UN Women Vietnam Country Office: Consultant to Support the Development of the Action Plan for the Implementation of CEDAW Recommendations,Home-based, National Consultant

Background:

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the empowerment of Women (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 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 Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. 

In Viet Nam, UN Women contributes to the development objectives of Viet Nam’s Socio-Economic Development Plan and the National Strategy for Gender Equality. Its Country Strategy Note for 2022-2026 is aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (CF) 2022-2026 and is supporting Viet Nam’s fulfilment of Gender Equality commitments under The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the promise of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda to “leave no one behind”. 

CEDAW Concluding Observations on Viet Nam 9th periodic report

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), one of the core international human rights treaties, was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 and ratified by Viet Nam in 1982. This marked a significant milestone in Viet Nam’s commitment to promoting and protecting women’s rights, as CEDAW sets out comprehensive obligations for States Parties to eliminate discrimination against women in all spheres of life. Over the past four decades, CEDAW has served as a foundational framework guiding Viet Nam in the formulation, amendment, and implementation of laws, policies, national strategies, and programmes pertaining to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Viet Nam has made notable progress in aligning its legal system with CEDAW principles, advancing women’s participation in socio-economic development, and improving outcomes in education, health, employment, and social protection.

Following the review of Viet Nam’s ninth periodic report and the constructive dialogues with CEDAW committee on 3 February 2026, the CEDAW Committee issued Concluding Observations containing recommendations to strengthen legal frameworks, institutional mechanisms, policy implementation, and accountability for gender equality and women’s rights. The recommendations cover a broad range of issues, including women’s participation in public life, gender-based violence, employment, social protection, access to justice, education, health, and the rights of disadvantaged groups of women and girls.

To support systematic and coordinated implementation of the recommendations, the Government of Viet Nam is developing an Action Plan for the implementation of the CEDAW Committee’s recommendations. The Action Plan is expected to identify priority actions, responsible agencies, implementation timelines, coordination mechanisms, and monitoring frameworks to support effective implementation and reporting.

In this context, UN Women seeks to recruit a national consultant to provide technical and analytical support to the Government in developing the Action Plan.

The successful performance of the consultant will contribute to strengthening Viet Nam’s implementation of its international commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, supporting evidence-based policy planning, and enhancing coordination among relevant stakeholders in implementing CEDAW recommendations.

Description of Responsibilities

The successful performance of the consultant will contribute to strengthening Viet Nam’s implementation of its international commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, supporting evidence-based policy planning, and enhancing coordination among relevant stakeholders in implementing CEDAW recommendations.

The consultant is expected to work closely with the assigned government agency and technical working group including the government and UN Women, with the following tasks:

1. Review of CEDAW Committee Recommendations 

• Review and analyse the recommendations contained in the CEDAW Committee’s Concluding Observations on Viet Nam’s ninth periodic report, taking into account the context and rationale underpinning the recommendations. 
• Classify recommendations by thematic and policy areas. 
• Identify priority recommendations for implementation in the coming period. 
• Propose initial approaches for the development of the Action Plan. 

2. Analysis of Policy and Legal Gaps 

• Review existing laws, policies, programmes, and institutional frameworks related to gender equality and women’s empowerment in Viet Nam. 
• Assess the level of alignment between existing frameworks and the CEDAW recommendations. 
• Identify legal, policy, institutional, and implementation gaps requiring further action. 
• Analyse key factors affecting implementation of the recommendations. 

3. Review of Recommendations from Other International Human Rights Mechanisms 

• Review and compile recommendations related to gender equality from other international human rights mechanisms, including: 
  • Human Rights Committee; 
  • Committee on the Rights of the Child; 
  • Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; 
  • Universal Periodic Review (UPR). 
• Identify cross-cutting and inter-sectoral issues relevant to implementation of CEDAW recommendations. 
• Highlight areas of complementarity and overlap between CEDAW and other recommendations. 

4. Development of the Draft Action Plan 

• Propose the structure and framework of the Action Plan. 
• Develop an implementation matrix including: 
  • Recommendation number; 
  • Content of recommendation; 
  • Existing and ongoing actions; 
  • Proposed new actions; 
  • Analytical notes/explanation; 
  • Timeline for implementation; 
  • Lead agency; 
  • Coordinating agencies; 
  • Monitoring and reporting mechanisms. 

5. Support Consultation and Finalization 

• Support preparation of materials for consultation meetings/workshops with ministries, agencies, development partners, CSOs, and other stakeholders. 
• Consolidate comments and feedback from consultations. 
• Revise and finalize the draft Action Plan. 

Deliverables

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:

• Excellent analytical, research, and drafting skills.
• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear, evidence-based findings and recommendations.
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills for engaging with government, UN, and civil society stakeholders.
• Familiarity with Viet Nam’s legal and policy context on gender equality is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with CEDAW and international human rights mechanism.

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.