Local Consultants - 1 Specialist in institutional dialogue and 1 Specialist in violence prevention
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Full-time Locallly Recruited The Position:
Local Consultants - 1 Specialist in institutional dialogue and 1 Specialist in violence prevention
You will report to UNFPA Program Analyst.
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.
Purpose of consultancy:
UNFPA Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Office is seeking two consultants (one specialist in institutional dialogue and one specialist in violence prevention) to jointly:
Background
Technology-facilitated gender based violence is a growing form of violence that increasingly affects women and girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This includes online harassment, cyberstalking, unauthorized sharing of intimate images, impersonation, deepfake content, doxxing and other digital harms. These forms of violence often interact with offline forms of abuse and create complex legal, psychological and social consequences.
In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, multiple institutions hold responsibilities across the TFGBV response chain. However, there is no consolidated, evidence-based mapping of:
• how survivors actually navigate institutions;
• which services are realistically available at local level;
• how digital evidence is collected and used;
• where gaps, procedural bottlenecks and coordination weaknesses persist.
UNFPA has supported the development of a Legislative Roadmap for TFGBV, identifying gaps in criminal law, domestic violence legislation, ICT-related offences, and personal data protection. The present assignment will update this baseline, integrate field evidence and produce actionable insights for strengthening survivor protection.
The findings will guide UNFPA’s 2026 capacity building plan and contribute to a consolidated understanding of TFGBV response systems in the entity.
Scope of work: (Description of services, activities, or outputs):
The assignment will be delivered by two consultants engaged under identical Terms of Reference, working as a coordinated team. Although the overall scope and responsibilities apply equally to both, each consultant will bring a distinct and complementary technical profile: one specialist in institutional dialogue and multisectoral coordination, and the other specialist in gender based violence prevention, service provision and survivor-centred approaches.
Together, they will jointly deliver an integrated package of analytical, consultative and technical products. All major outputs will be co-produced, with tasks distributed between the consultants according to their respective expertise, as further detailed in the qualifications section.
The scope of work includes five major components, each broken down into detailed tasks:
Component 1: Preparatory work, methodological design and document review
1.1 Initial briefing sessions with UNFPA BiH
• Detailed discussion of objectives, expected products, timelines, risks, and coordination channels.
• Agreement on methodological approaches for mapping TFGBV response chains across sectors.
• Identification of key institutions and stakeholders in each FBiH canton.
1.2 Review of national, entity-level and international documents, including but not limited to:
• TFGBV legislative roadmap (2022) and supporting annexes;
• FBiH Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Domestic Violence Law, ICT and cybersecurity legislation;
• Entity-level, cantonal and municipal protocols for GBV reporting, police action, forensic evidence handling;
• Guidelines or SOPs used by police, prosecutors, centres for social welfare, schools and medical institutions;
• Relevant GREVIO recommendations, CEDAW observations, and international standards;
• Previous mappings conducted by CSOs, academic institutions or ministries.
1.3 Development of the full consultation package, including:
• Standardized agenda for all consultations;
• Detailed facilitation and moderation guide;
• Sector-specific prompting questions;
• Worksheets for group work (reporting chain mapping, capacity assessment, barrier identification, legal gaps);
• Consent and confidentiality protocols;
• Data collection tools for cross-comparison of regional findings.
Component 2: Organization and delivery of ten detailed multisectoral consultations
Each consultation will be held in a different FBiH canton, covering all ten cantons, their police administrations, cantonal courts, and health/social welfare structures.
Participants (minimum required sectors)
• Police (gender-based violence units, cybercrime units where present);
• Prosecutors (general crime, cybercrime, domestic violence teams);
• Judges (criminal, minor offences, juvenile departments);
• Centres for social welfare;
• Medical institutions (emergency services, psychiatry/psychology, family medicine);
• Psychosocial service providers (public and NGO-based);
• Women’s shelters (where present);
• School representatives (pedagogues, psychologists, directors);
• Media representatives;
• Municipal/local government representatives;
• Youth (youth councils, youth CSOs, student representatives);
• Relevant CSOs with experience in digital safety, women’s rights or cyber literacy.
Each session will last three hours, with a mandatory working lunch, and must produce concrete, actionable findings.
