Lead Senior Constitution and Gender Expert at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women 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 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.

In keeping with its role as a knowledge broker of gender equality issues, UN Women launched the first global constitutional database on gender equality-related provisions contained in 195 Constitutions organized by five geographical regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana) through the following link: https://constitutions.unwomen.org/en

Constitutions are the most authoritative expressions of States’ systems of governance and accountability and therefore pose potential opportunities for and threats to the advancement of gender equality. Also, the fact that constitutions are more difficult to change than laws, means that specific provisions to protect and promote women’s rights are more effective than statutory law alone.

In line with this approach, UN Women in Nigeria will support the constitutional review process to improve the normative framework and to strengthen and protect women’s rights. In early February 2020 a constitutional review was officially announced in Nigeria and a parliamentary committee was established. The constitutional committee is made up of representatives from the House of Representatives and the senate in addition to all female members of both chambers.

The Review Will Include (and Not Limited) The Following Clusters

Therefore, UNWOMEN will support the review process as well as drafting bills for amendments.

Values and principles

• Equality and non-discrimination
• Economic and social rights
• Leaving No One Behind

Duties And Responsibilities

• Deliverable 1: Produce an analytical summary of the current constitution from a gender perspective (by using the available legal analysis and research papers). The summary should also include a comprehensive table with three columns:
  • The article
  • Why the article is discriminatory
  • The proposed formulation
  • (4 pages summary Max + the table) (10 working days)
• Deliverable 2: Bilateral meetings and support to the constitutional review Committee as well as CSOs and key national stakeholders (10 working Days)
• Deliverable 3: Draft bills related to the constitution amendment based on the meetings conducted with the constitutional review committee of National Assembly (10 working days)
• Deliverable 4: design a national consultation workshop with key stakeholders on the constitution and act as facilitator (10 working days)
• Deliverable 5: submit detailed report on the consultation workshop and on UN Women support to the constitutional review process including the lessons learned (10 working days)

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Timely and quality legal papers
• Strong and clear facilitation of sessions and working groups
• Partners and other stakeholder provide positive feedback on technical services
• Quality reports and timely submission

Competencies

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

Functional Competencies

• Sound practical knowledge on women’s political participation programming including on gender responsive electoral legal frameworks;
• Previous experience legal research and gender;
• Ability to develop research papers;
• Ability to facilitate working sessions
• Strong legal skills and impartiality;
• Ability to interact with political leaders from various political ideologies.

Education And Certification

Required Skills and Experience

• PhD or master’s degree or equivalent in legal studies
• Special focus on constitutional law/studies is desirable

Experience

• Minimum 10 years of experience in law: lawyer/legal researcher;
• Experience in combination of Gender analysis and legal frameworks/constitutions is mandatory;
• Proven experience in conducting legal research and drafting bills;
• Experience in presenting research papers and facilitating working sessions;
• Experience with UN Intergovernmental processes including those related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and gender equality;
• Experience of working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, CSOs, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions

Language Requirements

Fluency in oral and written English.