National Consultant to support the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) Thailand in the area of ending violence against women

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's focus on Ending Violence Against Women

Violence against women (VAW) is one of the most widespread violations of human rights worldwide, globally affecting around one in three women in her lifetime. Regional evidence suggests that a similar rate applies in the Asia-Pacific region, with wide ranging differences in specific contexts and populations. VAW is a human rights violation resulting in immediate and long-term physical, sexual, economic, and mental health consequences for the survivors. The impacts of VAW goes beyond survivors affecting families, communities, and countries. However, research suggests that VAW is preventable. Elimination of VAW requires a holistic approach focusing on both response to and prevention of VAW at different levels from individual, community, institution, societal and governmental levels.

The work of Ending Violence against Women (EVAW) Section within UN Women's ROAP maintains a comprehensive approach to ending violence against women. This includes gender transformative approaches to building environments and institutions that do not accept violence, that support gender equality, and that hold perpetrators of violence accountable. The approaches of the EVAW section focus on evidence and practice-based knowledge production and dissemination, informing legislation and policies, prevention and social norms change, ensuring quality essential services for survivors, creating safe public spaces in different settings and supporting women's rights organisations and movements to end violence against women.

UN Women is implementing an initiative funded by the EU, titled “PROTECT: Protection of the Rights of Women and Children in Labour Migration” in partnership with ILO, UNODC and UNICEF. UN Women programming is focusing on project implementation in Cambodia and Thailand, with ASEAN engagement.  The PROTECT project will promote decent work, while reducing the vulnerabilities of women and children in the context of labour migration, in particular through preventing and responding to violence against women and children, human trafficking and migrant smuggling. 

Within the PROTECT project, UN Women is leading the focus areas on response to and prevention of violence against women. This will include developing and supporting multidisciplinary response systems, national plans and strategies, and support cooperation among diverse stakeholders linking violence against women and children, labour migration and trafficking thematic areas. 

To support the implementation of the planned project activities under the Output 1.2: “Strengthened capacities of competent regional and national institutions for the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of regional and national frameworks on prevention and response to violence against women, including migrants.” UN Women is planning to hire a national consultant to provide technical support to the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) Thailand in the area of ending violence against women, including women migrant workers.  

The consultant will be supervised by the Ending Violence against Women (EVAW) Programme Specialist in the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. The deliverables and the performance of the consultant will be closely coordinated and validated with the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) Thailand. 

Description of Responsibilities and Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the Ending Violence against Women (EVAW) Programme Specialist in the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and in close coordination with the ACWC Thailand representative, the incumbent shall be responsible for the following tasks:

1.Facilitate and ensure close coordination with ASEAN in the domain of ending violence against women and girls, with a particular emphasis on the development of the forthcoming ten-year RPA on EVAW 2026-2035.

Key activities include:

• Support the coordination of the ASEAN 10-year RPA on EVAW by working closely with ACWC representatives, the ASEAN Secretariat, the Technical Working Group and UN Women to define timelines, key action steps and follow up processes.
• Provide technical support to ACWC Thailand by synthesizing and analyzing data, and information on laws and policy frameworks to address violence against women, including migrant