Individual International Consultant - Climate Action & Humanitarian Specialist

Consultant

Contract

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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 Fiji Multi Country Office (MCO) covers 14 Pacific countries, with field offices/presence in 6 countries, and five ‘focus countries’ (Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Samoa). UN Women is the IASC-endorsed lead for the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT)’s Pacific Humanitarian Protection Cluster (PHPC). The situation varies by country, with national clusters led by government, which are typically Women’s Ministries. During disaster response, UN Women leverages its existing programmes to support local development partners to respond to the needs, for example, of people with disabilities, GBV survivors, and general provision of psychological first aid and gender and protection integration in key humanitarian sectors. Through the combination of coordinator and responder roles, UN Women promotes gender- and protection-sensitive disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

During the preparedness phase, UN Women supports national protection coordination structures to develop SOPs, guidelines and programming tools as well as provides capacity building. The range of preparedness actions are diverse given the range of emergencies in the Pacific region. The Pacific experience emergencies including natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruption, cyclones, storm surges and droughts. There have been also environmental and public health emergencies.

Within the UN Women Fiji MCO, the Climate Action/Humanitarian Action and Resilience work, comes under the SN Impact Area 4, Women, Peace, Security (WPS), Humanitarian Action & Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). UN Women Fiji MCO is engaged in supporting the region’s efforts to respond to the climate crisis, and disaster risk management.

One of the major programmes being implemented under this Impact 4 level is the Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD) Programme. UN Women promotes gender-responsive disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience across its triple mandate through technical and policy support, provision of gender expertise to DRR mechanisms and processes (local, national, regional, and global), advocacy and knowledge management, and by implementing programmes and projects for gender-responsive DRR and resilience building, including the Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD) programme, which is UN Women’s signature DRR initiative.

Reporting to the UN Women Fiji MCO Representative, the Climate Action and Humanitarian Specialist International Consultant, will lead, guide, and provide substantive technical support to selected national countries protection committees/ clusters to mainstream gender and protection in humanitarian preparedness action. The Humanitarian International Consultant will support the Fiji MCO Humanitarian Team with the PHT Protection Cluster coordination and strengthen partnerships with governments, humanitarian clusters, including other UN agencies and partners; and through regional and national coordination mechanisms to promote the substantive incorporation of gender and protection in humanitarian action.

Objectives of the Assignment

For this purpose, the selected Climate Action and Humanitarian Specialist International Consultant will work under the overall guidance of the UN Women Pacific Multi Country Office Representative, direct supervision of the Deputy Representative and in close collaboration with UN Women Programme Specialist for Humanitarian & Resilience programme.

Reporting to the Fiji MCO Deputy Representative, the International Consultant will oversee the development of Climate Action/Humanitarian and Resilience programmes, provide capacity building to Fiji Multi Country Office (MCO) and Field Offices presence in the six countries, establish, and strengthen partnerships, and develop relevant knowledge products on climate resilience, gender, protection, and humanitarian action].

The Humanitarian and Resilience Unit is looking for an individual international consultant to support the climate action and humanitarian action portfolio and the implementation of selected activities under the work plan of the Humanitarian & Resilience programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

The International Consultant will:

Oversee the design of gender-responsive climate action and humanitarian action in the region and the development of relevant knowledge products.

• Provide policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on climate action and humanitarian action;
• Identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities in the climate action and humanitarian action.

Provide technical and capacity building trainings to national protection coordination mechanism in the Pacific.

• Provide substantive technical and policy advisory support to the Fiji Multi-country office and its programme presence programme teams in developing and strengthening projects/ programmes in this area;
• Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives;
• Provide technical support to partners on implementation of interventions to advance gender-responsive climate action and humanitarian action;
• Provide technical policy advice to programme/ project managers/ specialists in the Fiji MCO, Country Offices, programme presence countries.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners.

• Build on partnerships with national protection coordination structures and national disaster response agency/ organization;
• Link and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of gender responsive climate action, disaster prevention, preparedness and humanitarian action, response and recovery;
• Maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards climate action and humanitarian action;
• Produce periodic updates and briefs on regional/country development situation to be used by stakeholders, CO and HQ.

Support advocacy for gender responsive climate resilience/humanitarian action through inter-agency coordination.

