JOB DESCRIPTION

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.
In the Arab region, UN Women, the Arab Women Organization (AWO) and other partners are implementing an exciting and unique three-year regional programme entitled “Dare to Care” (DTC) with the goal of transforming patriarchal social norms and masculinities, with a regional coverage in six countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Palestine) and in-country investments in four of them: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.
This ground-breaking regional programme aims to promote social norms change for gender equality and women’s empowerment using the involvement of men and boys in unpaid care and household responsibilities as one key entry point. The programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the German International Development Cooperation (GIZ) and the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation. It works towards the achievement of three following three outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Societies across the MENA region demonstrate an increased involvement of men and boys in caregiving and household responsibilities and more empowerment of women and girls.
• Outcome 2: Key institutions effectively transform patriarchal masculinities and social norms, with a focus on advancing caregiving and household responsibilities of men and boys and the economic empowerment of women and girls.
• Outcome 3:  More men and boys are able to take their share in caregiving and household responsibilities with more enabling laws and policies that promote their caregiving and household responsibilities, and paternity leave.

Under the above Outcome 3, UN Women and the Arab Women Organization (AWO) -an intergovernmental institution in the Arab region- have a formal regional partnership that aims to develop a regional roadmap on care in the Arab region that is endorsed by Arab Member States. This regional roadmap has the objective of recognizing and strengthening care systems across the Arab region, reducing the unpaid care undertaken by women and girls and promoting the expansion of high-quality care services and infrastructure.
The three priority thematic pillars of the regional roadmap identified so far are: 1) Nurseries and childcare; 2) Care of elderly persons and persons with disabilities: and 3) Paid leaves and flexible work arrangements. Other cross thematic areas of focus of the regional roadmap consist of legal and policy frameworks on care; addressing care in crisis and conflict settings; and financing of care services and infrastructure through public and public-private partnerships.
The regional roadmap is to be developed under the leadership of AWO and in a very consultative way, involving national women’s machineries; ministries of Labor, Social Affairs and Finances; labor unions; private sector; civil society organizations (CSOs); and members of legislative bodies from the Arab region. The development process of the regional roadmap on care is supported technically by UN Women, in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and other UN agencies members of the UN Regional Working Group on Transforming Care Systems in the Arab States Region -that include UNDP, UNICEF, UNOPS, etc. in addition to the three aforementioned UN entities.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work:

This consultancy is under the framework of the “Dare to Care” regional programme. The consultant will work in close collaboration with AWO and UN Women, under direct supervision of UN Women’s “Dare to Care” Regional Programme Manager and in close partnership with AWO Director General and other team members of AWO and UN Women.

Further, the consultant will be required to work in a very collaboratively and consultative way with key decision makers and stakeholders from the Arab region from national women’s machineries; ministries of Labor, Social Affairs and Finances; labor unions; private sector; CSOs; parliamentarians and senators; and UN agencies.

All deliverables of the consultant will be reviewed and cleared by both AWO and UN Women before the payments are approved by UN Women’s “Dare to Care” Regional Programme Manager.

The consultant will provide substantive technical support to carry out the following functions:

• Provide technical and policy advisory support for the organization and delivery of four regional consultations and conferences on care organized under the leadership of AWO and supported by UN Women -in cooperation with ESCWA, ILO and other UN entities- that will be thematically focused on: 1) Care of elderly persons and persons with disabilities; 2) Paid leaves and flexible work arrangements; 3) Launch of the regional roadmap on care alongside a session with national women’s machineries; and 4) Workshop with members from legislative bodies.
• Lead and undertake a consultative process to develop a regional roadmap on care for the Arab region that builds on evidence, best practices from the region and beyond, and that captures the inputs from key stakeholders, namely national women’s machineries; ministries of Labor, Social Affairs and Finances; labor unions; private sector; CSOs; parliamentarians and senators; and UN agencies. This consultative process will include key informant interviews, Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) and potentially online survey(s) with these stakeholders too.
• Provide strategic policy advice to AWO, national women’s machineries and UN Women for an effective engagement and coordination of stakeholders on care, develop policy recommendations and facilitate a follow-up to ensure that the regional roadmap on care is impactful and sustainable. This may also include participation and delivery of inputs related to the regional roadmap on care during additional regional convenings and meetings, as required.

Deliverables:

The deliverables of this consultancy assignment are described in the below table. The final below deliverables will have to include the inputs provided by both AWO and UN Women before payment is released by UN Women to the consultant.

No.	Deliverables	Number of Workdays	Completion timeframe	Payment schedule and value
1	Brief inception report of the assignment that includes: 1) Contextual analysis that includes available data related to care in the Arab region; 2) Description of how the consultant will undertake her/his assignment according to the TOR; 3) Brief work plan of the assignment; and 4) Methodology, data collection methods and tentative list of stakeholders to be interviewed and consulted for the development of the regional roadmap on care.	8 days	By 30 September 2025	20%
2	Substantive technical support for the preparation and delivery of two consultative three-day regional workshops, one focused on care of elderly persons and persons with disabilities; and another one focused on paid leaves and flexible work arrangements. This support includes agenda setting, identification of speakers and experts, delivery of high-quality policy inputs at the regional workshops, and support in the documentation and reporting of the workshops that incorporate conclusions, recommendations and key inputs to be included in the regional roadmap on care.	16 days	By 4 December 2025
3	Consultations and data collection for the development of the regional roadmap on care that includes key informant interviews, FGDs and online survey(s) with key stakeholders. At least 25 key informant interviews and 4 FGDs will be conducted by the consultant.	20 days	By 31 December 2025
4	A draft regional roadmap on care (in English) that includes the inputs from the data collection with stakeholders	10 days	By 30 January 2026	40%
3	A final regional roadmap on care (in English) that includes the feedback from AWO, UN Women and other relevant stakeholders. This will be accompanied by a Power Point presentation summarizing the highlights of the regional roadmap development process and contents.	10 days	By 27 February 2026	40%
4	High quality policy inputs on care related to the regional roadmap as required by UN Women as well as substantive technical support for the preparation and delivery of two regional workshops, one for the launch event of the regional roadmap on care that includes a session with national women’s machineries; and another regional workshop with members from legislative bodies from the Arab region to advocate for the needed legal reforms to recognize and strengthen care systems and services. This support includes agenda setting, identification of speakers and experts, delivery of high-quality policy inputs at the two regional workshops, and support in the documentation and reporting of the workshops.	20 days	By 31 May 2026
Total number of workdays is 84 days

 

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:

• Good planning, goal setting and prioritization skills;
• Extensive proven experience in policy advice and knowledge production on care economy and gender equality;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Ability to work under tight deadlines;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• A Master’s degree in one of the following disciplines: Economics, Gender/Women’s Studies, Social Sciences, Public Administration, International Development and/or a related field is required ;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of professional experience in substantive policy advice and analysis on care economy and gender equality is required;
• A deep understanding of the institutional context of the Arab region and proven ability to work and cooperate with a myriad of stakeholders and partners, including different line ministries, is required;
• Experience in advising senior policy makers and undertaking consultative processes is required;
• Experience in producing high-quality policy products and materials is required;
• Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills isare required;
• Previous experience working for the UN system is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Fluency in Arabic and/or French 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.