Senior International Consultant – Humanitarian Action (Retainer)

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.

 

UN Women’s work in humanitarian action is guided by global norms and standards. Building on findings of the inter-agency Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) review based on the Accountability Framework of the IASC’s Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in Humanitarian Action Policy. The UN Economic and Social Council adopted resolutions E/RES/2012/3,1 E/RES/2013/62 and E/RES/2014/23 in 2012, 2013 and 2014, which recognize that humanitarian action can be strengthened by mainstreaming a gender perspective into all aspects of the humanitarian response. Asia and the Pacific continue to be one of the region’s most prone to the impacts of disasters, with 8 of 10 deadliest disasters worldwide in 2018. As the impact of climate and conflict continues in the region, there is an increasing recognition among UN Women country offices that the development and humanitarian challenges arising from the crisis must be met with accelerated action and enhanced capacity with the support of the regional office.

 

Women, girls, boy and men, in all their diversity, are disproportionately impacted by humanitarian emergencies, climate-related disasters, and fragile conditions. Gender inequality heightens exposure to risks, increases vulnerability, and restrains the capacity to anticipate, adapt and recover from crises and contribute meaningfully to resilience building. Taking the realities of gender and identity of all persons affected by a crisis into account in humanitarian action is essential to providing an effective response. Promoting GEWE in humanitarian action facilitates the right to participation, affords protection, increases access to assistance and enables transformative change for persons of all genders and ages.

UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) aims to establish a diverse pool of consultants for placement on a retainer pool, accessible to Regional Office, Multi-Country Offices (MCOs) and Country Offices. It is seeking technical support from an international senior consultants under a retainer contract to contribute to programme development, knowledge management, and coordination functions for the Humanitarian Action & Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Portfolio and targeted activities. The selected consultants will be integral in advancing UN Women’s deployable response capacity and serve as gender capacity to support UN’s coordinated responses in the region. The consultants will also be able to support the advancement of gender-responsive peace, development and humanitarian nexus programming portfolio, as well as disaster risk reduction and climate, through substantive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders in the triple nexus space. The detailed terms of reference for specific assignments will be developed by the hiring manager in consultation with selected consultants. Each   consultant will be expected to work on specific deliverables as required by the relevant office, within their respective expertise.

 

*Note: The service will be rendered on “on call” basis.  UN Women does not warrant that the maximum of contract amount will be purchased during the term of the Agreement. While on retainer, there is no guarantee of work, and selected consultants retain the right to decline assignments based on their availability and expertise.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision and guidance of the Regional Portfolio Lead for Hmanitarian Action, Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change, regional specialists on Humanitarian Action, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate, and/or humanitarian, disaster risk reduction focal points/specialists, and/or Deputy Representatives in MCO/Country Offices, this retainer pool seeks to consolidate various skills under humanitarian expertise, including technical knowledge, training, research, assessment, statistics, data analysis, and more. As mentioned above, the detailed terms of reference for specific assignments will be developed by the hiring manager in consultation with selected consultants.

 

Below is a list of a wider range of skillsets relevant to the Humanitarian, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Change portfolio. We encourage applicants with relevant experience in any of the mentioned areas to apply. If you possess a subset of these skillsets, we would still be interested in considering your application.

 

Deliverables

 

1.               Programmatic and Strategic Expertise:

•                Support the development of UN Women programming relating to preparedness and response for humanitarian emergencies, and climate-induced issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

•                Provide strategic input to inter-agency and system-wide assessments, rapid gender analysis, and other technical analysis, as well as substantive technical support to the implementation and management of humanitarian action, including input to humanitarian response plans and needs assessments (such as Post-Disaster Needs Assessments, Rapid Needs Assessments, etc.).

•                Contribute technically to the development of programme strategies in humanitarian action, humanitarian nexus, and gender equality.

2.               Capacity Development and Coordination:

•                Provide technical support and capacity development to project/programme partners for UN Women ROAP/MCOs/COs/PPOs to improve coordination on gender in humanitarian action.

