JOB DESCRIPTION

Background:

UN Women (UNW), 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 centre of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the 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.

UN Women’s triple mandate, along with its global network and deep policy and programming expertise, continues to endow the Entity with a unique capacity to: (i) support Member States to strengthen global norms and standards for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and mainstream gender perspectives in other thematic areas; (ii) promote coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and (iii) undertake operational activities to support Member States, upon their request, in translating global norms and standards into legislation, policies and strategies at country level.
UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). In line with the national priorities, the work of UN Women for the period 2023-2025 is aligned with three of the Palestine United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework’s (UNSDCF) outcomes:

•    Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector.
•    Palestinians, including the most vulnerable, have equal access to sustainable, inclusive, gender responsive and quality social services, social protection, and affordable utilities.
•    Palestinian governance institutions, processes, and mechanisms at all levels are more democratic, rights-based, inclusive, and accountable.
Its three-year Strategic Note supports the efforts to achieve measurable results in country in terms of four UN Women global Strategic Plan impacts (2022-2025): (SP Impact 1). Governance and participation in public life; (SP Impact 2). Women’s Economic Empowerment; (SP Impact 3). Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and; SP Impact 4. Women peace and security, Humanitarian & Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Global Disability Fund (GDF) funded project, “Enabling a Disability-Inclusive and Equitable International Response in OPT,” is implemented jointly by UN Women and OHCHR under the UNCT Diversity and Inclusion Group. The initiative aims to strengthen the inclusion of persons with disabilities in national and international policy-making processes, promoting an equitable approach that is fully aligned with international human rights standards. It also seeks to build the capacity of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) to actively participate in the recovery process and to ensure disability inclusion in humanitarian response as well as in all recovery efforts.

This project represents a coordinated UN approach to disability inclusion, undertaken in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including government entities, civil society organizations (CSOs), Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and UN agencies.
Objective of Consultancy:

The primary objective of this consultancy is to support UN Women and OHCHR in the implementation of the initial phase of the GDF funded project, ending in December 2025 by providing expert technical support to actors working on disability and inclusion (DI) by strengthening coordination, engagement and building capacities.  The assignment is led by OHCHR under their GDF outputs – with support from and in collaboration with UN Women with the aim to achieve sought objectives under the joint intervention.
The consultant will work under the direct supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist/Coordinator (Intergovernmental and Normative Engagement), in close coordination with OHCHR Task Manager and will be supported by the UN Women EVAW Analyst for contract and payment matters.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work 
Within the delegated authority, the Disability Advisor will be responsible for the following duties:

• Under the supervision of UN Women and OHCHR, coordinates the disability activities of the UNCT Disability and Inclusion Working Group (DIWG);
• Support in strengthening the Gaza DWG to better engage with clusters and the ICCG on disability mainstreaming in humanitarian response and recovery efforts.
• Coordinates the timely implementation of the Global Disability Fund project outcomes in close coordination with the DIWG
• Support the DIWG in strengthening UNCT compliance with the UN Disability Inclusion Scorecard.
• Support the planning process leading to the formation of a Disability Working Group under the protection cluster in the West Bank.
• Ensures disability issues are integrated into UN recovery planning and humanitarian response.
• Ensures up-to-date information regarding substantive matters in the field of disability rights and makes recommendations on actions to take.
• Coordinates with other sectors of the UN, international organizations and government on coordination and policy matters to strengthen national capacities and institutions for the promotion of disability inclusion and the rights of persons with disabilities.
• Works with UN and non-governmental programmes in the country/region to integrate disability, including their gender dimensions in their programs; helps design and implement the human rights program and designs the organization and focus of the evaluation.
• Assists national actors to develop training programs in the field of disability inclusion, with attention to gender perspectives.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Deliverables
The consultancy has the below main deliverables:

Deliverable	Expected completion time (due day)
Capacity-Building Workplan: Develop a workplan with priorities, timelines, and methods for disability-inclusive humanitarian response, integrating gender perspectives and aligned with CRPD and the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy.	15 October 2025
Capacity-Building Sessions: Deliver 5 targeted training sessions for UNCT, clusters, and national partners on disability inclusion in humanitarian action, including practical tools and gender dimensions.	15 November 2025
Final Report: Submit a report summarizing results, good practices, and recommendations on disability inclusion and the Global Disability Fund project.	15 December 2025

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:

• Sound knowledge of Disability Inclusion and Intersectional Approach in humanitarian action.
• Sound commitment to gender equality, women’s empowerment, women’s rights, and social justice issues.
• Ability to evaluate and integrate information from a variety of sources and assess impact on the human rights situation in the country of assignment, including the political environment and legal statutes as they pertain to disability rights.
• Ability to complete in-depth studies and reach conclusions on possible causes and solutions to disability rights problems in specific societies and systems.
• Demonstrated skills in training civil society and members of advocacy groups.
• Ability to meet deadlines and respond positively to feedback.
• Knowledge of and exposure to a range of disability rights issues including approaches and techniques to address sensitive and complex challenges in their political, ethnic, racial, gender and socio-economic dimensions is required.
• Knowledge of institutional mandates of disability organizations, prevailing policies and procedures is required.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification: 

• Master’s degree or equivalent in law, political science, international relations, social sciences or related field.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience: 

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in disability rights, human rights, political affairs, international relations, law or related area is required.
• Experience in gender equality and gender responsive interventions is required.
• Experience in humanitarian protection in conflict or post-conflict situations is desirable.
• Experience in the coordination of the protection response within a humanitarian crisis is desirable.
• Experience in developing and drafting situational and policy analysis regarding persons with disabilities is desirable.
• Experience working with UN agencies is desirable.
• Experience working in the Arab Region and particularly in Occupied Palestinian Territories is highly desirable.
• Provide two samples of previous work, including assessments, policy briefs/analysis or research papers relevant to the assignment to be attached as part of the application.

Languages: 

• Proficiency in English is required.
• Proficiency in Arabic is highly 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.