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. 

A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes, and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality.

UN Women in Georgia supports state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls.

Women’s economic empowerment (WEE) is a transformative, collective process through which economic systems become just, equitable and prosperous, and through which all women enjoy their economic and social rights, exercise agency and power in ways that challenge inequalities and level the playing field and gain equal rights and access to ownership of and control over resources, assets, income, time and their own lives. The key elements of economic empowerment are equal rights and access to ownership and control over resources; agency, power and autonomy; and policies, institutions and norms.^[1]

Women’s rights to economic equality and opportunities are enshrined in a number of multilateral normative frameworks, including CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action.  The economic empowerment of women—to succeed and advance economically and to make and act on economic decisions - is a cornerstone of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as reaffirmed also by the Agreed Conclusions of the 61st Commission on the Status of Women (2017). The UN Secretary General’s High Level Expert Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment has outlined an action agenda to accelerate progress, with key steps tailored to different sets of actors and seven drivers that can create enabling environment to accelerate the impact (2018).[2]

UN Women Country Office in Georgia with the generous support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Austrian Development Agency (ADA) is implementing the third phase of the “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus” (WEESC) project. The project’s overarching goal is to ensure that women, particularly the poor and socially excluded, in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are economically empowered and participate in relevant decision-making. The WEESC project applies a holistic approach to reach this goal, enabling linked interventions at three levels: grassroots, policies and legislation, and institutions. The chosen approach and the implementation of the WEE agenda in the South Caucasus during Phase I (2018-2021) and Phase II (2021-2024) of the WEESC project served as a catalyst for action at all levels and supported the state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in all three countries (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan). The new, Phase III of the project is implemented for two years, from 2024 till 2026. 

UN Women has implemented the first and second phases of this project in line with international and national commitments, on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grass roots. The project has been working towards transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls. However, to achieve the project’s ambitious goal and for the sustainability of the results, Phase III of the WEESC project aims to increase economic security and improve access to livelihood and development opportunities for women, particularly the poorest and most excluded in the South Caucasus. 

Specifically, following the good practice established under Phase I and Phase II, and in line with the UN Women’s Strategic Note 2021-2025, Phase III of the project aims to ensure implementation of project results through interventions on policy, institutions, and grassroots levels to bring about transformative change in the target area. The below mentioned outputs directly contribute to the achievement of Outcome 1 (grassroots): “Women, particularly the poor and socially excluded, use skills, economic opportunities, relevant information, network and support to become farmers/entrepreneurs or to join the formal labour sector in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia (grass-roots level)”.

Output 1.1: Women, particularly the poor and socially excluded continue to access skills, information, networks, economic opportunities and/or apply for additional support and mentorship to become farmers/entrepreneurs or to join the formal labour sector

Output 1.2: Women and women’s groups continue to be empowered to participate in local planning and budgeting (e.g. GRB discussions), and sustaining and deepening greater awareness around the harmful social norms in the communities

With the overarching goal - to ensure that women, particularly the poor and. socially excluded, in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are economically empowered and participate in relevant decision-making – the project will ensure a holistic and sustainable approach for the achievement of the project’s goal/impact through consistent dialogue and the participation of women – rights holders – so that relevant institutions, policies, legislation and services respond to their needs and demands and enable women with strengthened capacities to empower themselves economically. Under Outcome 2 and 3, the project will be supporting capacity development to mainstream gender in the relevant laws, policies, programmes and services to make sustainable contributions to women’s economic empowerment. 

To increase economic security and improve access to livelihood and development opportunities for women, particularly the poorest and most excluded in the South Caucasus, UN Women Georgia will build on the existing results achieved though social mobilization approach in previous phases of WEESC to further strengthen already mobilized women in three target regions of Kvemo Kartli, Samtskhe-Javakheti, and Mtskheta-Mtianeti. To this end, UN Women Country Office (CO) seeks to hire national consultant to implement social mobilization activities and promote women’s participation in local decision-making processes in the target regions of Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli and Mtskheta-Mtianeti.

The consultant will be reporting to WEESC Progamme Analyst and WEESC Project Analyst and will be supported by WEESC Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The national consultant will be responsible to support WEESC Phase I and II beneficiary women and women’s groups to engage in local decision-making processes in Georgian regions through increasing their capacities in mechanisms of local planning and budgeting (targeted GRB activities), while having greater awareness of existing discriminatory social norms in their communities. Specifically, the national consultant will be responsible for:

• Providing support to rural women mobilized in Self-help Groups (SHGs) by the WEESC project in target municipalities mentioned above on GRB methodology, consisting of regular capacity development interventions based on the beneficiaries’ needs assessment results.
• Provide continuous support the same SHGs of rural women in target municipalities to identify local needs, conducting needs assessments and prioritize local problems and prioritize them through regular in-person and online experience-sharing and strategic planning activities.
• Providing capacity development support to SHGs of rural women to enhance understanding of local governance structures and decision-making processes, and increase awareness of existing opportunities for community members to engage in local decision-making.
• Providing hands on assistance to beneficiary women around GRB initiatives through a regular in-person and online communication and strategic planning activities.

Deliverables

• Deliverable 1: Progress Report 1 – covering duties and responsibilities spelled out above (submitted to UN Women by January 16, 2026 – up to 10 working days)
• Deliverable 2: Progress Report 2 – covering duties and responsibilities spelled out above (submitted to UN Women by February 27, 2026 – up to 12 working days)
• Deliverable 3: Progress Report 3 - covering duties and responsibilities spelled out above (submitted to UN Women by April 30, 2026 – up to 15 working days)
• Deliverable 4: Progress Report 4 - covering duties and responsibilities spelled out above (submitted to UN Women by June 30, 2026 – up to 15 working days)
• Deliverable 5: Final Report - covering duties and responsibilities spelled out above (submitted to UN Women by August 7, 2026 – up to 12 working days)

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy, some travel might be required. 

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 community mobilization and capacity development
• Excellent presentation/public speaking skills
• Partnerships building
• Negotiation 
• IT literacy 

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Political Studies, Public Policy, Social Policy or other related fields is required
• A first-level university degree in combination with seven (7) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

• At least 5 years in case of Master’s or 7 years (Bachelor’s degree) of work experience in practical implementation of Social Mobilization methodology and working on grassroot level with rural women 
• At least 5 years in case of Master’s or 7 years (Bachelor’s degree) of work experience in developing and organizing capacity building activities
• At least 5 years in case of Master’s or 7 years (Bachelor’s degree) of work experience in gender equality, gender mainstreaming, gender analysis and women’s empowerment issues
• Excellent verbal communication and moderating/facilitation skills
• Previous professional experience in conducting training will be a strong asset
• Proven track record of working on Gender-Responsive Budgeting projects
• Prior experience in conducting tasks similar to the ones outlined in this ToR with UN/EU agencies in Georgia will be considered a distinct advantage

Languages:

Fluency in Georgian is required, a working level of English language proficiency is desired.

How to Apply:

• Personal CV and P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter in English or Georgian (maximum length: 1 page)

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.