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 Ukraine, UN Women delivers results across its strategic priorities through its triple mandate of normative support, UN system coordination, and operational activities, mobilizing urgent and sustained action to advance gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Prior to the full-scale invasion, UN Women had already been actively supporting national priorities, including women’s political participation, gender-responsive public policy, and women’s economic empowerment

UN Women's activities in Ukraine are focused on three key thematic areas: Women, peace, security, and gender-based violence, as well as gender-responsive governance, including gender-sensitive recovery and European integration and humanitarian assistance and coordination. UN Women in Ukraine provides technical support for developing and implementing national gender equality commitments, including laws, policies and budgets, advocacy, social mobilization, and capacity-building activities to government authorities at all levels, human rights institutions, women's initiative groups, civil society organizations, and the private sector. 

Ukraine has made a range of efforts for European integration, starting from an Association Agreement which was negotiated in 2007-2011 and initiated in 2012. The EU and Ukraine signed the Association Agreement in 2014. Provisional application of important parts of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement began on 1 November 2014: on the respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and rule of law; political dialogue and reform; justice, freedom and security; economic and financial cooperation. In 2019, Ukraine incorporated European and Euro-Atlantic integration into its Constitution as a strategic course. 

On 23 June 2022, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the immediate granting of candidate status for EU membership to Ukraine. On the same day, the European Council granted Ukraine the status of a candidate for accession to the EU. On 8 November 2023, the European Commission recommended opening accession negotiations with Ukraine. On 14 December 2023, European Council made historical decision to open negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union. In September 2025, Ukraine reached an important milestone on its EU accession path with the completion of the bilateral screening with the European Commission. The ensuing process of opening of the first clusters of EU Chapters requires enhanced adherence to EU requirements, which includes approximation of EU gender equality law and policy, and the consistent application of gender mainstreaming across all sectors, policy areas, and levels of government. Accession negotiations are complex and require technical administrative expertise and resources for absorbing the EU Gender Equality acquis. Capacities, processes and procedures for consistent gender mainstreaming are to be put in place across sectors and levels of governance, posing a challenge to absorbing the EU Gender Equality acquis.[1] 

[1] ‘Gender Equality acquis’ refers collectively to the body of EU laws, rules, resolutions, declarations, regulations, directives and treaties, which explicitly refer to gender equality and make up a subset within the ‘acquis communautaire’. The EU explicitly expects candidate countries and potential candidates, “to progressively align with [the] EU gender equality acquis and have the institutional framework to enforce it”. See: EU Gender Action Plan 2021-2025 (GAP III).

To strengthen the efforts of the government of Ukraine (GoU), UN Women will contract National Consultant to provide sector-specific expert support to the gender mainstreaming in the European accession process (cluster 5 - Resources, agriculture and cohesion: Chapter 11 – Agriculture and rural development; Chapter 12 – Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy; Chapter 13 – Fisheries and aquaculture) in close coordination with the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine and other relevant sector-specific stakeholders at national and regional level in Ukraine.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative in Ukraine and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist, the National Consultant will provide support to UN Women to assist the government of Ukraine (GoU), with expert and technical support on gender mainstreaming in EU integration in close coordination with the relevant institution from the GoU, as per the given task. 

The consultant will report to the Programme Specialist, and will be supported by Programme Analyst, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

All reports should be submitted in English and include the full set of supporting documents, such as analytical briefs, meeting notes, event reports, concept notes, agendas, handouts, and lists of participants, etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian.

The assignment will include, but not be limited to, the following tasks developed in coordination with the institutions of the GoU and UN Women: 

• Support coordination and communication with the relevant institutions in the government of Ukraine to identify priorities on gender mainstreaming to the EU accession processes.
• Review policies and legislation relevant to specific EU negotiating chapters (cluster 5 - Resources, agriculture and cohesion: Chapter 11 – Agriculture and rural development; Chapter 12 – Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy; Chapter 13 – Fisheries and aquaculture) and identify areas of intervention in line with the relevant gender equality EU acquis.
• Develop recommendations and provide expert advice on aligning Ukrainian legislation, including sector-specific legislation, with the EU acquis. 
• Provide policy advice on gender mainstreaming to the EU integration processes, including monitoring the alignment of the Ukrainian legislation with EU acquis in chapters 11, 12 and 13 of the negotiation process. 
• Prepare analytical briefs, presentations and other materials related to proposed amendments to the national legislation.
• Prepare materials and facilitate public discussions, multistakeholder dialogues and consultations on gender issues, engaging government, parliament, and CSOs (in particular, those representing different women's groups related to the chapters 11, 12 and 13 of the EU negotiating process).  
• Develop a handbook on “Gender mainstreaming in agriculture and rural development.”
• Provide substantive input to the international consultant to be hired by UN Women to provide expert advice to Ukraine in its EU accession. 
• Contribute to the design and delivery of capacity-building and training activities for national and local stakeholders on the gender equality EU acquis and EU integration. 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a Kyiv-based consultancy. This is a partial office-based consultancy.
 

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:

• partnership building
• negotiation 
• commitment to continuous improvement
• business planning reporting

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

•  Advanced (Masters) degree in Law, Agriculture, Public Policy and Administration, Economics, European Studies, International Relations, Gender Studies, Social and Humanitarian Sciences, or related fields are required.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of relevant work experience (after Master’s degree) in the field of agriculture and human rights or gender equality, governance and public administration, civil service or other related fields;   
• Proven experience in providing legal support in the sector of agriculture and rural development to the government institutions;
• Previous experience with the EU institutions and accession process will be considered an asset. 
• Experience with UN Women and other UN agencies will be considered as an asset;
• Proven understanding of human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and national and international GEWE commitments in Ukraine; 
• Experience with coordination and technical support of meetings and consultations with government authorities. 

Languages:

• Fluency in verbal and written English and Ukrainian is required. 
• Knowledge of any other UN official language is an asset.

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.