• Coordinate and provide advisory role to regional/ national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to climate action and humanitarian action and where necessary represent UN Women;
• Lead the regional Humanitarian Protection Cluster and provide support to the Global Protection Cluster when required;
• Provision of technical support to the UN Women Representative for the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT) coordination meetings as and when required;
• During emergency response, develop and implement communication and advocacy messages and strategies on key gender and protection concerns;
• Develop information, education and communication (IEC) materials, press releases, situation reports, alerts and contribute gender and protection-related inputs to documents prepared by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Support resource mobilization for gender-responsive climate resilience programming, humanitarian response, and humanitarian action in the region.

• Lead and mobilize resources to support gender-responsive climate action and humanitarian action for MCO;
• Lead and maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards climate action and humanitarian action, as delegated;
• Provide substantive technical support to field-based presences in the region in mobilizing resources for the implementation of climate action and humanitarian action.

Expected Deliverables

The duration of this assignment will be to up 90 working days over 6 months.

The Consultant is expected to deliver, specifically, the following major tasks or outputs:

No.

Deliverables

Approximate No. of days

Timeline

Initial meeting with the UN Women Representative to develop workplan and clarify the main deliverables.

Up to 2 days

December 2023

1. Monthly report outlining area in which technical support and capacity building was provided when required for strategic planning and positioning of the climate action and humanitarian action programme.

Up to 10 days

December 2023

1. Monthly report outlining area in which technical support and capacity building was provided when required, initiatives to strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, regional/ international actors, and development partner, communications and advocacy, and resource mobilization.

Up to 20 days

December 2023 – January 2024

1. Monthly report on the work around the establishment and strengthening of strategic partnerships with stakeholders, including regional/ international actors, and development partners.

Up to 10 days

January – February 2024

1. Monthly report on the resource mobilization strategy activities for climate action/resilience and humanitarian action in the region.

Up to 20 days

February – March 2024

1. Monthly report on the work around advocacy, development of knowledge products for gender responsive climate resilience/humanitarian action through inter-agency coordination.

Up to 25 days

March- April 2024

1. Submission of Final Report.

Up to 3 days

May 2024

TOTAL

90 days

The assignment should be carried out within a period of 6 months, not exceeding 90 working days, with the incumbent being responsible for delivering the following outputs:

• Monthly reports on major tasks performed and the results, including related to support provided to the partners, inputs collection etc., as per above description of tasks.
• Monthly time sheet.
• Final report on carried out activities, achievements, and challenges.
• Information management relevant to the assignment.
• Supporting documents of the month’s activities including any minutes, workplans, briefs, analytical work papers etc.

All the deliverables should be agreed with the UN Women’s Humanitarian & Resilience Programme Team provided in English hard and electronic copy.

Note that all materials, including any video footage and images, will remain property of UN Women and cannot be used without UN Women’s permission.

Upon receipt of the final deliverables and prior to the payment of the instalment, the deliverables, related reports, and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women at least within 10 business days of submission.

All the documents and materials utilized need to be returned to UN Women in electronic format. Any printed materials utilized to be referenced and returned.

Input

The Fiji MCO UN Women will provide the International Consultant with background materials. UN Women will only cover Consultant’s travel and within the Pacific should the need arises and upon prior approval by UN Women Fiji MCO.

The Consultant is expected to be based at the UN Women Fiji MCO for technical inputs. The Consultant may access the other UN Women Office for printing of relevant documents or should he/she be required to work on-site at any point during the assignment.

Performance Evaluation

The Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, and quality of the products delivered.

Financial Arrangements

Payments will be disbursed to the consultant in instalments, upon submission and approval of deliverables, monthly timesheets aligned with actual days worked and certification by the UN Women Fiji MCO Representative in collaboration with the UNW Humanitarian and Resilience Team that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Travel

Travel costs outside are not envisaged and if needed will be covered separately by UN Women with prior approval. During the consultancy assignment’s related missions, UN Women will cover travel cost for the Consultant for the agreed upon routing and in conformity with UN Women applicable rules and regulations.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon with UN Women and the International Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

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

• Substantive knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of climate change, gender equality, protection and humanitarian action, including humanitarian coordination;
• Strong knowledge of the region;
• Excellent networking skills;
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to mobilizing resources;
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting.

