UN Women: Lead Policy Drafter, Home-based, International Consultant

Background:

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.

UN Women Indonesia Country Office (CO) hosts the ASEAN liaison office which extends support to ASEAN and its Member States in advancing Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in line with global  and regional normative frameworks. UN Women Indonesia launched a five-year project, Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace: Preventing Violence and Promoting Social Cohesion in ASEAN (2021-March 2026). The project funded by the Governments of Canada, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea supports efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its 11 Member States to promote women's participation and leadership in conflict prevention, resolution, and recovery. Region-wide, the project works to promote and implement policy frameworks such as the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace, and Security (ASEAN RPA WPS); capacity-building activities such as training, workshops, dialogues, and consultations; and exchanges of knowledge and good practices. The project also does country-level activities in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Timor-Leste. 

The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is ASEAN’s overarching human rights body, mandated to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of the peoples of ASEAN, and to support the realization of ASEAN’s purposes and principles as enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. AICHR plays a key role in advancing regional dialogue, policy development, and cooperation on human rights, including issues related to peace, security, and conflict prevention.

In 2025, AICHR—supported by UN Women—successfully convened regional workshops examining the intersection between conflict and human rights and identifying pathways and approaches to peace in ASEAN, generating substantive recommendations toward a future regional peace framework. 

Building on these intersectoral and multi‑stakeholder dialogues, AICHR is progressing toward the finalization, adoption, and operationalization of the Pathways to an ASEAN pathways to, and conceptual framework on, peace, expected to advance through expert consultations and regional deliberations in 2026. This consultancy supports the coordination and delivery of an expert consultation linked to the development of the ASEAN conceptual framework on peace, resilience, and WPS.

Importantly, this engagement contributes directly to the implementation of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security (RPA WPS) (2022), particularly Strategic Outcome 3, which encourages ASEAN sectoral bodies and Member States to actively contribute to conflict prevention and to address broader peace and security threats with WPS principles at the core, while further consultations in 2026 aim to advance development and potential adoption of the ASEAN pathways to conflict prevention and resolution

 

The primary objective of this consultancy is to lead the drafting and finalization of the ASEAN pathways to, and conceptual framework on, peace, contributing to the establishment of a human‑rights‑responsive regional conflict prevention approach that integrates resilience, gender equality, and Women, Peace and Security (WPS) perspectives.

 

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The consultant will report jointly to the Representative of Malaysia to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the UN Women Programme Coordination Specialist for ASEAN Women, Peace and Security. The consultant will:

1. Substantive drafting of the ASEAN pathways to, and conceptual framework on, peace
   • Review and synthesize inputs, recommendations, and discussions emerging from the 2025 regional dialogues and workshops.
   • Integrate expert inputs from 2026 consultations and technical discussions.
   • Draft the ASEAN pathways to, and conceptual framework on, peace articulating the ASEAN pathways to conflict prevention and resolution, including human rights safeguards, resilience approaches, and WPS integration.
2. Consultation and Revision
   • Engage with identified resource persons and experts to gather technical and substantive feedback on the zero draft.
   • Revise and refine the draft based on received feedback, ensuring balanced representation of perspectives.
   • Prepare and refine the revised draft, as appropriate, for discussion during an expert consultation scheduled to be held in April 2026.
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