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, by 2029, UN Women aims to ensure that more women and girls, including those at the greatest risk of being left behind, lead, influence, and benefit from inclusive gender-responsive humanitarian action, governance, recovery, rights, and economic growth.

One of the priorities of UN Women’s work in Ukraine focuses on enhancing national and local capacities of government, women’s rights organizations (WROs), and women activists to drive gender-responsive governance, advance the EU accession process, and implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda while safeguarding the rule of law, human rights and gender equality.

UN Women supported the governmental institutions with the development and update of the State Strategy on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men till 2030 and its respective Action Plans[1]. It’s a comprehensive strategic document which defines priority consolidated actions of the central executive bodies and local authorities, CSOs and other stakeholders for advancing gender equality in the Ukrainian society. 

In accordance with Activity 4, Task 3 (Strategic and Operational Objective 1) of the Operational Plan for the implementation of the State Strategy on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men for the period up to 2030, for the years 2025–2027, state authorities, local self-government bodies, and other institutions and organizations are obliged to conduct gender audits in their institutions.

To implement this and other national gender equality commitments, in 2026, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine and other state institutions are planning to conduct a gender audit. 

A gender audit is a tool that helps analyze how the principles of ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men are considered in the activities of state authorities, local self-government bodies, institutions, and organizations, as well as to provide recommendations for better integration of a gender perspective.

To support the efforts of the Ministry and other state institutions (as per their requests), UN Women is now seeking a National Consultant to Support Gender Audit at the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine and Other State Institutions.

The gender audit (GA) will be carried out on the basis of the Methodological Recommendations for Conducting Gender Audits by Enterprises, Institutions, and Organizations, approved by Order of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine No. 448 of August 9, 2021 (Methodological Recommendations)[1] and a Step-by-Step Guide “Gender Audit: Roadmap and Practical Advice”[2]  developed by UN Women in cooperation with the Apparatus of the Government Commissioner for Gender Equality Policy and the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine with financial support from Sweden.

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

The Consultant will either serve as a lead GA practitioner, working in a team and coordinating with another National Expert, or serve as a team member providing support to the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine and other state institutions.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

The assignment will include but not be limited to the following tasks developed in coordination with the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, other state institutions, where gender audit support is needed, and UN Women: 

• Develop a GA Methodology (including list of the desk review materials, survey questionnaire, interview guides etc.), support the organization of the validation session with the Ministry’s/other state institutions’ gender audit working groups (WG) and finalization of the Methodology based on the comments received from the WG members.
• Provide inputs during expert discussions, consultations, and technical meetings of the Ministry’s/other state institutions’ Working Group during various stages of GA. 
• Knowledge sharing, facilitation of gender audit related training sessions, other events for the Ministry’s working group/other stakeholders.
• To conduct desk review of existing organizational and regulatory documents, materials, and data required for conducting a gender audit in line with the analysis areas specified in Methodology.
• To support conduction of the online survey and facilitate key informant interviews (focus groups, workshops if needed) as per the guide provided in Methodology.
• Conduct a detailed analysis of all collected primary data. Triangulate the results of desk review, survey, individual interviews and other used tools. 
• Draft the GA report based on the analysis of internal documents, administrative statistics, and collected primary data, including best practices, areas for development and recommendations.
• Support organization of the GA report validation by the Ministry’s/other state institutions’ WG, finalize the report based on the working group’s comments
• Support organization of the presentation of GA key findings, recommendations.
• Support the development and finalization of the Action Plan for addressing identified issues in the area of ensuring gender equality based on the results of the gender audit and its recommendations.  
• Provide other support for the Ministry/other state institutions’ to implement gender audit recommendations, including developing new/updating existing policy documents/strategies, conducting trainings, holding consultations, if needed and agreed with the Ministry/other state institutions’.  

Outputs

*All reports should be submitted in English language and include the full set of supporting documents, such as GA methodology, questionnaires, gender analysis results, meeting agendas, GA reports etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian. 

 Inputs 

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment. 
• The Consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer. 
• The Consultant is expected to take mandatory UN Women trainings.

  Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy with visits to the Ministry and UN Women offices on as needed basis. 

Travel is not anticipated by the assignment, in case the need to travel arises, all travel arrangements will be made based on UN Women’s rules and regulations. 

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:

• Good data collection and analytical skills, strong report writing competencies. 
• Proficiency in coordinating activities among interagency groups, commissions, and working groups. 
• Strong interpersonal skills to build alliances, negotiate.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team, contributing constructively to shared objectives.
• Ability to adjust priorities and approaches as needed. 

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Advanced (Master’s) degree or equivalent in public administration, law, social science, international relations, human rights, gender studies or other related fields.

• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of relevant work experience (after Master’s degree) in the field of human rights and/or gender equality, governance and public administration, research and development, or other related fields;   
• Proven experience of planning and conducting gender assessments, gender analyses, gender-responsive evaluations, working with gender-sensitive data; 
• Previous experience of providing advisory/technical support to the government institutions on the issues of GEWE. 
• Experience with coordination and technical support of meetings and consultations with government authorities;
• Proven understanding of human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and national and international GEWE commitments in Ukraine. 

Languages:

• Fluency in Ukrainian, working level of English 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.