Component 3: Production of ten cantonal consultation reports
Each report must contain:
1. Executive summary (1–2 pages).
2. Methodology and participant list (by institution).
3. Regional institutional profile (police districts, prosecution offices, health/social welfare structure).
4. Detailed mapping of actual survivor pathways.
5. Analysis of the response chain:
• reporting
• police
• digital forensics
• prosecution
• courts
• health
• psychosocial
• shelters
• schools
6. Identification of gaps:
• legal
• procedural
• coordination
• capacity
• survivor experience
7. Good practices worth replication.
8. Feasible recommendations (short- and medium-term).
9. Annexes: worksheets, photos, proposed captions for social media.
Component 4: Legislative desk review and updated baseline
The consultants will update and expand the legislative roadmap with FBiH-specific findings, covering:
• alignment with Istanbul Convention and GREVIO recommendations on digital violence;
• analysis of FBiH Criminal Code provisions related to online harassment, unauthorized image sharing, extortion, and digital property intrusion;
• analysis of domestic violence law and applicability to TFGBV;
• mapping ICT offences (unauthorized access, data misuse, threats, impersonation);
• personal data protection provisions and gaps;
• procedural challenges in digital forensics, chain of custody, admissibility of evidence;
• cross-referencing international obligations with FBiH practice.
Component 5: Comprehensive survivor-oriented guide (expert-level detail - the guide must be structured as follows):
Chapter 5: Rights and privacy
• rights under criminal, domestic violence and data protection laws;
• rights related to online content removal;
• rights during investigation and prosecution;
• rights to psychosocial support, confidentiality, and non-discrimination.
Chapter 6: Psychosocial and emotional considerations
• trauma reactions common in digital violence;
• how survivors can access psychological care;
• services for children and adolescents.
Chapter 7: Directory of services
• verified contacts (police, prosecution, CSWs, health institutions, shelters, legal aid, psychosocial support, CSOs).
Chapter 8: Annexes
• flowcharts, glossaries, templates, sample reporting forms.
The survivor-oriented guide must be written in clear, accessible and non-technical language, suitable for women and girls of different ages, backgrounds and levels of digital literacy. The tone must remain practical, supportive, non-judgmental and trauma-informed, avoiding legal jargon while accurately reflecting procedures and realistic expectations within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Information should be structured in short paragraphs, bullet points, and step-by-step explanations, supported with visual elements such as flowcharts, tables, callouts and simplified diagrams to ensure usability by non-specialist audiences. Safety, privacy, and dignity must be emphasized throughout the text.
The overall length of the guide is expected to range between 50 and 60 pages, depending on the volume of canton-specific details and the number of required flowcharts. Each chapter must remain concise while offering sufficient depth to allow survivors, frontline workers and community members to understand what concrete actions are possible, what outcomes can be expected, and where system limitations exist. All descriptions must be grounded in verified practice, not ideal models, and must reflect the actual procedures and service availability identified during the consultations.
Component 6: Development of a Roadmap for Service and Mechanism Improvement
The consultants will jointly prepare a detailed Roadmap for Strengthening TFGBV Prevention and Response Systems, based on evidence collected through the consultations, legislative review, and mapping of actual institutional practices. The roadmap will outline sequenced reforms, required capacities, institutional responsibilities and feasible improvements aligned with the realities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The roadmap must include an analysis of gaps and systemic barriers: where services are missing or insufficient, digital evidence constraints, legal inconsistencies, lack of institutional clarity, coordination challenges.
Additionally, it should lay out:
• Short-term reforms (<12 months): targeted, immediately actionable measures to address critical procedural gaps, improve survivor pathways, strengthen digital evidence practices, and enhance frontline coordination.
• Medium-term reforms (1–3 years): institutional development measures, improvements to inter-agency protocols, harmonization of procedures, strengthening of sectoral mandates, information management improvements and development of sustainable cooperation mechanisms.
• Long-term reforms (3–5 years): structural alignment of legislation and practice, advanced digital forensics capacities, integration of TFGBV modules into sectoral strategies, long-term ICT safety measures, and modernization of institutional frameworks.
• Sector-specific actions: clearly articulated recommendations for police, prosecution, courts, centres for social welfare, health institutions, education sector, ICT and cybersecurity actors, municipal authorities and civil society organizations.
• Capacity-building requirements: identification of priority competencies needed across sectors, including digital evidence handling, survivor-centred interviewing, TFGBV case management, trauma-informed practice, and institutional coordination skills.
• Digital literacy and prevention components: recommendations for awareness-raising, community-based prevention, youth-specific digital safety activities, school-based programming, and strategies for addressing online harms through public education and targeted campaigns.
The roadmap must be practical, evidence-based and feasible, grounded in the real institutional capacities identified during field consultations, and aligned with applicable legal and strategic frameworks. It will form the foundation for UNFPA’s capacity building and service improvement portfolio for 2026.
Duration and working schedule:
The duration of this assignment is 10 weeks, with each consultant allotted up to 38 working days from March 16 to May 29, 2026.
Place where services are to be delivered:
Remote work with up to ten consultations across FBiH and one joint presentation of findings in Sarajevo.
Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):
List of deliverables and timelines:
• Consultation package (agenda, moderation guide, tools, templates)
– Week 1; 12 working days total
– Institutional Dialogue Specialist: 6 days
– Violence Prevention Specialist: 6 days
– Development of methodology, invitations and coordination, facilitation plan, sector prompts, mapping templates and reporting structure.
