Gender and Climate Specialist

Details

Mission and objectives

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. In Sri Lanka, we deliver this mandate based on principles of human rights and gender equality by advocating for rights-based gender responsive & transformative policies that enable the full realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.

Context

Sri Lanka faces climate change impacts including extreme weather events, sea level rise, agriculture disruption, biodiversity loss, health risks, and economic challenges. Increased rain-fall intensity leads to floods and landslides, while rising temperatures affect agriculture and water resources. Coastal erosion threatens infrastructure and habitats. Biodiversity and hu-man health suffer from habitat disruption and disease spread. Economic sectors like agriculture and tourism face losses. While these are environmental changes in the environment, these impact women and girls the most. Climate change exacerbates women's health disparities and exposes them to increased risks of gender-based violence due to existing inequalities. Limited access to healthcare and re-sources makes women more vulnerable to climate-related health issues and reproductive health challenges. Displacement following disasters heightens risks of violence and exploitation, as women lack protection and support networks. Women's traditional roles in resource management and caregiving increase their workload and stress during climate-related events. Addressing the disproportionate impact of climate change on women's health and exposure to gender-based violence is incredibly urgent. Climate change exacerbates existing gender inequalities, placing women and marginalized communities at greater risk of harm. Failure to ad-dress these issues not only perpetuates injustices but also undermines efforts to build resilience and achieve sustainable development goals. Immediate action is needed to integrate gender-responsive approaches into climate change policies, enhance women's access to healthcare and resources, and combat gender-based violence. Ignoring these challenges not only threatens individual well-being but also undermines the resilience and stability of com-munities and societies as a whole. Therefore, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Sri Lanka addresses climate change by focusing on understanding population dynamics, ensuring access to reproductive health services, advocating for gender equality, and supporting resilience and adaptation strategies, especially in communities most affected by climate change. Building from its traditional partnership with Health and Protection actors, UNFPA's efforts include providing emergency reproductive health services during climate-induced crises, preventing gender-based violence, and forming partnerships to integrate population and gender issues into climate policies. UNFPA is hiring a UNV to support the CO’s work on Climate Action as part of the implementation of the 10th Country Programme of the Sri Lanka country office. Through the Gender and Climate Specialist, UNFPA intends to put persons, women and girls at the very centre of Sri Lanka’s climate agenda and UNFPA’s programming. UNFPA Sri Lanka is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need a staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results. In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Programme, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: Strategic Advice: (a) Review, analyze and provide recommendations on the country-level policies and programmes related to gender mainstreaming inside climate-related policy; and, (b) Analyze international and regional climate agenda and provide strategic advice to the Sri Lanka CO on the best approach to strengthen programming for gender climate action. Capacity Development and System’s Strengthening: (a) develop tools for Gender and Climate Action programming for government of Sri Lanka; (b) Support the implementation of a UNFPA Gender and Climate Strategy, and (c) Conduct Gender and Climate Action capacity building for relevant stakeholders in Sri Lanka. Policy Research, Evidence and Dialogues: (a) Support the development of policy briefs, re-searches and issue briefs on climate and gender; and, (b) Support the conduct of policy dialogues, meetings and engagements on gender and climate. Strategic Partnerships and Positioning: (a) Represent UNFPA Sri Lanka in government and other stakeholders’ meetings on climate-related forums, meetings and dialogues; (b) Conduct mapping of existing projects, financing mechanisms, and stakeholders in the national, including regional and global actors active in Sri Lanka with a Gender component in Climate work; and, (c) In close coordination with UNFPA communication team, support production of meaningful, engaging and impactful communication products related to gender and climate agenda.