National Consultant to Provide Expert Support on inclusion and gender mainstreaming in EU integration, Kyiv, Ukraine, SSA

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, UN Women delivers results across its strategic priorities through its triple mandate of normative support, UN system coordination, and operational activities, mobilizing urgent and sustained action to advance gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Prior to the full-scale invasion, UN Women had already been actively supporting national priorities, including women’s political participation, gender-responsive public policy, and women’s economic empowerment

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.

Ukraine has made a range of efforts for European integration, starting from an Association Agreement which was negotiated in 2007-2011 and initiated in 2012. The EU and Ukraine signed the Association Agreement in 2014. Provisional application of important parts of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement began on 1 November 2014: on the respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and rule of law; political dialogue and reform; justice, freedom and security; economic and financial cooperation. In 2019, Ukraine incorporated European and Euro-Atlantic integration into its Constitution as a strategic course. 

On 23 June 2022, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the immediate granting of candidate status for EU membership to Ukraine. On the same day, the European Council granted Ukraine the status of a candidate for accession to the EU. On 8 November 2023, the European Commission recommended opening accession negotiations with Ukraine. On 14 December 2023, European Council made historical decision to open negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union. In September 2025, Ukraine reached an important milestone on its EU accession path with the completion of the bilateral screening with the European Commission. On 1 April 2026 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the National Programme for the Adoption of the EU acquis (NPAA). The national programme has been drawn up on the basis of screening reports and benchmarks (criteria) set by the EU and is structured in line with the negotiation clusters and chapters. The document contains 1,875 tasks, which involve the implementation of 1,699 acts of European Union law, including approximation to the EU gender equality and human rights law and policy, and the consistent application of human rights and gender mainstreaming across all sectors, policy areas, and levels of government. Accession negotiations are complex and require technical administrative expertise and resources for absorbing the EU Gender Equality acquis. Capacities, processes and procedures for consistent gender mainstreaming are to be put in place across sectors and levels of governance, posing a challenge to absorbing the EU gender equality acquis, referring collectively to the body of EU laws, rules, resolutions, declarations, regulations, directives and treaties, which explicitly refer to gender equality and make up a subset within the ‘acquis communautaire’. The EU explicitly expects candidate countries and potential candidates, “to progressively align with [the] EU gender equality acquis and have the institutional framework to enforce it”. (See: EU Gender Action Plan 2021-2025).

The Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration is Ukraine’s Chief negotiator for EU accession and a coordinator of the activities of central executive authorities and other state authorities in the field of European integration. Coordination of the state policy on ensuring equal rights and opportunities of women and men in Ukraine is also one of the key mandates of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

To strengthen the efforts of the Government of Ukraine on the way to gender-responsive EU integration, and in particularly such key institutions as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Governmental Office of Coordination of European and Euro Atlantic Integration, UN Women will contract a National Consultant to provide expert support to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Governmental Office of Coordination of European and Euro Atlantic Integration on inclusion and gender mainstreaming in EU integration. 

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative in Ukraine and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist, the National Consultant will provide expert and technical support to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Governmental Office of Coordination of European and Euro Atlantic Integration on inclusion and gender mainstreaming in EU integration. 

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

All reports should be submitted in English and include the full set of supporting documents, such as analytical briefs, meeting notes, event reports, concept notes, agendas, handouts, and lists of participants, etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian.

The assignment will include, but not be limited to the following tasks developed in coordination with the institutions of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, the Governmental Office of Coordination of European and Euro Atlantic Integration and UN Women: 

• Supporting the coordination and communication of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Governmental Office of Coordination of European and Euro Atlantic Integration with the relevant institution in the Government and Parliament of Ukraine on identifying the priorities on inclusion and gender mainstreaming to the EU accession processes.
• Supporting Enlargement Package Reports and other relevant documents. 
• Screening of the national legislation relevant to specific EU negotiating chapters and inclusion/non-discrimination and gender-relevant EU acquis
• Developing propositions to the development/revision of relevant laws/by-laws on how to bring Ukrainian legislation in line with the EU acquis. 
• Providing policy advice on inclusion/non-discrimination and gender mainstreaming to the EU integration processes, including the monitoring process of the Ukrainian legislation to be in line with EU acquis in all chapters of the negotiation process. 
• Preparing the presentations and analytical materials on the proposed amendments to the national legislation.
• Facilitating public discussions and dialogues, as well as multistakeholder consultations on inclusion/non-discrimination and gender equality issues, including government, parliament, development partners and CSOs, in particular those, representing different women's groups. 
• Providing expert support during gender mainstreaming process including the communication with relevant stakeholders 
• Preparing concept notes, analytical briefs on key updates during EU integration process and making proposals for potential steps       
• Supporting and organizing training activities to develop the capacity of all relevant stakeholders at the national and local levels on the inclusion/non-discrimination and gender equality EU acquis and EU integration. 
• Supporting and organizing events related to EU Integration that incorporate inclusion and gender equality considerations and engage relevant stakeholders from government, parliament, civil society and international development partners.

Inputs 

• The Consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer. 
• The Consultant is expected to take mandatory UN Women trainings.

Consultants’ Workplace and Official Travel

This is a Kyiv-based consultancy. This is a partial office-based consultancy.

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. 

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in Law, Public Policy and Administration, International Relations, Gender Studies, Social and Humanitarian Sciences, or related fields are 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:

• At least 1 year of relevant work experience (after Master’s degree) in the field of human rights and/or gender equality, governance and public administration, civil service or other related fields;
• Proven experience in providing legal support to the government institutions on alignment of the Ukrainian legal framework within the EU accession process;
• Previous experience with the EU institutions and accession process will be considered an asset; 
• Experience with UN Women and other UN agencies will be considered as an asset;
• Proven understanding of human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and national and international GEWE commitments in Ukraine; 
• Proven knowledge of EU acquis, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment frameworks.
• Experience with coordination and technical support of meetings and consultations with government authorities. 

Languages:

• Fluency in verbal and written English and Ukrainian is required. 
• Knowledge of any other UN official language is an asset.

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 analytical skills. 
• Ability to work with various monitoring and reporting tools. 
• 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. 

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.