Senior Research Consultant for Mapping Narratives contributing to Discriminatory Social Norms (Homebased)

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 East & Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) maintains a large presence in the Eastern and Southern Africa region, covering 25 countries, with 12 Country Offices and a Programme Presence in Somalia. The remaining 12 countries are supported remotely as Non-Physical Presence (NPP) countries. In accordance with the UN Women Strategic Note (2026-2029) and in support of global and regional commitments for advancing gender equality, UN Women supports member states and partners in advancing and safeguarding gender equality norms while supporting their translation into gender responsive laws, policies, accountability systems and services. 

Towards enabling regional and national institutions in ESAR to be accountable to all women and girls through financing, data and practices that support gender equality, UN Women seeks to transform discriminatory social norms and strengthen gender responsive financing, data and practices, contributing to improved implementation of commitments, institutional performance and reporting. Additionally, through strengthening capacities, resources and agency of women’s rights organizations and civil society to influence decision making while holding duty bearers accountable, and supporting coordinated UN programmes, UN Women contributes to greater inclusion of civil society in normative and policy processes and improved institutional responsiveness. UN Women will in the ESA region adopt a more deliberate, inclusive and intersectional approach across the triple mandate and humanitarian, peace and development nexus, to advance the rights of all women and girls. This integrated approach supports UN Women to address structural drivers of inequalities across, including discriminatory social norms by strengthening institutional capacities for financing, data and accountability systems, while empowering women’s rights organizations, youth groups and civil society to influence decision-making and state accountability. This contributes to more inclusive and responsive institutions and improved implementation of gender equality commitments.

Discriminatory social norms continue to drive gender inequalities in the region, shaping patterns of violence, exclusion and unequal access to power and decision-making. These norms limit women and girls’ voice, agency, leadership and economic participation across the humanitarian, peace and development nexus. They contribute to pervasive violence against women and girls (VAWG), including in public life, across the region. Victim-blaming and justification for men’s use of violence against women perpetuate women and girls’ experiences of different forms of violence, with prevalence of intimate partner violence higher in ESA than global averages.[1] The acceptance of punishing women who challenge gendered power hierarchies contributes to the crises of femicide, where 22,600 women and girls in Africa were killed by intimate partners or family members in 2024.[2] Women and girls who experience multiple forms of discrimination are a particularly at risk of violence with limited access to protection and justice -across the continuum of online and offline spaces. Beyond violence and exclusion, discriminatory social norms restrict women’s voice, agency, leadership, ownership of productive assets, and meaningful participation in decision-making at household, community, institutional and public levels. These norms shape who is seen as a legitimate authority, whose voices are heard, and who can influence political, social and economic priorities. These norms are due to historical and structural inequalities, including plural legal systems and entrenched socio-economic disparities which continue to influence institutional practices and outcomes.

In contexts affected by conflict, displacement and humanitarian crises, discriminatory norms further restrict women and girls’ access to essential services, resources, information and leadership roles, while increasing unpaid care burdens and undermining resilience and recovery. They also limit the effective implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda by constraining women’s participation and leadership in peacebuilding, conflict prevention and recovery efforts. These norms constrain women’s economic empowerment by restricting access to productive resources, labor market opportunities and decision-making power. Across contexts, they contribute to backlash, shrinking civic space and risks for women in public and political life.