Purpose of consultancy:

UNFPA APRO requires a Regional Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Anticipatory Action (AA) Specialist Consultant to further expand and consolidate UNFPA’s CVA and AA work in the Asia Pacific region. This full-time consultancy will support 1) regional CVA initiatives and the scale-up of CVA in UNFPA’s mandated areas of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) programming and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, in disaster responses and other crises, and protracted contexts; 2) the expansion of UNFPA’s gender-responsive AA implemented in advance of forecasted disasters to help women and girls protect themselves and preserve their dignity, health, and wellbeing, which largely includes the expanded use of cash assistance in AA. 

The consultant will provide strategic, technical, and capacity-building support on CVA and AA (and CVA in AA) in the region, and will contribute to global technical initiatives related to both areas.

 

Background: 

In 2020 UNFPA’s executive management endorsed its Commitments to Scaling Up CVA that is high-quality and cost-effective to maximise results for women, girls and youth during crises, as part of our commitment to leaving no one behind. UNFPA uses CVA to contribute to prevention and response to GBV, self-reliance, access to SRH services, and social protection. All these areas support UNFPA’s Three Transformative Results of eliminating gender-based violence and harmful practices, preventable maternal mortality and unmet need for family planning.

The number of countries using this approach in UNFPA is growing globally. 10 countries implement CVA in the Asia Pacific region, with additional countries preparing for it, including in the Pacific. In a time of expanding needs and constrained resources, the strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of UNFPA humanitarian action through CVA is critical. Furthermore, CVA, through consistent engagement with women, girls and other marginalized individuals from its design phase, is a concrete way of operationalizing accountability to affected populations and supporting recipients with dignity and agency.

With emergencies in Asia-Pacific becoming more frequent, intense and complex, driven in part by climate change and other compounding crises, UNFPA is also expanding its operational role in anticipatory action (AA) frameworks. Over the past five years, UNFPA’s AA, implemented ahead of hazards such as cyclones, floods, and droughts, have aimed to reduce humanitarian impact, prevent harmful coping strategies, and help individuals and communities preserve their dignity, health, and wellbeing. In a region where AA is becoming an increasingly prioritized approach by the humanitarian community, UNFPA’s AA currently operates across six countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, Nepal, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, with expansion planned in other countries. 

2025 has marked a turning point whereby an increasing number of UNFPA countries have started positioning themselves and engaging in AA, with current planning from Myanmar, Indonesia and five Pacific countries, in addition to the six already active country offices who are continuously refining and expanding their AA planning. All of these countries are developing key AA activities (to be implemented in timeframes that can be as short as 3 to 5 days when an AA trigger is reached) and advocating for the integration of GBV and SRH in national AA frameworks. Cash assistance, as a rapid and flexible anticipatory tool, is one of the most widely used AA interventions globally and in the Asia-Pacific region. UNFPA’s experience shows it is especially effective for meeting SRH and GBV related needs, helping women, girls and marginalized individuals evacuate safely, access lifesaving healthcare, and maintain dignity during crises. 

As such the consultant's expertise and support will serve UNFPA’s unique work on CVA for SRH and GBV, gender-responsive AA and the increasing use of cash assistance in AA. 

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

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.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.


Scope of work:
The consultant will provide technical support and oversight on CVA and AA in active and upcoming countries including advice to technical teams and senior management. The consultant will assist in laying a foundation in terms of sound programming, partnerships, capacity-building and knowledge management.

Key responsibilities for CVA include:

Strategic and scaled-up CVA programming

  • Support the strategic and coherent use of CVA in Asia Pacific countries as part of GBV, SRH, access to dignity items, in anticipatory action, emergency response, early recovery and nexus programming. Linkages with social protection will be considered where relevant and feasible.
  • Support the Regional Humanitarian Advisor in advancing strategic regional partnerships with sister UN agencies and partners to build upon existing structures and reach appropriate scale.
  • Support technical teams in APRO to ensure CVA is integrated into their strategies and operational plans and find opportunities for collaboration.
  • Support the Regional Humanitarian Advisor in learning and knowledge sharing through the UNFPA Regional CVA Community of Practice and to regional Technical and Programme counterparts as appropriate.
  • Support the Regional Humanitarian Advisor in representing UNFPA in inter-agency regional coordination mechanisms, for example through developing briefing notes and talking points. Support country offices in the same capacity when requested and develop advocacy material related to UNFPA’s CVA in SRH and GBV. 

