UN Women: International Consultant, Expert in Women's Economic Empowerment, Care Economy and Caregiving in Crisis and Recovery Settings (Retainer), Home-Based

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. 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; SP Impact 4. Women peace and security, Humanitarian & Disaster Risk Reduction. 

In crisis and recovery contexts, women and girls often experience a disproportionate increase in unpaid and underpaid care responsibilities due to displacement, destruction of services, loss of livelihoods, disability, injury, and increased household needs. These care burdens often limit women's ability to engage in education, skills development, employment, entrepreneurship and recovery processes.

Under several recovery initiatives in Gaza, including programmes focused on women's economic recovery, employment generation, enterprise rehabilitation, disability inclusion and livelihood restoration, UN Women is supporting women-headed households, caregivers, women with disabilities and other vulnerable groups to access economic opportunities. These programmes identify unpaid care responsibilities as one of the most significant barriers preventing women's participation and retention in employment, skills development and enterprise recovery pathways. 

At the same time, the care economy itself presents important opportunities for employment creation, livelihood generation and resilience-building. Strengthening community-based care systems, supporting paid caregiving services, and integrating care solutions into recovery programming can simultaneously reduce barriers to women's economic participation while creating new jobs and enterprise opportunities. 

UN Women seeks a consultant to provide technical expertise on care economy programming, caregiving systems, unpaid care and domestic work, and gender-responsive recovery programming. The consultant will support the design, implementation, evidence generation and institutionalization of care-focused approaches across UN Women's recovery portfolio in Gaza.

The consultant will report to the UN Women Programme Analyst (Humanitarian and Early recovery) and work closely with UN Women programme staff, partners, national stakeholders and Joint Programme partners.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

1. Strengthen Women's Economic Empowerment and Care-Responsive Programming

• Lead technical efforts to surge women’s employment during Gaza’s early recovery.
• Guide the integration of care-responsive approaches across humanitarian, recovery and development programmes.
• Identify and address care-related barriers affecting women's participation in employment, livelihoods, skills development and entrepreneurship.
• Develop practical recommendations on childcare, disability care, caregiving support, referral systems and enabling services including community based care models, workplace care, and formal care organizations.
• Advise on the establishment of informal and formal care structures in crisis settings including: Safeguarding, PSEA and protection systems including child protection and protection for vulnerable groups; SOPs; Decent work standards for care workers; Accountability and complaints mechanisms; Quality assurance, monitoring and supervision; Childcare and care infrastructure investments; transitioning from informal community based care to formal models of care.
• Guide the design of gender-responsive care interventions for vulnerable groups, including women with disabilities, caregivers and women-headed households.

2. Advance Care Economy Approaches and Evidence

• Conduct and lead care economy assessments, care needs analyses and labour market assessments related to care services.
• Identify opportunities for creating decent jobs and enterprise opportunities within the care economy.
• Develop evidence, policy recommendations and practical guidance on care systems, care services and women's economic empowerment.
• Guide the collection and analysis of sex-, age- and disability-disaggregated data related to care work and care needs.

3. Strengthen Capacity, Partnerships and Learning

• Design and deliver capacity-building initiatives on care-responsive programming and care economy approaches.
• Strengthen engagement with WLOs, service providers, government institutions, private sector actors and development partners.
• Facilitate dialogue and partnerships around care systems, care needs, and care-related employment.
• Develop tools, guidance products and learning materials to support scaling up care-responsive and care-focused programmes including transitioning from informal community care models into more formal care structures including work place care and private sector.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy, without travel. 

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 technical expertise in care economy and caregiving systems. 
• Knowledge of women's economic empowerment and recovery programming. 
• Experience in humanitarian, development and recovery contexts. 
• Ability to conduct care economy analysis and generate evidence-based recommendations. 
• Experience developing policy, programme design and practical guidance tools. 
• Strong facilitation, coordination and partnership-building skills.

Education and Certification:

• Master's degree in Economics, Social Policy, Gender Studies, Development Studies, Labour Economics, Social Sciences, International Development or a related field is required. 
• A first-level university degree combined with two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years progressive experience in care economy, caregiving systems, social protection, women's economic empowerment or related fields is required. 
• Demonstrated experience conducting care economy analysis, assessments or related research is desirable. 
• Experience designing and implementing care-responsive programmes and policies is required.
• Experience supporting women's employment, livelihood and economic empowerment initiatives is required. 
• Experience working with civil society organizations, women's organizations and government stakeholders is desirable. 
• Experience in humanitarian, crisis-affected or recovery settings is required. 
• Experience in Palestine and/or the Middle East region is highly desirable.
• Previous experience working with UN agencies and international organizations is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of Arabic is desirable.

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.