Humanitarian Action (Retainer for Roster), Homebased, International Consultant

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.

Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action across the globe. It provides 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 UN Women Strategic Plan, the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) are tasked with providing strategic program development, policy/technical advisory services, and quality assurance support to Multi-Country Offices (MCOs) and Country Offices (COs). They undertake or coordinate regional research and data analysis; advise on norms, policies, and strategies for achieving the internationally and regionally agreed goals related to gender equality and women’s empowerment. They act as knowledge hubs at the regional level, collecting evidence on progress and emerging issues, and sharing knowledge on innovative approaches and lessons learned in implementation.

UN Women’s work in humanitarian action is guided by global norms and standards. Building on the findings of the inter-agency Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) review, based on the Accountability Framework of the IASC’s Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in Humanitarian Action Policy, the UN Economic and Social Council adopted resolutions E/RES/2012/3, E/RES/2013/62, and E/RES/2014/23 in 2012, 2013, and 2014, which recognize that humanitarian action can be strengthened by mainstreaming a gender perspective into all aspects of the humanitarian response.

Europe and Central Asia and the Arab States are regions with significant exposure to the impacts of humanitarian crises, including conflicts, climate-related disasters, and fragile conditions. The ECA and Arab States regions face increasing challenges, with growing humanitarian needs and risks due to conflict, displacement, and climate change. As the impact of these crises continues to rise, there is a strong recognition within UN Women’s country offices that the development and humanitarian challenges must be met with accelerated action and enhanced capacity, supported by the regional offices.

Women, girls, boys, and men, in all their diversity, are disproportionately affected by humanitarian emergencies, climate-related disasters, and fragile conditions. Gender inequality increases vulnerability and hinders the capacity to anticipate, adapt, and recover from crises. Promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (GEWE) in humanitarian action is essential for an effective response. It facilitates participation, ensures protection, increases access to assistance, and enables transformative change for people of all genders and ages.

The UN Women Regional Offices for Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the Arab States (ROAS) aim to establish a diverse pool of consultants for placement on a retainer basis, accessible to the Regional Office and Country Offices. They are seeking technical support from international senior consultants under a retainer contract to contribute to program development, knowledge management, and coordination functions for the Humanitarian Action & Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Portfolio and related activities.

The selected consultants will be integral in advancing UN Women’s deployable response capacity, serving as gender experts to support coordinated UN responses in both regions. They will also contribute to advancing gender-responsive peace, development, and humanitarian nexus programming, as well as disaster risk reduction and climate action, through substantive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders in the triple nexus space. Detailed terms of reference for specific assignments will be developed by the hiring manager in consultation with selected consultants. Each consultant will be expected to deliver specific outputs as required by the relevant office, within their respective expertise.

Note: The service will be rendered on an "on-call" basis. UN Women does not guarantee that the maximum contract amount will be purchased during the term of the agreement. While on retainer, there is no guarantee of work, and selected consultants retain the right to decline assignments based on their availability and expertise.

The consultant will be reporting to the regional humanitarian lead and Country Representative as needed depending on where the position is based.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the supervision and guidance of the Portfolio Leads for Humanitarian Action and Country Representative, this retainer pool seeks to consolidate various skills under humanitarian expertise, including technical knowledge, coordination, resource mobilization, M&E, training, research, assessment, statistics, data analysis, and more. As mentioned above, the detailed terms of reference for specific assignments will be developed by the hiring manager in consultation with selected consultants.

Below is a list of a wider range of skillsets relevant to the Humanitarian, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Change portfolio. We encourage applicants with relevant experience in any of the mentioned areas to apply. If you possess a subset of these skillsets, we would still be interested in considering your application.

Deliverables

Programmatic and Strategic Expertise:

Support the development of UN Women programming related to preparedness and response for humanitarian emergencies and climate-induced issues in the Europe and Central Asia and Arab States regions.

Provide strategic input to inter-agency and system-wide assessments, rapid gender analysis, and other technical analyses, as well as substantive technical support to the implementation and management of humanitarian action, including input to humanitarian response plans and needs assessments (such as Post-Disaster Needs Assessments, Rapid Needs Assessments, etc.).

Contribute technically to the development of programme strategies in humanitarian action, humanitarian nexus, and gender equality., in line with UN Women’s Global Humanitarian Strategy 2024 -2025. 

Interagency coordination:

Support knowledge management, monitoring, and reporting efforts, including the preparation of briefs, talking points, and finalization of knowledge resources.

