Background

**THIS VA IS FOR KOREAN NATIONALS ONLY**

UN Women 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.

UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on four strategic priorities:

•            Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems

•            Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy

•            All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence

•            Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action

UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality, and in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda. The entity works to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals, and a more inclusive world.

Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality

Established in Seoul in 2022 with support from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family of the Republic of Korea, the UN Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality (the Centre) seeks to function as a ‘knowledge hub’ to facilitate research, education and training, sharing of innovations and lessons learned, networking, and development of multi-stakeholder partnerships for the achievement of gender equality in the Asia-Pacific region. The Centre aims to contribute to operationalizing normative frameworks on gender equality and the empowerment of women, informing innovative approaches to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”), transforming harmful social norms in the fast-changing and unique social landscape of Asia and the Pacific, and forging partnerships across sectors. The Centre’s working language is English, and it offers an international working environment, while Korean language skills are required for this particular consultancy, given the nature of the work involved.

Gender and Climate Change have been an important priority area of the Centre’s work. In 2023, the Centre organized and hosted a series of international/regional meetings and training in Seoul on gender and climate changes that targets strengthening the cross-country learning on gender mainstreaming into the climate actions and continues to be a priority area. In May 2023, the CoE, in close collaboration with UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), hosted a cross-country learning workshop on gender and climate change resilience. It gathered the government representatives and experts from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, Timor-Leste, and the ASEAN Committees to exchange knowledge and experiences on gender and climate change in Asia. In September, the UN Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality organized a policy forum on the science, technology and the gendered dimensions of climate change. The Centre advocated and strengthened the partnerships in sharing knowledge and expertise to promote gender equality and solutions-driven approaches to combat climate change and raise public awareness of the importance of gender-responsive climate action.

In 2024 and 2025, the Centre continues to focus on advancing gender responsiveness in climate actions in Asia and the Pacific. The Centre aims to strengthen the partnership with the Republic of Korea and other global stakeholders on climate change, including those with headquarters in the Republic of Korea. The primary objective is to drive progress in gender equality and climate action on a global scale. In this context, the Centre is looking for a qualified National Consultant on Gender and Climate Change who will work closely with the Gender Training Specialist and other Specialists of the Centre to design and implement the Centre’s initiatives to advance gender equality in climate actions. The consultant will work in close consultation with the Regional Portfolio Lead on Humanitarian Action, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate at the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of the consultancy

The objective of the consultancy is to advance gender responsiveness in climate actions in Asia and the Pacific. The consultancy will aim to:

• Strengthen the joint efforts with key global stakeholders working on climate change in the Republic of Korea to advance gender responsiveness in climate actions and position UN Women on gender and climate actions.

• Raise the public understanding, including the policymakers in the Republic of Korea, on interlinkages between gender equality and climate change; and the promotion of gender-responsive climate actions related to ODA projects.

• Network and advocate for advancing gender responsiveness of climate actions in Asia and the Pacific region through creating synergy with other stakeholders based in the Republic of Korea. 

• Take a multidisciplinary approach to gather and analyze relevant data/evidence for a deeper understanding of the interplay between gender-specific consequences of climate change and other societal factors like health, income, and age.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Gender Training Specialist, the consultant will perform multi-tasks:

• Provide technical support in the translation of global and regional developments in climate change mitigation and adaptation into strategic planning and direction of the Centre’s gender and climate change programmes and activities.
• Explore strategic opportunities with stakeholders working on climate changes based in the Republic of Korea that can maximize synergies to strengthen the policy initiatives on gender and climate change.
• Provide strategic planning inputs for the Centre’s activities addressing gender and climate change and their incorporation into the Centre’s business plan.
• Technical advice to the development of Centre’s activities on gender and climate change.
• Participate in the development and implementation of the programme documents and the resource mobilization on gender and climate change of the Centre
• Promote the use of knowledge products to share information about gender and climate change initiatives in the Republic of Korea to UN Women ROAP
• Organize the implementation of the gender and climate change activities.
• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with other agencies, donors, NGO’s, the private sector, scientific institutions etc. based in the Republic of Korea to support the development and implementation of gender equality and climate change strategies and initiatives, including through joint activities.

Duration of Assignment: The tentative contractual period is for 12 months, starting as soon as possible from Jan 2024 with a maximum of 20 working days per month.

Duty Station: The consultant is expected to come to the office four days per week and one day will be working from home. If there is requirement for travelling, the work-related travel of UN Women’s SSA consultant is considered as official mission and will be arranged by UN Women in line with UN Women’s Travel Policy.

Expected deliverables and schedule of payment

The consultant will receive monthly payment based on the report on the list of technical inputs for the implementation of the programme and policy activities and the monthly time sheet. The target date for monthly payment will be before 15th of the following month.

The payments for the consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each is satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

Competencies

In addition to aforementioned requirements and qualifications, it is important that the consultants share 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  

Required Skills and Experience

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis:

• Technical qualification (100 points); weight: (80%)
•  Financial proposal (100 points): weight (20%)

A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the applications, with evaluation of the technical application being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically qualified candidates who may be contacted for written test and validation interview and 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.

Application Procedure and Deadline

1. All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11). The P11 Form can be downloaded from the following website: Personal History Form(P11).
2. Application letter explaining your interest in the consultancy and why you are the most suited candidate for this position.
3. The financial proposal includes the proposed monthly consultancy rate in Korean Won which shall specify a total lump sum amount. Please see the financial proposal template as below:

Statement on 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.) 

NOTE: Documents required before contract signing:

• UN Personal History Form
• Full medical examination and Statement of Fitness to work and travel for consultants with travel involved. (This is not a requirement for RLA contracts).
• Completed UNDSS BSAFE online training course.

EN: https://agora.unicef.org/course/info.php?id=17891

• Individual subscribers over 65 years of age are required to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays at their own cost and obtaining medical clearance from the UN Medical Doctor prior to taking up their assignment.
• Release letter in case the selected consultant is government official.