UN Women - Consultant Legislative Drafter (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.

UN Women has entered into an Agreement with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to implement a project on women’s economic empowerment in the Eastern Caribbean. The project, “Build Back Equal” (BBE), which is led by UN Women and jointly implemented with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is being implemented, and will contribute to women’s economic resilience in the Eastern Caribbean by taking a comprehensive approach to addressing the barriers women face to economic empowerment and providing increased sustainable opportunities for women’s economic growth. Government and the private sector in four Eastern Caribbean countries will benefit from strengthened capacity and access to financing to sustainably alleviate women’s unpaid care work burden through subsidized quality childcare.

Globally, women work 2.8 hours more than men on unpaid care and domestic work. ([1]) This implies that women, and particularly the poorest and most disadvantaged, have the double burden of both paid and unpaid work, or in other words they are often more time poor than men. Women bear the multiple burdens of productive and reproductive responsibilities] that severely limits their economic opportunities and remains a barrier to their engagement in paid work. Data on unpaid care work and specifically to measure SDG Indicator 5.4.1 (Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location) is sparse in CARICOM. However, the UN Women MCO-Caribbean is leading efforts to close this data gap in the region. ([2]) Unpaid care and domestic work is usually invisible in policies and budgets because they are not part of the conventional definition and measurement of the economy (Sharp, 2003).

With support from the BBE project, multi-country research has been on relevant legal frameworks in the Caribbean that have revealed the following gender gaps across the life-course:

• No universal child benefits, child grants, or child tax credits.
• Twelve to thirteen weeks maternity leave, and not a minimum of fourteen weeks as per ILO Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) which has not been ratified by all countries.
• Nursing Breaks are not required by law and there are no breastfeeding policies.
• No mandatory paternity leave.
• Gender pay gap persists even in countries where there is legislation on equal pay. This is due to the fact that women tend to be overrepresented in specific sectors of the labour market (services sector for example) signalling that the problem is not only about comparison with men’s pay; but an overall undervaluing of the work women do. This indicates a need for pay equity legislation across the countries that would need to address not only “equal pay for equal work” but “equal pay for equal work of equal value”.
• Domestic workers not entitled to redundancy pay. There is a need for greater compliance to ensure social security contributions by employers of domestic workers.
• Need for gender-responsiveness in estimation of pensions particularly as older women might earn lower income due to lower cumulative earnings while employed prior to retirement.

[1] Forecasting time spent in unpaid care and domestic work | UN Women Data Hub

[2] The measurement of SDG 5.4.1 was initially piloted in Grenada commencing in 2020. Details on this pilot can be review in the report “Piloting the Measurement of SDG Indicator 5.4.1 in Grenada Using the Labour Force Survey”. With support from the BBE project, further pilots in participating countries are being undertaken.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO - Caribbean, Head of Office and direct supervision of the Planning and Coordination Specialist, Barbados and OECS, the Legislative Drafter will draft legislative provisions to be integrated into existing legislation to address unpaid care and domestic work in Grenada and St. Lucia. A major goal of this consultancy is to address lacunas in policy and legal frameworks that would support the implementation the 5Rs strategy to recognize, reduce, redistribute, represent, reward - of paid and unpaid care and domestic work. Taking the above into consideration, the Legislative Drafter will in close coordination with a consultant Gender and Labour Law Expert, draft legislative provisions to be integrated into existing legislation per country on the following:

• Maternity Leave, to ensure compliance with C183 - Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183)
• Parental Leave
• Child Benefit Bill for Low Income Working Parents and Legal Guardians
• Flexible Working Bill
• Pay Equity Bill
• Nursing Break Bill
• Decent Work for Domestic Workers Bill

Deliverables

The Legislative Drafter is expected to deliver the following results:

Deliverables Expected completion time (due day)

In close coordination and with guidance from the Gender and Labour Law Expert, prepare and submit draft legislative provisions to be integrated into existing legislation per country (Grenada and St. Lucia) on the following:

• Maternity Leave, to ensure compliance with C183 - Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183)
• Parental Leave
• Child Benefit Bill for Low Income Working Parents and Legal Guardians
• Flexible Working Arrangements Bill
• Pay Equity Bill
• Nursing Break Bill
• Decent Work for Domestic Workers Bill

30 September 2026

Participate in and prepare a summary report on 2 online/virtual stakeholder consultations (1 per country) to validate and provide feedback and input on the abovementioned Legislative Provisions with representation from government, civil society, private sector, labour unions and the judiciary. These consultations will be facilitated by a Gender and Labour Law Expert to be recruited separately.

31 October 2026

Participate in and prepare a summary report on a Presentation of Legislative Provisions to 2 convenings of parliamentarians (1 per country). These presentations will be facilitated by a Gender and Labour Law Expert to be recruited separately.

30 November 2026

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

• This is a home-based consultancy.
• As part of this assignment, travel is expected to the 2 target countries (Grenada and St. Lucia). The missions to the countries will be arranged and covered by UN Women

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:

• Strong legal analysis and social research and analytical skills.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills including the conveying complex concepts and recommendations, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences.
• Ability to interact independently as part of a team.
• Ability to multi-task and operate effectively in stressful situations.

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• A LLB/Bachelor of Laws Degree from a recognized tertiary institution is required.
• A LLM or PhD in Law and Human Rights is preferred but not required.

Experience:

• 7 years of relevant experience with legal practice and legislative drafting or 5 years of relevant experience for holders of an LLM or PhD in Law in the English-Speaking Caribbean is required.
• Certificate in Legislative Drafting is desirable but not required.
• Demonstrated experience or knowledge in gender equality, women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming, and/or human rights is desirable but not required.
• Understanding of the Caribbean legal framework is required.
• Institutional knowledge of the UN and UN Women would be an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in written and oral 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.