Uzbekistan’s progress in respecting and promoting Gender Equality (GE) is highlighted in a series of international commitments and in national legal and policy frameworks. The main achievements in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment reside in Uzbekistan’s institutional and legal capacity development for the work on gender equality. As the Government of Uzbekistan sets very high targets until 2030 including doubling the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and halving the poverty, it needs strong institutions which have strong gender element in each and every step. In line with the “Strategy of achieving gender equality in the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2030” (herein after the Strategy) accompanied by a Presidential Decree No. 87 on “Measures to further accelerate work on systematic support for families and women” (herein after the National Programme), it is inevitable to have strong National Women Machinery working across and beyond the sectors for making gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) a reality and contribute the sustainable development of the country. The development and implementation of the national program serves as an important factor in creating the necessary conditions for the full participation of women in the political, economic, social and cultural life of society on the basis of equal rights.
The main goal of the gender strategy is to ensure the true equality of women and men, regardless of their race, nationality, language, religion, social origin, belief, personal and social position in other words "Ensuring gender equality and expanding the rights and opportunities of all women" in the country.
Achieving the transformational goal of gender equality set by the Government of Uzbekistan is possible through the interaction of well planned, systemic and complex measures by the state. The state institutional mechanisms play a key role in protecting women rights and improving their situation. Their proper functioning is critically important for the realization of women’s rights in all fields of public and private life. In order to achieve this, the structure of national gender equality mechanisms is essential and implies the establishment of these mechanisms at a high structural level of the government, providing with resources and support of effective work, inclusion of civil society organizations and opportunity to influence the development/formulation of all policy areas and programs of state government.
National institutional mechanisms for gender equality have traditionally been seen as central policy coordinating agencies in national or regional government administration, the main function of which is to introduce and implement the mainstream perspective of gender equality in all areas of state policy. In order for these mechanisms to be effective it is essential that there is political will to allocate adequate resources (human and financial) to the mechanisms and to ensure their sustainability. The smooth and systematic work of national mechanisms is also a prerequisite for the effective implementation of gender equality mainstreaming, which means the evaluation process of any planned event, including legislation, policy direction or program development, at each area and stage. Mainstreaming is a strategy that highlights the experiences and needs of women and transforms them into an integral dimension of any policy direction or program development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages.
To support the implementation of the national plan and accelerate the GEWE in Uzbekistan, there is a need to assess the effectiveness of gender equality institutional mechanism which has not been conducted before.
Therefore, UN Women Uzbekistan under the supervision of ECA Regional Office UN Women Office seeks to contract a National Consultant to conduct an assessment to see the effectiveness of gender equality institutional mechanism and provide key facts followed by recommendations (where necessary). Duties and Responsibilities:
According to Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action the mandate of the national institutional machineries for the advancement of women gender analysis, monitoring, assessment, advocacy and establishment enforcement of gender mainstreaming. Beijing Platform for Action also underlines that existed national mechanisms are not predictable with regard to its effectiveness. Such mechanisms are often marginalized in national government structures, these mechanisms are frequently hampered by unclear mandates, lack of adequate staff, training, data and sufficient resources, and insufficient support from national political leadership and lack of political will to work on this issue.
Main responsibility of the national consultant is to conduct an assessment of the institutional GE mechanism of Uzbekistan in line with the subsection/priority direction “H” of the Beijing Action Platform and its accompanied questionnaire which is composed of:
H1. Create or strengthen national machineries and other governmental bodies
H2. Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programmes and projects
H3. Generate and disseminate gender disaggregated data and information for planning and evaluation
The recommended assessment methodology to be aligned with the EIGE’s research on the Effectiveness of Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Gender Equality, available at:
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Master’s degree preferably in gender equality, social/political sciences, law or other related disciplines.
Experience:
At least 5 years of experience ow working in gender equality and women’s empowerment in a developing country context
At least 3 years’ experience in data review/analysis for developing strategic reports
Knowing the Gender Equality institutional mechanism of Uzbekistan is an asset
Prior working experience with UN Agencies is an advantage.
