Review and copy-edit two gender-responsive adjudication manuals

Host entity: UNWomen

Application deadline: 19/10/2026

Mission and objectives

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.

UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide.

Assignment context

UN Women has developed the following publications:

1. Resource Manual on Gender-Responsive Adjudication for Judicial Officers in Uganda
2. Training Manual on Gender-Responsive Adjudication for Judicial Officers in Uganda

Both manuals are at an advanced stage of development and require an independent, rigorous legal and editorial quality-assurance review before publication. As the publications are intended for judicial officers, the assignment requires specialized expertise in professional editing and, preferably, experience reviewing legal, judicial, human-rights or related technical publications.

The assignment will contribute to strengthening the quality and usability of knowledge products supporting gender-responsive justice and gender equality. The collaboration will be conducted entirely online, and UN Women will provide the selected Online Volunteer with both draft manuals and any relevant editorial or referencing guidance needed to complete the task.

Task description

Under the guidance of the designated UN Women focal point, the Online Volunteer will conduct a comprehensive legal and editorial quality-assurance review of both manuals as one package. The assignment is focused on quality assurance and copy-editing rather than substantive rewriting.

The Online Volunteer will:
• Review both manuals for clarity, coherence, structure and overall publication readiness.
• Check consistency of terminology, legal propositions, legal references and authorities across both publications.
• Flag any instances where guidance or good practice may be presented as a requirement under Ugandan law, for UN Women’s validation.
• Review citations and references for accuracy, consistency and completeness based on the source material provided by UN Women.
• Check internal cross-references, headings, numbering and references between sections.
• Copy-edit the documents for grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax, readability and consistency of editorial style.
• Identify unclear, inconsistent, overly categorical, legally ambitious or potentially problematic passages and provide appropriate recommendations for UN Women’s consideration.
• Undertake an overall quality-assurance check of the two manuals as a package, including consistency between them, usability of the Training Manual, and any legal, technical or production issues requiring further attention or validation by UN Women.
• Ensure that the two manuals use consistent terminology and editorial standards as a package.
• Submit reviewed versions of both manuals with tracked changes and comments, together with a brief summary of key issues identified and recommendations requiring UN Women’s attention.

The Online Volunteer will not be responsible for providing legal advice or approving the publications on behalf of UN Women. UN Women will retain responsibility for validating substantive legal content and undertaking final proofing and publication approval.

Expected deliverables

The assignment will result in one consolidated quality-assurance package comprising:
• Two quality-assured manuals (1. Resource Manual on Gender-Responsive Adjudication for Judicial Officers in Uganda 2. Training Manual on Gender-Responsive Adjudication for Judicial Officers in Uganda); with tracked changes and comments reflecting the legal, technical and editorial review.
• A concise quality-assurance review note summarizing significant legal/editorial consistency issues, cross-referencing concerns and matters requiring final attention or validation by UN Women.

Assignment duration and workload

The assignment is expected to be completed within 2 weeks of commencement. The Online Volunteer will work within the applicable Online Volunteering parameters, not exceeding 20 hours per week. The assignment is time-sensitive, and applicants should be available to commence as soon as possible.

Skills and experience

Applicants should demonstrate:

• Strong professional experience in substantive editing, copy-editing, proofreading and/or quality assurance of technical publications.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing legal, judicial, human-rights, gender or related policy publications; experience with judicial materials is a strong asset.
• Excellent command of written English and advanced editing skills.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to identify inconsistencies and maintain coherence across lengthy, related documents.
• Familiarity with legal citation, referencing and cross-referencing practices.
• Ability to provide clear editorial recommendations while preserving the authors’ substantive intent.
• Ability to work independently, maintain confidentiality and deliver high-quality work within an agreed short timeframe.

Education

An advanced university degree in law, legal studies, English, communications, publishing, gender studies, human rights or another relevant field is desirable. Significant relevant professional editorial experience may also be considered.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.