National Consultant to Support Private Sector Companies in Developing the Equal Pay Review and Reporting (EPRR) Instrument at UN Women

Overview

UN Women Country Office in Georgia announces the ToR for National Consultant to Support Private Sector Companies in Developing the Equal Pay Review and Reporting (EPRR) Instrument.

Role

Background:

UN Women exists to advance women’s rights, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. As the lead UN entity on gender equality and secretariat of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, we shift laws, institutions, social behaviours and services to close the gender gap and build an equal world for all women and girls. Our partnerships with governments, women’s movements and the private sector coupled with our coordination of the broader United Nations translate progress into lasting changes. We make strides forward for women and girls in four areas: leadership, economic empowerment, freedom from violence, and women, peace and security as well as humanitarian action. UN Women keeps the rights of women and girls at the centre of global progress – always, everywhere. Because gender equality is not just what we do. It is who we are.

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 implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality.

UN Women in Georgia supports state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls.

Women’s economic empowerment (WEE) is a transformative, collective process through which economic systems become just, equitable and prosperous, and through which all women enjoy their economic and social rights, exercise agency and power in ways that challenge inequalities and level the playing field and gain equal rights and access to ownership of and control over resources, assets, income, time and their own lives. The key elements of economic empowerment are equal rights and access to ownership and control over resources; agency, power and autonomy; and policies, institutions and norms.1

Women’s rights to economic equality and opportunities are enshrined in a number of multilateral normative frameworks, including CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action. The economic empowerment of women - to succeed and advance economically and to make and act on economic decisions - is a cornerstone of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as reaffirmed also by the Agreed Conclusions of the 61st Commission on the Status of Women (2017). The UN Secretary General’s High Level Expert Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment has outlined an action agenda to accelerate progress, with key steps tailored to different sets of actors and seven drivers that can create enabling environment to accelerate the impact (2018).2

UN Women Country Office in Georgia with the generous support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Austrian Development Agency (ADA) is implementing the third phase of the “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus” (WEESC) project. The project’s overarching goal is to ensure that women, particularly the poor and socially excluded, in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are economically empowered and participate in relevant decision-making. The WEESC project applies a holistic approach to reach this goal, enabling linked interventions at three levels: grassroots, policies and legislation, and institutions. The chosen approach and the implementation of the WEE agenda in the South Caucasus during Phase I (2018-2021) and Phase II (2021-2024) of the WEESC project served as a catalyst for action at all levels and supported the state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in all three countries (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan). Phase III of the project is implemented for two years, from 2024 till 2026.

Women in Georgia face significant barriers that impede their full economic participation. Specifically, they encounter challenges related to labor force participation, equal pay, managerial representation, entrepreneurship, and access to various assets and finance. These persistent gaps are deeply rooted in entrenched gender norms and social structures, such as the unequal distribution of care responsibilities and insufficient social protection and childcare services, which further hinder women’s economic empowerment.

The gender pay gap remains a significant challenge for women in Georgia. According to 2024 data, the unadjusted monthly gender pay gap, which does not account for demographic or job-related characteristics, stood at 32%.[1] Even with equal educational achievements and professional backgrounds, women earn less than men.[2] The gender pay gap in Georgia’s labor market is one of the fundamental causes of women's low economic participation and also a key factor contributing to poverty and economic insecurity.

Georgia has ratified the ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), which mandates equal pay for work of equal value. To support gender equality in the workplace, a methodological document on the principle of equal pay in labor relations—the Equal Pay Review and Reporting (EPRR) Methodology—has been developed by ISET-PI with guidance from UN Women. The EPRR is a comprehensive yet user-friendly working tool that examines and analyzes pay practices in the workplace to identify and address gender-based discrimination. The EPRR tool is built in Google Sheets and enables companies to easily determine whether equal pay for equal work is ensured by inputting various employee-related variables. The variables included in the Google Sheets file can be grouped into two categories: personal employee characteristics (e.g., gender, age, education, etc.) and job-related characteristics (e.g., year of hiring, position, qualifications, remuneration, etc.).

Private sector companies play a critical role in promoting and upholding pay equity in Georgia. To support gender equality in the workplace, the UN Women in Georgia has been actively working with private sector companies to enhance their understanding of gender equality, including pay equity. In 2024, UN Women conducted awareness-raising training for the private sector on pay equity and the EPRR methodology. However, further steps are necessary to assist private sector companies in implementing effective pay equity monitoring mechanisms, tracking progress, and adopting measures to achieve pay equity within their organizations.

To support this initiative, the UN Women Country Office (CO) in Georgia is seeking to hire a local consultant to deliver training to private sector companies on EPRR instrument and its application. The consultant will assist these companies in testing and implementing the EPRR instrument within their organizations and will update the instrument based on their feedback and recommendations.

The consultant will be reporting to WEESC Progamme Analyst and WEESC Project Analyst and will be supported by WEESC Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The national consultant will be responsible to:

• Delivering training on the application of Equal Pay Review and Reporting (EPRR) instrument for private sector companies
  • Conduct and deliver two training sessions for a group of private sector companies on the application of the Equal Pay Review and Reporting (EPRR) instrument, including the development and facilitation of one practical assignment, to ensure they are equipped with the relevant skills and knowledge to test and implement the EPRR instrument within their organizations
  • Provide an overview of the EPRR instrument, its importance, implementation strategies, and practical application; guide participants in completing the EPRR tool; and facilitate a review session to discuss completed tools, address participants’ questions
  • Provide training materials and resources that support continuous learning and practical application of the EPRR instrument
• Update the EPRR methodology and instrument based on feedback and recommendations from private sector companies
  • Collect and analyse feedback from private sector companies and update EPRR methodology and instrument
• Provide tailored consultations to private sector companies
  • Offer individual support and mentoring to up to three companies to facilitate effective implementation of the EPRR instrument within their organizations

Deliverables

• Deliverable 1: Training sessions (in total 2 sessions) and practical assignment (in total 1 assignment) on the application of Equal Pay Review and Reporting (EPRR) instrument for a group of private sector companies by 30 June 2026 (up to 2 working days)
  • Session 1 - Overview of the Equal Pay Review and Reporting (EPRR) Instrument: Its Importance, Implementation Strategies, and Practical Application
  • Practical Assignment 1: Training program participants work on completing the EPRR tool
  • Session 2 - Review of training program participants' completed EPRR tool, discussion of questions

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy, no travel is required outside Tbilisi.

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:

• Technical credibility in delivering training
• Excellent presentation/public speaking skills
• Partnerships building
• Negotiation
• IT literacy

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Gender/Women’s studies, or a related field is required
• A first-level university degree in combination with seven (7) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years in case of Master’s or 7 years (Bachelor’s degree) of professional experience in data collection, analysis and visualization
• Sound understanding and technical knowledge of statistics including familiarity with key statistical concepts, techniques, and methodologies used in data analysis
• Proven track record of working with data analytics tool (Excel), with experience in data analysis, and visualization
• Experience in conducting training sessions
• Prior experience in developing tools for gender statistics and indicators will be considered a distinct advantage
• Prior experience in conducting tasks similar to the ones outlined in this ToR with UN/EU agencies in Georgia will be considered a distinct advantage

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Georgian 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.