Consultancy to conduct gender and disability analysis on integration of gender and disability across early warning early action value chain

Result of Service An inception report is developed that outlines the consultant’s approach to the project (3 days) A gender and disability analysis is conducted for the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project and report developed that captures key findings, analysis and recommendations (38 days) A Guideline for mainstreaming gender and disability across early warning and early action value chain for the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project is drafted and finalized (22 days). Support provided to organize Regional Gender Sensitization Workshop for the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project (10 days) Gender indicators and targets are developed for Project Outcomes and activities for both CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 and CREWS Cambodia and Lao PDR projects (10 days) Recommended approaches and methodologies for conducting gender and disability analysis in EWEA value chain are documented for future replication (3 days)

Work Location Home-based from any Pacific Island States and Territories (with possible travels within the Pacific Region).

Expected duration 15 January – 30 June 2022

Duties and Responsibilities The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (WB GFDRR) is implementing two Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems projects, one in the Pacific Islands (CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0) and one in Cambodia and Lao PDR. The projects aim to enhance regional and national capacity and systems for risk informed services related to extreme and high impact hydro-meteorological events. This consultancy will support the integration of gender and disability across both projects, with the primary focus on CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0.

This consultancy position will support the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project and the CREWS Cambodia and Lao PDR project to mainstream gender and disability inclusion in all project result areas and across the EWEA value chain, identifying gender-responsive targets and indicators for all project outcomes and outputs. The consultancy will also support context specific gender and disability analysis for the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project and develop a guidance document for integrating gender and disability into EWEA value chain.

The consultant will report to the UNDRR’s Programme Management Officer with technical support from UNDRR’s Gender Advisor and other UNDRR staff and will work in close coordination with regional and local women’s organizations, international agencies, national hydro-meteorological services, and national disaster management offices. Specific tasks of the consultancy are detailed below.

1. Prepare an Inception Report (3 days). The consultant will prepare a short inception report outlining the scope, approach, and timeline for completing the consultancy and sharing the deliverables. This will include identification of key stakeholders to be involved in the consultations/key informant interviews on gender and disability inclusive early warning systems in the Pacific as well as geographical locations. The report will include an overview strategy for disseminating the study findings.

2. Conduct gender and disability analysis for the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project The gender and disability analysis will explore how diverse groups (women, men, children, elderly, people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+) access, process, disseminate, and respond to early warning messages in the Pacific communities; and how their social, cultural, economic, and physical environment, including gender norms, roles, and relationships, determine their vulnerability to disasters, and their participation in decision making, planning, monitoring, and implementing EWEA value chain. Specifically, the analysis will look at how existing early warning systems across their main components (risk knowledge, hazard monitoring and forecasting, warning dissemination and response) and early action protocols and anticipatory action frameworks are tailored to the specific needs and priorities of various groups, identify gaps, and provide recommendations to improve planned activities and future interventions on early warning and early action to ensure they are inclusive and accessible to all and contribute to reducing inequalities that are exacerbated by differentiated impacts. The analysis will apply an intersectionality lens to explore how gender interacts with other socio-economic vulnerabilities such as disabilities, marital status, education, health, and poverty.

• Desk review (7 days). The consultant will undertake a desk review of relevant documents relating to gender and disability inclusive early warning and early action, gender-responsive disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities, gender equality, disability inclusive DRR approaches, policies and plans, women’s leadership in early warning systems, and other key documents as required.

• Targeted consultation (18 days). The consultant will undertake targeted consultations with NMHSs, national disaster management offices (NDMO), community leaders and members, regional organizations, UN agencies and local NGOs working on gender equality and women’s empowerment, LGBTQIA+ and disability inclusion, DRR and early warning and early action in the Pacific, and other external experts and key stakeholders identified during the scoping research carried out for the Inception Phase. The consultant will undertake virtual, and whenever possible in-person, focus group discussions and key informant interviews with community members, local organizations, and local government. The consultations will help to identify good practices in gender-responsive and disability inclusive EWEA value chain, and capture perspectives on the enablers, gaps, needs, and way forward for strengthening gender and disability inclusive early warning systems in the Pacific.

