Background

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.

Through its focus on disaster risk reduction and disaster resilience, UN Women ensures that new and existing disaster risks are mitigated by putting women at the center of disaster risk reduction, by giving them a voice, empowering them as disaster risk reduction leaders and actors, and by building their disaster and climate resilience. Disasters are not experienced uniformly by everyone in society; women and girls are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of disasters and have different and uneven levels of resilience and capacity to withstand disasters and recover. Due to the gendered dimensions of disaster risk, women and girls face greater vulnerability and exposure to disasters, yet women remain largely ignored and their capacities, unleveraged in conventional disaster risk reduction processes.

UN Women promotes gender-responsive disaster risk reduction and climate action through technical and policy support, provision of gender expertise to the disaster risk reduction and disaster resilience mechanisms and processes, and by implementing programmes and projects for gender-responsive disaster risk reduction and resilience.

This consultancy is expected to provide support to the Programme Specialist, Disaster Risk Reduction. Under the overall supervision of the Programme Specialist, Disaster Risk Reduction, the consultant will contribute to UN Women’s triple mandate in the area of disaster risk reduction and resilience, providing communication, knowledge management, drafting, research, policy and technical support to the Programme Specialist and field offices and contributing to certain interagency and intergovernmental processes. The work also involves coordinating the communication activities of the Women’s Resilience to Disasters Programme in the Pacific.

Purpose and Objectives

UN Women is looking for a junior consultant to support communication and knowledge management work as well as provide ad-hoc drafting, research, policy and technical support relating to disaster risk reduction and resilience and the Women’s Resilience to Disasters gender equality accelerator. The overall objective of this consultancy is to support temporarily UN Women’s disaster risk reduction work, including the Women’s Resilience to Disasters programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

C.     Scope of Work

Under the supervision of the Programme Specialist, Disaster Risk Reduction, the consultant will perform the following key services:

1. Support development of the WRD communications and knowledge management portfolio

• Support the development and implementation of the WRD communication and outreach strategy across all WRD components and develop and maintain materials related to gender-responsive disaster risk reduction and resilience;
• Support the dissemination of information, best practices, and lessons learned within UN Women and with external stakeholders, implementing the WRD communication and outreach strategy including through the management of the WRD Knowledge Hub, its social media presence, email accounts and its associated expert group and community of practice;
• Contribute to the development of reports, publications, and communication materials;
• Support the WRD team in the Pacific by coordinating communication activities and working closely with the WRD Pacific team, including communication staff and consultants of the UN Women Pacific Multi-Country office and of the WRD programme;
• Organize WRD expert webinars, advocacy and social media initiatives and other outreach events; and
• Coordinate and implement WRD social media presence.

1. Provide strategic guidance, policy and programme support on DRR and resilience building

• Conduct ad-hoc research on gender-responsive disaster risk reduction and resilience, including data collection, analysis, and synthesis of relevant information.
• Assist in the formulation of policy recommendations and advocacy strategies.
• Monitor and analyze global and regional trends related to gender and disaster risk reduction, including strategic guidance on the intersection between DRR, climate security and the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus.

1. Technical Support:

• Provide technical support on the intersection between climate security and DRR and resilience.
• Provide technical assistance to field offices, acting as the regional focal point for Latin America and the Caribbean, and partners in implementing gender-responsive disaster risk reduction initiatives.
• Assist in organizing capacity-building activities, workshops, and training programs, as well as support the development of gender-sensitive tools and methodologies for disaster resilience.
• Contribute to UN Women's engagement in interagency and intergovernmental processes related to disaster risk reduction and resilience, including the development of the Sendai Framework Gender Action Plan and specifically acting as the focal point on Recommendation number 2 (strengthening DRR approaches in the HDP nexus) of the UN’s Senior Leadership Group on DRR.
• Prepare briefing materials and background documents for meetings and conferences.
• Assist in building partnerships with other organizations and stakeholders working in this field.

D.     Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The following deliverables are expected to be completed:

Competencies

Competencies

Core Values

• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Respect for Diversity

Core Competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in gender studies, policy, disaster risk reduction, climate change, resilience and/or any relevant field directly related to gender and disaster resilience;
•  Two years of professional experience in disaster risk reduction, climate change or development contexts.
• Experience working on and supporting knowledge hubs an advantage.
• Experience in gender in disaster risk reduction or climate change, including at regional and country levels, an advantage.
• Demonstrated knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment an advantage.
• Previous experience with UN Women or international work settings, including CSOs, NGOs, national governments, and other UN agencies an advantage.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge of other UN official language especially French or Spanish is an asset.

Computer Skills

High level of proficiency in computer systems, internet navigation and various applications including research databases and data analysis software.

Knowledge and experience of website development, design and content management is an asset