For almost three decades, UNFPA has been a strategic partner of the Government of Turkmenistan in empowering women and promoting gender equality. The UNFPA Gender Program aims to work with government agencies to create comprehensive systems and mechanisms to enable women and adolescents to make informed choices and be protected from violence, as well as to engage men and boys in promoting positive social norms in society.

In February 2025 UNFPA initiated cooperation with UNDP to support the implementation of the Global Fund Tuberculosis (TB) grant in Turkmenistan to strengthen the Gender and Women Health (WH) response, requiring strengthened support systems.

The GF project complements the UNDP infectious diseases project funded by the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan, and as such aims to ensure full transition of the Global Fund TB programme to domestic funding by end-2027, including technical assistance, capacity building, social contracting with civil society organizations, and adherence support to TB patients to ensure quality, continuation, and sustainability of the Global Fund programme in Turkmenistan.

Achieving gender equality and empowering all is at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2021-2025 National Action Plan for Human Rights envisages promotion of human rights education and bringing gender education practices in line with international standards. The National Gender Equality Plan (2021-2025) mandates gender education for civil servants and promotes positive social norms and a culture that is non-discriminatory and violence-free.

The present assignment is aimed at the development of an educational course on gender and health for healthcare workers. The course builds upon recently rolled out by the UNDP specialized Gender Mainstreaming Online Course for Civil Servants in Turkmenistan and UNFPA educational materials on gender equality, gender stereotypes and gender-based violence.

A gender-responsive approach to health is a method of care that recognizes and addresses how a person”s gender, and the societal norms and power dynamics associated with it, affect their health, experiences, and access to services. This approach moves beyond simply treating a person”s medical condition and instead creates an environment and a set of practices that are tailored to the unique realities of their lives.

The key principles and components of this approach includes the acknowledgements of gender differences, their specific health needs, risk factors and pathways to seeking treatment. In addition, this approach addresses the trauma-informed care of the patients as a foundational principle, as many individuals, particularly women, have a significant history of trauma (e.g., domestic violence). This approach allows to avoid re-traumatizing survivors and to create a safe, non-judgmental environment while providing tailored and holistic services. It promotes the collection and use of gender-disaggregated data to better understand health disparities and inform targeted interventions. This approach is vital for ensuring healthcare is not only clinically competent but also equitable, inclusive, and responsive to the diverse needs of the population.

This course would target the following objectives:

1. introduce participants to key concepts like sex, gender, gender identity, gender roles, and gender norms;
2. explain how gender-based power dynamics and social expectations impact health, risk-taking behaviors, and access to health care for all genders.
3. help participants recognize and challenge their own unconscious biases related to gender.
4. provide skills in communicating respectfully and effectively with diverse populations, including those with different gender identities or cultural backgrounds.
5. emphasize the importance of a multi-sectoral response (MSR), highlighting the role of each professional in a coordinated system of care.
6. focus on sustainability and institutional change by equipping participants with the skills to become advocates for gender-responsive policies within their own institutions;
7. Specific sessions will be developed to recognize, respond and provide referral for GBV survivors to:
   1. Introduce to GBV definitions, root causes and contributing factors, impact on health and wellbeing; the role of healthcare workers on prevention and response to GBV.
   2. train professionals in trauma-informed care and teach techniques for creating safe and non-judgmental environments for GBV survivors and other forms of trauma.
   3. train professionals on how to use clear and reliable referral pathways to ensure survivors receive holistic support.

The educational course would be designed for health care professionals (managers, doctors, nurses). Thus, this gender responsive health services training course would contribute to an improved understanding among healthcare workers on the importance of people-centered and gender-responsive health services following the country’s commitments to international human rights conventions and treaties.

Within this initiative UNFPA will hire an international consultant to support the project in developing a practical educational course on people-centered, human rights-based gender-responsive health services for healthcare workers.

(Description of services, activities, or outputs)

1. Literature Review and Inception Report: With the support of National consultant review  the UNDP specialized Gender Mainstreaming Online Course for Civil Servants in Turkmenistan, as well as  the recent literature related to gender policy in Turkmenistan and the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia  (implementation and evaluation phases), CEDAW Concluding Observations and UPR recommendations for Turkmenistan, the NAPGE 2021-2025 and its assessment, UN and national reports, UN Cooperation Framework on Sustainable Development, UNFPA Country Programme for 2026-2030, MICS 2024 Report, Report of the Survey on health and status of a woman in the family, UNDP’s gender assessment for TB, and other relevant literature. These will include collecting information and analyzing the human rights and gender equality situation in the country, developing a methodology and summarizing it all in Inception report. – 3 days.
2. Development of the gender-responsive treatment educational course in Russian and Turkmen languages: With the support of National consultant develop a gender-responsive treatment educational course creating a structured program designed to train healthcare professionals on how to provide care that is responsive to and actively addresses the role of gender in health and well-being. – 8 days.
3. Validation presentation: Support National consultant and co-present online, discuss and review the draft educational course.  Incorporate and synchronize all feedback from stakeholders – 1 day.
4. With the support from the National consultant finalize the educational course and develop key advocacy messages coming from the new training course – 3 days.

Expected Outcomes and Deliverables:

The total number of days: 15 working days:

Deliverable 1: Inception report by September 25, 2025

Deliverable 2: Finalized educational course and presentation to the national stakeholders by October 17, 2025.

Deliverable 3: Final consultancy report with recommendations by October 31, 2025

UNFPA will be looking for an expert consultant with proven international experience in conducting evaluations and analysis.

• At least a Master”s Degree in Gender studies, Public Health, Medicine, Epidemiology, Psychology or equivalent;
• Excellent knowledge and at least 5 years of proven experience in the development of educational courses, programmes and projects in the area of gender equality, gender stereotypes and women empowerment, GBV prevention and treatment;
• Strong analytical and facilitation skills;
• Prior experience in Turkmenistan or in Central Asia and knowledge of gender equality systems in the region;
• Working experience with the knowledge of UNFPA and UNDP mandates is an advantage;
• Required knowledge of languages: Russian and English.