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.

Today, women and girls are disproportionately and differently affected by climate change. The UN Women’s Gender Snapshot 2023 estimates that climate change may push up to 158.3 million more women and girls into poverty (16 million more than the total number of men and boys) and food insecurity is projected to increase by as much as 236 million more women and girls by 2050, compared to 131 million more men and boys by 2050, under a worst-case climate scenario.[1] Furthermore, in climate-related disasters, women are exposed to heightened risks of gender-based violence, have further reduced access to life-saving services including sexual and reproductive health care and GBV services, bear most of the care work for affected family members and communities, and are at higher risks of losing education and income opportunities. These increased risks and vulnerabilities are the result of deeply rooted gender inequalities, including barriers women face in equitably accessing economic resources. The climate crises further amplify these existing gender inequalities and vulnerabilities.

Amid humanitarian crises and emergencies exacerbated by climate change, the humanitarian community accelerates its efforts to effectively and timely respond to the needs of the most vulnerable affected by climate crises and take anticipatory action. The Climate Crisis Sub-Group of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) established in September 2022 is currently finalizing its first iteration of the IASC Roadmap for Climate and Environment Action, which identifies six priority areas of the IASC action in the climate crisis. UN Women, as a IASC member, is also scaling up its commitment and contribution to addressing climate crises in alignment with the Roadmap by enhancing awareness of the gendered dimensions of climate crisis; investing in gender data and analysis; and ensuring response, preparedness activities and anticipatory actions for climate induced emergencies are gender-responsive and where possible gender-transformative. UN Women also provides critical protection and livelihood services and support to women and girls both by addressing their immediate needs; and by strengthening their resilience against future shocks including extreme weather events and disasters.

Reflecting COP28 and its first-ever Humanitarian Hub that highlighted how climate-related disasters affect people in crisis situations, and in light of upcoming COP29, UN Women is going to produce an advocacy brief that showcase its approach to climate crises. This brief aims to:

• Underscore the importance of gender dimensions in climate crises in humanitarian settings;
• Highlight priority actions for gender-responsive humanitarian action to climate crises;
• Introduce UN Women’s approach to climate crises;
• Showcase examples of UN Women’s ongoing work in climate-induced emergencies.

The brief will be utilized for UN Women’s engagement with donors, other UN agencies and humanitarian actors and climate actors to provide an overview of UN Women’s work on climate crises. The Humanitarian Section currently seeks the services of an experienced consultant that will take the leading role in developing the advocacy brief, which is a strategic communication product for UN Women to engage with a wide range of stakeholders.

The consultant will be reporting to the Programme Specialist – Research and Knowledge management of the Humanitarian Section, and will be supported by the Finance Associate, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

[1] UN Women ‘Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2023,’ https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2023

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

UN Women requires a Climate Crisis Specialist for:

• Reviewing the IASC’s climate crisis-related documents (draft Roadmap for Climate and Environment Action, COP28 key messages etc), UN Women’s draft Climate Strategy and relevant documents of climate-related programmes/projects (life-saving humanitarian assistance, resilience-building, preparedness, anticipatory actions) in humanitarian contexts, and interviewing UN Women HQ, regional, and country office staff engaging interventions in climate-induced emergencies, to identify key results, promising practices and lessons learned of UN Women’s work on climate crises;
• Producing UN Women’s Advocacy Brief on Climate Crisis (4-pager), a communication product to showcase UN Women’s approach and ongoing work/impacts in climate crisis contexts.
• Finalizing the Advocacy Brief by incorporating UN Women staff comments and feedback

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy with no travel 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:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Knowledge of gender issues
• Demonstrated ability to work in a diverse environment;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Highly effective organization and planning skills and high attention to detail;
• Excellent analytical and research skills;
• Team player;
• Strong knowledge and use of computer office tools.

Excellent drafting and editing skills across a range of reporting formats and requirements

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in gender studies, human rights, international affairs, disaster risk reduction, climate change, 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 advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in the area of climate change, environment, disaster risk reduction, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, preferably at the international level;
• Demonstrated experience in providing technical and policy guidance to UN agencies, governments, and civil society organizations on the design and implementation of gender-responsive climate change/ DRR programmes;
• Proven track record in developing and implementing successful projects for humanitarian action, DRR, or climate change;
• Excellent communication and writing skills, with the ability to develop clear and concise reports, policy briefs, and other knowledge products.
• Working experience with UN Women or other United Nations agency an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge Arabic, French, Spanish or any other UN official language is an asset.

How to apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.