UN Women, Consultant on Ending violence against women and children in Dien Bien province, Home-based, National Consultant

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.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the empowerment of Women (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 strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In Viet Nam, UN Women contributes to the development objectives of Viet Nam’s Socio-Economic Development Plan and the National Strategy for Gender Equality. Its Country Strategy Note for 2022-2026 is aligned to the upcoming UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (CF) 2022-2026 and is focused on supporting Viet Nam’s fulfilment of Gender Equality commitments under The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the promise of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda to “leave no one behind”. The key priorities of UN Women in the 2022-2026 period are:

• By 2026, people in Viet Nam, especially those at risk of being left behind, will benefit from and contribute to safer and cleaner environment resulting from Viet Nam’s effective and gender responsive mitigation and adaptation to climate change, disaster risk reduction and resilience building, promotion of circular economy, the provision of clean and renewable energy, and the sustainable management of natural resources.
• By 2026, people in Viet Nam, especially those at risk of being left behind, will contribute to and benefit equitably from more sustainable, inclusive and gender-responsive economic transformation based on innovation, entrepreneurship, enhanced productivity, competitiveness, and decent work;
• By 2026, people in Viet Nam, especially those at risk of being left behind, will have benefited from and have contributed to a more just, safe and inclusive society based on improved governance, more responsive institutions, strengthened rule of law and the protection of and respect for human rights, gender equality, and freedom from all forms of violence and discrimination in line with international standards.

Under the 3rd priority, with the funding of the Government of Australia, UN Women has implemented the joint programme with UNFPA and UNICEF titled “Elimination of violence against women and children in Viet Nam 2021-2026” [EVAWC]. The overall goal of the joint programme is to ensure all women and children in Viet Nam, including those most vulnerable, are able to live a life free of violence through strengthened prevention strategies and multi sectoral responses. The programme covers four key outcomes to address the drivers and root causes of violence against women and children (VAWC) in the family, while acknowledging and linking to efforts to address both gender-based violence and violence against children more broadly as follows:

• Outcome 1: Evidence based laws and policies, increased resource allocation and strengthened coordination and accountability structures promoted and supported to prevent and respond to violence against women and children, in line with national and international standards and commitments
• Outcome 2: A strengthened and more effective multi-sectoral response (including systems, capacities, and service provision) delivers increased access to quality essential services for victims and survivors of violence.
• Outcome 3: More effective violence prevention, gender and social norm change promoted through innovative evidence-based communication, awareness raising, advocacy and community mobilization
• Outcome 4: Improved research, data collection and analysis and knowledge exchange inform evidence based-approach to prevent and respond to violence.

Since 2022, as part of EVAWC JP, UN Women Viet Nam has worked in close partnership with to the Dien Bien Provincial People’s Committee in promoting gender equality and preventing and responding to gender-based violence through the project “Supporting capacity building for the prevention and response to violence against women and children, contributing to gender equality promotion in Dien Bien Province.” This project was implemented by the Dien Bien former Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs from August 2023 to February 2025 under Decision No. 1261/QĐ-UBND dated 14 August 2023. The project has yielded meaningful results in Dien Bien Province, including:

• A Guideline on Enhancing Capacity to Identify, Support, and Refer Women Subjected to Violence was developed and approved by the Dien Bien Provincial Committee for the Advancement of Women.
• A directory of 70 agencies, organizations, and service providers offering essential support for women subjected to violence in Dien Bien was compiled.
• 85 staff members from provincial departments and related agencies received capacity-building training based on the principles of the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subjected to Violence.
• Over 3,500 people from 19 ethnic groups in the province accessed information on different forms of violence and prevention methods through communication activities during the annual Month of Action for Gender Equality and Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response.
• Five male advocate clubs (MACs) promoting gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence were established and are being maintained across departments and local communities.

Given the recent merger of provincial departments and the application of the 2-level administrative government, UN Women will continue its supports to Dien Bien province through the partnership with the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) – provincial agency in charge of gender equality and gender based violence prevention and response as delegated by the Dien Bien PPC in the Official Letter No. 3262/UBND-NC dated July 4, 2025 responding to UN Women’s official letter 2025/080/OVN dated 1 July 2025. The support from UN Women will focus on strengthening capacity of DOHA and relevant stakeholders in Dien Bien Province in responding to violence against women, with the following priorities:

• Updating the Guideline and Directory of Support Services for Survivors of Violence to reflect the new context of the province with the merger of communes/ wards without the existence of the districts/ city level.
• Enhancing the capacity of local service providers, including family and domestic violence prevention steering committees at various levels, social protection centers, healthcare facilities, and reliable addresses as defined as supporting services by the 2022 Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control.

