Job Description

Background/Context

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, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system wide 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 Myanmar Country Office (MCO) has been operational in the country since 2013, successfully delivering its mandate through various phases of political transition, the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 military coup and recurring natural disasters. In response to the multilayered crises in Myanmar, the MCO continues to deliver across the humanitarian development nexus in one of the most constrained and uncertain operational environments. In partnership with women led organizations, UN Women invests in providing essential lifesaving protection services, building community -based response systems and resilience structures as well provide women and women led households with economic empowerment through income generating skills and assets. These MCO programmes are fully aligned with the 4 key strategic priorities in the current UN Transitional Country Framework (UNTCF) 2024-26. The UN in Myanmar is currently planning to develop a new UNTCF for 2027-29.

The Country Strategic Note(SN) is the main planning tool for UN Women’s support to its normative, coordination and operational work. The current UN Women SN follows the UNTCF cycle and is for period 2024-26. With the 3-year TCF planning underway, a new SN for MCO will be developed for the period 2027-2029. The new SN will fully align to the TCF key areas and contribute to UN Women’s Global Strategic Plan (2026-2029). The SN will include a development results framework (DRF) as well as key drivers and enablers for implementation of the DRF over the next three years.

In the current complex protracted crisis, UN Women in Myanmar is seeking the services of an international individual consultant to support the development of its Strategic Note 2027 - 2029.

Working under the supervision of the Country Representative, the consultant will work closely with the Planning, Monitoring and Reporting personnel, and substantively engage with programme and operations leads.

Purpose

In alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and relevant humanitarian framework, the planned three-year 2027 – 2029, Strategic Note will be aligned with the forthcoming United Nations (UN) Myanmar Transitional Cooperation Framework (TCF) 2027 – 2029 and UN Women Global Strategic Plan 2026 – 2029 In addition, the Strategic Note (2027-2029) should:

1. be flexible and adaptable to ensure MCO remains agile and responsive in context of the fluid political, socio-economic context and compounded crisis.
2. be built on the UN Country Analysis (CA), consultations with WLOs and WROs, UNTCF results framework.
3. outline the current and emerging trends related to gender equality and empowerment of women in Myanmar especially in light of the increasing humanitarian needs and resilience building
4. reflect on the work of other UN agencies and international partners in Myanmar on gender equality and women’s empowerment and key opportunities and gaps that could be addressed through strengthened coordination;
5. consider key lessons learned from gender alerts, Gender Conflict analysis, rapid assessments and strategic policy papers, suggesting ways in which this Strategic Note can build on the recommendations.
6. align with relevant frameworks on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in Myanmar to advance UN Women’s mandate, including through the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, CEDAW, Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.

Scope of Work

Under the guidance of the UN Women Country Representative, in close coordination with the Planning,

Monitoring & Reporting personnel, the international consultant will lead the process of developing the Strategic Note 2027-2029, which will include the following tasks:

1. Desk review of (internal and external) UN Women documents - including UN Women strategic documents, UN Women Country Portfolio Evaluation (CPE); and wider UN systems wide planning documents including the UNTCF, UN Country Analysis, Country Gender Profile, Myanmar Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.
2. Conduct participatory consultations with external stakeholders and internal UN Women team members
3. Situation and risk analysis, including identification of constraints and opportunities for UN Women’s engagement in across the nexus programming;
4. Drafting, validation, finalization and costing of a Strategic Note 2027-2029, including required annexes of the UN Women Strategic Note package in line with UN Women corporate guidelines .

Deliverables

Deliverable Expected completion time (due day) Payment Schedule (optional)

Delivery 1: An Inception report outlining the key steps of the SN review and development work (20 workdays)

• Desk review report on existing UN Women and UN Myanmar strategic documents and knowledge products relevant executing the assignment.
• Lead consultations with internal thematic units in determining the key priority areas, theory of change, results, indicators mapping, programme/operations risk assessment.
• Based on the desk review, initial briefings and engagement with UNTCF development process, elaborate a work plan with a list of key stakeholders to be engaged and possible additional data to be collected

11 Sept 2026

25 September 2026

23 December 2026

Delivery 2: Draft Strategic Note Narrative, Result Framework and annexes (30 workdays)

• Consult with identified stakeholders from MCO, Regional Office for the Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) and other relevant stakeholders to identify good practices, key needs, opportunities, and risks.
• Draft of SN Narrative and Results Framework for both DRF and OEEF (2026- 2029) with all the relevant annexes as per the corporate guidance.
• Develop brief presentations/briefing note on the SN strategic priorities /highlights for the internal and external stakeholders for initial feedback
• Present the draft SN to the MCO leadership team, integrating feedback from these stakeholders’ sessions, for review and feedback
• Integrate feedback from MCO leadership team and prepare the package for submission to UN Women ROAP

11 December 2026

Delivery 3: Finalise Strategic Note (30 work days)

• Incorporate the comments from ROAP into the SN package, and following formal solicitation and endorsement by RCO, and RO endorsement, prepare the power point presentation for the global peer review group (PRG) jointly with the MCO team
• Incorporate the comments from different validation sessions- external stakeholders and internal corporate processes, complete Strategic Note package and annexes for submission to Resident Coordinator Office (RCO) and Regional Director for endorsement
• Complete SN package must include the narrative and annexes as per the corporate guidance

27 March 2027

14 April 2027

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration

Stakeholder Engagement

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Expertise on the Women, Peace and Security agenda;
• Experience in developing organization strategies, especially Strategic Notes
• Knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings

Education:

Preferably holders of master’s degree in social sciences, gender studies, public administration, international relations, international law, public policy, or a related field.

Language: Excellent communication skills (written and oral) in English are required.

Skills and Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in gender equality, international development, and/or humanitarian affairs.
• Experience of working on GEWE in Myanmar or the region will be an advantage.
• Prior experience developing UN Women Strategic Notes or equivalent UN country-level strategic and programmatic documents.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (GEWE).
• Demonstrated experience applying results-based management (RBM) principles to strategic planning, including working knowledge of UN RBM standards and UN planning frameworks (UNSDCF/UNDAF, Country Programme Documents, Humanitarian Needs and Response Plans, or their equivalents).
• Demonstrated experience producing high-quality analytical and strategic documents, ideally for UN entities.
• Familiarity with human rights concepts and the normative frameworks underpinning GEWE, including CEDAW, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and relevant Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security.
• Excellent facilitation skills, including demonstrated experience facilitating multi-stakeholder consultations and validation workshops.

How to Apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials

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