UN Women: Gender Equality Research and Policy Specialist Consultant, Beirut, Lebanon - National Consultant - Office-Based

Position details

• Grade: Not Applicable
• Vacancy type: Individual Consultancy
• Required languages: English and Arabic
• Application deadline: 2026-11-13T04:59:00+00:00

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 centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments to gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action. It provides leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts and builds effective partnerships with government, civil society, women-led and women’s rights organizations, the United Nations system, academia, development partners and other relevant actors.

In Lebanon, timely, credible and policy-relevant evidence is essential to understand how political, economic, social, humanitarian and security developments affect women and girls differently, and to translate that evidence into programming, policy dialogue, advocacy and strategic positioning. UN Women therefore seeks to strengthen its research, data and analytical capacity across its mandate, including women’s political participation and governance; women, peace and security; women’s economic empowerment; prevention of and response to violence against women and girls; humanitarian action, recovery and resilience; social protection and the care economy; legal and policy reform; and the rights and inclusion of women and girls facing intersecting forms of discrimination.

The consultancy will support the generation, quality assurance, synthesis and uptake of gender evidence. Research should be grounded in women’s rights and international normative frameworks, use intersectional and gender-responsive methodologies, and where relevant disaggregate findings by sex, age, disability, nationality or displacement status, geographic area and other contextually relevant characteristics. The consultant will work across programme portfolios to ensure that research responds to UN Women’s strategic priorities and supports evidence-based decision-making.

The consultant will report to the Country Representative and work closely with relevant Programme Managers, technical specialists and monitoring, reporting and communications colleagues. Specific research assignments will be agreed through an approved workplan.

Description of Responsibilities / Scope of Work

UN Women is recruiting a Gender Equality Research and Policy Specialist to lead and support high-quality research, policy analysis and knowledge production relevant to UN Women’s mandate in Lebanon. The consultant will translate data and evidence into concise, actionable analysis that informs programmes, policy engagement, advocacy, partnerships, resource mobilization and UN Women’s contribution to United Nations strategic planning and coordination processes.

1. Support implementation of UN Women Lebanon’s research and analytical agenda

• Support the development, prioritization and implementation of a country-office research calendar aligned with UN Women’s Strategic Note, programme priorities and emerging national developments.
• Identify evidence gaps and formulate research questions that can inform policy, programming, advocacy and strategic positioning across UN Women’s mandate.
• Undertake and/or coordinate quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research, including desk reviews, secondary data analysis, surveys, key-informant interviews, focus-group discussions and participatory research approaches, as appropriate.
• Lead or support rapid gender analyses and other time-sensitive analytical products during humanitarian, conflict, recovery or other rapidly evolving contexts.
• Ensure that research design and implementation apply gender-responsive, rights-based, intersectional and ethical standards, including appropriate safeguarding, informed consent, confidentiality and do-no-harm considerations.

2. Produce strategic research and policy products across UN Women’s mandate

• Prepare analytical reports, research papers, policy briefs, briefing notes, background papers, evidence summaries and talking points on priority gender equality and women’s rights issues.
• Develop analysis on women’s political participation, representation and leadership, including electoral and governance processes, public institutions and women’s participation in decision-making.
• Develop analysis related to women, peace and security, including women’s participation in peacebuilding and security decision-making, conflict prevention, protection, displacement, recovery and implementation of relevant national commitments.
• Develop research on women’s economic empowerment, including labour-force participation, decent work, informality, entrepreneurship, access to finance and markets, care responsibilities, social protection and the gendered impacts of economic shocks and recovery policies.
• Support research on violence against women and girls, access to protection and justice, discriminatory laws and practices, and legal and policy reforms affecting women’s rights.
• Ensure that research systematically considers women and girls experiencing intersecting inequalities, including women with disabilities, refugees and displaced women, migrant women, older women, young women and other groups facing barriers to rights, services, participation or economic opportunity.

3. Strengthen data quality, methodology and evidence standards

• Design and review research methodologies, sampling approaches, questionnaires, interview guides and other data-collection tools to ensure methodological rigor and gender responsiveness.
• Review, clean, analyse and interpret quantitative and qualitative data and ensure that conclusions are supported by evidence and clearly distinguish findings, limitations and recommendations.
• Support the use of sex-disaggregated and intersectional data and identify critical data gaps relevant to monitoring gender equality and women’s rights in Lebanon.
• Quality-assure research commissioned by UN Women and provide substantive comments on inception reports, methodologies, draft studies and final knowledge products.
• Support the development of accessible data presentations, tables, charts and evidence snapshots for policy and programme audiences.

