National Consultant/Expert on Care Economy: Research and Policy Paper
UN Women
Chief and Senior Professional Consultancy Locallly Recruited | II. Consultancy Assignment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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; the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development; human rights; as well as humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. UN Women’s Office in the Republic of North Macedonia in line with its priorities set in the UN Women strategic plan and in the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, supports the country on the normative commitments and is working in two thematic areas – governance and national planning and ending violence against women. In fulfilling its mandate, UN Women is cooperating with UN, the government and the CSOs to advocate for women’s empowerment and advancement of gender equality. Within the Western Balkans and Ukraine, persistent gender inequalities and structural gaps in care systems continue to constrain women’s economic participation and access to decent work, social protection, and public services. Across the region, women shoulder a disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work, while the availability, accessibility, and quality of care services remain uneven. These challenges are compounded by demographic change, labour market informality, fiscal constraints, and decentralization dynamics, underscoring the need for evidence-based, gender-transformative approaches to strengthening care systems as a foundation for inclusive and sustainable development. In response, UN Women, through its global Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) programming and its Transforming Care Systems and Care Economy frameworks, is implementing a regional initiative aimed at strengthening knowledge, policy dialogue, and institutional capacity on the care economy in the Western Balkans and Ukraine. The regional project seeks to generate comparative evidence, promote good practices, and support national and sub-national policy reforms that recognize care as a public good and a strategic area of social investment. Within this regional framework, UN Women’s Office in the Republic of North Macedonia supports national and local efforts to advance gender-responsive governance, budgeting, and women’s economic empowerment, in line with the UN Women Strategic Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2025-20230). Through ongoing programmes on gender-responsive policies and budgets, UN Women works closely with national institutions, local self-government units (LSGUs), and civil society organizations to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and accountability mechanisms. In North Macedonia, the disproportionate burden of unpaid care and domestic work remains one of the key structural barriers to women’s economic empowerment. These burdens are particularly pronounced for specific target groups, including women in rural and agricultural communities, women farmers, women engaged in informal or family-based economic activities, older women, and women providing care for children, persons with disabilities, or persons with chronic illness. While national-level data highlights gender inequalities in care, locally disaggregated data and policy analysis remain limited, particularly in relation to financing, service delivery models, and the role of local governments in care provision. As an agricultural country with a decentralized governance structure, North Macedonia faces specific challenges and opportunities in transforming care systems at the local level. Strengthening the evidence base on care—particularly through national research, comparative analysis, and policy-oriented recommendations—is essential to inform gender-responsive budgeting, local development planning, and public investment decisions. This aligns with national priorities under the Programme for Sustainable Local Development and Decentralization (2021–2026), which calls for improved quality of local services and inclusive economic development through gender mainstreaming. Within the framework of the Transforming Care Systems initiative, UN Women North Macedonia seeks to strengthen the evidence base and policy guidance on transforming care systems for specific target groups, with a particular focus on:
In this context, UN Women North Macedonia will engage a national expert to conduct research and develop a policy paper proposing models for transforming care for specific target groups, including sustainable and gender-responsive financing models. The assignment will generate nationally grounded evidence that contributes to regional knowledge while directly informing policy dialogue, programming, and advocacy on care economy reforms in North Macedonia. The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Programme Specialist/Gender Equality Programme Manager at UN Women North Macedonia. The consultant will be supported by the project implementation staff who will serve as the focal points for coordination, contract management, and payment issues. The consultant will work in collaboration with the National Consultant for Research and development of Comparative Analysis, with no decision-making authority beyond the scope of the assignment, and will closely coordinate with UN Women staff and relevant stakeholders as required. Description of Responsibilities / Scope of Work The consultant is expected to have a solid understanding of UN Women’s mandate on gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, and care economy frameworks. The consultant will be responsible for: • Conducting desk-based research on care economy policies, legal frameworks, and care services in North Macedonia in collaboration with the National Consultant for Research and development of Comparative Analysis; • Mapping care needs, gaps, and challenges affecting specific target groups, with attention to gender and intersectional dimensions, in collaboration with the National Consultant for Research and development of Comparative Analysis; • Analysing existing and potential financing models for care systems, including public financing, social protection mechanisms, and mixed financing approaches in collaboration with the National Consultant for Research and development of Comparative Analysis; • Developing a policy paper proposing models for transforming care for specific target groups in North Macedonia, including policy and financing recommendations aligned with gender-responsive budgeting and governance frameworks; • Integrating feedback from UN Women and revising deliverables accordingly in collaboration with the National Consultant for Research and development of Comparative Analysis. All deliverables must meet UN Women quality standards for analytical rigor, policy relevance, gender responsiveness, and clarity. Deliverables
The national consultant will be expected to complete the below tasks within the indicative timeframe:
Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel This is a home-based consultancy. The assignment requires intermittent presence on UN Women premises for coordinative purposes. As part of this assignment, there is no expected travel outside Skopje, North Macedonia. If such engagements are expected, UN Women will cover the transportation and DSA. |
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| III. Competencies | |
Core Values:
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| IV. Required Qualifications | |
| Education and Certification: • Master’s degree or higher in economics, public policy, social policy, gender studies, development studies, or a related field. Experience:
Languages:
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| V. How to Apply | |
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