National Consultant – legal expert on Chapter 19: Social Protection and Employment EU Gender Equality Acquis (Local post for Residents of the Republic of Moldova)

Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Job Info

Job Identification: 23513

Posting Date: 01/17/2025, 03:38 PM

Apply Before: 01/31/2025, 03:38 PM

Job Schedule: Part time

Location: Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Vacancy Type: Individual Consultancy

Initial Contract Duration: 60 working days (within period of February – December 2025)

Education & Work Experience: Master's Degree - 2 year(s) experience OR Bachelor's Degree - 4 year(s) experience

Required Languages: Fluency in Romanian and English

Desired Languages: Knowledge of Russian

Vacancy Category: Consultancies

Vacancy Timeline: 2 Weeks

Job Description

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.

Placing women’s rights at the center 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.  

The work of UN Women in Moldova is guided by its Country Strategic Note 2023-2027, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Moldova (2023-2027), UN Women Global Strategic Plan, National Programs and Strategies and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Note focuses on four main areas: 1) Ending Violence against Women; 2) Women’s Leadership and Governance; 3) Women’s Economic empowerment and 4) Humanitarian and Peace development nexus and UN Coordination on GE.  

Advancing women’s leadership in decision making and strengthening gender responsive governance is at the cornerstone of all efforts in closing gender equality gaps across all areas. The Government of the Republic of Moldova approved the National Development Programme 2030 and the specific Programme for advancing Gender Equality where implementation of targets aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 5 (focusing on gender equality) and related SDGs with specific gender requirements, such as SDG 4, 8, 11, 16. As of 2022, Moldova became candidate country to the European Union and opened negotiations as of December 2023, which will imply alignment of national legislation and implementation of the so-called EU Aquis for the country to become a full member of the European Union. While there is no separate EU chapter for gender equality, there are a body of EU laws, rules, resolutions, regulations, directives and treaties pertaining to gender equality which are integrated into all Chapters. 

Based on the Government of Moldova request and considering the close interlinkages between the EU Acquis and the 2030 Agenda, UN Women shall provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection in alignment of the EU body of laws pertaining to gender equality in the frame of Chapter 19 on Social Policy and Employment. 

In December 2023, UN Women started a project ”Women Increased Leadership for Resilient and Peaceful Societies” funded by Denmark, with interventions in Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and ECA Regional Office. The project contains a regional component aiming to support the newly nominated EU candidate countries with the initial phase of EU accession negotiations and alignment with EU gender equaltiy Acquis. While in Moldova, the project focuses on three thematic areas, such as Ending Violence against Women (EVAW), Women’s leadership and Women, Peace and Security Agenda, contributing to the implementation of three Outcomes of the UN Women Strategic Note 2023-2027 (SN). Under the thematic area „Women’s Leadership and Gender Responsive Govenrance“ the second Outcome of the SN „By 2027, a more accountable, and transparent, human rights-based, and gender-responsive governance empower all people of Moldova to participate in and to contribute to development processes”, UN Women Moldova will provide technical assistance to central government authorities in analyzing, and developing of gender responsive laws and policies to advance gender equality, in line with EU Gender Acquis and the global normative framework. As a first step in this direction is to support the MLSP to align national legislation and policies on social protection and employment with the body of EU laws, regulations and directives that require full integration of the gender equality perspective. The EU acquis in the social field sets minimum standards in areas such as labour law, equal opportunities, occupational health and safety, and anti-discrimination. It ensures that EU citizens from one Member State have the right to work in another Member State under the same conditions as national workers, including equal treatment regarding working conditions, social benefits, and tax advantages. Member States also participate in EU-level social dialogue and policy processes related to employment, social inclusion, and social protection. The European Social Fund is a key financial instrument supporting the EU’s employment strategy and social inclusion efforts, while implementation rules are addressed under Chapter 22 on structural instruments. The EU's main goals in this area include improving social protection systems, raising the educational levels of the workforce, achieving higher employment rates with a focus on underrepresented groups, ensuring safe and fair working conditions, and promoting social inclusion. 

In this context, UN Women is looking to contract one or more consultants that will provide legal expertise and technical support to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection in aligning national legislation and policies with the EU gender equality acquis under Chapter 19 (Social Policy and Employment). The Consultant should perform the tasks in close cooperation and coordination with national gender equality expert, under the overall guidance of the international gender expert, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and under supervision of UN Women CO Moldova. 

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The consultant(s) will be responsible for the following tasks, including but not limited to: 

Phase 1:

Support for Bilateral Screening

 Assist the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection in preparing for the bilateral screening process by: 

• Drafting, jointly with a national gender equality expert, a background paper with identified GE requirements under Chapter 19 in EU body of law, rules, resolutions, declarations, regulations, directives and treaties on gender equality.
• Conducting, in cooperation with a national gender equality expert, a comprehensive analysis of the alignment requirements/gaps of national legislation with the EU gender equality acquis under Chapter 19. 

Positioning Paper Preparation 

• Provide detailed recommendations for aligning policies, laws, and procedures with EU standards in cooperation with the national gender expert. 
• Provide inputs to documents prepared by the Ministry as part of the process, as needed.

Phase 2: 

Technical Support for Acquis Transposition

• Provide technical support for the transposition of the EU gender equality acquis into national legislation.
• Propose amendments to ensure compliance with EU directives on gender equality, non-discrimination, and social policy.
• Provide recommendations and support a participatory and gender-responsive legal and policy development process in cooperation with national gender expert. 

The above-mentioned tasks are indicative and subject to further detailing through specific service requests to be made by UN Women Moldova CO during the contract duration; other tasks and duties may be revised/added while liaising with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, if required. 

Payment Details

Full payment for the services performed by the Consultant under the conditions of the Contract, per day worked, UN Women shall pay the Consultant upon certification by UN Women that the services have been satisfactorily performed. The number of days worked is to be determined solely by UN Women. The Consultant agrees and acknowledge that acceptance of the Contract does not guarantee any minimum fee to be paid to the Consultant. 

The fee may be payable in installments upon certification of satisfactory performance.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. 

As part of this assignment, no travels are envisaged. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UN Women and the National Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. 

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:

• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
• Strong organizational and coordination skills to effectively manage the tasks among multiple partners and communicate effectively with the staff from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (namely departments for gender equality, labor and social protection)
• Demonstrates solid data analysis, research and reporting skills, including curriculum development
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, law, economics, humanities, or a related field relevant to gender equality and social policy is required. 
• 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 2 years of experience in analytical work around labor legislation and/or gender equality, or around Moldovan legal framework vis-à-vis global normative framework is required.
• Experience in writing research papers, articles, books or other relevant publications in legal journals is an asset (a list with links or samples to be attached).
• Demonstrated experience in working with international human rights standards and frameworks, with a focus on labor and gender equality is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in Romanian and English is required.
• Knowledge of Russian is an asset.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE 

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their online applications by January 31, 2025  through the following link: National Consultant – legal expert on Chapter 19: Social Protection and Employment EU Gender Equality Acquis (Local post for Residents of the Republic of Moldova) - UN Women Careers . Applications should include the following documents:

• Duly filled UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc . Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. 
• A cover letter to include a brief overview about which of the relevant previous experiences that makes the candidate the most suitable for the advertised position. 
• The list with links or samples of research papers, articles and other relevant publications.
• Where the candidate has relevant experience, attach the list of with links or samples of research papers on gender equality, women's rights, or related topics.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. 

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.