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 line with UN Women’s Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting (PMR) Policy, Country Offices are required to develop coherent and forward-looking Strategic Notes (SNs) aligned with the organization’s triple mandate, UN Women Strategic Plan (SP), and Results-Based Management (RBM) principles of accountability, inclusiveness, adaptive management, and learning. The SN must be informed by comprehensive regional context analysis, independent assessments, audits.

The current four-year SN (2022–2025) provides a strategic framework for advancing gender equality and empowering all women and girls in the country. Guided by the corporate SP, it focuses on key areas such as women’s leadership and political participation, women’s economic empowerment, eliminating violence against women and girls, peace and security, humanitarian action, and support to intergovernmental processes.

In 2025, UN Women Country Office in Kazakhstan will develop its new SN for 2026–2029, aiming to deliver high-impact results during the final years of the SDGs. The new SN will be based on extensive consultations with national stakeholders and partners, civil society, women’s rights organizations, youth leaders, private sector partners, and the UN system.

Data from partner and public surveys, including input from women at greatest risk of being left behind, will provide critical evidence for setting SN priorities. This will be complemented by analysis from regional review processes such as the Beijing +30 review, SDG 5 progress evaluations, and consultations associated with CSW69 and the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Recognizing the interconnected nature of regional challenges, the SN will align with the multidimensional agenda of the SDGs, the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs), and UN Women’s global Strategic Plan 2026–2029, applying an integrated and intersectional approach.

The new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2026-2030 is being developed to replace the current one covering 2021-2025 which guided the work of the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Kazakhstan, ensuring coherence in UN programmatic engagement within the country.

The Government of Kazakhstan under the coordination of the Agency on Strategic Planning of the Republic of Kazakhstan in cooperation with UN Kazakhstan developed the National Development Plan until 2029. Also, the Concept on Gender and Family Policy until 2030 and its Action Plan had been updated in 2022. Furthermore, Kazakhstan developed and adopted its first National Action Plan on the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2022 and updated it in 2024. In December 2023, President signed the Action Plan on Human Rights and Rule of Law in Kazakhstan where the set of actions were introduced to address issues of discrimination against women and ensure that gender equality mechanisms were strengthened. Moreover, on June 16, 2024, the Law on Amendments and Additions to Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Ensuring Women’s Rights and Safety of Children came into force. The Law included the criminalization of light bodily harm and assault, establishment of Family Support Centres across the country, strict measures towards protecting children against violence and pedophilia, as well as work with perpetrators and other measures in fifteen national legislative acts.      Ongoing reforms initiated by the President aim at accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including a commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Based on the UN Women corporate guidline, the SN will be accompanied by mandatory annexes detailing key operational and strategic elements, including HR planning, a Risk Register, Social and Environmental Scanning, a Partnerships, Communications, and Visibility strategy,  Knowledge Management Plan and other required documentation.

To support the innovative development of the SN, UN Women CO in Kazakhstan seeks the services of an International Consultant who will provide technical assistance to the CO by compiling a comprehensive national context analysis and facilitating the development of the 2026–2029 SN.

The new SN should be a document that:

• Takes into account the national context and political developments in Kazakhstan, and aligns with national strategies and development priorities, including thе Concept of Family and Gender Policy endorsed until 2030 and other;
• Is based on current and emerging trends related to GEWE;
• Reflects UN Women’s mandate towards achieving goals and objectives of the SDGs and the 2030 development agenda gender equality commitments, CEDAW, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including Generation Equality Forum Action Coalitions and other relevant documents;
• Reflects/aligns with national legal framework in the area of gender equality and women’s rights: the Law on State Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities of Men and Women and the Law on Amendments and Additions to Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Ensuring Women’s Rights and Safety of Children and other;
• Presents an overview of the work of other UN entities and international partners in Kazakhstan in the area of GEWE and key opportunities and gaps that could be addressed through strengthened coordination;
• Summarizes key lessons learned from relevant recent evaluations and reviews of UN Women’s programmes in the country.

Scope of work:

1. Conduct a desk review of the current UN Women programme in Kazakhstan, with practical and substantial recommendations for improved programme cohesion and coherence to achieve tangible results;
2. Facilitate consultations with key stakeholders to validate the preliminary findings of the desk review, obtain additional insights on key GEWE gaps, challenges and opportunities, etc;
3. Support the development of the Strategic Note 2026-2029 for the UN Women Kazakhstan CO using the finding of the Strategic Note 2022-2025 and in line with the UN CF for Kazakhstan 2026-2030 and UN Women’s Global Strategic Plan.

Duration of the contract and location:
The contract is expected to commence in April 2025 and come to an end on the satisfactory completion of the services in October 2025. The International Consultant will work remotely but maybe required to travel to Kazakhstan to fulfill the tasks.

Required Qualifications:

• Advanced university degree in social sciences, gender studies, public administration, international relations, international law, public policy, or a related field.
• At least 5 years of experience in the field of gender mainstreaming in development programmes/projects at national and international levels;
• Previous experience working on Strategic Note development is an asset;
• Proven track record of working in Kazakhstan and/or Central Asian region, with UN agencies, government counterparts, and civil society organizations is mandatory.
• English is mandatory, knowledge of Russian is an asset.

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:

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.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements