National Consultant / Legal Expert on Personal Data Protection

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 Georgia Country Office (CO) Provides technical support to the state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls. UN Women puts special emphasis on the work towards gender mainstreaming in good governance reforms and enhancing women’s political participation, ending violence against women, promoting and supporting women’s economic empowerment, and Women, Peace and Security agenda. Along with these key priority areas that constitute UN Women’s mandate, UN Women interventions in Georgia are anchored in the  (UNSDCF) for the years 2021-2025 with the government of Georgia.

UN Women, with the generous support by the European Union assists the Government of Georgia to meet its obligations undertaken on the international, regional and local levels inter alia in terms of eliminating violence against women and girls (EVAWG) and in particular domestic violence and sexual violence.  Alongside with the government and development partners, UN Women is working towards addressing gender inequality in a coherent and comprehensive manner, covering a wide range of issues, including prevention and response to violence against women and girls.

The United Nations Joint Programme for Gender Equality in Georgia (UNJP4GE or the programme), funded by the Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), is implemented jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The current phase (Phase III) began on 1 July 2022 and ends 31 December 2026.

The overall goal of the programme is to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment by means of strengthening capacities of government at both central and local levels and across the executive, legislative and judicial branches, engaging civil society and raising public awareness about gender equality. The target population of the programme is: society at large, women, men and youth and especially excluded groups of women such as IDPs and conflict affected populations, ethnic and religious minorities, female-headed households, victims/survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence and LGBTIQ+ individuals.

UN Women has been supporting national partners to end violence against women and girls and domestic violence (VAWG/DV) since 2010. Throughout the past decade, technical assistance has been provided to the Government of Georgia to align national legislation and policies with the relevant international legal frameworks and standards. To enhance implementation of the laws and policies, UN Women Georgia has supported the establishment of specialized services for survivors of domestic violence, such as the first state-run shelters, crisis centers and hotlines and rehabilitation programmes for perpetrators.

In Georgia, current research points to widespread experiences of violence against women across the country. According to the second round of the National Study on Violence against Women in Georgia, conducted by GeoStat and UN Women in 2022 with generous funding from the EU, 37.2% of men and 21.4 ofbelieve that violence between husband and wife is a private matter and others should not intervene. Intimate partner violence, as well as early and forced marriage, are among the most prevalent forms of violence against women in Georgia. These types of violence cut across all divisions of income, culture, and class. Despite its scale and socioeconomic impact, violence against women remains largely underreported and under-researched in key areas. The same study showed that 26.5 per cent of women (aged 15–69) reported having experienced some form of physical, sexual and/or psychological intimate partner violence in their lifetime; some 23.7 per cent of women experienced psychological abuse; 8.4 per cent experienced economic abuse; and 7.7 per cent experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a partner during lifetime with 0.9 per cent within the preceding 12 months.

In order to further enhance compliance of the acting Georgian legislation with the Istanbul Convention and other relevant international and regional standards, as well as rectify gaps revealed during practice, UN Women is supporting the government in the development of a concept on a unified electronic case and data management system for violence against women and domestic violence cases. Analyzing and reporting on VAW administrative data permits better understanding of service demands and use (including gaps) as well as policy and programme implementation and outcomes. The goal is to inform VAW prevention, improve services for survivors and increase the accountability of perpetrators. Estimating service gaps and unmet needs based on service data can also contribute to ensuring that no one is left behind.

Additionally, UN Women, performs systematic collection and analysis of information to allow an understanding of UN Women’s performance against the Strategic Plan (SP), Strategic Notes (SN) and Projects, and to take corrective actions, as required, to deliver desired results. This monitoring process is focused on a holistic, forward-looking reflection of the SNs and overall performance of the HQ Divisions/Independent Office, ROs and COs to promote agility, responsiveness and strategic foresight to improve implementation and inform future Planning. For the purposes of systematizing monitoring processes, including monitoring data collection, across UN Women Georgia CO, UN Women has introduced a special monitoring software, which, among other aggregated information, hosts personal data of UN Women beneficiaries. This information is collected through routine monitoring processes of UN Women and enables UN Women to monitor, analyse and address potential risks, challenges and opportunities to implement forward-looking actions.

In order to ensure compliance with the personal data protection legislation in these endeavors, UN Women seeks to recruit a National Consultant on Personal Data Protection. 

The consultant will be reporting to EVAW Programme Analyst, and will be supported by Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

The consultant should provide reports to UN Women, describing the completed work in a reporting format provided by UN Women. The reports should be submitted by 20th of each month worked.

GEOSTAT, UN Women and the EU, National Study on Violence against Women in Georgia 2022. Available at;

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will be responsible to:

• To provide technical support to UN Women and its partner(s) working on the concept on unified violence against women and domestic violence electronic case and administrative data management system to ensure compliance with Georgian personal data protection legislation and relevant international standards;
• To participate in and provide substantive support to meetings, workshops related to the design and implementation of this intervention;
• To review outcome documents of this intervention and provide comments as necessary ensuring its compliance with Georgian personal data protection legislation and international standards;
• To contribute substantively in the development of draft policies, pieces of legislation and other relevant documents related to personal data protection of DV/VAW victims/survivors and perpetrators;
• To liaise and engage with the relevant state and non-state stakeholders in relation to the tasks outlined above;
• To perform duties as necessary in relation to the policy, legislative reform initiatives in the field of personal data protection (such as research, data collection, inquiries, report-writing, policy analysis etc.) as requested by UN Women;
• To provide other technical support to UN Women in relation to administrative data collection and management on violence against women and domestic violence cases, as well as other thematic areas, as necessary.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

As a part of this assignment, there might be need to travel to regions of Georgia.

Competencies

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies: 

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  

 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Commitment to continuous improvement
• Risk management
• Partnerships building
• Resilience
• Negotiation

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Background:

• University degree (Master’s) in public policy, law, human rights
• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, law, human rights

Relevant Work Experience:

• At least five (5) years (seven (7) years in case of bachelor’s degree) of proven experience of working on the prevention and response to VAWG/DV;
• At least five (5) years (seven (7) years in case of bachelor’s degree) of proven experience of working on the personal data protection;
• At least five (5) years (seven (7) years in case of bachelor’s degree) of experience in working with state and non-state stakeholders on developing strategies, policies and tools, etc.

Languages:

• Fluency in Georgian is required, knowledge of English will be an asset.

How to Apply:

• Personal CV and  P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

How to Submit the Application:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11) –
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), CV and Motivation Letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click ‘Apply Now’ button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click ‘Submit Application’;
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

• UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.  All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)