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 Jordan Country Office (JCO) supports the Government of Jordan in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in line with global norms and standards. Under its Strategic Note (2023–2027), UN Women Jordan prioritizes women’s economic empowerment, gender-responsive governance, and women’s political participation in alignment with Jordan’s Triple Modernization Agenda—Political, Economic, and Public Sector Modernization. The Country Office also advances the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda through the Jordan National Action Plan for WPS (JONAP) and implements resilience and empowerment initiatives for Syrian refugee and vulnerable Jordanian women under the Jordan Response Plan (JRP). 

In alignment with Jordan’s modernization priorities, UN Women supports national legislative and institutional efforts to strengthen gender-responsive governance and enhance women’s leadership and participation in public and political life. 

In Jordan, Women’s participation in local administration councils is a cornerstone of inclusive local governance, because these councils shape service delivery and local development priorities that directly affect daily life (infrastructure, municipal services, local planning, and community needs). Over the past decade, Jordan’s decentralization and local governance reforms have opened space for women’s engagement as candidates, elected members, and local leaders—yet women still face persistent barriers, including unequal access to campaign resources and networks, social norms and backlash, limited exposure to political skills-building, and uneven opportunities for meaningful influence inside councils. 

Within the Political modernization agenda, the Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System emphasized expanding participation in public life and strengthening an enabling environment for women and youth, including in local governance and local administration reforms. In line with this direction—and specifically under the first pillar of women’s empowerment recommendations—Recommendation 6 calls to develop specialized programmes and targeted initiatives to equip women in local communities with the skills needed to contribute to comprehensive development (i.e., preparing women to lead, plan, advocate, and deliver results at the local level). 

This need is particularly important as Jordan prepares for local administration elections, because skills-based readiness (policy and service analysis, campaigning, community engagement, negotiation, and oversight) is one of the most direct “bottlenecks” affecting women’s ability not only to win seats, but also to perform effectively once in office—making targeted capacity-building a high-impact intervention consistent with modernization priorities.

In the most recent local administration elections, women’s representation in municipal and governorate councils was strengthened through both the women’s quota (25% of seats) and competitive wins. Official results indicated that 68 women won municipal council seats and 6 women won governorate council seats through competition, in addition to those elected through the quota. A widely cited aggregate figure for women’s overall share across municipal and governorate councils stands at around 28.5%.

Following the Cabinet decision to dissolve municipal and governorate councils, interim committees were formed to ensure continuity of service delivery until elections; official communications emphasized the inclusion of women (alongside other groups), and a public statement attributed to the Ministry noted that women and youth together constituted 20% of the interim committees’ composition which is below the legal quota. 

Within this framework, UN Women is implementing a capacity building program to equip women in local communities with the skills needed to effectively participate in local administration election. UN Women aims to contract a senior trainer (the Consultant) to lead the contextualization of UN Women’s training guide for potential female candidates1 and conduct training of trainers workshop/s to equip a group of national trainers to roll-out the trainings at the local level. The consultant will be reporting to the Assistant Representative for Gender Responsive Governance and Women’s Political Participation and will be supported by the Program Analyst, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work 

The consultant will work under the overall guidance of UN Women to strengthen the capacity of a national training team which will be recruited by UN Women to deliver high-quality, context-specific trainings for potential women candidates in local administration elections. The consultant will coordinate closely with UN Women to ensure alignment with UN Women standards, the national electoral framework, and the broader political and governance context. 

1) Contextualization of Training Materials and Tools Review existing UN Women training package that include presentations, trainer guide, tools, and templates, then adapt and contextualize them to the national setting, including:

• Relevant national legislation governing local administration, elections, candidacy requirements, and campaigning;
• The electoral system and procedures applicable to local administration elections;
• The political and social context affecting women’s participation (including barriers and enabling factors).
• Ensure materials are inclusive, practical, and accessible, integrating examples, scenarios, and case studies relevant to local elections.
• Propose localized tools to support training delivery (e.g., role-play scripts, campaign planning templates, stakeholder mapping, messaging frameworks). 

2) Capacity Building of the National Training Team The consultant will deliver structured TOT sessions for 30 trainers members of the national team to ensure trainers are fully equipped to deliver the training curriculum and tools related to local administration elections and can translate the materials into practical guidance for potential women candidates. This shall include:

• The training material, key messages, learning objectives, and intended outcomes per topic;
• National legal and procedural elements embedded in the curriculum as per the legal framework governing local administration and local administration elections (e.g., candidacy requirements, campaign rules, electoral procedures specific to local administration elections);
• Core concepts and terminology to ensure consistent and correct messaging across trainers.
• Deliver 2 TOT workshops in addition to one refresher once the legal framework of local administration is endorsed. 

3) Capacity Assessment and Final Assessment Report

• Assess the national team members’ capacities using previously approved and agreed criteria by UNW (e.g., facilitation competence, subject-matter confidence, training planning, monitoring skills).
• Prepare an assessment report including:
• Strengths and gaps of the national team at individual and team levels;
• Recommended capacity strengthening actions (short-term and longer-term);
• Suggested mechanisms to sustain capacity (peer learning, refresher sessions, coaching cycles, trainer certification approach—if applicable).
• Present findings to UN Women and incorporate feedback.

Manual for Trainers - UNW Political Leadership Candidate Training FINAL (Eng).pdf

Deliverables:                                                                                                                     Expected completion time (due day)

(A)-Contextualized training package (slides, handouts, facilitator notes)                            30 Mar 2026

- Updated tools/templates aligned with the local administration elections context.
- Pre/post evaluations for the potential candidates’ trainings (7 Working Days)

(B)Two rounds of ToT (6 days in total)                                                                                   30 April 2026 

(C)National team evaluation and Capacity assessment. 

Final assessment report with actionable recommendations (2 Working Days)                    10 May 2026

(D)Training workshop on the new legal framework 

(5 working days including preparations)                                                                           31 May 2026           

Consultant’s Workplace

This is a home-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:

• Expertise in gender-responsive governance and women’s political participation: Strong knowledge of political systems,
  governance structures, and electoral processes from a gender perspective.
• Facilitation and training skills: Ability to design and deliver training programs for diverse audiences, including political candidates, activists, and policymakers.
• Analytical and research skills: Ability to conduct policy analysis, legislative reviews, and comparative studies to support gender-sensitive reforms in political frameworks.
• P and coordination: Experience in planning, implementing training activities, and evaluating performance of trainers related to women’s political participation.
• Public speaking and communication skills: Ability to effectively communicate key messages and advocate for gender equality in political settings.
• Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Strong critical thinking abilities to evaluate complex legislative issues, identify gaps in policies, and propose innovative solutions.
• Capacity to anticipate challenges related to gender equality in legislation and devise strategies to address them.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in law, political science, social studies or a related field is required
• 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

• Minimum 7 years of sound experience working in the field of training on political participation, gender equality, women’s political rights, electoral process and electoral systems in Jordan is required
• Good knowledge and understanding of the socio-political context and the legislative frameworks of elections in Jordan is required
• Demonstrated experience in implementing similar programmes/projects through a resume of past experiences and areas of expertise in addition to previous produced reports is required 
• Experience with UN Women would be an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in 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.