Background

Practice Area: Governance, Peace and Security

Contract Duration: 20 December 2023 – 15 March 2024

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 multi-country, country offices and programme presence, UN Women builds on a long history of support to governments and women’s movements. UN Women’s programmes in Asia and the Pacific focus on governance, women, peace and security, ending violence against women, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction, women’s economic empowerment, and HIV/AIDS. For more information about UN Women in Asia and the Pacific, please visit the official website.

The newly adopted “Regional Framework Towards Peaceful, Inclusive Societies: Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Inclusive Governance in the Asia Pacific Region (2023-2027)” lays out the direction of UN Women’s Governance, Peace and Security (GPS) portfolio in Asia-Pacific. The Framework has a dual focus on the advancement of the Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and inclusive governance in the region. The WPS component spans the support to the development and implementation of WPS National Action Plans (NAPs); conflict prevention, building peace and resilience; prevention of violent extremism; and women’s participation and leadership in emerging or non-traditional security issues such as climate security, cybersecurity and digital peacebuilding. The Inclusive Governance component comprises women’s access to justice; gender-responsive budgeting; and promotion of women’s leadership, including women’s political participation.

Studies show that countries that prioritize gender equality often exhibit greater resilience to climate change and other threats to peace and sustainable development. Yet, in Asia and the Pacific, as we approach the halfway mark of the 2030 Agenda, there's a regression in SDG 13 (climate action), while data remains too scant on the progress on gender equality and peace (SDGs 5 and 16, respectively).

The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda now more keenly integrates climate change, acknowledging both the disproportionate impacts on women and girls and the transformative power of their leadership across peace and climate action. WPS National Action Plans (NAPs) have been highlighted as a key tool to integrate the peace and security goals of different agendas if they are explicitly and inclusively designed to do so. To date, WPS NAPs are arguably one of the most concrete approaches currently utilized to address the nexus of gender, climate change, peace and security. The inclusion of references to climate change in WPS NAPs is on the rise: 43 out of 107 (40 per cent) 2022 analyzed NAPs and 6 out of 13 (46 per cent) Regional Action Plans and Strategies include references to climate change.

Through the “Regional Framework Towards Peaceful, Inclusive Societies: Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Inclusive Governance in the Asia Pacific Region (2023-2027)”, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), seeks to consolidate good practices and develop guidance on the integration of climate change in WPS NAPs. Drawing on practices both regional and global, the resource is expected to have wide-reaching relevance and utility. To this end, ROAP is seeking to engage an International Consultant (hence ‘Consultant’) to lead the process.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under supervision of the Specialist, Gender, Climate and Security for Asia and the Pacific, the Consultant will be responsible for the development of practitioners note on the integration of climate change into WPS NAPs based on 3-4 case studies from the region and beyond, including: 

1. Analysis of why and how climate change has been integrated into the WPS NAPs.  

2. Assessment of current best practices in integrating climate change into WPS NAPs. 

3. Examination of synergies between existing relevant frameworks and instruments (e.g. CEDAW, Sendai, UNFCCC, 2030 Agenda, WPS Agenda) as applicable to addressing relationships between gender, climate change, peace and security. 

4. Guidance on the integration of climate change into WPS NAPs for key actors and stakeholders (governments, civil society, multilateral actors).
 

Expected Deliverables and Timeline

Competencies

In addition to requirements and qualifications, it is important that the consultant shares the core values and core competencies of the organization.

Core Values
• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

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 Core Values and Competencies: 
https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:
• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills;
• Ability to work independently and proactively solve problems;
• Capacity to plan, prioritise and deliver tasks on time;
• Capacity to engage with national and international staff, provide clear feedback and maintain effective rapport with different kinds of people;
• Actively work towards continuing learning and sharing with others to support local capacity development;
• Ability to research, analyse and present complex information;
• 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 (or equivalent) in Gender Studies, International Development, International Law, Peace and Security, Social Sciences or other relevant fields. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience within the field of international development.
• Documented experience in providing technical and strategic guidance on gender equality and women’s rights; Women, Peace and Security, and inclusive governance; preferably in the context of climate change.
• Excellent research, analytical and report writing skills.
• Proficiency in English is required.

Contract Duration and Location
The consultancy will be home-based. The time required for the consultancy is estimated at 30 working days within the period from December 2023 to 15 March 2024.

Evaluation Criteria
Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the applications, with evaluation of the technical application being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:
The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered technically qualified candidates.

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 technically 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
Interested consultants are requested to submit an electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org with CC to vanissa.limkriangkrai@unwomen.org no later than 1 December 2023, midnight New York time.

Submission package includes:

• Personal History Form, using UN Women Personal History Form (P11).
• Financial proposal that consists of a lump-sum amount for the assignment.

Please see the financial proposal template below:

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

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, colour, 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.)