The UNFPA Country Office in Turkmenistan advertises the vacancy of an Individual International Co
The detailed description and requirements of the position can be found at the below links and in the attachment to this message.
For internal candidates: View the internal job posting
For external candidates: View the external job posting
We would like to take this opportunity to invite interested individuals (non-citizens of Turkmenistan) with relevant professional experience and qualifications to apply online as indicated in the above links by the deadline of 25 June 2023 (09:00 EST).
Qualified Female Candidates are Strongly Encouraged to Apply!
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted in advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Job Description
Purpose of consultancy:
Violence against women and girls is a global issue that has significant consequences on the well-being, health, rights and safety of women and girls, as well as on educational outcomes, productivity and public policies. It also affects children, families and whole communities. If unaddressed, these human rights violations will have serious implications on poverty reduction and development and efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Existing evidence shows that gender-based violence in Turkmenistan has been still considered a sensitive public issue and gives grounds for a concern. For instance, 58.4 per cent of women aged 15-49 years justify violence against women due to the established traditional gender roles of women in a family and society. This has almost been doubled from 35% in 2016. Only 42.2 per cent of women aged 15-49 years (married or in union) make informed decisions about sex, contraceptive use and reproductive health (SDG indicator 5.6. 1). This indicator is even less for women living in rural areas (37,7 %). The Sustainable Development Index measuring progress toward gender equality (59.4) also shows inequalities for women and girls, including issues ranging from health and gender-based violence to other socio-economic dimensions of life. 12 per cent of women aged 18-59 have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a spouse or partner.
The CEDAW Committee, in its concluding observations on the fifth report in 2018, recommended strengthening support services for women and girls who are victims of gender-based violence.
To address this recommendation, the Government of Turkmenistan in close partnership with UNFPA in 2019 conducted a Situation analysis of the multi-sectoral response to gender-based violence in Turkmenistan. Following its recommendations, in 2021 Standard Operating Procedures were developed to coordinate and initiate a multi-sectoral response mechanism on gender-based violence between the agencies for social, police and medical sectors to initiate a system of multi-sectoral response to GBV (MSR to GBV) in line with the Global Standards and Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence and Regional SOPs for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In August 2021 essential GBV services were launched in Ashgabat city and Lebap region within the UN – Turkmenistan Joint Programme on Social Services on the basis of two CSOs. The same year the Law on Social Services was adopted in 2021 which supported the establishment of social service throughout the country overall, and allowed piloting of specialized GBV services. In January – February 2022 with the support of UNFPA CO a Guidance was developed on sensitizing police on GBV issues for working with vulnerable groups of population.
In 2022, UNFPA Turkmenistan started the implementation of the second phase of its Regional Project on “Strengthening prevention and response to GBV in Central Asia” which is a part of a Central Asia programme funded by the Central Asia - UK Conflict Stability and Security Fund funding (CSSF). The project aims at (i) promoting social norms changes as well as behavioural changes at community level and among religious leaders; (ii) building capacity of key services providers and will strengthen GBV coordination mechanisms at national level. The project has been designed to work so that women and girls in Central Asian Republics (CARs), including the most vulnerable, are provided through a multi-sectoral, survivor-centred inclusive Gender Based Violence (GBV) services in both humanitarian and development settings.
Within this context, in close consultations with the Institute of State, Law and Democracy there is a need to hire an international consultant to implement the following:
to develop and test a tool to monitor the application of multisectoral response to GBV,
to develop and test a tool to assess the quality of services provided by two CSOs in Ashgabat city and Lebap region to the women experiencing domestic violence, as well as
to assess the country readiness to introduce perpetrator programs in country following the existing legislation.
Scope of work:
(Description of services, activities, or outputs)
The deliverables of this consultancy include:
Planning phase:
Desk review, methodology development and inception report – 4 days.
