Gender Responsive Conflict Analysis Specialist Researcher - International Consultant - Home Based
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. The Arab States region remains one of the most conflict-affected regions in the world, with multiple protracted and emerging crises, including in Syria, Yemen, Libya, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq, generating profound humanitarian, political, economic, and developmental consequences. These crises unfold in contexts where the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda remains critically under-implemented, and where the gap between WPS commitments and action continues to widen. Women and girls bear a disproportionate burden of conflict, facing heightened risks of gender-based violence, displacement, loss of livelihoods, and systematic exclusion from peace negotiations, political transitions, and recovery processes. Yet women in the region have not been only victims of conflict, they have been active peacebuilders, community leaders, and agents of resilience and recovery.
JOB DESCRIPTION
The Arab States region remains one of the most conflict-affected regions in the world, with multiple protracted and emerging crises, including in Syria, Yemen, Libya, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq, generating profound humanitarian, political, economic, and developmental consequences. These crises unfold in contexts where the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda remains critically under-implemented, and where the gap between WPS commitments and action continues to widen. Women and girls bear a disproportionate burden of conflict, facing heightened risks of gender-based violence, displacement, loss of livelihoods, and systematic exclusion from peace negotiations, political transitions, and recovery processes. Yet women in the region have not been only victims of conflict, they have been active peacebuilders, community leaders, and agents of resilience and recovery.
Components Of The Gender-Responsive Conflict Analysis
Component 1: Analysis of Actors and Context Analyzes the roles, relationships, and capacities of diverse actors, state and non-state, CSOs including women-led organizations and women peacebuilders, regional and global entities, in shaping conflict, peace and post conflict dynamics. It examines how power, social norms, and patriarchal structures influence conflict trajectories and constrain or enable women's participation and leadership in peace processes and post conflict recovery/reconstruction processes. It also provides a contextual overview of key conflict dynamics across the region, highlighting timelines and turning points with explicit WPS implications.
Component 2: Analysis of Causes, Evolving Dynamics, and Manifestations of Conflict Examines the gendered root causes, drivers, and triggers of conflict, including how gender-based inequalities and exclusions contribute to fragility and undermine sustainable peace. Consistent with the WPS prevention pillar, it analyzes how conflict reshapes women's rights, protection risks, and civic space, and identifies structural barriers to women's participation in early warning, mediation, and conflict prevention.
Component 3: Analysis of Gender Dimensions of Key Thematic Issue Areas Examines how gender dynamics shape and are shaped by issues central to sustainable conflict resolution. The methodology should prioritize key issue areas for deeper analysis that may include legal reform, security sector governance, transitional justice, political participation, humanitarian response, climate change, and economic recovery. Each area is assessed against WPS commitments and relevant Security Council resolutions, identifying entry points for gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches.
Component 4: Actionable WPS-Anchored Recommendations Translates findings into concrete, evidence-based recommendations for UN Women's advocacy, policy, and programming, explicitly linked to WPS implementation across the region. Recommendations are tailored to key audiences including the UN system, the League of Arab States, Member States, donors, and civil society, and structured around the four WPS pillars, including opportunities to strengthen national WPS action plans and accountability mechanisms.
Critical Considerations
The analysis should be explicitly situated within the current regional context, examining how major events such as October 7 and the regional escalation (Iran and US/Israel conflict) and their aftermath have reshaped conflict dynamics, gender relations, and the WPS landscape across the Arab States region. The analysis should resist broad regional generalizations and instead outline the distinct conflict typologies across the region, including conflict-affected fragile settings, post-conflict contexts, and countries in political transition, recognizing that each typology carries a distinct gender and WPS risk profile, shapes women's rights and protection differently, and requires differentiated analytical entry points and programmatic responses.
Responsibilities
The consultancy will be conducted over a period of five-six months, commencing from the date of contract signing. A detailed workplan will be agreed upon and finalized during the inception phase. The consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables:
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 import...