National Consultant for Conducting Capacity- Building Needs Assessment / Home Based

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. 

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to achieve gender equality and combat violence against women (VAW), and in full partnership with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), the Ministry of Health (MoH), and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the West Bank and Gaza, UN Women within its programme “Strengthening the Protection and Leadership of the Furthest Left Behind Women and Girls Survivors of Violence (Shaml): A Pathway to Peace and Security” is working with partner institutions  to  empower  the most marginalized groups of Palestinian women, including women with disabilities, women sex workers and women users of drugs amongst other groups.

Within this framework, UN Women delivers targeted, high-impact technical support to these institutions to reinforce protection and reintegration systems for the most marginalized women. This includes strengthening the availability and quality of safe shelters, comprehensive legal aid, integrated psychosocial and medical services, gender-responsive referral pathways, and robust case management frameworks—alongside tailored rehabilitation and reintegration programmes that enable sustainable recovery and social inclusion.

In line with this, UN Women Shaml programme intends to engage a specialized consultant to design and conduct a capacity-building needs assessment and develop a capacity-building plan for governmental and non-governmental service providers. The assessment will rigorously identify gaps and deficiencies in the knowledge and skills required to deliver gender-responsive, inclusive, and survivor-centred services to women victims and survivors of violence from the three identified groups.

• To conduct a capacity- building needs assessment for selected governmental partners in the West Bank  and non- governmental service providers in Gaza and the West Bank. The assessment should include dedicated chapters on both the social and health sectors, with a clear analytical distinction between governmental and non-governmental service providers, as well as between Gaza and the West Bank, to ensure a context-specific and nuanced understanding of capacities, gaps, and service delivery realities.
• To identify the capacity-building needs and priorities based on the findings of the capacity assessment.
• To develop a comprehensive blended capacity-building plan for service providers across both sectors and geographic areas, incorporating both joint and sector-specific components to ensure coordinated, context-responsive, and effective capacity strengthening.

 The consultant will be reporting to UN Women Rule of law and Protection Specialist and will be supported by the programme’s Women Security and Inclusion Analyst, in addition to the CSO support and Finance Associate who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

• To develop an inception report that includes a detailed description of the work plan, and the methodology, and share it with UN Women for review and approval. The methodology should ensure that the capacity-building needs assessment is based on a clearly defined competency framework aligned with international standards and tailored to service providers working with women sex workers, women with disabilities, and women who use drugs. It should go beyond general skills to assess the specific knowledge, capacities, and practices required for inclusive and rights-based service delivery.

  Key competencies that should inform the assessment’s framework should include amongst others: human rights and non-discrimination, gender-responsive and trauma-informed care, and practical service delivery skills such as harm reduction, accessibility, and respectful engagement. It should also assess communication, ethical conduct (including confidentiality and informed consent), and coordination within the broader service system. Additionally, it should encompass at least eight civil society organizations across Gaza and the West Bank, alongside the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), to ensure broad institutional representation and inclusive stakeholder engagement.

• To meet with UN Women’s technical team and partners to discuss the assignment’s objectives, methods and tools that will be used, and the main deliverables.

• To conduct a desk review of relevant national, regional and international references.
• To review the applicable work mechanisms in the targeted institutions, to identify challenges and capacity gaps in services provision- across the different phases, including case intake/admission, case management, and referral processes. 

• In line with the developed competencies framework, the consultant will develop data collection tools, including questionnaires, and will prepare targeted structured and semi- structured questions for meetings, interviews and focus groups discussions.
• To collect data, categorize it, and identify findings. 
• To develop a capacity-building needs assessment report and a capacity- building plan and share them with UN Women for review, inputs and approval. The assessment report should provide details on the needs, gaps and specific recommendations to address them. 
• To present the findings to partners in validation workshops and reflect on their feedback. 

•            To submit a final narrative report that includes a description of the assignment, the achievements, methodology used, lessons learned and recommendations along with relevant annexes including the list of meetings dates and participants.

This is a home-based consultancy, with regular field visits to the main offices of partner institutions in the West Bank and remote (telecommunication) engagement with counterparts in Gaza.

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 

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 Core Values and Competencies:   https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values  FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, gender justice and women rights.
• Proven Experience in the field of protection and access to justice and security.
• Strong capacity to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.
• Strong ability to effectively interact with technical and non- technical end users in a   cooperative and helpful manner.

• A master’s degree in public health. 
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

• At least 5 years’ experience in public health, women’s rights and violence against women is required. 
• Demonstrated experience in capacity assessments covering both health and social service sectors is required. 
• Experience with the social protection system is desirable. 
• Experience with the UN system or/and International Organizations is desirable. 
• A sample capacity assessment report focusing on the prevention and response to violence against women, including protection systems and services be attached as part of your application. 

• Fluency in Arabic is required 
• Working knowledge of English is required.