International consultant on GBV law

TERMS OF REFERENCE (to be completed by Hiring Office)

Hiring Office:

Turkmenistan Country Office

Title:

Purpose of consultancy:

Since the first years of independence, Turkmenistan has been pursuing an active gender policy aimed at strengthening the ideas of equal participation of women in all spheres of public and political life. The status of women in Turkmenistan is determined by the priority directions of state policy on gender equality, the purpose of which is to implement the principle of equal rights, freedoms and equal opportunities for men and women in accordance with the Constitution of Turkmenistan and the norms of international law.

Turkmenistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1996. By ratifying the Optional Protocol to CEDAW in 2009, Turkmenistan reaffirmed its firm commitment to ensuring women have access to and equal enjoyment of all fundamental human rights and freedoms.

In the framework of the recent and previous constructive dialogues of Turkmenistan with the CEDAW Committee in 2024, further recommendations were received in the field of improving national gender legislation. The Committee stressed the critical role of national legislation in ensuring the full implementation of the Convention. The Committee invited the Parliament of Turkmenistan to take the necessary steps, in accordance with its mandate, to implement the Concluding Observations between 2024 and the submission of the next periodic report in four years (Article on Legal framework for the prohibition of discrimination against women, paragraph 14 (a, b, c), 2024 and Article on Gender based violence against women, paragraph 28 (a), 2024). In particular, to amend the definition of discrimination against women in order to prohibit direct and indirect discrimination in the private and public spheres, to ensure that all discriminatory provisions against women in legislation and legislative amendments are repealed, and to apply a gender-sensitive, rather than a gender-neutral, approach in the implementation of its legislation. Article on Gender based violence against women, paragraph 28 (a), 2024) recommends to adopt, without further delay, legislation specifically defining and criminalizing all forms of gender-based violence against women, including domestic violence. 

In 2018-2020 UNFPA provided technical assistance to the Parliament to support with the review of international practices and development of a Model Law on family wellbeing to address gender-based violence. 

In February 2025 jointly with the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) UNFPA 

• updated the Model Law in accordance with international guidance and standards;
• organized a 2-day seminar for Parliament representatives to present the best international practices in the field of improving legislation from the standpoint of ensuring gender equality, practical mechanisms for the development, implementation and monitoring of laws in the field of gender equality and addressing GBV;
• held a 1-day consultations with the Working Group of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights and shared international best practices on the subject. 

To further support the Parliament of Turkmenistan in the implementation of the tasks to improve legislation family wellbeing and protection of women from gender-based violence, UNFPA plans to hire an international consultant to support the process of initiating legal review and the improvement of the current legislation for compliance with international standards and gender perspective in order to protect women’s rights, address the issues of preventing and responding to gender-based violence. 

Scope of work:

(Description of services, activities, or outputs)

The international consultant will carry out the following work:

1. Conduct desk review of relevant literature and legislations, on Gender-Based Violence, including Turkmenistan related strategic documents, policies, programmatic interventions to inform understanding of the context on GBV and related issues. Based on the review, develop an Inception report outlining the objectives, scope, methodology, and timeline. – 5 days
2. Prepare for and conduct consultations and interviews with the stakeholders to assess the situation and readiness for interventions on legislative improvement (in the week of 18-22 August 2025). – 5 days
3. Prepare for and conduct a 2-day workshop on the process, including gaps and opportunities for legislative improvement in order to produce a final draft of the model law on domestic violence (in the week of 18-22 August 2025). – 4 days
4. Support the development of TOR and the workplan for the Working Group on legislative improvement. – 4 days
5. De-brief UNFPA and provide a detailed final consultancy report, including step-by-step action plan and recommendations on further interventions – 2 days.

Expected Outcomes and Deliverables:

The total number of days: 20 working days:

Deliverable 1: Inception report by August 10, 2025

Deliverable 2: Interim report on the results of consultations and 2-day workshop by September 10, 2025

Deliverable 3: TOR for the Working Group on legislative improvement and final consultancy report by November 10, 2025. 

Duration and working schedule:

Duration of this consultancy is from August 1, 2025 to November 10, 2025 including operational closure of the contract.

Place where services are to be delivered:

The consultancy services will need to be delivered on a home-based mode with a mission to the country in the week of 18-22 August 2025.

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:

The International Consultant will report to the UNFPA Programme Analyst on Gender and Youth and will provide an update biweekly on progress, challenges encountered, and support requirements.

Supervisory arrangements: 

The International Consultant will directly report and work under the guidance of the UNFPA Programme Analyst on Gender and Youth.

Expected travel:

Mission to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in the week of 18-22 August 2025, 6 days including travel. Travel costs will be covered additionally according to the UNFPA’s Duty Travel Policy.

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:

• Master's degree in Law, Social Sciences, Gender Equality or other related fields.
• At least 10 years of experience in the development, implementation, monitoring, improvement of legislation and related advisory support, development and implementation of strategies to ensure gender equality through laws, appropriate action plans and the development and implementation of the necessary mechanisms.
• Good understanding and practice in capacity building.
• Work experience in the CIS or Central Asia and Turkmenistan is an advantage.
• Excellent written and spoken English skills. 
• Excellent communication training skills.
• Focus on results, ability to work under pressure, and execution of work on time.
• Cultural and gender sensitivity skills for working in a multicultural environment with national government stakeholders.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:

UNFPA will provide the Consultant with the available materials, information and reports. However, additional information will be identified by the Consultant through reviews, working with specialists, other.

The consultancy fee will be calculated based on the P5 level of the UN Salary Scale for Professional and higher categories effective 1 January 2025 and will be paid in two instalments upon successful completion of the deliverables as per the schedule:

Payment 1 upon successful completion of Deliverables 1 -2 by September 10, 2025;

Payment 2 upon successful completion of Deliverable 3 by November 10, 2025.