International Consultant – Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction/Gender in Humanitarian Action (Retainer)

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 for women as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.  Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

 

Based on UN legislative mandates and the UNW Strategic Plan, the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) is tasked with providing strategic programme development, policy/ technical advisory services and quality assurance support to Multi-Country Offices (MCOs) and Country Offices (COs). It undertakes or coordinates regional research and data analysis; advises on norms, policies and strategies for achieving the internationally and regionally agreed goals related to gender equality and women’s empowerment issues. It acts as a knowledge hub at the regional level, collecting evidence on progress and emerging issues and sharing knowledge on innovative approaches and lessons learned in implementation. Additionally, UN Women ROAP provides backstopping support to the Philippines Programme Office to expand the Gender in Humanitarian Action presence at the sub-national and national levels to ensure more meaningful participation of vulnerable and marginalized groups in humanitarian coordination, coordination, and decision-making, as well as to facilitated more streamlined work towards gender equality and empowerment of vulnerable sectors in the Philippines.

 

In order to support Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) engagement and nexus programming with Women, Peace and Security in the Philippines as well as support regional engagement on humanitarian action,  UN Women ROAP seeks to hire an consultant to support programme development, knowledge management, and coordination functions for 1) Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) portfolio, including provision of technical assistance and expertise to the regional and national Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Groups; 2) Nexus between humanitarian action and the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda with the focus on mitigating the gendered impacts of COVID-19, including strengthening peace process actors’ knowledge and capacity, maintaining social cohesion, and equipping women’s groups with means to maximize their impact on the ground; and 3) EmPower project on gender and climate change by supervising national consultants for a training of trainers (ToT) in Philippines.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision and guidance of the Regional Advisor on Humanitarian Action and DRR, Regional Advisor on WPS, WPS Programme Specialist/Officer in Charge (OIC) for the Philippines Programme Presence Office, Regional Advisor on Gender and Climate Change, and/or focal point(s) from relevant Multi/Country Office(s) as assigned, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Advance trainings and orientations on GiHA through a series of trainings (if possible, with coaching and mentoring) offered to local civil society organizations (CSOs) and interested international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and gender focal points of municipalities in high-risk areas (both natural disasters and conflicts). Jointly implemented with women’s rights organizations (WROs) and women-focused organizations (WFOs). By the end of the training, participants will be able to conduct rapid gender assessments and commit to gathering and maintaining the sex-, age- and disability-disaggregated data (SADDD), as well as develop sound recommendations for gender-responsive interventions.
• Advance support to Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) and Mindanao Humanitarian Team by facilitating orientations on Gender and Age Marker (GAM) or GiHA.
• Provide surge capacity with support from GIHA to form a pool of gender experts that can be deployed at the request of any organization or and/or cluster, as well as identify the necessary processes and resources.
• Support WROs and WFOs in conducting needs assessments and gender analyses via core fund/resources allocated for disasters and humanitarian crises.  
• Provide gender expertise to humanitarian coordination mechanisms, together with UN Population Fund (UNFPA), through established relations with CSOs and networks in governmental platforms.
• Engagement in COVID-19 vaccinations initiatives, especially in addressing challenges related to vaccine hesitancy and uptake among vulnerable and marginalized communities, national capacity to cope with the crisis, increasing gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) risks that women, girls and other groups with intersecting vulnerabilities face.

• Support programme development of new areas of work relating to preparedness and response for COVID-19 and disasters in the Asia-Pacific region for UN Women ROAP, including providing dedicated research support, as well as drafting of project proposals, concept notes, talking points, presentations, and briefs.
• Provide targeted technical and coordination support on ad-hoc basis to MCOs/COs for the implementation of programmes relating to preparedness and response for COVID-19 and disasters in the Asia-Pacific region, including through deployments to MCOs/COs as requested (based on retainer).
• Supervise a training of trainers (ToT) in Philippines for EmPower project on gender and climate change by providing technical support to scoping study (including review of report), supporting to ToT preparations (including review and pre-testing of a ToT package in Tagalog and the preparation of ToT), and reviewing of communications/PR materials, final documentation report.

