Background

The Fiji Multi Country Office (MCO) covers 14 Pacific countries, with field offices/presence in 7 countries, and five ‘focus countries’ (Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Samoa). UN Women is the IASC-endorsed lead for the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT)’s Pacific Humanitarian Protection Cluster (PHPC). The situation varies by country, with national clusters led by government, which are typically Women’s Ministries. During disaster response, UN Women leverages its existing programmes to support local development partners to respond to the needs, for example, of people with disabilities, GBV survivors, and general provision of psychological first aid and gender and protection integration in key humanitarian sectors. Through the combination of coordinator and responder roles, UN Women promotes gender- and protection-sensitive disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

During the preparedness phase, UN Women supports national protection coordination structures to develop SOPs, guidelines and programming tools as well as provides capacity building. The range of preparedness actions are diverse given the range of emergencies in the Pacific region. The Pacific experience emergencies including natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruption, cyclones, storm surges and droughts. There have been also environmental and public health emergencies.

Reporting to the Gender and Resilience Programme Specialist, the Humanitarian Consultant, Gender, and Protection will lead provision of technical support to selected national countries protection committees/ clusters to mainstream gender and protection in humanitarian preparedness action. The Humanitarian National Consultant will support the Fiji MCO Humanitarian Team with the PHT Protection Cluster coordination and closely work with governments, humanitarian clusters, including other UN agencies and partners; and through regional and national coordination mechanisms to promote the substantive incorporation of gender and protection in humanitarian action.

Objectives of the assignment

UN Women Fiji MCO is looking for an individual who will be the Humanitarian National Consultant to provide technical support to selected national countries protection committees/ clusters to mainstream gender and protection in humanitarian preparedness action. He/She will serve as an alternate PHT Protection Cluster Coordinator and closely work with governments, humanitarian clusters, including other UN agencies and partners; and through regional and national coordination mechanisms to promote the substantive incorporation of gender and protection in humanitarian action.

For this purpose, the Humanitarian National Consultant will work under the overall guidance and supervision of the UN Fiji Multi-Country Office Gender and Resilience Specialist and will be technically supported by the Unit team.

Duties and Responsibilities

Coordinate the Pacific Humanitarian Protection Cluster (PHPC)

• Convene regular PHPC meetings and support PHPC to develop cluster response to emergencies in the region and manage cluster workplans.
• Provide technical advice to the PHPC and the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT) on protection needs to support preparations, response, and recovery of emergency response.
• Analyse and collate information and resources on protection work.
• Support the preparation of proposals for the Pacific Protection Cluster
• Coordinate capacity building on protection related issues for PHPC and PHT members.
• Work closely with, and provide advice to, regional/ national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to humanitarian action and represent PHPC in other clusters and sectors as needed.
• Liaise with the Global Protection Cluster and submit updates on key protection issues and protection responses in the Pacific.

Provide technical support to national protection coordination mechanisms in the Pacific.

• Maintain partnerships with national protection coordination structures and national disaster response agency/ organization.
• Provide technical advice to government agencies around the collection and use of disaggregated data for gender and protection analysis to be undertaken during preparedness, response, and recovery phase.
• Provide technical and policy support to national counterparts on gender and protection in humanitarian action.
• Review key national guidelines and tools to integrate gender and protection issues.
• Support stakeholder workshops and other capacity building initiatives.
• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices.

Support humanitarian advocacy and communication

• During emergency response, develop and implement communication and advocacy messages and contribute inputs to strategies on key gender and protection concerns.
• Develop information, education, and communication (IEC) materials, press releases, situation reports, alerts and contribute gender and protection-related inputs to documents prepared by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
• Advocate for the engagement and participation of local organizations and civil society networks in humanitarian coordination mechanisms.
• Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of humanitarian action.
• Support the humanitarian team with information management and data collection as needed.

Provide substantive technical support to the implementation and management of the gender and humanitarian programme.

• Develop regional programme documents on humanitarian action.
• Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products.
• Coordinate proper monitoring and reporting for humanitarian action in collaboration with other programme teams.
• Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women HQ.

