Background

With the support of UNDP, UN Women is contributing to the implementation of the regional project titled “Strengthening Capacities for Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation for Resilience in the Sahel Region: fostering risk-informed solutions for sustainable development” (Sahel Resilience Project). This project covers Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. The UN Women comparative advantage is to enhance the regional and national capacities to mainstream and advocate effectively for the integration of gender and social inclusion into national and regional disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) strategies and policies. The key outputs include increased capacities of women’s organizations in integrating gender and social inclusion into DRR and CCA strategies, collection of sex age and disability disaggregated data and gender sensitive DRR assessments, and improved participation of women in DRR and CCA planning and dialogue.

Acknowledging the persistent gender disparities in access to basic services, property rights, and the labor market, UN Women has identified civil society organizations (CSOs) working in the areas of development and reduction of vulnerabilities. In collaboration with UNDP, UN Women organized four training sessions in 2022 and 2023 with representatives of women CSOs and key stakeholders in DRR/CCA from government entities. In 2022, two regional trainings covered topics such as concepts, gender and social inclusion in disaster risk reduction, climate change, and risk-informed development. Workshops were held in Abuja, Nigeria, and Dakar, Senegal, while in 2023, two regional workshops focusing on mainstreaming gender-sensitive DRR and CCA into development planning and budgeting, as well as supporting women-led organizations in developing project proposals for community-level interventions to strengthen resilience. Representatives of selected women CSOs also participated in the Africa Working Group for DRR sessions in Malabo on March 2023 and in Kigali in April 2024.

Following the capacity-building sessions, CSOs were invited to submit project proposals aligned with regional stabilization strategies and local territorial action plans. These proposals aim to address disasters, climate change, conflict, and insecurity at community levels with prospects for sub-regional approaches in the Lake Chad Basin and Liptako Gourma regions.

In this second phase of the project, it is planned to have reviews and evaluations of these proposals for the provision of small grants to women-led CSOs to implement the agreed upon pilot DRR/CCA activities while building their capacities in gender sensitive resilience programming. At least five projects will be funded and all the retained CSOs will seek to harmonize their interventions towards common approaches at sub-regional or regional levels.

Besides supporting the capacity building activities, the consultant will adapt and make use, as much as possible, of the methodologies and tools for disaster resilience developed during the first phase for the project. These include gender-sensitive and vulnerability-based risk assessment tools.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultancy assignment with UN Women WCARO office will include:

• Facilitation of sessions of the regional meeting/workshop for the launch of the small grants support to women CSOs;
• Participation and recommendations during in the reviews of DRR/CCA interventions proposed by women CSOs and the reflections for integrated regional or sub-regional approaches;
• Preparation and facilitation of gender sensitive DRR/CCA trainings tailored to the needs of women CSOs recipient of small grants

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy with travel to the sites/countries where the workshop and trainings will take place.

UN Women will cover the expenses related to travel (travel fares, hotel, DSA).

Competencies

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/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• 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.

Experience:

• Demonstrated experience and expertise in disaster risk reduction, climate change and development contexts;
• Experience in gender in disaster risk reduction or climate change at regional and country levels, particularly in the Sahel;
• Demonstrated knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Previous experience with UN Women or international work settings, including CSOs, NGOs, national governments, and other UN agencies.
• Experience working on and supporting knowledge hubs an advantage.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and French is required.

The consultancy will take place between July and November 2024 for a maximum of 36 days. In accordance with the “Timetable: key deliverables and payment schedule” specified above. All payments will be released to the Consultant following examination of the deliverables/work submitted to UN Women WCARO and approved by the Head of Office.

How to Apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

Note

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.