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UN Women: International Consultant, Home-based, Programming Guide Consultant – Push Forward Strategy Implementation

Istanbul, Turkey

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.

Across Europe and Central Asia (ECA), gender equality progress is under acute threat. Regressive narratives, legal rollbacks, and shrinking civic space have led to a marked backlash against women’s rights, feminist movements, and civil society actors. Rising anti-rights narratives, democratic backsliding, legal and policy regressions, and shrinking civic space have intensified backlash against women’s rights, feminist movements, and gender justice actors. These trends intersect with rising authoritarianism, nationalism, digital repression, and geopolitical instability, posing a systemic risk to inclusive governance and sustainable development.

In response, UN Women has regionalized the global UN Women Push Forward Strategy, aiming to shift the narrative from reactive defense to proactive momentum-building. The Regional Push Forward Strategy for ECA provides a framework to coordinate system-wide responses, align programming around key leverage points, and strengthen partnerships with civil society, governments, and the UN system.

It aligns with the forthcoming UN Women ECARO’s Strategic Note (2026–2029) and complements ongoing efforts to integrate gender-transformative approaches at a regional- and country-level.

To effectively implement this vision, UN Women ECARO seeks to develop an internal Programming Guide that translates the strategic direction of the Push Forward Strategy into a step-by-step programming guidebook. The guide will support ECA teams to plan, sequence, and implement activities under the Strategy, ensuring coherence and strategic interventions, built on global best practices.

In parallel, UN Women ECARO has been working closely with the un system at the regional level through the Issue Based Coalition on Gender Equality (IBC-GE) to understand and address the manifestation of the gender backlash in the region and propose ways to address it jointly at the UN level. The proposed Programming Guide will be shared with IBC-GE as a resource tool that can served as a point of reference for developing a joint UN tool in the future.

This consultancy will result in a practical, actionable internal tool for use by UN Women teams across ECA providing concrete operational guidance across the programming cycle, from entry point identification and programme design, to delivery, monitoring, and scale-up. The Guide must follow the UN Women Knowledge Product cycle which includes drafting, peer-review, fact-checking and editing phases. The guide will strengthen UN Women ECA’s ability to deliver programming that responds strategically to backlash while leveraging our triple mandate.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The consultant will produce a Programming Guide that translates the Regional Push Forward Strategy into a coherent, step-by-step internal programming guide for UN Women in ECA. This will include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

Prepare an inception report outlining the proposed methodology, detailed work plan, and a suggested table of contents/outline for the Programming Guide. Conduct a targeted desk review and information-gathering process to identify existing tools, guidance, and relevant good practices from UN Women and other actors. The review will cover the global and regional Push Forward Strategies, and ongoing relevant programming from across ECA. The consultant will supplement this analysis with focused consultations with staff and relevant stakeholders.

Develop a first full draft of the Programming Guide (max. 40 pages), outlining each phase of the programming cycle. The guide will provide clear operational directions, describe key decision-making points and resource requirements, and present example models and intervention pathways grounded in theory of change approaches. It will also align with relevant institutional frameworks (e.g. GEAP, Clarion Call) and integrate an intersectional and rights-based lens. This first full draft must include the finalized content style and structure and will undergo peer-review, fact-checking and editing phases.

Revise and finalize the Programming Guide based on internal feedback, producing a user-friendly final version that includes annexes with practical tools (including checklists and planning resources) to support ECA teams in implementation.

Facilitate a validation session with ECA stakeholders to present the draft guide, gather input, and ensure alignment with strategic priorities and internal planning processes.

Deliverable

Expected completion time (due day)

Payment Schedule (optional)

Inception Report: Methodology, detailed workplan, suggested table of contents with contextual analysis and action points for the Programming Guide.

Week 1 (mid-October 2025)

Information Gathering: Review and map out existing guidance, relevant best practices on the topic through desk research and consultations with key stakeholders. Desk review: existing guidance and relevant best practice.

Week 5 (mid-November 2025)

30% upon delivery

Draft Programming Guide: First full draft of the Programming Guide (no more than 40 pages), including operational directions, intervention models, examples, and step-by-step programming guidance. The draft will include the finalized content style and structure, and should be peer-reviewed, fact-checked and validated across UN Women’s teams in ECA.

Week 10 (mid-January 2026)

40% upon delivery

Final Programming Guide: Final, edited version of the Programming Guide incorporating stakeholder feedback. Includes annexes with tools, templates, and resources. Feedback from colleagues should be integrated into the final version.

Week 14 (mid-February 2026)

30% upon delivery

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, Gender is required.

BA degree with additional 2 years of experience can be accepted in lieu of MA degree.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in gender equality, with a strong focus on strategic programme guides, operationalization of conceptual frameworks and institutional accountability.

Experience in developing and drafting programming guidance that incorporates multi-sectoral programming strategies within international development or UN entities.

Proven ability to translate strategies into concrete, implementable programmes.

Experience coordinating inter-agency or multi-stakeholder processes, ideally at regional or global levels, in politically complex or sensitive environments.

Experience working in Europe and Central Asia, or in contexts with strong gender equality pushback, is highly desirable.

Languages:

Fluent in written and spoken English is required.

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 .

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