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. 

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. Guided by the principles of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and relevant international human rights instruments, UN Women supports Member States in strengthening institutions to ensure the effective realization of women’s rights, including access to justice.

Judges play a central role in translating constitutional guarantees, statutory law, and international human rights obligations into effective judicial protection. In Lebanon, judicial practice operates within a plural legal system, where constitutional principles, ratified international treaties, statutory law, jurisprudence, and religion-based personal status systems intersect. This complexity places particular responsibility on judges to ensure equality before the law, non-discrimination, due process, and the right to an effective remedy.

At the same time, continuing judicial education in Lebanon faces structural and resource constraints, including limited opportunities for systematic induction or refresher training, particularly when judges are rotated to new courts or jurisdictions. These constraints underscore the need for flexible, modular, and sustainable training tools, including Learning Management Systems (LMS), that support continuous judicial learning without disrupting judicial functions.

In line with international human rights standards and drawing on A Practitioner’s Toolkit on Women’s Access to Justice Programming, jointly developed by UN Women, UNDP, UNODC, and OHCHR, UN Women Lebanon seeks to support the development of a practice-oriented Gender and Human Rights training course for judges. The focus of this assignment is judicial practice, not advocacy, and aims to enhance the quality, consistency, and fairness of judicial reasoning and decision-making in cases that raise gender and equality considerations. This activity contributes directly to UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029 by strengthening gender-responsive, inclusive, and accountable governance systems through institutional capacity development of key duty-bearers. 

The consultant shall perform the assignment under the supervision of the UN Women Country Representative and the support of the Governance and Participation in Public Life (GPPL) Programme Manager in close coordination and consultation with the Ministry of Justice.

Objective of the Assignment

The objective of this assignment is to develop a structured, practice-oriented Gender and Human Rights training course for judges, including a training manual and LMS-ready learning materials, to support the consistent application of equality and non-discrimination principles in judicial reasoning, case management, and remedies within the Lebanese legal context, in line with Lebanon’s international obligations.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The consultant will undertake the following responsibilities:

• Design the overall course structure and pedagogy, ensuring a coherent, modular, and practice-oriented learning pathway suitable for judges and LMS-based delivery
• Lead the Lebanon-specific legal analysis, including the application of international human rights standards within the Lebanese constitutional, statutory, and jurisprudential framework
• Draft the core Gender and Human Rights training manual for judges, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and relevance to judicial practice
• Ensure coherence, consistency, and an appropriate judicial tone across all course modules and learning materials, respecting judicial independence and professional expertise
• Coordinate closely with the Ministry of Justice, judges, and relevant judicial training stakeholders, including through consultations and validation processes, to ensure institutional relevance and ownership

Use of Additional Expertise: Where appropriate and with the agreement of UN Women, the consultant may draw on short-term subject-matter expertise (e.g. in specific areas of Lebanese law or instructional design) to support the development of selected modules or learning materials. The Lead Consultant will remain fully accountable for the coherence, quality, and timely delivery of all outputs.

Deliverables

A. Inception Phase and Contextual Mapping

The consultant will:

• Review Lebanon’s international human rights obligations relevant to equality, non-discrimination, and access to justice, and their status within the domestic legal order
• Map the Lebanese legal and jurisprudential framework relevant to gender equality, including constitutional principles, statutory law, and the interface with personal status systems
• Assess gaps in existing judicial training related to gender, stereotypes, and access to justice, with particular attention to continuing education and court rotation realities
• Conduct targeted consultations with judges and judicial training stakeholders
• Submit an inception report outlining the methodology, workplan, pedagogical approach, and proposed course structure adapted for LMS delivery

Deliverable 1: Inception report and detailed course outline.

