CGEP International Lead Consultant to develop Country Gender Equality Profile (CGEP) in Uzbekistan

Background

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Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality for everyone, regardless of gender, as equal partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace, and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates 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 national priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with government, civil society, development partners, and other relevant actors. 

In the context of the long-standing cooperation of UN Women and UNFPA it’s been agreed to develop the Country Gender Equality Profile of Uzbekistan with the financial support of the Swiss Embassy. Based on both statistical and qualitative data, Country Gender Equality Profile will form an analytical document to provide an understanding of the current context in relation to gender equality and women’s empowerment, including an overview of opportunities to address the gaps in the implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy through in-depth analysis in the following thematic areas as identified under Beijing Platform for Action (BpFA): 

1. institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; 

2. women and poverty; 

3. education and training of women; 

4. women and health; 

5. violence against women; 

6. women and armed conflict/ women, peace and security; 

7. women and the economy; 

8. women in decision-making; 

9. women and the media; 

10. women in agriculture and the environment; and 

11. the girl child. 

The twelfth area — the human rights of women — is considered cross-cutting for all other 11 areas.

The purpose of developing a CGEP for Uzbekistan is to strengthen national understanding and data analysis and management on the advancement of international, regional, and national commitments towards GEWE; and to act as a primary source of information for evidence-driven advocacy to advance the gains and overcome the bottlenecks to realizing GEWE at sub-national and national levels. 

The Country Gender Equality Profile will serve as analytical and operational document which will be framed  against international norms and standards on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and the  national/international commitments made, including the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals  (SDGs), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the  Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) and other relevant UN Security Council resolutions on  women, peace and security (where applicable) and agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of  Women (CSW) as well as other significant national and international commitments to gender equality and  women’s empowerment made in the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Sendai Framework for Disaster  Risk Reduction etc. 

The gender analysis included in the Country Gender Equality Profile is expected to support the Government of  the Uzbekistan to identify the key gender equality issues, barriers and challenges thus to accelerate the  advancement of gender equality corresponding to implementation of and its - 2030. The process of developing the CGEP will leverage and strengthen the role and leadership of the national gender machinery as a key player in guiding and monitoring implementation of commitments to GEWE in the country. Moreover, it will feed in the preparation of the development of the new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) to be implemented from 2026 to 2030. 

The document will generate the findings and recommendations to target national policy reform on institutional framework for gender equality based on holistic and robust analysis on gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as deep analysis on the root causes of 11 thematic areas which will be backed by accurate quantitative and qualitative gender statistics.  

The CGEP should at a minimum meet the following criteria: 

1. Use key recent data and statistics on the situation of women and girls, men and boys, and gender and sexual minorities in Uzbekistan

2. Identify key barriers to achieving GEWE, including discriminatory social norms, legislative framework, institutional capacity 

3. Identify key actors (stakeholder mapping) with the mandate to act for GEWE, including national and sub-national government actors, I/NGOs, civil society, and international development partners 

4. Map data gaps, including those related to sex-age-gender-disability, disaggregated data and statistics 

5. Identify realistic objectives/opportunities for policy and political dialogue, 

6. Develop targeted and action-oriented recommendations for the integration of GEWE in the selected thematic areas, including from a programmatic perspective. 

To implement this initiative, UN Women and UNFPA in Uzbekistan on behalf of the UN system in the Republic of Uzbekistan are seeking the expertise of International Consultant to lead and coordinate the development of Country Gender Equality Profile in Uzbekistan. The Consultant will work in close collaboration with the UN Women and UNFPA teams and national team of experts (National Gender Expert and National Data and Research Consultant).

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective 

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Country Programme Manager in Uzbekistan and the technical support of the Regional Gender Data Specialist based at UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO), CGEP International Lead Consultant in coordination with a team of national consultants will develop the Country Gender Equality Profile.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Within the assignment, the Consultant will be responsible for the following activities: 

Task 1: Review all available assessments, reports and prepare Inception Report including detailed methodology, annotated outline and detailed timeframe for CGEP elaboration in line with Concept Note for CGEP, UN Women Corporate Guidance to ensure coherence of the overall product.  