Support resource mobilization strategy for the region

• Mobilize resources to support gender and protection in humanitarian action work for MCO.
• Build and maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards humanitarian action, as delegated.
• Participate in the implementation, monitoring, and periodic updating of the resource mobilization strategy on humanitarian action in the region.
• Provide technical support to field-based presences in the region in mobilizing resources for the implementation of humanitarian action.

Duration of the Assignment

The duration of this assignment will be up to 6 months work assignment not exceeding 90 working days as per the schedule of deliverables.

Expected Deliverables

The incumbent being responsible for delivering the following outputs:

The consultant is expected to submit the following documents:

• Workplan covering the consultancy period.
• Monthly report for November 2023 to May 2024 on all activities carried out.
• Resource mobilization strategy for MCO’s gender and protection in humanitarian action work
• Quarterly and annual reports of MCO’s gender and protection in humanitarian action work across the Pacific
• Final report on all activities carried out, results and challenges and other recommendations relevant for this work and to the assignment.

Upon receipt of the final deliverables and prior to the payment of the instalment, the deliverables, related reports, and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women at least within one week of submission.

All the deliverables should be agreed with UN Women and be provided in English hard and electronic copy.

All the documents and materials utilized need to be returned to UN Women in electronic format. Any printed materials utilized to be referenced and returned.

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials.
• UN Women will only cover Consultant’s travel outside of Suva should the need arises and upon prior approval by UN Women.
• UN Women will provide an e-mail access and a laptop computer.

Management Arrangements:

The Consultant will work under the guidance and supervision of the UN Women Gender and Resilience Specialist as a back stop mechanism until the Humanitarian and Protection Specialist is onboard. The Specialist in consultation with the Consultant will review and approve all outputs and shall work in close coordination with the Humanitarian & Resilience Team.

Travel

No domestic or international travel is envisaged.

Travel will be pre-approved by UN Women and paid/arranged for by UN Women in accordance with the existing UN Women travel policies and procedures.

Performance evaluation

The Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Financial Arrangements

Payments will be disbursed to the consultant monthly, upon submission and approval of deliverables, monthly report together with a timesheet set forth in the section “Expected Outputs and Deliverables” above, and certification by the UN Women Gender & Resilience Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

No Relocation costs will be provided for the position.

Travel

Any mission travel expenses outside of the duty station, will be covered with a prior approval.

Competencies

• 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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights, gender, international relations, international development, international law, or other social science fields is required.
• A first-level University Degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience and Skills:

• At least 5 years (Master’s Degree) or 7 years (Bachelor’s Degree) of progressively responsible experience in designing and managing humanitarian programmes, with a particular focus on gender and protection in emergencies.
• Technical experience in inter-agency coordination, preferably in emergency settings.
• Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning.
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors, and civil society organizations internationally and in the field.
• Experience in the Pacific is strongly preferred.
• Experience working with the UN is an asset.
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use internet and email.

Language and other skills:

• Fluency in command of written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge of the other UN Official working language is an asset.

Additional Information:

UN Women Statement on Diversity 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).

Evaluation

Initially, individual consultants will be short-listed based on the following minimum qualification criteria:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights, gender, international relations, international development, international law, or other social science fields is required.
• A first-level University Degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Technical evaluation of shortlisted candidates will be done through desk review of applications on the basis of responsiveness to the Terms of Reference (TOR) as per table below. Interviews and/or written tests will be organized if needed only, depending on the short-listed candidates’ qualifications.

Technical Evaluation Table:

The consultancy recruitment process will be governed by the rules and regulations of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Submission of application

Interested candidates are requested to submit fully completed application on the UNDP Vacancy Site.

Submission Package:

1. Cover letter explaining the suitability of the consultant: applicants are encouraged to address experience and qualifications listed in the ‘criteria for technical evaluation’.
2. Duly filled Personal History Form (P11) and/or Curriculum Vitae (CV) of consultant including records of past experience in similar assignments and specific outputs obtained; P11 can be downloaded at: : https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process

Failure of candidates to submit a duly completed P11 form, as well as false representations on this form, shall constitute sufficient grounds for withdrawal of further consideration of the application. Information provided in the P11 form will be treated with confidentiality. Applications without a complete set of the required documentations will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. UN Women reserves the right to accept or reject any bid.