B. Development of the Gender and Human Rights Course for Judges

The course will consist of a limited number of focused thematic modules, including:

Module 1: Equality, Non-Discrimination, and Judicial Obligations under Lebanese Law

• Core principles governing judicial work under Lebanese law, including equality before the law, non-discrimination, proportionality, due process, and the right to an effective remedy
• Lebanon’s international human rights obligations relevant to gender equality and non-discrimination, including ratified treaties, and their application within the Lebanese legal order
• Direct, indirect, and multiple discrimination, including intersectional considerations, as analytical tools for judicial interpretation and reasoning

Module 2: Gender Concepts and Judicial Reasoning in Practice

• Distinctions between sex and gender relevant to adjudication, including indirect discrimination and intersecting forms of disadvantage
• Identification and avoidance of gender stereotypes and unconscious bias in judicial reasoning, credibility assessment, evaluation of evidence, and judgment drafting

Module 3: Barriers to Women’s Access to Justice in Lebanon

• Procedural, economic, social, and institutional barriers affecting women’s access to justice, including those arising from court procedures, costs, delays, social norms, and legal pluralism
• Judicial approaches to ensuring fairness, accessibility, and effective participation of parties, consistent with due process guarantees

Module 4: Gender-Responsive Courtroom and Case Management

• Gender-sensitive case management and courtroom practices within the framework of Lebanese procedural law
• Protection of dignity, privacy, and safety of litigants and witnesses, particularly in sensitive cases, while upholding fair trial rights

Module 5: Selected Applications in Judicial Practice

Application of gender and human rights standards in judicial decision-making in selected areas relevant to Lebanese courts, including:

• Violence against women and girls within the criminal justice framework, including domestic violence and other forms of violence, with reference to applicable Lebanese legislation and procedural safeguards
• Labour rights and economic justice, including discrimination and workplace harassment
• Family-related harms and their civil or criminal consequences, within the limits of judicial jurisdiction and the interaction between civil, criminal, and personal status systems
• Political participation and public life, where relevant to judicial mandates

Module 6: Remedies, Enforcement, and Accountability

• Judicial role in ensuring effective, proportionate, and enforceable remedies in cases involving discrimination or gender-based harm
• Identification of legal and procedural barriers to enforcement of judicial decisions and judicial responses within existing mandates

Each module will integrate:

• Lebanon-relevant hypothetical scenarios or jurisprudential illustrations
• Practical judicial tools, including checklists, reasoning templates, and guided reflection questions

The course will emphasize legal analysis and application, fully respecting judges’ professional expertise, judicial independence, and the boundaries of the judicial function.

Deliverable 2: Draft training manual and curriculum.

C. Supporting Learning Materials and LMS-Ready Content

The consultant will:

• Prepare instructional visuals and reference materials aligned with the course modules
• Develop at least three short educational videos suitable for self-paced LMS delivery
• Design learning units with clear objectives, estimated duration, and knowledge checks

Deliverable 3: LMS-ready learning package (manual, slides, videos/scripts, assessments, and job aids).

D. Validation and Finalization

The consultant will:

• Facilitate a validation process with judges and judicial training stakeholders
• Revise materials based on feedback to ensure legal accuracy, judicial appropriateness, and usability

Deliverable 4: Final validated training manual and LMS package.

Deliverables:

Language and Format

• All deliverables shall be submitted in Arabic
• An English executive summary may be requested for internal or donor reporting
• All outputs shall be provided in editable electronic format

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. No official travel is anticipated under this assignment unless otherwise agreed in writing with UN Women.

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:

• Strong legal research and drafting skills, including the ability to translate complex legal frameworks into clear and operational guidance for practitioners.
• Analytical skills to interpret legal frameworks and electoral procedures and translate them into clear operational guidance.
• Ability to integrate gender considerations into legal and procedural tools in line with established standards and good practices.
• Effective coordination and consultation skills, especially with judicial and electoral actors.
• Ability to work independently and deliver high-quality outputs within set timelines.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in Law, with a focus on public law, constitutional law, electoral law, or a closely related field is required.
• Demonstrated expertise or specialization in constitutional or electoral law is an asset.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in law, with demonstrated expertise in Lebanese public law, judicial practice, or related legal fields, and strong familiarity with the Lebanese legal system is required.
• Proven experience working with or within judicial institutions, including engagement with judges, courts, judicial training bodies, or legal education programmes is desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in developing legal manuals, training curricula, procedural guides, or reference tools for legal or judicial audiences is required.
• Proven ability to integrate principles of equality, non-discrimination, and human rights, including gender-related considerations, into legal analysis, judicial training, or institutional work, in line with Lebanese law and Lebanon’s international obligations is required.
• Excellent legal drafting skills in Arabic are required; ability to prepare concise working documents or summaries in English is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Arabic 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.)

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.