• Analysis of findings and draft reporting (7 days). The consultant will prepare a Draft Report (no more than 30 pages without appendices) drawing up the desk-based research and consultation findings. The analysis and reporting will:

- Identify the needs, barriers, and priorities of various groups (women, men, children, elderly, persons with disabilities, LGBTIQ+) in accessing, processing, disseminating, and responding to early warnings in Pacific communities. Including what influences or restricts people to take early action when warnings are received, and how early actions reduce disaster losses. - Assess how gender and disability impact people’s vulnerability and their experience of disaster risk, and the role of women and persons with disabilities in decision making, planning, and monitoring EWEA value chain.

- Identify any good practices, as well as current gaps and priorities to mainstream gender and disability inclusion in existing early warning systems and early action protocols in Pacific Island countries.

- Assess whether early warning products, early action protocols, warning services, dissemination channels, and regional and national frameworks, plans and coordination arrangements are gender - responsive and disability inclusive, how successfully they are tailored to the specific needs of various groups (people with disabilities, people living in remote islands, minorities).

- Identify key recommendations. The consultant will outline targeted recommendations: a) for CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 implementing partners to strengthen gender-responsive approaches in planning, implementation, and monitoring CREWS project activities, including identifying specific interventions to promote gender-responsive and disability inclusive EWEA value chain across project results area; and b) for national hydro-meteorological services and NDMOs to integrate gender and disability inclusion into early warning systems, services, products, policies and plans that will be developed under the CREWS initiative.

• Present a Draft Final Report and incorporate feedback (3 days). The consultant will coordinate comments on the draft report from CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 implementing partners (UNDRR, WMO and WB GFDRR), hydro-met services and NDMOs. The consultant will collect and incorporate the feedback into a revised draft.

• Review Final Report and present findings (3 days). Following design and editing of the report, which will be supported by UNDRR, the consultant will review the edited version to ensure all content is correctly reflected. The consultant will develop a presentation that captures the key findings from the Final Report and will present this to the project implementing partners, hydro-met services, NDMOs, and the NGOs, CSOs and local organisations who were consulted.

3. Guidelines for mainstreaming gender and disability across EWS value chain in the Pacific The guidelines will target CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 implementing partners, NMHSs and NDMOs to mainstream gender and disability inclusion into the EWEA value chain. It will provide a step-by-step guidance on systematically integrating gender equality and the rights of persons with disabilities when planning, implementing, and monitoring project activities on EWEA value chain, when developing national policies, bills, plans, strategies, and programs related to climate and weather services. It will provide practical guidance on how the recommendations from the gender and disability analysis report can be implemented.

• Prepare an outline of the Guidelines (2 days). The consultant will prepare a short outline on the scope, approach, and timeline for developing the Guidelines and sharing the deliverables.

• Drafting the Guideline (10 days). The consultant will use the findings and recommendations of gender and disability analysis to develop a step-by-step guideline for mainstreaming gender and disability into EWEA value chain value chain (approximately 10 -12 pages). The guidance will be targeted at: a) NMHS and NDMOs on how to improve EWS for vulnerable groups and develop gender – responsive and action - oriented policies and strategies on EWS; and b) CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 implementing partners on gender-responsive and disability inclusive project planning, implementation, and monitoring.

• Present a Draft Guideline for feedback (5 days). The consultant will assist in the coordination of comments from CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 implementing partners, NMHS and NDMOs on the draft guideline. The consultant will collect and incorporate the feedback into a revised draft.

• Review Final Guideline and present (5 days). Following design and editing of the guideline, supported by UNDRR and WMO, the consultant will review the edited version to ensure all content is appropriately reflected. The final draft of the guideline will be presented by the consultant to the Implementing partners, NMHS, NDMO and wider group at the Regional Gender Sensitization Workshop.

4. Support Regional Gender Sensitization Workshop for the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project UNDRR and WMO will organize a Regional Gender Sensitization Workshop for national stakeholders to present a guideline on mainstreaming gender and disability across EWEA value chain, and train partners on broader topics including gender and disability, hazard exposure, vulnerability and access to early warning systems, preparedness, and response actions.

• Support planning and conducting workshop (10 days). The consultant will support developing the workshop training materials, organizing specific sessions, delivering training sessions and preparing the workshop after-action review, in collaboration with staff from UNDRR,WMO, and implementing partners.

5. Support development gender indicators and targets for Project Outcomes for both the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 and CREWS Cambodia and Lao PDR projects.