• Ten cantonal consultation reports
– Weeks 3–4; 32 working days total
– Institutional Dialogue Specialist: 16 days
– Violence Prevention Specialist: 16 days
– Field consultations, multisectoral moderation, synthesis of findings and preparation of ten standardized reports.
• Updated legislative baseline for TFGBV
– Week 4; 12 working days total
– Institutional Dialogue Specialist: 8 days (lead on legal/institutional analysis)
– Violence Prevention Specialist: 4 days (lead on service-practice alignment)
– Update of criminal law, DV law, ICT offences, personal data protection and international obligations, triangulated with consultation inputs.
• Draft survivor-oriented guide (pathways + system improvement roadmap)
– Week 5; 12 working days total
– Institutional Dialogue Specialist: 4 days (institutional mandates, procedural steps)
– Violence Prevention Specialist: 8 days (pathways, expectations, trauma-informed guidance)
– Development of step-by-step survivor pathways, service maps, flowcharts, realistic expectations, system gaps and recommendations.
• Final consolidated report
– Week 6; 6 working days total
– Institutional Dialogue Specialist: 3 days
– Violence Prevention Specialist: 3 days
– Integration of all findings, quality assurance, final structuring and alignment with UNFPA standards.
• Validation presentation
– Week 7; 2 working days total
– Institutional Dialogue Specialist: 1 day
– Violence Prevention Specialist: 1 day
– Preparation of concluding presentation for validation in Sarajevo.
Expected travel:
• Up to ten consultations across FBiH
• One mission to Sarajevo
Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:
The assignment will be conducted by two consultants working under identical Terms of Reference, jointly responsible for all outputs. Both consultants must meet the core qualifications listed below while contributing complementary expertise, with one consultant bringing stronger competencies in institutional dialogue and multisectoral coordination, and the other bringing advanced specialization in gender based violence prevention, survivor-centred services and psychosocial practice.
Education:
Work experience:
To fulfil the objectives of the assignment successfully, both consultants must demonstrate:
• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in domains relevant to the assignment, including governance, GBV prevention and protection, justice sector engagement, multisectoral coordination or public administration.
• Proven experience in reviewing, interpreting and applying legal acts, by-laws, strategies and action plans, particularly those related to domestic violence, violence against women and technologically facilitated GBV.
• Demonstrated experience working with complex multisectoral teams, including police, prosecutors, courts, centres for social welfare, health institutions, shelters, educational institutions, media, local governments and civil society organizations.
• Experience conducting consultations, structured dialogues, facilitated sessions or multistakeholder workshops, and synthesizing the findings into actionable recommendations.
• Evident experience in cooperating with government ministries, judicial institutions, local authorities, scientific institutions and NGOs, including work requiring strong political awareness and stakeholder engagement.
• Demonstrated ability to absorb, analyse and systematize large volumes of complex legal, institutional and procedural information within tight deadlines and with multiple counterpart groups.
• Experience producing policy analyses, institutional mappings, service assessments, coordination models, GBV-related guidance documents and technical briefs.
Differentiation between the two technical profiles:
While the core criteria are shared, each consultant is expected to bring stronger specialization in one of the following areas:
Institutional Dialogue Specialist
• Expertise in institutional mandates, inter-agency coordination, public administration systems and justice sector processes.
• Demonstrated experience in leading high-level dialogue, inter-institutional negotiations and public sector consultations.
• Strong background in analysing governance structures, institutional bottlenecks and coordination mechanisms.
Violence Prevention Specialist
• Expertise in GBV prevention, survivor-centred support services, psychosocial support, trauma-informed approaches and frontline service delivery.
• Demonstrated experience working directly with protection actors, service providers and community-based mechanisms.
• Strong background in mapping survivor pathways, analysing service quality and developing prevention or support models.
Both roles are essential for the integrated analytical and technical package required by the assignment.
Languages:
• Fluency in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (spoken and written).
• Excellent command of English, especially for drafting high-level analytical documents.
Required Competencies:
Values:
Core Competencies:
Functional Competencies:
• Deep understanding of governance systems, institutional mandates, and referral pathways in GBV and TFGBV contexts.
• Strong facilitation, negotiation and consensus-building skills.
• Excellent writing, synthesis and presentation skills.
• Ability to work independently while engaging in continuous coordination with multiple actors.
Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:
During the remote work and local missions, the support will be provided by UNFPA BiH.
Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:
More information on bodyright campaign (BiH, global, Western Balkans), with TFGBV legislative roadmap and glossary of terms.
UNFPA reserves the right to offer to the selected candidate the rate in accordance with UNFPA consultant rates and UNFPA available budget. Payment for contractors will not exceed average UNFPA rates for national consultants.
UNFPA Work Environment:
UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.
Disclaimer:
Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements.
UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.
Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.
