Gender Researcher (Consultant)

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 plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997. UN Women Palestine Office focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely, to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal, and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the Palestinian context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realisation of following strategic goals:  Mainstreaming gender in governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

On April 10th, 2014, the State of Palestine acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) in a move considered to be a promising step towards attaining gender-equality; something that the Palestinian feminist movement had been struggling to achieve for decades. The outcomes of this accession were formulated through a treaty-based obligation to submit an accomplishment report to the CEDAW Committee.

The State of Palestine has witnessed a counter-campaign against the incorporation of the CEDAW in the Palestinian National Laws led by some conservative leaders of certain clans and political Islamic parties. Such forces have portrayed human rights conventions, and CEDAW in particular, as imported western instruments and an “intellectual luxury” that conflict with the values of Palestinian society.

Different Palestinian writers argued that the most outstanding and serious challenge of all facing the Palestinian women’s movement during the last ten years has been its transformation from a grass-rooted movement to an elite movement (Kuttab, 2009). And that the women’s NGOs and the new discourses they brought to the public sphere, in relative isolation from the overall social, economic, and political context, might have inadvertently acted to disempower and de-legitimize civil society actors and their movements. “Professionalism” might not be a suitable mechanism for disseminating ideas about gender equality to the grass roots or to the state, but it has maintained a focus on the interests of and provided a power base for a few women (Jad 2008).

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of UN Women Special Representative and direct supervision of the UN Women Programme Management Specialist, the consultant is expected to develop an analysis of the Palestinian women’s movement messaging on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Palestine (in the West Bank - including East Jerusalem - and Gaza), how the messaging is influencing public opinion and discourse, how far the movement messaging, communication and advocacy tools, and outreach are informed by/are close to community priorities and perspectives.

The analysis should unpack:

• Palestinian women’s movement messaging on gender equality and women’s empowerment: how does it affect public perception and opinion?
• Who is shaping public opinion on women’s rights? How influential are the women’s rights organizations? Who else has a role?
• How is the Palestinian women’s movement messaging communicated to the audience? What are the communication tools? How far is social media involved?
• A thorough analysis of the voices of female and male youth from different backgrounds and who live in different geographical areas (Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem) on how they see the feminist movement messaging, communication and advocacy tools, outreach etc.
• How far are the messages and communication tools used by the Palestinian women’s movement consulted and tested with different groups in the community including youth, local women activists, men, grassroots communities.
• Related reasons behind the backlash against CEDAW (was it messaging?), how was it addressed by the women’s movement, and recommendations on how to address it.

The consultant is expected to complete the following tasks:

• Draft a short inception report, including the outline and methodology of the research, addressing feedback from the UN Women team.
• Carry out a literary review.
• Carry out at least 10 semi structured interviews with relevant stakeholders and key informants, to be identified and facilitated in coordination with the UN Women team.
• Carry out 6 focus group discussions in the West Bank and Gaza including youth, local women activists, men, grassroots communities.
• Draft the analysis (no less than 30 pages), including recommendations.
• Provide a final draft of the analysis in English that addresses UN Women’s feedback and is approved by UN Women task manager.

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Qualifications

Education

Master’s degree in international relations, gender studies or other relevant fields.

A PhD would be an added value.

Experience

• At least 5 years of progressive experience in the fields of gender equality and women’s rights.
• At least 5 years of progressive experience in conducting research on gender equality and women’s rights, especially in discourse analysis.
• Previous experience with the Palestinian context on women’s rights is an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

• UN Women P11 including experience in similar assignments; the P11 form can be downloaded at https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process, a signed copy should be submitted;’
• Letter of Interest containing the statement on candidate’s experience and qualification against required qualification, experience and competencies.
• Sample of previous relevant work – please only attach one sample.

Vacancy Link to apply: https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=106757