeholders to discuss and score areas of performance.

Step  3 – Reporting

● Write the report of findings

Step  4 – Validation

● Share report with GWG, PMT and UNCT and seek their validation

Step5 – Finalization

● Finalize the report based on comments received

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

Master degree in gender equality, social and political sciences, or any other relevant studies.

Knowledge and Experience: 

• Relevant work experience in gender with the UN System, any experience in the UN-SWAP is an advantage.
• Strong commitment to and good understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues 
• Excellent analytical and writing skills. 
• Having a sensitive attitude towards gender issues is a must.

Languages: 

High skills in English as the report will be shared with the RCO and the UNCT.

Required Competencies: 

Values: Exemplifying integrity, 

Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, 

Embracing cultural diversity, 

Embracing change

 

Core Competencies: 

Achieving results,

Being accountable,

Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,

Thinking analytically and strategically,

Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.