National Consultant on Gender-Responsive Conflict Analysis using Listening Metho

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.

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 strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In the Philippines, UN Women has played a vital role in advancing the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR1325, 2000) Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Since April 2022, it has been co-implementing with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) the joint programme (JP) “Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao” (WPS-BARMM) a multi-year programme that aims to prevent insecurity and violence by harnessing the potentials of both women and men in addressing structural gender inequality and discriminatory gender norms that pose barriers to sustainable peace.

The WPS-BARMM JP aims to do this through a two-pronged approach, working with government institutions on the one hand, and with women peacebuilders and women’s organizations, on the other. Specifically, on the latter, it aims to realize “improved meaningful participation and leadership in conflict prevention and resolution and peace-humanitarian nexus of women peace mediators and women’s organizations in the BARMM” (Intermediate Outcome 1200).

Women peacebuilders’ participation and leadership will be harnessed to help generate gender-responsive conflict analyses to inform conflict prevention and resolution, especially in areas and communities affected by violent extremism or with brewing conflict that could adversely affect the peace process. Training will be provided to help them develop their capacity to conduct research and data gathering through Listening Methodology, “a qualitative research approach seeking to capture the feelings, thoughts, and opinions of communities living in conflict to collect a unified voice and help amplify voices sidelined in peace processes.” (Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies)

Listening Methodology

Listening Methodology is a qualitative, subject-oriented research approach designed to collect a variety of individual perspectives and identify key themes from wide group of people. It acknowledges that individuals within a specific context possess firsthand experience and the best understanding of the dynamics at play, making their insights invaluable. This methodology involves engaging participants in flexible, informal conversations rather than structured interviews, fostering an environment where they feel at ease sharing their concerns and priorities. By synthesizing and analyzing the collected input, researchers can uncover broad themes and common issues, providing a platform for voices that are often overlooked and creating a channel for sharing opinions about specific situations or future plans.

The consultant will be managed and supervised by the Programme Specialist – Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, and all deliverables and submissions will be subject to review and approval by the Programme Specialist. In addition, the consultant is expected to work with the JP’s Field Programme Coordinator.

The consultant will also be expected to coordinate/work with UN Women's partner government agencies and CSOs in BARMM.

Description of Responsibilities/Scope of Work

In view of the foregoing context, UN Women is looking to hire a National Consultant on Gender-Responsive Conflict Analysis using Listening Methodology, who will lead the conduct of research in a) areas threatened by violent extremism in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, and b) Sulu province, using Listening Methodology. This includes the following tasks:

• Conducting capacity building activities, including training workshops, for at least 20 women each from Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Sulu on Listening Methodology Research for Peacebuilding, to equip them with the necessary skills to effectively gather and analyze data using the methodology;

• Implementing the Listening Methodology Research for Peacebuilding project together with the women listening teams in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Sulu with at least 20 women listeners for each province, listening to at least 100 community members in total for each province (or 300 women for all 3 provinces);

• Facilitate the conduct of gender-responsive conflict analyses together with the women listeners using the research findings, with a view to coming up with actionable recommendations on conflict prevention and resolution in the areas studied for the BARMM government, local government units (LGUs), the security sector, and civil society;

• Record the research findings and recommendations in a research paper or similar knowledge product to be disseminated to relevant duty-bearers;

• Lead at least one knowledge sharing session to discuss the research findings and recommendations with BARMM members of parliament, ministries, offices and agencies, the security sector, LGUs, civil society, and other duty-bearers.

Outline of the deliverables relating to the tasks indicated above:

1. Inception Report (30 January 2025) - report should detail the National Consultant’s strategy in delivering the activities under the TOR.
2. Training workshop/s on Listening Methodology Research for Peacebuilding for at least 60 women (20 per province) (30 March 2025) - At least 3 days combining theoretical and hands-on training on the methodology, including its conceptual basis, implementation (data gathering, coding, analysis), and ethical considerations.
3. Report on technical assistance during listening conversations (30 May 2025) - Listening conversations: the women listening teams conduct listening conversations with the agreed number of individuals in each of the identified areas.
4. Three (3) listening processing workshops (one per province) (30 July 2025) - After conversations have been conducted, the women listening teams will meet for a processing workshop. The processing workshop will focus on identifying key messages and main themes that emerged from the conversations and capture differences between groups of people; the key messages and themes will constitute the preliminary findings of the project.
5. Knowledge Product (30 August 2025) - Research paper including the research results, analysis, and actionable recommendations drawing on gender-responsive conflict analyses conducted with women listening team.
6. Knowledge-sharing Session (30 September 2025) - Presentation of research findings and recommendations at a convening to be organized by UN Women among BARMM ministries, offices and agencies, the security sector, LGUs, civil society, and new BARMM MPs

Competencies:

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent analytical skills

• Strong knowledge of UN Women processes and systems

• Strong networking skills

• Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;

• Ability to work in a highly pressured environment

• Excellent facilitation skill

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

Master’s degree in Political or Social Science, Gender Studies, Economics, Public Management, International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies, or other related fields is required.

A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Training on Listening Methodology or similar research approaches specific to peacebuilding contexts

Experience:

At least two (2) years’ research experience related to WPS and/or peacebuilding is required, with at least one research work completed using Listening Methodology or similar research approaches.

Experience in integrating gender in conflict analysis is required.

Previous working experience with UN agencies, government agencies, and/or civil society organizations is required.

Previous work experience in/on BARMM is an asset.

Languages:

Proficiency in English and Filipino in required. Knowledge of BARMM languages/dialects an asset.

Statements:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)