National Consultant – Senior Gender Advisor

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 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 support to Member States’ efforts and priorities in meeting their gender equality goals and for building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Nine months elapsed since the start of April 15th, 2023 war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and the Rapid Support Forces (RSP) which started in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan and eventually expanded to Darfur, Kordofan, the Blue Nile. The war had devastating impact on the country and civilians where UN estimated the the forced displaced persons at nearly 7 million and more than 1 million as asylum seekers and refuges in December 2023. In December, the war escalated to Wad Madani, the largest humanitarian hub providing assistances to the displaced in Wad Madani and other states affected by the war. As a result, a significant influx of displaced persons from Wad Madani to other areas escaping the war.

1. UN WOMEN SUPPORT TO SUDANESE WOMEN

UN Women support to Sudanese women, since the start of the war focused at two levels; humanitarian assistance to women including promoting Women Peace and Security agenda inside Sudan and amplifying women’s advocacy voices to key regional and global actors. As a result of the war, many women activists and leaders moved outside Sudan in particular to Egypt which created a strong opportunity for advocacy with regional and global actors. UN Women accordingly, recruited a national consult to contribute to promoting UN SCR 1325, focusing mainly on women’s political participation. UN Women in partnership with IGAD and the AU arranged for a conference in Kampala with a wide representation of women’s groups and organizations reaching 90, out of them nearly 50 attended physically the conference in October 2023. The conference was informed by comprehensive research inside Sudan among the most vulnerable groups that informed women’s voices in peace and security as well as different papers prepared by scholars and presented in the conference. The conference resulted in Kampala Feminist Declaration that was widely disseminated.

UN Women as well supported the outreach of women to UN whereby two women represented attended and shared the demands of women for peace. Moreover, to amplify women’s voices, UN Women supported the participation of women in the 4th Conference on WPS arranged by the African Union. UN Women in collaboration with UNITAMS, CMI, and Inclusive Peace organized three days’ workshop to enhance coordination among women’s initiatives and women from political actors and continued to build up and respond to women’s demands during the crisis. UN Women facilitated women’s groups and formations to establish the Peace for Sudan group composed of women from inside and outside Sudan to unify voices and messages. Eventually, and post Kampala conference, the participants of Kampala conference joined the “peace for Sudan” group. Meetings were held with them and explored ways for support post Kampala conference.

UN Women is seeking to recruit a consultant to continue building on the achievements made in the last previous months by continuing to work closely with women led peace movement in Sudan, “Peace for Sudan” to play a key role in a country wide movement for peace. The consultant will support in consolidating Sudanese women demands for peace by providing technical guidance and support, providing linkages with political platforms and regional organization that are spearheading the peace process and amplifying the messages and voices of women, in line with UNSCR 1325.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Country Representative, in close coordination with the Humanitarian Specialist and the day-to-day support from the National Program Specialist, the National Consultant shall perform the following tasks:

Technical Assistance

• Establish a Group of mediators to be identified based on specific criteria and provide the necessary series of trainings including political analysis and stakeholders mapping to step in as mediators in peace processes – link them with FemWise and other similar female mediators’ network. Promote their recognition within the African Union (AU) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development(IGAD).

• Support a pool of experts in different fields relevant to peace processes and provide opportunities to write about the topic from a gender perspective and ensuring their effective participation in peace processes.

• Promote gender mainstreaming in different national initiatives recognized through technical support to women in these initiatives contributing to a more inclusive and gender responsive approach to peacebuilding.

• Support Women’s Groups to produce policy briefs and political analysis related to peace and security.

• Essentially to facilitate alliance building of Sudanese women and groups with regional women’s groups and coalitions in neighboring countries and support Sudanese women advocacy efforts.

• In coordination with regional office and UN Women HQ, strengthen the UN, UN Women, AU and IGAD partnership to promote women, peace and security.

• Facilitate UN Women workshops and strategic events and contribute to designing of the events’ method.

• Keep UN Women abreast of peace and political changes in the peace -conflict landscape, providing regular updates to inform prioritization and/or de- prioritization of actions.

• To assess and revise strategic documents to align with UNSCR 1325 principles.

• To provide technical support and training to stakeholders on gender-sensitive approaches to peace processes and the feminist agenda.

• To assist UN Women in promoting UNSCR 1325 initiatives and advocating for gender equality in peace and security frameworks in Sudan.

Communication, Advocacy and Partnership

• Identify and support strategic advocacy platforms to amplify the voices and participation of women in peace and security.

• Organize meetings between women peace advocates and “Peace for Sudan” members to engage with regional and international organizations concerned of Sudan crisis and peace, aiming to create dialogue platforms for discussing challenges and foster collaborative solutions.
• Support papers development presented on different strategic topics of women, peace and security contributing to evidence-based advocacy.

• Enhance partnership/cooperation/consultation/coordination with stakeholders, CSOs, Women groups/organizations, and regional and international actors to foster integrated approach to addressing gender challenges in peace and security.

• Liaise with key stakeholders to strengthen strategic partnerships to facilitate and increase women’s meaningful participation in the peace process.

• Facilitate regular dialogues and consultations among women’s groups.

Competencies

Competencies

Core Value/Guiding Principles:

• 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 Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in law, Human Rights, or Gender Studies or relevant field is required.
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s) in a relevant discipline from a recognized University with the required work experience, plus two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions with national partners, preferably related to Women, Peace and Security
• Experience working on inclusive politics in a fragile context, with demonstrated ability to deliver.
• Technical expertise and experience in programme/project design and implementation required, and experience in delivering gender sensitive training.
• Relevant experience from a conflict setting preferred with strong knowledge of Sudan context.
• Strong analytical and research skills with ability to produce quality reports.
• Experience working with women’s groups and organizations in Sudan.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Language:

Fluency in Arabic and English is required.

How to Apply:

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page).