4. Translate evidence into policy, programming and strategic positioning

• Synthesize research findings into practical recommendations for UN Women programmes, policy dialogue and advocacy, ensuring clear links between evidence, identified gender inequalities and proposed actions.
• Provide substantive evidence and analysis for UN Women’s strategic planning, programme design, monitoring and evaluation, donor engagement and resource-mobilization efforts.
• Contribute gender analysis to United Nations common assessments, cooperation frameworks, humanitarian and recovery planning, joint programmes and other inter-agency processes, as requested.
• Prepare concise evidence packages and briefing materials for high-level engagements with government, donors, United Nations entities, civil society, women-led and women’s rights organizations and other partners.

5. Build research partnerships and strengthen the uptake of evidence

• Engage relevant ministries, national institutions, civil society, women-led and women’s rights organizations, academia, research institutions, United Nations entities and other stakeholders in research design, validation and dissemination, as appropriate.
• Identify opportunities for joint research, data partnerships and knowledge collaboration that strengthen national evidence on gender equality and women’s rights.
• Facilitate consultations, validation sessions, roundtables and technical discussions to test findings, incorporate diverse women’s perspectives and support policy uptake.
• Document and disseminate lessons learned, promising practices and research findings within UN Women and among relevant national, regional and global audiences.

Indicative research area

Research assignments may include, but are not limited to:

• Women’s political participation, representation, leadership and governance;
• Women, peace and security, peacebuilding, conflict prevention, security-sector institutions and recovery;
• Women’s economic empowerment, employment, entrepreneurship, care, social protection and economic recovery;
• Violence against women and girls, access to justice, protection and referral systems;
• Gender-responsive humanitarian action, displacement, return, reconstruction and resilience;
• Legal and policy reform, including discrimination in law and barriers to women’s equal rights;
• Gender norms, unpaid care, social inclusion, disability inclusion and intersecting inequalities;
• Gender data, SDG-related evidence and other indicators relevant to tracking progress on gender equality.

Expected Outputs

• An updated and prioritized research workplan/research calendar, reviewed periodically with the Country Office.
• Research protocols, methodologies and data-collection tools for agreed studies and assessments.
• High-quality analytical reports, research papers, policy briefs, rapid gender analyses and other knowledge products in accordance with the approved workplan.
• Clean analytical datasets, coding frameworks and/or evidence matrices, where relevant and consistent with data-protection requirements.
• Briefing notes, presentations and concise evidence products tailored to policy, programme, donor and inter-agency audiences.
• Quality-assurance comments and technical review of research products commissioned or produced by the Country Office.
• Documentation of consultations, validation processes and recommendations for research uptake and follow-up.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is an office-based consultancy in Beirut. Travel within Lebanon may be required depending on the approved research workplan and subject to UN Women rules, security conditions and prior authorization.

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 research, policy analysis and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to translate complex evidence into clear, decision-oriented findings and recommendations.
• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women’s rights, including relevant international normative frameworks and their application to policy, development, humanitarian action and peace and security.
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods research and to assess the quality and limitations of evidence.
• Strong data-analysis and interpretation skills, including the ability to work with sex-disaggregated and intersectional data.
• Excellent drafting and editing skills for analytical reports, policy briefs, briefing notes and senior-level materials.
• Ability to manage multiple research assignments, meet deadlines and maintain consistent quality standards.
• Strong stakeholder-engagement skills and ability to work with government, civil society, women-led and women’s rights organizations, academia, United Nations entities and development partners.
• Sound judgement in handling sensitive research topics and confidential information, with attention to ethics, safeguarding and do-no-harm principles

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in gender studies, human rights, political science, economics, sociology, public policy, international relations, international development, statistics, social research or another relevant social science field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in applied research, policy analysis, gender analysis or a closely related field is required.
• Experience designing and conducting research on gender equality, women’s rights or social policy, including qualitative and/or quantitative research, is required.
• Experience producing high-quality analytical reports, policy briefs or similar knowledge products for policy and programme audiences is required.
• Experience with survey design, data cleaning, statistical analysis, qualitative coding and/or mixed-methods analysis is desirable.
• Experience researching one or more areas relevant to UN Women’s mandate - such as governance and political participation, women, peace and security, women’s economic empowerment, violence against women and girls, humanitarian action, legal reform, social protection or intersectional inclusion - is desirable.
• Experience working with government institutions, civil society, women-led and women’s rights organizations, academia, international organizations or development partners is desirable.
• Experience working with the United Nations is desirable.
• Experience working in Lebanon and/or the MENA region is desirable.
• Experience in standard office software and research/data-analysis tools is required; familiarity with statistical or qualitative-analysis software is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken Arabic and English is required.

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.)

 

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.