Support for Development of UN Women Regional Strategic Note in Europe and Central Asia Region, Homebased, International Consultant

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 center of its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates UN system initiatives to ensure global commitments to gender equality are translated into concrete actions. It provides strong and coherent leadership while supporting Member States' priorities and fostering effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In line with UN Women’s Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting (PMR) Policy, Regional Offices are required to develop coherent and forward-looking Strategic Notes (SNs) aligned with the organization’s triple mandate, UN Women Strategic Plan (SP), and Results-Based Management (RBM) principles of accountability, inclusiveness, adaptive management, and learning. The SN must be informed by comprehensive regional context analysis, independent assessments, audits, evaluations, and thorough stakeholder consultations to ensure relevance and effectiveness.

The UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) provides integrated policy advice, technical assistance, and capacity development support to country offices across 12 countries and territories in three subregions: Western Balkans and Turkey, Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, and Central Asia. ECARO also serves as a member of UN Country Teams in five countries where it operates as a Non-Resident Agency (NRA). The current four-year SN (2022–2025) provides a strategic framework for advancing gender equality and empowering all women and girls in the region. Guided by the corporate SP, it focuses on key areas such as women’s leadership and political participation, women’s economic empowerment, eliminating violence against women and girls, peace and security, humanitarian action, and support to intergovernmental processes.

In 2025, ECARO will develop its new SN for 2026–2029, aiming to deliver high-impact results during the final years of the SDGs. This new SN will incorporate innovative approaches such as systems thinking and forward-looking analysis to anticipate emerging challenges and capitalize on new opportunities. The ongoing evaluation of the current regional SN, set to launch in February 2024, will provide valuable data, evidence, and lessons learned to inform the next strategic cycle. The SN will be based on extensive consultations with regional stakeholders and partners, including UNECE Member States, development partners, civil society, women’s rights organizations, youth leaders, private sector partners, and the UN system.

Data from partner and public surveys, including input from women at greatest risk of being left behind, will provide critical evidence for setting SN priorities. This will be complemented by analysis from regional review processes such as the Beijing +30 review, SDG 5 progress evaluations, and consultations associated with CSW69 and the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Recognizing the interconnected nature of regional challenges, the SN will align with the multidimensional agenda of the SDGs, the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs), and UN Women’s global Strategic Plan 2026–2029, applying an integrated and intersectional approach.

The SN will be accompanied by mandatory annexes detailing key operational and strategic elements, including HR planning, a Risk Register, Social and Environmental Scanning, a Partnerships, Communications, and Visibility strategy, and a Knowledge Management Plan.

Given the unique challenges in the ECA region, including protracted conflicts, a complex humanitarian context, and ongoing development needs, the new SN will ensure that programming responds to both immediate humanitarian needs and long-term development priorities.

To support the innovative development of the regional SN, UN Women seeks the services of an International Consultant (IC). The IC will provide technical assistance to the ECARO PMR Team by compiling a comprehensive regional context analysis and facilitating the development of the 2026–2029 SN.

Under the supervision of the Regional Strategic Planning Specialist, the consultant will provide technical expertise and support for the development of a high-quality ECARO Strategic Note (SN) 2025–2029. The consultant will ensure alignment with UN Women’s corporate guidelines, the Regional Office Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting (PMR) Procedure, and Results-Based Management (RBM) principles.

Responsibilities:

1. Desk Review and Methodology Development

1.1. Conduct a comprehensive desk review of UN Women corporate guidelines and ECARO’s work on the development of the current SN.

1.2. Develop a detailed methodology and work plan with clearly defined tasks, timelines, and deliverables for ECARO approval.

1.3. Review materials from Headquarters (HQ) on the future direction of the next Strategic Plan (SP) to align and enhance synergies between the Global SP and the RSN.

2. Regional Gender Context Analysis

2.1. Compile a regional gender context analysis by reviewing regional gender data, analytical reports, and inputs from the ECARO Programme and Policy Team.

2.2. Address comments on the regional gender context analysis to ensure completeness and alignment with data quality requirements and the SN objectives.

3. Stakeholder Consultations and Early Thinking Sessions

3.1. Provide technical support in organizing ECARO stakeholders’ consultations, including drafting agendas, preparing presentations, and documenting meeting notes.

3.2. Assist in organizing Early Thinking sessions with ECARO thematic teams and HQ Divisions by:

A) Drafting ECARO presentations on situation analysis, strategic prioritization, results framework formulation, and data quality.

B) Documenting discussions, key decisions, and action points.

4. Strategic Prioritization Retreat

4.1. Design and facilitate a strategic prioritization retreat using systems-thinking and forward-looking analysis methods, based on findings from the regional context analysis, stakeholder consultations, and the Regional SN 2020–2024 evaluation.

5. Development of RSN Package and Annexes

5.1. Review inputs from various teams to ensure alignment with RBM principles, corporate standards, and ECARO’s PMR Procedure.

5.2. Compile the RSN package, including the following mandatory annexes:

- SN Narrative

- SN Results and Resources Framework (RRF)

- Social and Environmental Scan Annex

5.3. Provide final editing support for clarity and consistency in the RSN 2025–2029.

6. HQ Quality Assurance Process

6.1. Support ECARO in organizing and facilitating the HQ quality assurance process, including compiling the Regional SN review checklist and addressing HQ comments.

7. Reporting and Documentation

7.1. Provide technical input and copyediting for the RSN 2025–2029 leaflet.

7.2. Prepare periodic progress updates on the SN development process.

7.3. Submit a final consultancy report summarizing achievements, challenges, and recommendations for improving future SN development processes.

The following documents will be provided by UN Women to the consultant for the assignment (including but not limited to):

1. UN Women Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting Policy
2. Regional Programme Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting Procedure
3. Regional Office Strategic Notes Guidance
4. Regional Office Workplan Guidance
5. Documentation (reviews, assessments, reports, evaluations) related to the current Regional Strategic Note

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy with one 5-days mission to Istanbul, Türkiye.

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, writing and synthesis skills; 
• Demonstrated experience in planning, results-based management and/or evaluation; 
• Demonstrate responsiveness, objectivity, organization and have a good methodology in carrying out the work; 
• Demonstrate an ability to produce quality results on time and to work under pressure; 

Education and Certification:

Education: 

• A minimum Master’s degree in international relations, gender, sociology, business administration, economics, law or other related disciplines.  

Experience: 

• At least 7 years of international experience in analytical work, strategic planning, and results-based management in the areas of human rights and gender equality.
• Proven expertise in working with gender data and conducting complex gender analyses across various thematic areas.
• Demonstrated experience in producing high-quality analytical reports and strategic documents for international organizations, meeting UN quality standards.
• Previous experience with UN Women or the UN system; experience in the Europe and Central Asia region is considered an asset.
• Excellent facilitation skills to lead diverse teams in forward-looking strategic planning and innovation processes, ensuring inclusive and collaborative engagement. 

Languages: 

Fluency in English is required. 

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.)