Preparation for the country mission – 10 days:
Draft a monitoring tool to assess the application of MSR mechanism;
Draft a tool to assess the quality of GBV services provided by CSOs;
Prepare training sessions on applying the GBV service assessment tool;
Review and draft an overview of international practices for working with perpetrators of domestic violence;
Develop questions to assess the country readiness to introduce a programme for working with perpetrators.
Country mission – 7 days:
Conduct 4 days of consultations and training on assessing the quality of GBV services
2 days in Lebap velayat: 1 day fact-finding mission with CSO Taze Zaman and 1-day training for CSO staff and social workers;
2 days in Ashgabat city: 1 day fact-finding mission with CSO Taze Zaman and 1-day training for CSO staff and social workers;
Day 1: to present and train on the monitoring mechanism to assess the application of the MSR to GBV,
Day 2: international experience on working perpetrators and discussions on what could be possible to do here.
Conduct a 2-day meeting with national partners – representatives of the Interdepartmental Commission for Ensuring the Implementation of Turkmenistan's International Obligations in the Field of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law:
Finalizing the documentation on monitoring and assessment tools as well as the country readiness description as per the feedback received. – 8 days
De-brief UNFPA and provide a detailed final consultancy report, including step-by-step action plan and recommendations on further interventions, including supervision of services and other – 5 days.
Expected Outcomes and Deliverables:
The total number of days: 34 working days:
Deliverable 1: Inception report by July 10, 2023;
Deliverable 2: Preparation for the country mission:
Draft monitoring tool to assess the application of MSR mechanism;
Draft tool to assess the quality of GBV services;
An overview of international practices for working with perpetrators of domestic violence;
Draft training sessions on applying the GBV service assessment tool;
Deliverable 3: Conduct a mission to country – by September 20, 2023:
a 2-day meeting with national partners – representatives of the Inter-Departmental Commission;
4 days of consultations and training on assessing the quality of GBV services with social workers in Ashgabat city and Lebap velayat, CSOs Keyik okara and Taze Zaman.
Detailed report on the process, identifying what works well and gaps in the provision of the services, recommendations for further improvement.
Deliverable 4: Finalized versions of the following by November 1, 2023:
Monitoring tool to assess the application of MSR mechanism;
Tool to assess the quality of GBV services;
Deliverable 5: Training materials and presentations on applying the GBV service assessment tool, including programs, presentations, LOPs, feedback summary, other - by November 1, 2023.
Deliverable 6: De-brief UNFPA and provide a detailed final consultancy report, including step-by-step action plan and recommendations on further interventions, including supervision of services and other by November 10, 2023.
Duration and working schedule:Duration of this consultancy is from June 15 through November 15, 2023
Place where services are to be delivered:The place where services are to be delivered home based with one mission to the country.
Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:The National Consultant will report to the UNFPA Programme Analyst on Gender and Youth and will provide an update biweekly on progress, challenges encountered, and support requirements.
Supervisory arrangements: The National Consultant will directly report and work under the guidance of the UNFPA Programme Analyst on Gender and Youth along with overall guidance on vision from the UNFPA Head of Office.
Expected travel:Travel costs are not included in this TOR and will be covered additionally.
Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:
At least Master Degree in Human Rights, Women’ Rights, Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Law, State Service or equivalent;
At least ten years of experience in the work related to gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health;
Experience in conducting assessments of GBV services, MSR application, country in the context of gender -based violence;
Prior experience in Turkmenistan and Central Asia;
Excellent English speaking and writing skills required. Knowledge of Russian will be considered an asset;
Strong analytical and effective communication skills.
Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:UNFPA will provide the Consultant with the available materials, information and reports. However, additional information will be identified by the Consultant through reviews, working with specialists, other.
Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:The consultancy fee will be calculated based on the P5 level of the UN Salary Scale for Professional and higher categories effective 1 January 2023 and will be paid in a lump sum upon successful completion of all deliverables.
Disclaimer:
UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm
In accordance with the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations, persons applying to posts in the international Professional category, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.
