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 for women 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, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
Based on UN legislative mandates and the UNW Strategic Plan, the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) is tasked with providing strategic programme development, policy/ technical advisory services and quality assurance support to Multi-Country Offices (MCOs) and Country Offices (COs). It undertakes or coordinates regional research and data analysis; advises on norms, policies and strategies for achieving the internationally and regionally agreed goals related to gender equality and women’s empowerment issues. It acts as a knowledge hub at the regional level, collecting evidence on progress and emerging issues and sharing knowledge on innovative approaches and lessons learned in implementation.
Over the last decade, increasing natural hazards, climate-related emergencies, mounting insecurity and crises in Asia and the Pacific are eroding development gains, posing significant challenges in the transition to low-carbon, resilient societies. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was off-track to meet the transformational environmental, social and economic changes required to achieve gender equality, address climate change and realize human rights for all. The pandemic set back sustainable development progress while further increasing inequalities. Women and girls, especially those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, have faced disproportionate fallout.
Environmental degradation and climate and disaster impacts are unequally felt across the region. For women, people in poverty and other marginalized groups, pre-existing discriminatory social norms and pervasive gender inequalities increase exposure to risks while undercutting the ability to cope and recover from shocks. Women’s livelihoods are often the first to decline due to climate-related hazards and disasters. Further, inequalities in access to resources, finance and technologies leave women with greater challenges in coping and rebuilding after a crisis.
The low-carbon transition and social transformation required to solve the climate crisis pose significant opportunities to redress gender inequalities and promote human rights. Women are powerful agents of change and can accelerate inclusive and gender responsive climate action. To uphold women’s rights and fully leverage the potential of women’s leadership in disaster risk reduction, the perspectives of women and girls in all of their diversity must be integrated into the formulation and implementation of policies and programs at all stages of prevention, and preparedness, response, and recovery.
UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) is seeking technical support from an International Consultant under retainer contract to contribute to programme development, knowledge management, and coordination functions for the climate change and disaster risk reduction portfolio and targeted activities undertaken within the Asia Pacific region.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Regional Advisor for Humanitarian Action, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Change, and/or humanitarian focal points in Country Offices as assigned, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:
- Support programme development of new areas of work relating to climate change and DRR in the region, including providing dedicated research support, drafting of project proposals and documents, and providing support to UN Women Country Offices.
- Provide support to knowledge management, monitoring, and reporting. This includes preparation of briefs and talking points; preparation and finalization of knowledge resources, collection and analysis of data, and providing inputs to periodic reporting.
- Support the establishment and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners, in development of the humanitarian, DRR, climate change portfolio.
- Support UN Women ROAP/MCOs/COs/PPOs in documenting climate and DRR project implementation challenges, strategies adopted, as well as documentation of good practices and lessons learned.
- Provide targeted technical support and remote/virtual capacity strengthening sessions/trainings/webinars on ad-hoc basis to UN Women ROAP/MCOs/Cos/PPOs and partners for the implementation of programmes relating to gender-responsive climate action and DRR in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Advise on resource mobilization strategies for humanitarian action, DRR, and climate change.
Competencies
Core Values:
- Respect for Diversity
- Integrity
- Professionalism
Core Competencies:
- Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
- Accountability
- Creative Problem Solving
- Effective Communication
- Inclusive Collaboration
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Leading by Example
Required Skills and Experience
- Master’s degree in gender studies, human rights, international affairs, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, social science, public policy, and/or any relevant field directly related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (a first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advance university degree).
- Minimum five years of progressively responsible, relevant work experience at national or international level in design, planning, implementation and/or monitoring of development and/or climate-related projects relating to gender equality.
- Technical experience in gender responsive climate action, with demonstrated experience coordinating with governments and civil society.
- Experience writing project proposals, donor reports, and policy briefs.
- Working experience with UN Women or other United Nations agency an asset.
- Working experience in Asia-Pacific is strongly desirable.
- Knowledge of online communications platforms an advantage.
Languages:
- Fluency in English is required.
- Knowledge of other languages spoken in the Asia-Pacific region an asset.