Provide technical support to inter-agency coordination on Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) to ensure coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners.

Advocacy and Communication:

Provide substantive inputs to advocacy, knowledge building, and communication efforts.

Partnership and resource mobilization:

•             Facilitate a partnership with Women-led Organizations (WLOs) Women’s Right Organizations (WROs) and key UN Women international humanitarian partners.

•             Support the drafting of strategic notes, talking points, key messages for internal UN Women leadership.

•             Support drafting of concept notes and proposals to scale up UN Women’s humanitarian/nexus programming.

•             Contribute to identifying opportunities-programming and partnerships, including through discussion with clusters, UN entities, INGOs, women CSOs and other stakeholders to develop targeted programming across the humanitarian – development – peace nexus.

Gender Humanitarian Statistician:

Conduct data analysis and statistical interpretation to identify gender-specific trends and patterns within humanitarian contexts in the ECA and Arab States regions.

Develop methodologies and tools for gender-sensitive data collection and analysis in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

Support the review and development of national assessments across various sectors such as food security, health, nutrition, and others, as well as multi-sectoral needs assessments (MSNA).

Provide training and capacity building to humanitarian actors on gender-responsive data collection, analysis, and interpretation techniques.

Contribute to the development of gender-sensitive indicators and monitoring frameworks for humanitarian programs and initiatives.

Assist in the preparation of reports and publications highlighting gender disparities and vulnerabilities in humanitarian settings.

Humanitarian Research Specialist:

Develop gender profiles in humanitarian action using data from national assessments and other relevant sources.

Conduct rapid analysis, including rapid gender analysis, to assess gender-specific impacts and vulnerabilities during crises in the ECA and Arab States regions.

Provide expertise in the development of early warning systems tailored to address the needs of women and marginalized groups.

Offer support in the design and implementation of anticipatory actions to mitigate gender disparities and enhance community resilience in disaster-prone areas.

Support the identification and establishment of country-level indicators for gender-responsive action plans in humanitarian and disaster risk reduction portfolios.

Training and Capacity Building Expert:

Provide technical support and capacity development to project/programme partners for UN Women ECA RO/ROAS, MCOs/COs/PPOs to improve coordination on gender in humanitarian action.

Provide comprehensive training sessions on standardized women’s leadership, including strategies for empowerment and effective participation in decision-making processes.

Conduct workshops on Gender and Age Marker (GAM) to ensure gender mainstreaming in humanitarian and development programs.

Deliver training on Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) techniques for rapid assessment of gender dynamics in emergency situations.

Offer capacity-building sessions on areas such as gender mainstreaming, gender-sensitive programming, and gender-responsive budgeting in humanitarian and preparedness contexts.

Facilitate leadership training for women's rights organizations/women-led organizations emphasizing gender analytical expertise in areas such as Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), participation, and security analysis.

Develop training materials and resources to support ongoing capacity building initiatives, including e-learning modules and training manuals.

Collaborate with stakeholders to design customized training programs that address the unique needs of diverse audiences, including government officials, civil society organizations, and community leaders.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based/office-based consultancy working with Europe and Central Asia and Arab States regions as required – please indicate in your application if you are only available for remote consultancies.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Comprehensive Gender Analysis and Strategic Planning for Inclusive Development
• Advanced Technical Expertise in Humanitarian Action and Emergency Response
• Capacity Development, Training, and Knowledge Management for Organizational Growth
• Data Analysis and Gender-Responsive Monitoring for Impactful Program Evaluation
• Inter-Agency Coordination, Collaboration, and Advocacy for Effective Humanitarian Action

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in gender studies, human rights, international affairs, humanitarian action, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, social science, public policy, and/or any relevant field directly related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (a first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advance university degree). 

Experience:

• Minimum seven years of progressively responsible, relevant work experience at the national or international level in the design, planning, implementation and/or monitoring of development and/or humanitarian action projects relating to gender equality.
• Technical experience in gender-responsive humanitarian action, with demonstrated experience coordinating with governments and civil society is required. 
• Experience writing project proposals, donor reports, and policy briefs is required. 
• Experience in humanitarian coordination is strongly desirable and working experience with UN Women or other United Nations agency an asset. 
• Working experience in UN is strongly desirable. 
• Knowledge of online communications platforms an advantage.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required. 
• Knowledge of other languages spoken in the ECA Regional Office and Arab States region, and any other UN (official) language is an asset.

How to Apply

• Personal P11 

Only applicants who complete and upload a filled in Personnel History Form will be reviewed.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and 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.)