International Consultant to Provide Technical Guidance for the Implementation of the Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence and to Formulate the 4th National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women

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.

The UN Women Cambodia Country Office (CCO) Strategic Note (SN) 2019-2023 focuses on three key priorities to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE). The first priority is to strengthen government capacity and accountability to integrate international norms and commitments (CEDAW, SDGs, Beijing PfA, Sendai) into national legislative and regulatory frameworks, including supporting dialogue and CSO engagement in accountability for GEWE commitments.  The second area of focus is Ending Violence Against Women where CCO’s focus includes creating an enabling environment to prevent, respond to and prosecute all forms of GBV as well as ensuring that marginalised women who experience violence, including women migrant workers, access services and protections.  Thirdly, CCO works to enhance gender responsiveness in climate change action and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).  A focus on empowerment, women’s leadership, challenging negative gender norms and leaving no one behind runs through the programme.

Cambodia has enshrined human rights in its constitutions and is party to nine of the ten core international human rights treaties. However, the rights of Cambodian people, including to freedom from violence and exploitation – are unevenly upheld, as evidenced by high levels of violence against women (VAW).[1] In Cambodia, the findings of the 2021/2022 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey show that an estimated 21 percent of ever-married or never married women who have ever had an intimate partner have experienced emotional, physical, or sexual violence committed by their current or most recent partner. And 43 percent who experienced violence or sexual violence committed by a husband or partner have sustained injuries.  Only 53 percent of women who have ever experienced physical or sexual violence have never sought help or told anyone about the violence.[2]

UN Women’s Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) Programme in Cambodia is aligned with UN Joint Global Programme (JP)—the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (ESP). The strategy for Phase III of the Cambodia Joint Programme (JP) is to institutionalize and strengthen quality, coordinated and multi-sectoral services for survivors through the continued roll-out and adaption of the Essential Services Package and associated policy Guidance and tools. Our EVAW programme builds on our achievements in supporting the RGC in the participatory development and implementation of the third National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women (NAPVAWIII). Based on the final evaluation (2023), the NAPVAW III priority strategies of prevention, legal protection and multi-sectoral services, and laws and policies are highly relevant to women and girls affected by violence and at risk of violence, including the most marginalized, and are reflected in the 2019 CEDAW Concluding Observations for Cambodia and the Cambodian Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality (CSDG 5). The findings from the Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) 2021-2022 suggest that NAPVAW III has contributed significantly to reducing violence against women and girls as well as changing attitudes that accept violence against women by intimate partners as normal.[3]

UN Women in Cambodia is seeking the services of an international consultant with EVAW expertise to provide technical expertise and policy advice to UN Women, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Technical Working Group on Gender-Gender-Based Violence to formulate a costed NAPVAW with overall budget for activities. The propose for formulation of costed NAPVAW is reflected on the recommendation from final evaluation of NAPVAWIII to provide a cost estimate for the new NAPVAW with TWGG-GBV members declaring their annual budget. NAPVAW III does not have an overall budget for activities. NAPVAW III activities are funded by the national budget through line ministries and MoWA, using the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) budget planning processes and is supported by development partners including biliteral and multi governmental fund programs such as the Australia-Cambodia Cooperation for Equitable Sustainable Services (ACCESS), and NGOs/CSOs. As such it is not possible to determine cost efficiencies of implementing NAPVAW III through different modalities.[4]

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Regional Director  and working in close collaboration with the country programme team and Regional EVAW programme lead, and also MOWA’s counterpart the consultant will serve as a lead technical advisor ensuring the inclusive participatory especially the marginalized group of women and transparency in the national policy formulation and implementation processes; and in line with global evidence of best practices with research available in Cambodia to develop and test pilot interventions.  The purpose of the consultancy is to provide technical support to the TWGG-GBV Secretariat and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs toward developing the NAPVAW IV building on the learnings from the implementation of the most recent NAPVAW and in line with national and international standards and conventions.

The consultant will work closely with programme team and the local consultant to undertake the tasks outlined below:

Provision of policy advice and technical assistance to develop the costed NAPVAW IV

• Conduct a desk review of relevant national and regional policy documents, evaluations, periodic progress reports and relevant research on EVAW (Prevention and Response) to understand the progress, gaps, and priorities for ending violence against women in Cambodia.
• Develop a clear guiding framework, including tools and plan to support MOWA/TWGG-GBV to get engagement of relevant stakeholders in the NAPVAW process development. 
• Provide technical advice in developing a short video provides overall of VAW in Cambodia and the importance of prioritizing prevention and response for the next generation of NAPVAW.
• Lead in conducting pre-field work meetings and workshops with MOWA and TWGG-GBV to ensure that proposed framework, tools and plan have been discussed and agreed. This includes meetings/discussion with core members of TWGG-GBV.
• Conduct consultations and interviews with key government stakeholders at the national/sub-national levels including development partners, CSOs, selected GBV Working Group members at the sub-national, and women including maginalised groups (women with disabilities, women migrant workers, LBTI women, etc.) subject to violence that have received services.
• Conduct an analysis of the findings from the desk review and consultations/interviews, including cost analysis for formulating the costed NAPVAW IV and proposed a draft outline as well as key content with clear focus of the strategic areas and result framework and in line with national and regional priorities and global good practices in line with the RESPECT Framework: Preventing Violence Against Women, the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence. The cost analysis is expected to be conducted in close collaboration with the EVAW regional office with expertise in Gender Responsive Budgeting.

Provision of technical advice and guidance on the implementation of EVAW programme, including knowledge products

• Provide technical support on the capacity development of an improved VAW administrative data system to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and key stakeholders.
• Provide technical support on the implementation of the Handbook on Gender Responses Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence
• Provide technical support in developing EVAW programme briefs, reports, training material, and proposal.

Expected deliverables and timelines

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

Functional Competencies: (below are examples to be adjusted to each assignment)

• Excellent analytical skills
• Strong knowledge of UN Women processes and systems
• Strong networking skills
• Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization and government counterpart;
• Ability to work in a highly pressured environment

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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.)