In this context, UN Women Viet Nam is looking for a local consultant on ending violence against women and children to support Dien Bien DOHA to coordinate and facilitate the implementation of the above activities. The consultant will need to work closely with DOHA and other stakeholders in Dien Bien province to implement the activities within the remaining timeframe of EVAWC JP until March 2026.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The successful performance of the incumbent will effectively contribute to effective implementation of the EVAWC JP activities in Dien bien Province. In particular, the consultant is expected to carry out the following tasks:

Provide technical assistance, coordination and coaching to focal points of Dien Bien DOHA for the development and implementation of the partner agreement between UN Women and Dien Bien DOHA

• Support DOHA to prepare the prodoc and submit the package of partner agreement to Dien Bien PPC for approval
• Prepare TOR to recruit the consultant team and coordinate with them to work with relevant departments and communes/ wards in Dien Bien Province to update the Guideline and Directory of support services for women and children survivors of violence to reflect the new context of the province
• Work with designers and publisher to publish the guidelines and directory in Kinh and/or EM languages with approval of Dien Bien Province for dissemination
• Prepare and organize trainings of the guideline for relevant stakeholders and services providers at provincial and commune/ ward levels of Dien Bien Province.
• Provide coaching for the focal point of DOHA to prepare the quarterly narrative report of the activities and the final project report under the partner agreement with Dien Bien DOHA to submit to UN Women.

Support and coach focal points of DOHA in project financial management, ensuring the compliance with UN Women and Viet Nam government financial regulations:

• Support DOHA to prepare activity budgets prior to implementation
• Support the preparation of quarterly financial reports (FACE form) to UN Women on time
• Collect, verify, and organize financial supporting documents for liquidation in compliance with UN regulations
• Prepare and compile all necessary documents for quarterly advance requests
• Coordinate with Vietnamese local authorities to ensure compliance with all regulations related to UN-funded projects, including tax claims, fund recording…

Deliverables

The consultant must ensure the quality, standard, and satisfaction of deliverables to be submitted to UN Women within the given timeline.

Key tasks

Deliverables

Expected completion time

Payment Schedule (optional)

Provide technical assistance, coordination and coaching to focal points of Dien Bien DOHA for the development and implementation of the partner agreement between UN Women and Dien Bien DOHA

• Partner agreement approved by Dien Bien PPC
• Consultant team on board, at least 2 meetings with relevant stakeholders at provincial and commune/ ward level organized with minutes taken.
• Guideline and directory printed and disseminated
• Trainings organized with training documents compiled and training reports submitted
• Quarterly and final reports submitted on time with good quality

31 October 2025

31 December 2025

28 February 2026

10 December 2025

(60%)

10 March 2026

(40%)

Support and coach focal points of DOHA in project financial management, ensuring the compliance with UN Women and Viet Nam government financial regulations

• Activity’s plan and budgets submitted to UN Women prior to implementation
• All necessary documents for quarterly advance requests compiled, got verification from DOHA and submitted to UN Women
• Financial supporting documents for liquidation together with quarterly financial report (FACE form) signed by DOHA submitted to UN Women on time

31 December 2025

28 February 2026

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. As part of this assignment, the consultant is required to travel to selected provinces by UN Women and DOHA. Work related travel of UN Women’s consultants are considered as official mission and will be arranged by UN Women, in line with UN Women’s Consultant Contract Policy, UN Women Duty Travel Policy and UN-EU cost norm.

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:

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree on Social Sciences or related fields;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

• At least 7 years of relevant experience in development project coordination and management including ODA funded projects in the field of gender equality, gender-based violence (GBV), including experience working in GBV service provision in mountainous and/or remote areas.
• Experience in providing technical advice on gender equality and GBV for local authorities, especially for Dien Bien province
• Sound understanding of gender equality and GBV prevention and response in Dien Bien province is an advantage
• Experience of working with ODA projects, in particular UN an added advantage

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.

How to Apply

Interested candidates are requested to submit electronic applications no later than 19/09/2025 Ha Noi time via UN Women E-recruitment system attached with the following required documents:

• Personal CV
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

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.

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