Specialized Technical Assistance Vacancy-Job Ref: BJGTUNWOMEN/1905/2025803

Specialized Technical Assistance Vacancy-Job Ref: BJGTUNWOMEN/1905/2025803

Guatemala City (Guatemala)

JOB DESCRIPTION
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UN Women, based on the vision of equality enshrined in the United Nations Charter, works to eliminate discrimination against women and girls; for the empowerment of women; and to achieve equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security.

By placing women’s rights at the heart of its work, UN Women leads and coordinates the efforts of the United Nations system to ensure that commitments to gender equality and mainstreaming are translated into action worldwide. At the same time, it exercises substantive and coherent leadership to support the priorities and efforts of Member States, building an effective partnership with government, civil society, and other relevant stakeholders.

UN Women comprehensively addresses the root causes of inequality from a perspective of transforming the systems that reproduce gender inequalities and discrimination and with a peacebuilding approach based on:

Women’s voice, leadership and autonomy
Strengthening multilateral and regional regulatory frameworks, laws, policies and institutions that promote gender equality at the national and subnational levels;
Effective participation and protection of women in all areas of peacebuilding, security, and humanitarian action
Equal access for women to services, goods and resources;
Financing gender equality and women’s empowerment;
Positive social norms, including the participation of men and boys;
Production, analysis and use of gender statistics; and
United Nations System Coordination for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

The 2022-2035 Strategic Plan seeks to achieve gender equality, the empowerment of all women and girls, and the full realization of their human rights. The Strategic Plan is based on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security and subsequent resolutions in this agenda, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, and other outcomes of relevant intergovernmental processes, such as General Assembly resolutions and agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women. UN Women contributes to the implementation of the Regional Gender Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by placing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality at the center of the SDGs and in coordination with all other Goals to ensure comprehensive progress.

Background

Political violence has been recognized as an act that affects the personal integrity of women participating in political life and, therefore, hinders and impedes their full participation in electoral processes and political management positions. Therefore, it is essential to have measures to prevent, punish, and eradicate political violence against women that contribute to ensuring women’s participation in political processes and decision-making on an equal footing with men.

Guatemala has ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Belém do Pará) (1994), which establishes obligations for the State to guarantee women a life free from violence, both in the public and private spheres. In this regard, the Convention urges States to ” take all appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to modify or abolish existing laws and regulations, or to modify legal or customary practices that support the persistence or tolerance of violence against women.”

In accordance with conventional provisions, in 2018 the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) drafted the Inter-American Model Law to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Violence against Women in Political Life , defining political violence as “ any action, conduct, or omission, carried out directly or through third parties, that, based on gender, causes harm or suffering to one or more women, and that has the purpose or result of undermining or annulling the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise of their political rights . Violence against women in political life may include, among others, physical, sexual, psychological, moral, economic, or symbolic violence .”

On the other hand, the CEDAW Committee, in its General Recommendation No. 39 on the rights of indigenous women and girls in relation to their political participation, proposes, in paragraph 46, that States parties ” act with due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish all forms of political violence against indigenous women politicians, candidates, human rights defenders and activists at the national, local and community levels, and recognize and respect ancestral forms of organization and the election of representatives.”

Furthermore, General Recommendation No. 40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems, in paragraph 39, states that States parties “ adopt and implement comprehensive laws, including criminal laws, and take awareness-raising and educational measures to prevent and eliminate all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls and provide victims with all necessary services and access to justice.”

In the case of Guatemala, having a bill on political violence against women would comply with the recommendations included in the Concluding Observations on Guatemala on the tenth report of the CEDAW Committee, which recommends “ criminalizing the crime of political violence against women candidates .”

It is important to mention that in Latin America and the Caribbean, progress has been made in adopting specialized laws on political participation and violence against women. Fourteen countries have a legal framework on violence against women in politics (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela).

Undoubtedly, these regulatory advances have enabled the development of new, safer political environments for women and effective institutional experiences for a strengthened response to preventing and addressing violence against women in politics.

In Guatemala, there is no specific legislation regulating women’s equal political and electoral participation, nor are there any regulations addressing and punishing violence against women in the political sphere. Given the multiple manifestations of political violence in the country and the impact it has on women’s lives, there is a need to support ongoing national efforts to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for addressing violence against women in the political sphere.

This consultancy is part of UN Women’s mandate to support national authorities in developing laws, policies, programs, and services to implement international standards on gender equality and women’s empowerment. A priority objective of the institution’s work is to contribute to ending violence against women.

In this regard, UN Women Guatemala has extensive experience working in the Congress of the Republic, providing support and technical assistance to various parliamentary working committees to advance the women’s legislative agenda, as well as to Parliamentary Caucuses and the Women’s Parliamentary Forum. Furthermore, efforts have been coordinated with women’s organizations to promote political participation and eradicate political violence, emphasizing the distinct processes of discrimination and political violence suffered by Indigenous women.

Finally, UN Women’s knowledge and interventions in the region’s legislative reform processes, aimed at criminalizing, preventing, and eradicating political violence, enable the provision of informed and specialized support and technical assistance.

Aim

The main objective of this consultancy is to provide specialized technical support and advice to representatives and their advisors, working committees, and women’s organizations in strengthening the legal and institutional framework on violence against women in the political sphere.

