UN Women - Senior Expert Consultant on Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans, ACRO, (Home based assignment)

 

I. Organizational context 

 

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. 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 solid and coherent leadership supporting Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. 

UN-Women focuses on integrated approaches to address the root causes of inequality from a perspective of the transformation of the systems that perpetuate gender inequalities and discrimination and with a peacebuilding approach.

• Women's voice, leadership, and female autonomy
• Strengthening of global normative frameworks, and gender-responsive 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
• Women's equitable access to services, goods, and resources
• Financing for gender equality and economic empowerment
• Positive social norms, including through engaging men and boys
• Production, analysis, and use of gender statistics, sex-disaggregated data, and knowledge; and 
• UN system coordination for gender equality and women's empowerment 

The Strategic Plan 2026–2029 aims to advance gender equality, the empowerment of all women and girls, and the full realization of their human rights. It is anchored in international human rights obligations and global commitments such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, United Nations Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), as well as other relevant intergovernmental agreements, including resolutions of the General Assembly and agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). It also contributes directly to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Pact for the Future, placing gender equality and SDG 5 at the center and in articulation with the other goals.

II. Background

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security marks 25 years since its adoption. It constitutes a major milestone in reaffirming the need for the substantive, equal, safe, and effective participation of women in peace processes, including conflict prevention, peacekeeping, and the building of sustainable peace, and in promoting gender equality at the international level. This Resolution expands and strengthens the principles established in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action and, together with subsequent resolutions and other global and regional commitments—such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Regional Gender Agenda—forms the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda.

One of its fundamental achievements is the recognition of the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls, as well as the critical role women play in conflict prevention and resolution and in peacebuilding. This has contributed to the development of a peace agenda that advances women’s rights and gender equality. Twenty-five years after the adoption of Resolution 1325, the United Nations Secretary-General, in his most recent report[1], highlights the urgent need to advance concrete measures to accelerate commitments to ensure the effective participation of women and the protection of women and girls in conflict-affected settings, within an increasingly complex global context. In this regard, National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security constitute a fundamental tool.

On 28 October 2004, the President of the Security Council issued the Statement S/PRST/2004/40[2], which promoted the national-level implementation of Resolution 1325 (2000), particularly through the development of National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security (WPS NAPs), as the key mechanism to translate the principles of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) into concrete action at the national and local levels.

WPS National Action Plans (WPS NAPs) represent an institutional roadmap for governments, establishing measurable objectives, specific actions, timelines, and bu