•                Support knowledge management, monitoring, and reporting efforts, including preparation of briefs, talking points, and finalization of knowledge resources.

•                Provide technical support to inter-agency coordination on humanitarian action and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners.

3.               Advocacy and Communication:

•                Provide substantive inputs to advocacy, knowledge building, and communication efforts.

4.               Gender Humanitarian Statistician:

•                Conduct data analysis and statistical interpretation to identify gender-specific trends and patterns within humanitarian contexts.

•                Develop methodologies and tools for gender-sensitive data collection and analysis in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

•                Support the review and development of national assessments across various sectors such as food security, health, nutrition, and others, as well as multi-sectoral needs assessments (MSNA).

•                Provide training and capacity building to humanitarian actors on gender-responsive data collection, analysis, and interpretation techniques.

•                Contribute to the development of gender-sensitive indicators and monitoring frameworks for humanitarian programs and initiatives.

•                Assist in the preparation of reports and publications highlighting gender disparities and vulnerabilities in humanitarian settings.

5.               Humanitarian Research Specialist:

•                Develop gender profiles in humanitarian action using data from national assessments and other relevant sources.

•                Conduct rapid analysis, including rapid gender analysis, to assess gender-specific impacts and vulnerabilities during crises.

•                Provide expertise in the development of early warning systems tailored to address the needs of women and marginalized groups.

•                Offer support in the design and implementation of anticipatory actions to mitigate gender disparities and enhance community resilience in disaster-prone areas.

•                Support the identification and establishment of country-level indicators for gender-responsive action plans in humanitarian and disaster risk reduction portfolios.

6.               Training and Capacity Building Expert:

•                Provide comprehensive training sessions on standardized women’s leadership, including strategies for empowerment and effective participation in decision-making processes.

•                Conduct workshops on Gender and Age Marker (GAM) to ensure gender mainstreaming in humanitarian and development programs.

•                Deliver training on Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) techniques for rapid assessment of gender dynamics in emergency situations.

•                Offer capacity building sessions on areas such as gender mainstreaming, gender-sensitive programming, and gender-responsive budgeting in Humanitarian and preparedness contexts.

•                Facilitate leadership training for women’s rights organizations/women-led organizations emphasizing gender analytical expertise in areas such as Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), participation, and security analysis.

•                Develop training materials and resources to support ongoing capacity building initiatives, including e-learning modules and training manuals.

•                Collaborate with stakeholders to design customized training programs that address the unique needs of diverse audiences, including government officials, civil society organizations, and community leaders.

 

*Payment will be made upon submission of deliverables and approval of the Portfolio Lead, Regional Specialists , Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction/humanitarian focal point from relevant Regional Office, Multi-Country Offices (MCOs) and Country Offices.

 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy with travel within the Asia-Pacific region as required.

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 

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

 

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in gender studies, human rights, international affairs, humanitarian action, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, 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 seven years of progressively responsible, relevant work experience at the national or international level in the design, planning, implementation and/or monitoring of development and/or humanitarian action projects relating to gender equality.
• Technical experience in gender-responsive humanitarian action, with demonstrated experience coordinating with governments and civil society is required.
• Experience writing project proposals, donor reports, and policy briefs is required.
• Experience in humanitarian coordination is strongly desirable and 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 and any other UN (official) language is an asset.

Submission of application

 

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit an electronic application to  with in copy, not later than 26 April 2024, 23:59 hrs. Bangkok time. 

Submission package includes:

• Letter of Motivation 
• Personal History Form (P11) which can be downloaded from
• 2x writing samples, preferably in areas relating to gender, humanitarian action, or disaster risk reduction.

 

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11).

If applying through the system, Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. So please consolidate your (all) required documents into 1 file prior to attachment.

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Please merge all documents into one document to attach.

Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

UN Women does not warrant that the maximum number of working days will be purchased during the term of the Agreement.  The consultant can only be engaged through the issuance of Quantum Purchase Order, based on the agreed Contract every time the UN Women wishes to procure the service.

UN Women Statement

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.)