The specific objectives are:

Provide specialized technical advice to representatives and their advisors for legal and institutional strengthening regarding violence against women in the political sphere, including technical support for the development of legislative proposals, ensuring that the content is coherent, comprehensive, and aligned with national and international regulations.
Develop knowledge products that analyze legislation on political violence in light of international (regional) practices, doctrine and jurisprudential production (national and regional), and lessons learned in the application of the regulations.
Facilitate high-level dialogue between parliamentarians, their advisors, and key stakeholders, and promote the exchange of national and international experiences in this area.

The expected results of the consultancy are:

At the end of the consultation, the parliamentarians will have the tools to strengthen the legal and institutional framework regarding political violence against women, including comprehensive legislative proposals aligned with international standards and best practices.
There are knowledge products developed from the analysis of the implementation of national laws on political violence and from the analysis of national and international jurisprudential production on violence against women in the political sphere.

It is expected that the parliamentarians have strengthened their knowledge on the criminalization of violence against women in the political sphere and have established collaboration networks with strategic national and international actors for the formulation and approval of the bill on violence against women in the political sphere.
Scope of the objectives

The incumbent is expected to carry out the responsibilities and activities necessary for the delivery of the products described below in order to achieve the objective(s) of the consultancy.

These responsibilities will include:

Develop a work plan containing the methodological framework and timeline for the consultancy.
Gather information and develop knowledge products that analyze the implementation of legislation and jurisprudence on violence against women in the political sphere in Latin America and the Caribbean. These products should include success stories and lessons learned.
Develop spaces for dialogue with parliamentarians and their advisors to provide relevant and up-to-date information.
Prepare periodic reports on activities carried out, progress, and results achieved.
Design, develop, and organize a workshop in Guatemala City with parliamentarians and members of political parties on the dimensions and forms of violence against women in the political sphere and the mechanisms for prevention, attention, and punishment.
Design, develop, and organize two regional workshops for reflection and analysis on local experiences of political violence against women, with departmental and municipal authorities and representatives of institutions.
Design, develop, and organize a dialogue on international experiences in the application of laws on violence against women in the political sphere, with the participation of electoral authorities, justice officials, academia, and the media.
Maintain communication and coordination with UN Women throughout the consultancy process.
Maintain effective coordination with UN Women to ensure the delivery of products within established timeframes, as well as to alert participants to significant risks that could cause difficulties in achieving the objectives of this consultancy.
Make available to UN Women the technical documents generated during this consultancy, in editable and PDF versions.
Any other activity required within the framework of the consultancy.
Deliverables

Activity
Product/Deliverable
Delivery time
Conduct initial meetings with parliamentarians and/or advisors to define their objectives and scope.
Develop a work plan containing the methodological framework and timeline for the consultancy.
Product No. 1

Detailed work plan from the start of the consultancy, including a schedule, activities, responsibilities, and specific goals.
15 days after signing the contract
Gather information and develop knowledge products that compile and analyze legislation and jurisprudence on violence against women in the political sphere in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Conduct analysis of good practices and regional institutions to implement current regulations
Product No. 2

Knowledge products that analyze legislation on political violence in light of international (regional) and jurisprudential (national and regional) practices on the subject in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting success stories and lessons learned in the application of the regulations.
2 months after signing the contract
Prepare periodic reports on activities carried out, progress, and results achieved.
Design, develop, and organize a workshop in Guatemala City with parliamentarians and members of political parties on the dimensions and forms of violence against women in the political sphere and the mechanisms for addressing and implementing administrative, electoral, and criminal sanctions.
Design, develop, and organize two regional workshops for reflection and analysis on experiences of political violence against women at the departmental level, with authorities and representatives of departmental and municipal organizations.

Design, develop, and organize a dialogue on international experiences in the application of laws on violence against women in the political sphere, with the participation of electoral authorities, justice officials, academia, and the media.
Product No. 3

Report on activities and systematization of a workshop in Guatemala City on the dimensions and forms of violence against women in the political sphere and the mechanisms for addressing and enforcing administrative, electoral, and criminal sanctions.

Product No. 4

Report on activities and systematization of the first regional workshop on experiences of political violence against women at the departmental level, with authorities and representatives of departmental and municipal organizations.

Product No. 5

Report on activities and systematization of the second regional workshop on experiences of political violence against women at the departmental level, with authorities and representatives of departmental and municipal organizations.

Product No. 6

Report on activities and systematization of a dialogue on international experiences in the application of laws on violence against women in the political sphere with the participation of electoral authorities, justice operators, academia, and the media.
3 months after signing the contract

4 months after signing the contract

5 months after signing the contract

6 months after signing the contract
Compilation and analysis of all information and results obtained during the consultancy.
Product No. 7

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in legal and social sciences or law.
Master’s degree in law or political science or two years of additional experience beyond that required.
Experience:

Minimum of four years of proven experience in drafting and analyzing legislation, especially on issues related to political violence, women’s rights, and/or human rights.
Demonstrable experience in developing knowledge products,  training programs, and systematizations.
Experience in the analysis of national and regional jurisprudence.
It is essential that you include all of your information when submitting your application online.  Incomplete applications or applications lacking the information requested  will not be considered .

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