UN Women: National Consultant - Organizational Development, Ramallah, Palestine

Background/Context

UN Women (UNW), 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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. 

UN Women’s triple mandate, along with its global network and deep policy and programming expertise, continues to endow the Entity with a unique capacity to: (i) support Member States to strengthen global norms and standards for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and mainstream gender perspectives in other thematic areas; (ii) promote coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and (iii) undertake operational activities to support Member States, upon their request, in translating global norms and standards into legislation, policies and strategies at country level. 

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). In line with the national priorities, the work of UN Women for the period 2023-2025 is aligned with three of the Palestine United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework’s (UNSDCF) outcomes:

• Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector.
• Palestinians, including the most vulnerable, have equal access to sustainable, inclusive, gender responsive and quality social services, social protection, and affordable utilities.
• Palestinian governance institutions, processes, and mechanisms at all levels are more democratic, rights-based, inclusive, and accountable.

Its three-year Strategic Note supports the efforts to achieve measurable results in country in terms of four UN Women global Strategic Plan impacts (2022-2025): (SP Impact 1). Governance and participation in public life; (SP Impact 2). Women’s Economic Empowerment; (SP Impact 3). Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and; SP Impact 4. Women peace and security, Humanitarian & Disaster Risk Reduction. 

Against this background, UN Women within its joint rule of law programme “Reinforcing equal access to justice for all Palestinians -Sawasya III” intends to engage a consultant to provide operational and coordination support to the Gender Unit (GU) at the High Judicial Council (HJC). The consultant will assist in strengthening the Unit’s planning, monitoring, reporting, documentation, and coordination functions to enable it to effectively manage and lead the gender mainstreaming efforts within the HJC.

Main Objective:

To provide operational, planning, monitoring, reporting, and coordination support to the Gender Unit at the HJC to facilitate the effective implementation and follow-up of gender mainstreaming activities and initiatives. More specifically, the consultant aims to strengthen and enhance the institutional performance of the GU- by ensuring systematic monitoring, documentation, reporting and participatory support to related policies, processes, advocacy efforts and capacity building. 

Specific Objectives: (Organizational and Operational Support)

1. Support the implementation and follow-up of the Gender Unit annual workplan and related activities.
2. Assist in maintaining tracking systems for activities, outputs, and timelines.
3. Support the preparation and consolidation of periodic reports and relevant supporting documentation.
4. Maintain organized filing and information management systems to strengthen institutional record keeping.
5. Facilitate coordination and communication between the Gender Unit, Planning Department, UN Women, and other relevant stakeholders.
6. Support logistical and administrative arrangements related to meetings, consultations, workshops, and capacity-building activities.

The consultant will be reporting to UN Women Rule of law and Protection Specialist and will be supported by the CSO support and Finance Associate who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

 Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

• Assist in preparing and updating monthly workplans and activity trackers.
• Maintain records of activities, meetings, and project documentation.
• Support data collection, consolidation, and verification for periodic reporting.
• Draft meeting minutes, action points, and follow-up matrices.
• Support the preparation of monthly progress reports and other project-related documentation.
• Coordinate with relevant HJC departments to facilitate implementation and follow-up of planned activities.
• Maintain electronic and hard-copy filing systems.
• Support logistics and administrative arrangements for meetings, workshops, and field activities.
• Monitor progress against agreed timelines and flag implementation delays or challenges to the supervisor.
• Perform other related coordination and operational support tasks as required.

Reporting on the assignment: 

The consultant is expected to work part time (80%) 4 days per week at the HJC.

The consultant will submit the following: 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is an office-based part time (80%) consultancy. The consultant is expected to report 4 days a week to the HJC/ Gender Unit in Ramallah for four months.  

Competencies

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism

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 Core Values and Competencies:   https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values    

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, gender justice and women rights.
• Proven Experience in the field of protection and access to justice and security.
• Strong capacity to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.
• Strong ability to effectively interact with technical and non- technical end users in a cooperative and helpful manner.
• Strong organizational and coordination skills.
• Excellent reporting and documentation abilities.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Public Administration, Management, Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Law, or a related field. 
• Completion of secondary education in combination with three additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the bachelor’s degree.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of progressively responsible experience in programme support, administration, project coordination, monitoring, reporting, or related operational support functions is required. 
• Experience in work planning, activity tracking, report preparation, documentation management, and stakeholder coordination is required. 
• Experience in maintaining filing systems, databases, records management, and ensuring timely follow-up of activities and action points is desirable. 
• Knowledge of gender equality and women's empowerment issues, including a basic understanding of gender mainstreaming concepts, is desirable. 
• Experience working with governmental institutions, particularly within the justice sector, is desirable. 
• Experience working with the United Nations, international organizations, or development projects is desirable. 

Languages:

• Fluency in Arabic is required 
• Working knowledge of English is required.