UN Women, Conference coordinator to provide admin support for organization of an international conference on gender mainstreaming in Viet Nam, Home-based, National Consultant

Background/Context

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the empowerment of Women (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 center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. 

In Viet Nam, UN Women contributes to the development objectives of Viet Nam’s Socio-Economic Development Plan and the National Strategy for Gender Equality. Its Country Strategy Note for 2022-2026 is aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (CF) 2022-2026 and is supporting Viet Nam’s fulfilment of Gender Equality commitments under The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the promise of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda to “leave no one behind”. The key priorities of UN Women in the 2022-2026 period are: 

Legal and policy framework on gender equality and gender mainstreaming in legislation reform 

Viet Nam has made notable progress in strengthening its legal and policy framework for gender equality and has been recognized in various international forums for these efforts. In its 2015 review, the CEDAW Committee welcomed recent legislative reforms that advanced gender equality, including amendments to the Constitution (2013), the Land Law (2013), and the Law on Vietnamese Nationality (2014). Since then, the importance of integrating gender analysis into the legislative process has gained greater visibility. The Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents (2015) introduced a provision requiring law-drafting agencies to apply gender mainstreaming in the development of legal documents. While challenges remain in implementation, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) reported that 40 out of 111 legal documents adopted since 2015 met the gender equality requirement—an encouraging achievement in a five-year period. This progress was also acknowledged as a key success by the independent review of the National Strategy on Gender Equality 2011–2020.

The 2013 Constitution clearly prohibits gender-based discrimination and affirms the State’s commitment to ensuring equal rights and opportunities for all genders. However, this constitutional guarantee is not consistently reflected in subsequent legislation. A review of key sectoral and procedural laws enacted since 2014 revealed that fewer than half include anti-discrimination clauses based on sex. Notable examples with such provisions include the Civil Code (2015), Law on Elections (2015), Law on Access to Information (2016), Law on the Press (2016), Law on Children (2016), and the Law on Social Insurance (, amended in 2024). Meanwhile, Viet Nam has been encouraged to revise laws that reinforce gender stereotypes—for example, the Law on Marriage and Family (2015) and the Law on Children (2016), both of which include gendered assumptions about domestic roles. Moreover, comprehensive legal protections against discrimination on grounds such as race, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and age are still lacking, limiting the legal system’s capacity to address intersectional forms of gender-based discrimination.

Despite some positive steps, the current legal framework still falls short in addressing the full range of gender-related issues. Although Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents (2015, amended in 2020, and 2025) requires conducting gender impact assessment. However, it is not a mandatory requirement, as result, several important laws have not yet ensured gender mainstreaming or the differentiated needs of women and men. These include the Law on Environmental Protection (2014), Law on Forestry (2017), and various taxation laws. Additionally, the Law on the Press (2016) does not prohibit gender-discriminatory or stereotypical content, although such a provision exists in the Law on Advertising (2012). The Law on Statistics (2015) also lacks a requirement for state agencies to produce sex-disaggregated data. When drafted in gender-neutral terms, these laws often overlook the differing experiences, needs, and access of women and men, leading to unintended inequalities. For example, women may be excluded from tax incentives designed primarily for large businesses or high-income earners.

There are also inconsistencies in the application of gender mainstreaming requirements across legislation. While the Gender Equality Law (2006) mandates gender mainstreaming in the development of all laws, the Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents (2015) limits this requirement to cases where legislation is deemed directly related to gender equality. A review commissioned by MOLISA also noted that gender-neutral language is sometimes used to circumvent meaningful gender analysis. Furthermore, the Gender Equality Law currently applies only to legal normative documents, not to broader policies or strategies. 

In this context, to support for further strengthening gender responsive legislation development, UN Women in collaboration with Ha Noi Law University is organizing an international conference on gender mainstreaming in legislation and policy development. 

The conference aims to:

UN Women is looking for a Conference coordinator consultant (to work as team member with another consultant as a Team leader) to support to UN Women and Ha Noi Law University the prepration and organization of the above mentioned international conference. The consultant will be responsible for coordinating administrative arrangements for the conference.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The successful performance of the incumbent will effectively contribute to the development of knowledge on gender responsive legislation development and provide recommendations to strengthening gender mainstreaming in law and policy development in Viet Nam. 

The consultant (team member) is expected to work closely with the Team leader who will take lead in provide technical advices on conference content, agenda and speakers, while the team member will be responsible for coordinating administrative arrangements for the conference.

In particular, the consultant is expected to complete the following tasks:

- Participate in an inception meeting with UN Women and Ha Noi Law University to identify admin and logistic tasks for the conference. 

- Act as the main liaison between UN Women, Ha Noi Law University, and the contracted logistics supplier.

- Prepare and send invitations to participants and speakers; manage RSVPs.

- Disseminate the call for papers widely through agreed communication channels.

- Manage the receipt, logging, and initial screening of submissions.

- Maintain communication with authors regarding submission status and logistical arrangements for presentation.

- Coordinate with the logistics supplier for printing of conference materials (agenda, banners, name tags, background notes, etc.).

- Ensure timely distribution of materials to participants and speakers.

- Maintain regular communication with participants and speakers on conference arrangements.

- Format accepted papers according to the agreed template for inclusion in the conference proceedings.

- Oversee registration and welcome of participants.

- Ensure smooth flow of sessions by managing time, supporting facilitators, and liaising with the technical team.

- Take detailed notes during the sessions and compile raw documentation for use in the conference report.

- Format accepted papers for inclusion in the conference proceedings, following the agreed template.

- Coordinate with the printer/publisher to ensure timely production of proceedings.

The national consultant will work closely with UN Women Programme Management Specialist and Ha Noi Law University throughout this process.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. The consultants will be requested to attend meetings and workshops related to the work.

As part of this assignment, the consultant is required to travel to attend workshop outside Ha Noi. Work related travel of UN Women’s consultants are considered as official mission and will be arranged by UN Women, in line with UN Women’s Consultant Contract Policy, UN Women Duty Travel Policy and UN-EU cost norm.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

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.