 

Expected Deliverables

In close consultation with the Regional Advisor on Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction, Regional Advisor on WPS, WPS Programme Specialist/Officer in Charge (OIC) for the Philippines Programme Presence Office, Regional Advisor on Gender and Climate Change, and/or focal point(s) from relevant Multi/Country Office(s) as assigned, the consultant will produce on a retainer basis:

• Design and convene a series of trainings on GiHA (with coaching and mentoring packages), together with WROs and WFOs, for local CSOs, interested INGOs and gender focal points of municipalities in disaster-affected and conflict-prone areas. Trainings should include introductions to how to conduct rapid gender assessments with the use an inclusive data collection methodology (i.e. SADDD) to inform the development of recommendations for gender-responsive interventions
• Review and provide input to the rapid needs assessments and gender analyses conducted by local WROs and WFOs to inform national preparedness and response to COVID-19, disasters, and other humanitarian crises in the region
• Identify gender experts in the region to create a pool of specialists to be deployed, as requester by any organization/cluster, in emergency and humanitarian settings
• Draft, revise and finalize knowledge product(s) related to gender and COVID-19 vaccinations at the national level with a focus on vaccine hesitancy among local communities, gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse risks that women, girls, and other vulnerable groups are facing, as well as strategy entry points and lessons learned for greater regional coordination
• Draft concept notes, Terms of References, or Requests for Quotations/Requests for Proposals, along with project proposals, talking points, presentations, and briefing notes in support of the Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction portfolio, as well as the WPS portfolio
• Write and consolidate reports/summaries on technical assistance and coordination support provided to MCOs/COs, including documentation of strategic entry points, challenges, lessons learned and good practices
• Supervise 2 national consultants in Philippines for a ToT, provide technical support to scoping study (including review of report), support ToT preparations (including review and pre-testing of a ToT package in Tagalog and the preparation of ToT), and review communications/PR materials, final documentation report

 

 

 

In close consultation with the Regional Advisor on Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction, Regional Advisor on Women, Peace and Security, Regional Advisor on Gender and Climate Change, UN Women OIC for the Philippines and/or focal point(s) from relevant Multi/Country Office(s) as assigned, the consultant will produce on a retainer basis:

 

*Payment will be made upon submission of deliverables and approval of Regional Advisor on Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction, Regional Advisor on WPS, WPS Programme Specialist/Officer in Charge (OIC) for the Philippines Programme Presence Office, Regional Advisor on Gender and Climate Change, and/or focal point(s) from relevant Multi/Country Office(s) as assigned.

Competencies

Knowledge and experience:

• Demonstrated knowledge of gender equality, humanitarian action or response to public health emergencies, and the Asia-Pacific region
• Knowledge in climate change is an asset
• Excellent writing skills. Experience writing project proposals, donor reports, and policy briefs an asset
• Knowledge of online communications platforms an advantage
• Previous experience with UN Women and other UN agencies an advantage
• Experience on supervising other consultant/staffs on organization of trainings/workshops is an asset
• Fluency in English, with knowledge of other languages spoken in the Asia-Pacific region and other UN languages an advantage
• Knowledge in Tagalog is an asset

 

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the United Nations' values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the UN and UN Women
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Ability and willingness to work as part of a team to meet tight deadlines and produce high quality work

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in gender studies, international affairs, social science, policy, and/or any relevant field directly related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (a first-level university in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree)
• Minimum one year of relevant work experience in research, project coordination, and/or knowledge management
• Experience in providing programmatic or coordination support in the areas of gender, humanitarian action, and/or socioeconomic recovery from disasters and/or climate change in Asia Pacific
• Working experience in the Pacific including Philippines strongly desirable
• Experience in humanitarian coordination strongly desirable, working experience with UN Women or other United Nations agency an asset

• Excellent command of written English, other languages spoken in the Asia-Pacific region and UN languages an asset

 

Contract period and work location

The consultant will be home based, with potential travel to target countries as requested in requests for support to the Regional Office and/or Multi/Country Offices/Programme Presence Offices. Reimbursement for travel, including DSA, will be provided in line with UN Women guidelines. The contract period is August 2021 to July 2022.

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated
• The total number of points allocated for the price component is 100
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price

 

Submission of application

 

Interest candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org  with cc to salila.klongboonjit@unwomen.org , not later than 25 July 2021, 23:59 Bangkok time.

 

Submission package includes:

• Letter of Motivation
• Personal History Form (P11)
• 2x writing samples, preferably in areas relating to gender, humanitarian action, or DRR
• Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify the daily professional fee in USD

 

Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

 

UN Women does not warrant that the maximum number of working days will be purchased during the term of Agreement.  The consultant can only be engaged through issuance of ATLAS Purchase Order, based on agreed Contract every time the UN Women wishes to procure the service.