Gender Equality and Climate Action Specialist

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.

Through the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) in Bangkok and a number of country and multi-country offices as well as programme presences across the region, UN Women builds on a long history of support to governments, civil society and other actors to promote gender equality and empower all women and girls. We stand behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: addressing gender perspectives in intergovernmental processes; women’s political participation and leadership; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; ending violence against women and girls; and promoting women’s participation in peace and security and humanitarian action.

UN Women, in partnership with the UN Environment Programme, is implementing the second phase of the EmPower: Women for Climate Resilient Societies Programme to scale up results and promote gender-responsive and human rights-based climate action by supporting key regional and country stakeholders to achieve a broader impact across the Asia-Pacific region. The project is a joint project implemented with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

The International Gender and Climate Action Specialist will contribute to regional efforts to advance gender equality and human rights in climate action across Asia and the Pacific. This role emphasizes strengthening the capacity of regional stakeholders, fostering women’s leadership in climate-related decision-making, and enhancing the resilience of marginalized groups through climate-adaptive initiatives, including renewable energy solutions.

Working under the guidance of the Programme Specialist on Gender and Climate Change, the UN Volunteer will support the implementation of key regional climate initiatives. Responsibilities include providing technical inputs for programme design, development, and evaluation, as well as assisting the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) in aligning programme activities with broader regional strategies on gender and climate action. The UN Volunteers will focus on outcome-driven monitoring and reporting, ensuring efficient application of systems and identifying opportunities for improvement.

In collaboration with regional and country programme teams and key partners including government representatives, donors, and civil society organizations, the UN Volunteer will drive the effective delivery of the EmPower programme as well as UN Women initiatives. This UN Volunteer will also involve coordinating activities and sharing insights to support UN Women’s broader climate agenda in the Asia-Pacific region.

The purpose of the UN Volunteer is to provide dedicated technical support to advance gender-responsive climate action under the “EmPower: Women for Climate Resilient Societies” programme, aligned with UN Women’s broader mandate on gender equality and climate action in the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Coordinator on Gender and Climate, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

1. Technical Support for Programmatic Strategy and Implementation
• Provide time-bound, specialized technical input to refine and strengthen regional strategies on gender-responsive climate action, specifically under the EmPower programme and UN Women’s broader mandate.
• Contribute to programmatic frameworks that embed gender equality and human rights in climate adaptation and mitigation, with a focus on enhancing the resilience of vulnerable communities.
• Prepare high-quality knowledge products, including policy briefs, technical guides, and strategy documents, that reflect best practices in gender and climate resilience.

2. Capacity Building and Knowledge Development
• Design and facilitate targeted capacity-building sessions for regional partners and stakeholders, focusing on gender-responsive approaches in climate action and disaster risk reduction.
• Create concise, user-friendly knowledge resources such as toolkits, case studies, and best practice guides to strengthen stakeholder’s capacity for gender and climate action, e.g. youth, women’s organizations, civil society, governments, entrepreneurs.
• Organize and lead knowledge-sharing events and regional convenings to promote cross-learning on gender and climate resilience across the region.

3. Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluation
• Assist with data collection and provide input into monitoring templates as required, ensuring consultant-led tasks are aligned with Results-Based Management (RBM) principles.
• Submit detailed quarterly reports that track progress on specific EmPower programme outputs, outcomes, and milestones, with insights into opportunities for improvement and alignment with regional strategies.
• Deliver a final report summarizing achievements, key lessons learned, and recommendations for sustaining and scaling gender-responsive climate action under the EmPower programme and broader UN Women climate agenda.

4. Resource Mobilization and Partnership Development
• Identify potential funding opportunities related to gender-responsive climate action and prepare three concept notes or proposals to support resource mobilization.
• Provide technical inputs and support the drafting of funding proposals or concept notes targeting gender-responsive climate action initiatives, detailing potential impact and scalability.
• Prepare background materials, project summaries, briefs, and donor briefings to support UN Women’s visibility and advocacy efforts in the region.
5. Advocacy, Communication, and Knowledge Management
• Draft advocacy materials, including talking points, presentations, and briefs, to advance gender-responsive climate action in Asia and the Pacific.
• Coordinate the development of knowledge-sharing resources and events to highlight success stories, best practices, and innovative approaches within EmPower and related UN Women initiatives.
• Document lessons learned and best practices to contribute to the broader knowledge base on gender and climate action.

6. Stakeholder and Partnership Coordination
• Act as a point of contact for key stakeholders within the scope of the consultancy, preparing specific stakeholder engagement plan and facilitating structured dialogues and delivery of outputs
• Coordinate engagement with Programme team, including UN Women’s partners, to ensure alignment in messaging, strategy, and activities.

Results/expected outputs:

Contribute to the following outcomes through the efficient, timely, and high-quality delivery of their functions:

• Technical and Strategic Support
• Capacity Building and Knowledge Development
• Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluation
• Resource Mobilization and Partnership Development
• Advocacy, Communication, and Knowledge Management
• Stakeholder and Partnership Coordination