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.
The East and Southern Africa Regional Office supports UN Women’s work in 25 countries including 13 Country Offices, one programme presence, where UN Women has a physical presence, and through the UN System in the remainder of the countries. The work of the regional office focuses on providing technical support to the country teams, supporting regional entities such as the Regional Economic Commissions, the African Union and regional civil society organizations. A key part of the RO’s work is on providing thought leadership and supporting or conducting research on issues related to women’s economic empowerment at both macro and micro levels.
East and Southern Africa is a complex and diverse region comprised of sub-regions ranging from countries with weak governance prone to crises that cross borders, while other sub-regions represent middle-income countries that are relatively stable. ESA region faces persistent challenges that hinder women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion. Limited access to financial services, land, and productive resources continues to reinforce gender inequalities in economic opportunities. Women bear a disproportionate responsibility of unpaid care work, restricting their participation in the labor market and entrepreneurship. Austerity measures and inadequate social protection further exacerbate vulnerabilities, particularly for women in informal employment. Ongoing political instability, climate-induced crises, and global economic pressures are driving food insecurity, displacement, and rising costs of living, deepening poverty and economic disparities across the region.
Women and girls in East and Southern Africa represent the most deprived group of the population in spite of their paramount social and economic role. They have limited access to, and control over critical resources, as a result of social, political, and economic norms. UN Women works to advance women’s economic empowerment and autonomy by focusing on three key priorities areas: women and the world of work, gender-responsive climate action, and transforming care systems. These efforts are supported by three cross-cutting areas: promoting gender-responsive macroeconomic policies, addressing social norms, and increasing financing for gender equality. To drive impact, UN Women leverages five key pathways: strengthening global norms and standards, advancing public policy and government collaboration at the country level, fostering partnerships with women’s organizations and diverse stakeholders, generating and applying gender data and statistics, and convening key actors to drive collective action.
To strengthen these efforts, UN Women ESARO seeks to hire a consultant to support the integration of gender considerations into climate programmes and policies, promote women’s leadership in green and blue jobs and sustainable enterprises, and engage in key policy processes related to climate change and economic transformation.
The consultant will report to the Regional Policy Specialist for Women’s Economic Empowerment and work closely with regional, global and country teams, multilateral institutions, civil society organizations and private sector partners to advance gender-responsive climate policies and programmes. Under the supervision of the WEE Regional Policy Specialist, the Consultant is responsible for providing technical support in implementation of projects/programmes and activities under the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Programme, specifically on the climate action work. The Consultant provides support to the management and monitoring of the budget utilization, provides support in managing partners, particularly with the African Union, Regional Economic Communities, private sectors (financial service providers, investors and business associations) and civil society organizations. The Consultant is also expected to support the Regional Policy Specialist on opportunities to develop and strengthen partnership and new initiative under WEE thematic area, especially in climate action.
Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work
The consultant will provide technical, programmatic, and policy support to the WEE work at the intersection of gender, climate and the green and blue economies. This would include, but not be limited to:
Provide technical support to implement of programmes and initiatives on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE)
Enhance women’s access to green jobs and sustainable livelihoods through targeted interventions;
Strengthen capacity and foster multi-stakeholder engagement for gender-responsive climate action:
Generate, manage, and disseminate knowledge on gender and climate action:
Advance advocacy, strategic communication, and policy influence on gender-responsive climate action:
Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is an office-based consultancy (with possible travel and remote arrangements).
Competencies :
Core Values:
Core Competencies:
Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:
Functional Competencies:
Required Qualifications:
Education and Certification:
Experience:
Languages:
Application:
All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. 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.
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.]
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.