Coordination Consultant – Women’s Protection Services

Background:

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. 

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to achieve gender equality and combat Violence Against Women (VAW), and in full partnership with the Justice, Security and Social Sectors, UN Women within its joint programme with UNDP and UNICEF- “ Reinforcing equal access to justice for all Palestinians - SAWASYA III” is supporting the justice, security  and social institutions to mainstream gender into their plans,  procedures and policies and develop and provide gender responsive services to women victims and survivors of violence. 

Cooperation and coordination amongst service providers play a pivotal and determinant role in enhancing access to justice to women victims and survivors of violence. In 2024, UN Women facilitated a brainstorming session between VAW service providers’ focal points at partners institutions within the justice, security, and social sectors. The session addressed the challenges and institutional needs for effective and efficient coordination and cooperation amongst service providers in line the National Referral System (NRS). A group of actionable recommendations were agreed upon by partners- which addressed different levels, including the day – to day coordination, the roles and responsibilities of partners amongst other issues. Additionally, a key recommendation included the possibility of forming an Advisory Committee to guide the strategic level coordination and cooperation amongst service providers.

Against this backdrop, UN Women “ Sawasya III" programme is planning to recruit a consultant to work with partners institutions on three levels, including:  assessing the challenges facing the coordination and cooperation amongst service providers; facilitating consultation sessions at both bilateral and multilateral levels, and support forming an Advisory Committee to guide the strategic level coordination and cooperation amongst service providers. 

Objectives: 

The main objective of this consultancy is to enhance the coordination and cooperation amongst service providers within the justice, security and social sectors to ultimately improve the quality of services provided to women survivors of violence in Palestine.

The specific objectives of the assignment include the following points: 

1. To conduct an assessment on the challenges facing coordination and cooperation amongst service providers along with developing concrete actionable recommendations.
2. To conduct five bilateral sessions and two multilateral sessions between service providers.
3. To develop a ToR for the advisory committee and support its establishment- through full coordination and cooperation with partners’ focal points and UN Women. 

The consultant will be reporting to Sawasya III Rule of Law and Protection Specialist and will be supported by the Security and Prosecution Analysts, in addition to the Finance Associate who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Developing the inception report: 

• Meet with UN Women, the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), Family and Juvenile Protection Department at the Palestinian Civil Police (FJPD), the Family Protection Prosecution at the Attorney General Office (AGO), the High Judicial Council (HJC), the Supreme Judge Department (SJD) and the Governor’s Office focal points to discuss the assignment and its objectives. 
• Develop the inception report, including the methodology, the deliverables and time frame and share with UN Women for review, inputs and approval. 

 Facilitating seven sessions between partners: 

• Develop an assessment report on the challenges facing the coordination and cooperation amongst service providers and share with UN Women for review, inputs and approval. The assessment report should respond at specific questions which will be developed jointly with UN Women and partners’ focal points. 
• Upon the completion of the Assessment Report, facilitate seven coordination and consultation sessions at both bilateral and multilateral levels, including preparing materials and resources necessary to guide discussions, such as relevant background information, guiding questions, and discussion prompts.
• Ensure the sessions are structured to address the specific objectives, with focus on identifying and agreeing on the challenges, the needs and priorities of the partner institutions involved.
• Develop and submit narrative reports on each session separately- in line with UN Women’s reporting template.

Support the establishment of the Advisory Committee

• Develop the ToR for the Advisory Committee and share it with UN Women and partner institutions focal points for review and comments. 
• Support the establishment of the Committee.

Reporting on the assignment: 

Develop a comprehensive final narrative report that includes a detailed description of the session, the used methodology, key findings, observations, key points of discussion, including the specific needs, challenges, proposed solutions and recommendations for future interventions. The report should also include updates on the establishment of the Advisory Committee in addition to related observations and recommendations.   

The report should include annexes containing the participants’ list in each session, the presentations, the key questions and any other related material. 

Deliverables: 

The consultancy has three main deliverables: 

Deliverable Expected completion time (due day) 

First deliverable:

1.1 Inception report, and

1.2 Approved draft assessment report

Ten days after the signing of the contract

Forty days after the signing of the contract

Second deliverable:

2.1 Approved final assessment report,

2.2 Narrative reports for four completed sessions, and 

2.3 Approved Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Advisory Committee

Four months after the signing of the contract 

Third deliverable:

3.1 Narrative reports for the last three completed sessions,

3.2 Approved progress report onthe advisory committee and

3.3 Approved comprehensive narrative report on the assignment.

Eight months after the signing of the contract 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel:

Home-Based, the consultancy requires field visits to partner institutions, including MoSD, FJPD at PCP, AGO, SJD, HJC and the Governor’s Office. Additionally, the sessions will be held at a location agreed upon by the partners.

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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:

• Very strong knowledge of national referral system 
• Sound knowledge of service providers within social, security and justice chain
• Strong expertise in facilitating sessions and workshop to social, justice and security sector personnel; (previous assignment with NRS partners is a great asset).
• Ability to manage time and meet tight deadlines.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills.
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.
• Proven networking, organizational and communication skills.

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Gender Studies, Law, or Sociology or related fields is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of professional working experience in the field of gender, violence against women, protection, women’s rights and women access to Justice is required.
• Experience in facilitating/ moderating discussions between stakeholders- of which at least one previous experience between the justice, security and social actors is required. 
• Experience in policy level or strategic planning related interventions is desirable. 
• Experience with the justice, security and social sectors is desirable. 
• Experience with the UN or international organizations is desirable.
• A sample of a previously developed assessment report or policy level document preferably in areas related to combatting VAW, or women’s access to justice must be attached as part of your application.

Languages:

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

A sample of a previously developed assessment report or policy level document preferably in area related to combatting VAW, or women’s access to justice must be attached as part of your application.

National Consultant to facilitate coordination between Justice and Security Sectors - Home Based with field visits - UN Women Careers