For both projects, CREWS achievements will be measured against its overall objective, the outcomes and outputs contained in the Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks. The consultant will analyse both project documents and identify specific indicators for measuring the effectiveness and inclusiveness of CREWS activities on MHEWS and Early action, that is informed by the analysis undertaken.

• Review gender targets and indicators (10 days). The consultant will review the CREWS monitoring and evaluation frameworks for both CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 and CREWS Cambodia and Lao PDR projects and support development of gender inclusive indicators. The activities under each outcome will be reviewed and specific indicators will be identified to measure the effectiveness and inclusiveness of EWEA value chain.

6. Document the approach used for gender analysis of EWEA value chain and identify and recommend approaches and methodologies for conducting a gender and disability analysis in EWEA value chain (3 days).

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: Master's degree in Gender Studies, Development Studies, Social Science, International Development, Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Management, or another relevant field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with a minimum of two years of additional qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience: Minimum 7 years of relevant work experience in gender equality and disability inclusion, early warning systems, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, resilience building and/or development work at international level is required. Experience in the UN system related to gender equality, disaster risk reduction, climate change, sustainable development is desired. Experience in conducting consultation processes is required. Experience in strategic policy analysis & drafting policy guidance is desired. Experience in organizing workshops is desired; and Experience in working with national and/or international organizations in terms of early warning systems, gender, disaster risk reduction, climate change, and sustainability is desired. Experience in working in Asia and the Pacific region is desirable.

Skills: Good knowledge of global, regional, and local guidance documents and frameworks on gender, disability and early warning systems, disaster risk reduction, climate change and resilience are required. Excellent written communication skills and experience writing reports is required. Language: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of local Pacific languages is desirable.

Additional Information Background: The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (WB GFDRR) is implementing two Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems projects, one in the Pacific Islands (CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0) and one in Cambodia and Lao PDR. The projects aim to enhance regional and national capacity and systems for risk informed services related to extreme and high impact hydro-meteorological events. This consultancy will support the integration of gender and disability across both projects, with the primary focus on CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0.

The primary objective of the CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project is to enhance the effectiveness and inclusiveness of Pacific Island and Regional Early Warning systems for local and vulnerable populations. It consists of five outcomes:

1. Improved governance: strengthened governance structures and mechanisms for regional centres and National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) targeted by the project are in place. 2. Enhanced product development and accessibility: enhanced regional and national facilities and capacities of regional centres and NMHSs targeted by the project to produce impact-based forecasts and risk - informed warnings of extreme and high impact hydro-meteorology events, accessing and using global and regional data, products, and services. 3. Enhanced service delivery: Regional centres and NMHSs targeted by the project better deliver impact based and risk informed hydro-meteorological data, products, and services to multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) stakeholders for their decision support. 4. Enhanced communication and awareness programmes on early warning services (EWS). 5. Improved integration of gender and disability: Mainstreaming gender and disability across the early warning early action value chain.

The CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 participating Pacific SIDS include: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Republic of Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The CREWS Project in Cambodia and Lao PDR aims to enhance the capacities of national and regional stakeholders and institutions to provide hydro-met, early action and response services to ensure that vulnerable populations in Cambodia and Lao PDR are reached through effective and inclusive risk-informed early warning services. It consists of five outcomes:

1. Strengthened governance mechanisms and enabling environment created for national and regional stakeholders. 2. Enhanced capacity of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to provide forecasts and warning 3. Strengthened capacities of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services information and communication technology 4. Enhanced preparedness and response capability to act upon warning and risk information to minimize the impact of disasters on lives, livelihoods and socio-economic systems 5. Improved integration of gender and vulnerable groups across the early warning early action value chain.

In both projects UNDRR and WMO will co-lead the Outcome 5 on integrating gender and disability across the early warning early action (EWEA) value chain. This outcome aims to ensure that multi-hazard early warning systems and services, plans, and response actions are people-centred, gender-responsive and disability inclusive and address the needs of vulnerable groups including women, persons with disabilities, elderly, and other marginalized groups. Effective early warning systems which enable early action depend on understanding these groups’ needs and their specific vulnerabilities and capacities through gender-, disability- and age-disaggregated assessments. The ability of specific groups to act upon a warning depends on their access to trusted understandable information and their capacities to take protective action. This outcome of the projects will also ensure that project activities are aligned with the CREWS Operational Procedure №3 Gender-Sensitive Programming and contribute to the implementation gender policies and frameworks.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.