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.

Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is an essential element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the roadmap to a more equal, just, peaceful, and sustainable world. 

The overarching objective of Intergovernmental Programme in UN Women is: To accelerate progress on the 2030 agenda, especially SDG 5, by strengthening women’s leadership in the areas of economic, social, and political rights. The programme is being implemented in India over three years. 

The Programme includes leadership development labs for aspiring women leaders and youth communities, building their competencies across local governance systems, public service delivery, public financial management, and rights-based advocacy. Grounded in an ecosystem approach to gender-responsive governance, the Programme works simultaneously at the individual, institutional and systemic levels to ensure meaningful participation of women in public and political life.

A cornerstone of this intervention is the establishment of structured platforms connecting emerging leaders with seasoned elected representatives, subject experts and public officials. These platforms serve as a critical bridge between lived governance experience and emerging leadership, fostering sustained peer learning, mentorship, and cross-sectoral dialogue. By building enabling conditions across governance institutions, the Programme seeks to institutionalize gender-responsive governance at all levels, positioning women as at the center of policy and programme. 

The Programme furthers UN Women’s mandate of advancing women’s political leadership, and fostering gender responsive institutions at all levels, including the Indian Parliament, State Legislative Assemblies and the Panchayati Raj Institutions. 

Reporting to the Country Programme Manager, India CO, the National Consultant will be responsible for the substantive coordination of the Programme - “Strengthened Legislative and Policy Ecosystem for Gender Equality in India”, working together with elected representatives,  and relevant stakeholders both internal and external. Specific focus will be on advancing women’s leadership in public and political life. 

The National Consultant will be responsible for day-to-day management, implementation and effectiveness of the programme. In particular, he/she is responsible for co-ordination, engagement and research pertaining to the programme portfolio, workplans and budget, for preparing reports as required by donor and UN Women management.

Coordinate and Support the Forum for Gender Equality:

• Lead the strategy of engagement and provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of Programme.
• Coordinate with team members on setting priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans.
• Provide research briefs, lead correspondence and engagement with all stakeholders.

Coordinate and Support management/implementation of Capacity building of women leaders in public and political life:

• Support planning and implementation of programs for advancing women’s leadership in public and political life in India. 
• Coordinate on strategy and implementation of programs to mainstream gender in governance. 
• Correspond with stakeholders and build relevant relationships. 
• Coordinate with team members on setting priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans.
• Develop research and strategic intervention briefs to strengthen existing relationships.
• Organize project review and/or evaluation meetings as needed.
• Coordinate on implementation of communication and visibility plan of the programme;
• Update the overall programme framework on the basis of reviews, lessons learned and best practices derived from evaluations.   

Support Intergovernmental Processes:

• Develop research, analytical and strategic briefs for intergovernmental processes.

Coordinate and support monitoring and reporting of the Programme:

• Provide timely reports and briefs to the Country Programme Manager for review.
• Initiate the preparation of aggregate delivery reports.
• Draft donor reports, final Programme Narrative and Financial Reports, including lessons learned.

Support building partnerships and developing resource mobilization strategies:

• Participate in the ongoing coordination mechanisms to ensure coherence of the programme with other country-level processes.

Expected Deliverables:

• Status Briefs on Monthly Basis 
• Engagement Briefs on continuous basis 
• Donor Reports on Quarterly basis 
• Documentation and Evaluation Reports as per Project Milestones
• Monthly progress report submitted to supervisor, detailing the progress to capture the process, partnerships, best practices and lessons learnt, photographs, press coverage, human interest stories, key strategies and recommendations.

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:

• Strong knowledge and successful track record of promoting of women’s rights and gender equality issues;
• Strong knowledge of the Indian governance system, including Parliamentary and Legislative Assembly procedure. 
• Strong knowledge of United Nations General Assembly and Commission on Status of Women.
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice.
• Ability to manage a team.
• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programs and projects, mobilize resources.
• Demonstrated ability to interact with high-level decision-makers and to develop productive partnerships.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) and interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge processes, procedures and norms of UN Women, to guarantee an adequate quality of the activities described above, following the standards of the organization.

Education:

• Masters in Public Administration, Gender Studies, Social Sciences; or equivalent degrees from premier institutions.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of professional work experience with research, data and policy analysis, to advance the global normative framework on gender equality and women’s rights 
• Substantial knowledge and expertise in gender data and research.
• Demonstrated experience in gender equality, women's empowerment, or women's political participation initiatives.
• Experience in setting priorities, budgets, work plans, participating in programme development and programme writing;
• Experience in working with the Parliament of India and/or State Assembly is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, Hindi, and any other Indian language with the ability to communicate research findings to a variety of audiences.

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UN Women jobs site: 

Careers at UN Women | UN Women – Headquarters

UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria:

Criteria for shortlisting of CVs will be based on the following assessment:

• Required Qualification (5 points);
• Minimum Experience relevant to the assignment (5 points);

The evaluation process for selection of the candidate will be based on the following assessment:

• Interview (80 points)
• Presentation (20 points)

Please Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
• Consultants are required to submit doctor's certificate to state fitness to work and travel for this assignment.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.
• The consultant is expected to use their own computer equipment. The office will not provide any computer equipment for this assignment.
• This is a full-time assignment. The consultant is expected to disclose any outside activity and shall not be permitted to take up any outside work during this assignment.

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.