Required Skills and Experience

The Consultant should fulfil the following requirements:

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Climate / Environmental Studies, Humanitarian, Gender Studies, Human Rights, International Development or a related field is required.
• 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 and Skills:

• At least 7 years (with Master’s degree), or minimum of 9 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible work experience in the area of climate change, environment, disaster risk reduction, human rights, gender equality and women's empowerment, preferably at the international level
• Experience in designing and managing humanitarian programmes, with a particular focus on gender and protection in emergencies.
• Substantive and technical experience in inter-agency coordination, preferably protection cluster coordination, and/or ProCap / GenCap in a natural disaster setting;
• Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning;
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
• Ability to work efficiently and responsively within a multicultural team, while demonstrating strong initiative and high degree of personal motivation needed to carry out tasks independently with sound judgement, good coordination, communication and analytical skills as well as professionalism and maturity;
• Experience leading and coaching staff in international settings is required;
• Experience in the UN system related to climate change, disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, humanitarian-development-peace collaboration, response, and recovery is desirable;
• Working experience in Asia-Pacific region is desirable.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required.

Language and other skills:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).
• Knowledge of the Pacific is desirable.

Additional Information:

UN Women Statement on Diversity 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).

Evaluation

Initially, individual consultants will be short-listed based on the following minimum qualification criteria:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Climate / Environmental Studies, Humanitarian, Gender Studies, Human Rights, International Development or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• At least 7 years (with Master’s degree), or minimum of 9 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible work experience in the area of climate change, environment, disaster risk reduction, human rights, gender equality and women's empowerment, preferably at the international level.

Technical evaluation of shortlisted candidates will be done through desk review of applications on the basis of responsiveness to the Terms of Reference (TOR) as per table below. Interviews and/or written tests will be organized if needed only, depending on the short-listed candidates’ qualifications.

Technical Evaluation Table:

No.

Criteria

Maximum points

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Climate / Environmental Studies, Humanitarian, Gender Studies, Human Rights, International Development or a related field is required;

  • A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

*First**-level university degree – 9 pts.*

Masters’ s qualification- of 14 pts.

14

1. • At least 7 years (with Master’s degree), or minimum of 9 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible work experience in the area of climate change, environment, disaster risk reduction, human rights, gender equality and women's empowerment, preferably at the international level.

Up to 7 years with Master degree and up to 9 years with first-level university degree – 8 pts,

Each year over 7 (or 9) years - 2 pts each up to a max 18 pts.

18

1. • Experience in designing and managing humanitarian programmes, with a particular focus on gender and protection in emergencies.

8

1. • Substantive and technical experience in inter-agency coordination, preferably protection cluster coordination, and/or ProCap/GenCap in a natural disaster setting.

8

1. • Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning.

5

1. • Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field.

5

1. • Experience leading and coaching staff in international settings is required.

5

1. • Ability to work efficiently and responsively within a multicultural team, while demonstrating strong initiative and high degree of personal motivation needed to carry out tasks independently with sound judgement, good coordination, communication, and analytical skills as well as professionalism and maturity.

5

1. • Experience in the UN system related to climate change, disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, humanitarian-development-peace collaboration, response, and recovery is desirable.

5

1. • Working experience in Asia-Pacific region is desirable.

5

1. • Experience in training and building capacity of both government and UN agency representatives is desirable.

5

1. • Knowledge of the Pacific is desirable.

5

1. • Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required.

5

1. • Excellent skills and fluency in verbal and written English is required.

5

1. • Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

2

Maximum Total Technical Scoring

100

The consultancy recruitment process will be governed by the rules and regulations of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Submission of application

Interested candidates are requested to submit fully completed application on the UNDP Vacancy Site.

Submission Package:

1. Cover letter explaining the suitability of the consultant: applicants are encouraged to address experience and qualifications listed in the ‘criteria for technical evaluation’.
2. Duly filled Personal History Form (P11) and/or Curriculum Vitae (CV) of consultant including records of past experience in similar assignments and specific outputs obtained; P11 can be downloaded at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment

Failure of candidates to submit a duly completed P11 form, as well as false representations on this form, shall constitute sufficient grounds for withdrawal of further consideration of the application. Information provided in the P11 form will be treated with confidentiality. Applications without a complete set of the required documentations will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. UN Women reserves the right to accept or reject any bid.

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Added 5 months ago - Updated 5 months ago - Source: jobs.undp.org