• Review the available reports, research, assessments on legal country’s framework and political context on GEWE 

• Identify the priority needs for data and statistics to conduct data analysis 

• Develop a detailed methodology and annotated outline for the CGEP to ensure coherence of the overall product as well as its individual components, building on relevant UN Women guidance and sample publications 

• Prepare detailed timeframe for CGEP elaboration 

Task 2: Coordinate and ensure the required substantive analysis for the elaboration of CGEP  

The International Consultant in close collaboration with UN Women, UNFPA and national consultant’s team (Gender expert and Data Research Consultant) will ensure the following: 

• Coordinate the work of the national team of consultants (Gender Research Consultant and Gender Consultant) 

• Guide and monitor the progress and quality of services to be delivered by the team of national consultants  

• Validate the accuracy and relevance of data and analysis for the first version of CGEP 

• Drawing on inputs from the team of national consultants, draft the forward, executive summary, concluding chapter with key recommendations 

• Edit the CGEP for cohesive structure and flow, including addressing gaps in analytics, information, making any necessary restructuring and rewriting to ensure the clarity, consistency and the use of gender-sensitive language 

• Participate in the validation and discussion of the initial CGEP draft (UN Women, UNFPA and Task Force Group) 

Task 3: Finalize the CGEP for publication 

The International Consultant will be responsible for finalization of the CGEP for final clearance by UN Women and UNFPA

• Address all comments to be received as a result of validation meeting and suggestions to be provided by the proofreader if needed 

• Prepare a PowerPoint presentation drawing on the CGEP with key findings and recommendations (max 20 slides)

Task 4: Produce policy briefs

The International Consultant will be responsible for producing policy briefs based on the findings of the CGEP and root causes analysis

• Minimum three policy briefs produced in English with key recommendations

• Prepare a PowerPoint presentation with key findings and recommendations (max 10 slides)

Deliverables

It is anticipated the assignment will take up to 40 working days over a period of 6 months: 

Payment for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payment will be based on the submission of the SSA report along with the timesheet and relevant annexes as supporting documents for the achievement of deliverables:

The Consultant shall promote a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations and commits to high standards of quality, productivity and timeliness in the delivery of tasks. The Consultant will meet and apply the highest standards of integrity and impartiality. 

The Consultant must be fully dedicated to the mandate and the values of UN Women, particularly to promoting Gender Equality as a strategy to reduce conflict, improve livelihoods and ensure fairness and justice; to Women Empowerment underpinning Gender Equality promotion efforts; to inter-ethnic tolerance and concord; and to respect for diversity.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

Expected travel: Home based with possible travels to the CGEP country. Appropriate DSA and terminal expenses will be paid to the Consultant based on the UN guidelines.

Inputs from UN Women and UNFPA: 

• UN Women and UNFPA will provide the consultant with background materials for the assignments. Specifically, this will include national reports, research, data, etc. 

• UN Women Uzbekistan will provide the contact details and introductions to the team of National Consultants.

Reporting requirements: 

The CGEP International Lead Consultant is expected to work remotely using her/his own computer. UN Women will provide may provide support to coordinate activities with NSC, when and if required. 

Consultancy report should be provided in electronic version in English with detailed description of the fulfilled tasks, according to the present Term of Reference, and the contribution of the team of national experts.  Analytical documents, reports and other materials developed by expert should be attached to the report as annexes, which will serve as a justification for payment. 

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:  

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Strong commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. 
• Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints. 
• Builds strong relationships with colleagues and audience, focuses on impact and result and responds positively to feedback. 
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude. 
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong relationships with partners and targeted groups. 
• Demonstrate exceptional ability to remain calm, in control and good humored even under pressure and right deadlines. 
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, and ability to work in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environments. 
• Excellent communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or Ph.D.)  Development Studies, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, or relevant fields.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in leading, coordinating, and research studies or development of publications in the field of GEWE and international development 
• Demonstrated expertise in gender analysis, national/international gender policies, gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment. Knowledge of socio-cultural, economic, and geopolitical contexts of Central Asia is an advantage. 
• Knowledge of international/regional agreements and initiatives on GEWE (CEDAW, Beijing, SDGs, etc.) is required 
• Strong analytical skills and research experience. Previous experience in writing comprehensive CGEPs is an asset

Languages:

• Fluency in oral and written in English 
• Working knowledge of Russian is an asset
• Working knowledge of Uzbek is an asset

How to Apply 

• Personal P11

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

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