Technical support

  • Provide technical support on assessments, planning and budgeting, proposal development and resource mobilization efforts, technical choices, legal and regulatory aspects, implementation modalities and coordination in line with UNFPA’s CVA guidelines and associated policies and procedures.
  • Advise COs on partnership models, payment service provider agreements, standard operating procedures and data sharing agreements at country level, in coordination with Operations and Finance teams.
  • Support countries in their preparedness and pre-positioning of cash, as part of the flagship Regional Pre-positioning Initiative of UNFPA
  • Create relevant training opportunities and provide on-site and virtual capacity building, coaching, and training in CVA for UNFPA key personnel (GBV, SRH, Humanitarian, Operations/Finance, etc.).
  • Support the roll-out and compliance building with corporate CVA tools, guidance, systems, and policies in country offices. Support the adaptation of global tools based on country feedback.
  • Continue to build on UNFPA APRO’s localized and tailored CVA for specific groups of individuals such as adolescents and youth, persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV, persons of diverse SOGIESC, older persons and other marginalized individuals.
  • Support the systematic documentation of good practices and lessons learned, including through developing case studies and conducting research to build the evidence base on using CVA in SRH and GBV programming. 

Key responsibilities specific to AA include:

  • Support proposal development and review, planning and positioning of UNFPA Asia Pacific countries on AA and country-level development of AA guidance, SOPs or protocols. 
  • Support the increased use of cash assistance by COs in the set-up, design and implementation of their anticipatory action frameworks, plans and activities. 
  • Support the Regional Humanitarian Advisor in facilitating exchange and learning between Asia Pacific countries and with other UNFPA Business Units for strengthened AA activities and frameworks. 
  • Prepare updates, presentation material, talking points, or briefing notes on AA as relevant.
  • Support knowledge management, documenting of best practices and lessons learned on AA.   

In addition to the above, support to global and regional CVA and AA may also include:

  • Contribute to relevant CVA and AA global and cross-regional initiatives with ideas and learnings from APRO, including technical initiatives, development of global guidance and donor reporting as appropriate.
  • Undertake technical support missions for AA across the region and be available for rapid deployment if needed.

As well as any other support activities as required by the APRO Regional Humanitarian Adviser.

Duration and working schedule: 20 January 2026 -  19 December 2026

Place where services are to be delivered: Home-based in the Asia Pacific region.

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered: Delivered electronically.

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:

Quarterly report on the CVA programme support, capacity-building and/or global activities supported. The deadline for completion of work is the end of the contract period.Regular updates should be provided to the Regional Humanitarian Advisor.

Supervisory arrangements: The Regional CVA specialist reports to the APRO Regional Humanitarian Adviser.

Expected travel: Travel to countries for strategic and technical support depending on identified needs and/or country offices requests for support missions. 

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

  • Master’s degree, preferably in international relations, humanitarian affairs, economic development, or social sciences, and political science, or other related fields.

Knowledge and Experience: 

  • Minimum seven (7) years of professional experience working on programming and technical support in the area of cash & voucher assistance (CVA/CBI/CBT) programming in humanitarian or early recovery settings, and Anticipatory Action (AA). 
  • Proven knowledge and technical skills in set up, design, implementation, and monitoring of CVA from a multisectoral and/or protection perspective.
  • Demonstrated experience in humanitarian program management in CVA or sectoral areas.
  • Expertise on CVA in the fields of gender, protection/GBV and/or SRH/Health, and understanding of global issues/trends in this area, is an asset.
  • Demonstrated expertise and experience in anticipatory action programming, including the design and implementation of risk-informed, forecast-based interventions and pre-arranged financing mechanisms.
  • Strong communications skills. Experience advocating for the use of CVA is an asset.
  • Experience in building the capacity of technical teams, including personnel and partners. 
  • Familiarity with UNFPA programming in anticipatory action, humanitarian preparedness, response and/or early recovery contexts is an asset.
  • Flexibility and adaptability and ability to manage multiple tasks concurrently.
  • Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail in a high paced and often stressful environment.

Languages: 

  • Fluency in English is required, with excellent written and verbal English skills.
  • A second UN language is an asset.


UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.



 

Disclaimer:

Selection may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, and other administrative requirements. 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. 

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