Background/Context

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.

UN Women is embarking on the development of a new strategic plan to guide the organization’s work until 2030 and into the future. To begin institutionalizing foresight practices into UN Women’s strategic planning processes both at the corporate strategic plan level and country strategic note level, UN Women seeks the expertise of a strategic foresight consultant. The consultant will support UN Women by providing strategic foresight expertise including developing an action plan, capacity-building and facilitating a country office pilot.

The objective of this consultancy is to develop an action plan, build capacities, and support a pilot strategic foresight exercise with a piloting country office to strengthen UN Women’s use of strategic foresight into strategic planning processes and to mainstream gender in strategic foresight at the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) planning stage.

The consultant will be reporting to the Programme Specialist – Results Management with SPU/SPRED and will be supported by team members within SPU as well as PPID.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The objective of this consultancy is to develop an action plan, build capacities, and support a pilot strategic foresight exercise with a piloting country office to strengthen UN Women’s use of strategic foresight into strategic planning processes and to mainstream gender in strategic foresight at the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) planning stage.

In the long-term, this will prepare UN Women to institutionalize foresight practices in order to anticipate and prepare for future trends, opportunities and challenges in gender equality and organizational development, and ultimately design better futures.

Objectives

• Integrating foresight into UN Women’s work: Prepare for long-term institutionalization of foresight practices at UN Women by developing an action plan, building capacities, and piloting foresight practices in current planning processes.
• Co-creation, learning, and capacity building: Utilize participatory tools and methods to enhance colleagues’ foresight understanding and skills, positioning foresight as a critical UN 2.0 competency.
• Mainstreaming gender into strategic foresight: Establish feminist foresight practices within a country pilot to ensure gender perspectives in future planning within the strategic note and UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).

Deliverables

1. An action plan (document and accompanying PowerPoint presentation) on how to institutionalize and strengthen UN Women’s capacity (commitment to UN 2.0) with consolidation and analysis of field practices and challenges and harmonized with other UN 2.0 efforts led by the UN Futures Lab, UN Global Pulse and others.
2. Training materials tailored to UN Women’s needs (both development results and organizational effectiveness) and focusing on mainstreaming gender into strategic foresight at the global/corporate and field/UNCT level available to all personnel – format to be agreed upon to ensure materials are engaging.
3. Interactive capacity building webinars (general outreach) and activities on strategic foresight to start weaving foresight into the organization. At least 4 webinars to cover different time zones and different focus areas.
4. Country pilot with a series of strategic foresight workshops to support a country office in applying foresight methods (such as horizon scanning and scenario planning) and mainstreaming gender into foresight in the development of the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and strategic note (country programme) in 2026.
5. A concise strategic foresight report/guide with accompanying PowerPoint Presentation for external use to disseminate key findings and recommendations.

To harmonize the overall approach of strategic foresight as relevant and where possible, seek advice and exchange knowledge with other UN partners (UN Futures Lab, UN Global Pulse). In addition, the work should build on existing UN strategic foresight tools and resources, including the UN strategic foresight guide and the Development Cooperation Office (DCO) guide on using foresight for cooperation frameworks and common country analyses.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum of one trip to UN Women’s headquarters in New York City, USA or the selected pilot country.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Ability to look at information from the past and present, identify patterns and trends and use them to inform decision making with a long-term view.
• Ability to facilitate debate and discussion about possible futures; help people to feel comfortable with the discomfort of uncertainty.
• Strong planning, goal setting, prioritization and organizational skills.
• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
• Excellent English communication and writing skills; (Samples of previous work will be required.)
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to synthesize complex information.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills, including the use of digital collaborative tools.

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in strategic planning, foresight, gender studies, organizational development, or a related field

• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience in Strategic Foresight and facilitating foresight exercises is required.
• Experience in conducting trainings and more specifically building Foresight capacity is required.
• Experience working within or for the UN system or other international humanitarian/development organisations is an advantage.
• Experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of French or Spanish or any other UN official language is an asset