Climate Change and the Three Transformative Results Consultancy

Purpose of this consultancy:

The Asia-Pacific region is among the most climate-vulnerable areas in the world, with climate change exacerbating challenges related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender-based violence (GBV) and harmful practices, and access to family planning services. Climate-induced disasters, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation disproportionately impact women, girls, and marginalized populations, creating significant barriers to accessing essential SRHR services and increasing risks of GBV and harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage. The growing challenges in the region necessitate a robust evidence base and strategic response to ensure that efforts toward achieving UNFPA’s three transformative results - ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning, and ending gender-based violence and harmful practices- are climate-resilient and integrated into climate adaptation efforts. This consultancy also aims to help UNFPA align with key global frameworks such as the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring that gender and SRHR perspectives are meaningfully integrated.

In addition, climate-induced migration is emerging as a significant challenge in the region, with displacement affecting access to healthcare, exacerbating protection risks, and increasing vulnerabilities, particularly for women and girls. Understanding the intersection between climate change, migration, and SRHR is critical for designing inclusive policies and programs.

The ways in which the climate crisis uniquely impacts the security, development, SRHR and protection needs of young people remains significantly unstudied. Particularly in Asia Pacific, this is a key area seeing that over 60% of the world’s youth live in Asia Pacific, and youth make up about 19% of the region’s total population. A better understanding of the risks as well as opportunities that youth and other vulnerable populations face in light of the climate crisis is therefore an essential aspect of climate adaptation/mitigation, resilience-building and advocacy efforts. The consultant will explore how climate change impacts adolescents and youths health, rights, and participation, and will develop recommendations for key areas of programming and research that will address youth’s SRH and GBV prevention and response needs.
To address these gaps, UNFPA APRO seeks a consultant to develop a regional report on Climate Change and UNFPA’s Three Transformative Results (3TRs). This report will provide a comprehensive analysis of the intersection between climate change and UNFPA’s mandate areas, include regional case studies, and offer evidence-based recommendations for advocacy, research and policy, as well as programmatic guidance for the regional office and country offices. Additionally, the consultant will lead two regional webinars to disseminate findings, enhance knowledge and strengthen capacity. To further support implementation, the consultant will also provide technical support to up to five select UNFPA country offices on climate adaptation strategies, advocacy efforts, and policy engagement.
 

Scope of work:

●    Conduct a desk review of climate change impacts (directly and indirectly) on women, girls, and young people’s SRHR, their heightened vulnerability to GBV and harmful practices, climate migration, and youth engagement in climate programming and advocacy in Asia Pacific. This should include a review of peer-reviewed and grey literature, as well as programmatic and policy documents, to synthesize evidence and inform recommendations.
●    Engage UNFPA regional and country offices to collect case studies and promising practices.
●    Draft a 20-30 page regional report, integrating policy recommendations and programmatic guidance.
●    Develop a policy brief summarizing key findings for advocacy purposes.
●    Prepare a presentation deck to support donor and government engagement. This deck should include visualizations and key messaging tailored to different stakeholder audiences (donors, government, civil society).
●    Develop and deliver 2 webinars on key findings and policy and program recommendations.
●    Support the UNFPA APRO team in providing expert review and guidance to up to 5 country offices on climate adaptation strategies, advocacy initiatives, climate migration, and youth engagement.
 

Duration and working schedule:

The consultancy is expected to take around 65 days over the period of May 26, 2025- December 5, 2025. 
The total days indicated above represents the maximum number of days anticipated under this consultancy; however, as part of the selection process,the consultant is expected to provide a workplan specifying the actual number of days within that limit.
The estimated number of working days are as follows:
●    Phase 1: Desk review, stakeholder consultations, and data collection. Provide country support as needed (25 days)
●    Phase 2: Draft report, case studies, and recommendations. Provide country support as needed (25 days)
●    Phase 3: Finalize the report and policy brief, and disseminate through webinars. Provide country support as needed (15 days)
Following the selection process, the individual consultancy contract may be awarded on a lump sum basis based on the number of working days times daily rate and payment can be made as per below schedule:

This consultancy is a deliverables basis, the payment will be paid based on the deliverables accepted by UNFPA APRO.
 

Place where services are to be delivered:  This consultancy is home-based.

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered:  All work will be submitted electronically. The consultant will incorporate revisions based on feedback before final acceptance.

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:

●    Regular updates and check-ins with the APRO Technical Team
●    Progress will be tracked through deliverables and milestone achievements. The consultant will maintain a workplan with clear milestones, to be agreed upon at the outset and updated during check-ins.
●    The dissemination webinars will be conducted not only to share key findings and policy/program recommendations, but to also incorporate feedback from UNFPA APRO and country offices before finalizing the report.
 

Supervisory arrangements: 

The consultant will report to the Regional Humanitarian Advisor, UNFPA Asia Pacific Regional Office and will also work closely with other APRO Technical Advisors covering GBV, Adolescent and Youth and SRHR, among others. Engagement with UNFPA HQ thematic teams and climate focal points may also be requested, depending on the alignment with global initiatives.

Expected travel:

The assignment is home-based. Travel for consultations or presentations may be required and will be covered separately following UNFPA’s travel policy. Any travel must be pre-approved and will be determined based on evolving programmatic needs.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA:

UNFPA will grant accesst to relevant background documents, contacts for consultations, and UNFPA technical inputs to the selected consultant.

Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:

The consultant is expected to work independently while maintaining regular communication/coordination with the UNFPA APRO team. Flexibility and adaptability are essential, as the work will involve multiple tasks concurrently.

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

●    Minimum Master’s degree in public health, social sciences, development studies, environmental studies, gender studies or a related field
 

Knowledge and Experience: 

●    Minimum Master’s degree in public health, social sciences, development studies, environmental studies, gender studies or a related field
●    Strong exposure (national, regional and international) to climate policy, international relations, humanitarian affairs,  etc.
●    Minimum ten (10) years of professional experience in climate change and SRHR and/or GBV.
●    Academic research in Climate Change and Gender Studies is desirable
●    Strong analytical and writing skills, with a track record of publishing reports or policy papers.
●    Demonstrated leadership  to facilitate multi-stakeholder consultations, webinars, and validation workshops.
●    Flexibility and adaptability and ability to manage multiple tasks concurrently.
●    Proven ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail. 
●    Knowledge of and/or previous work experience with the UN and in the Asia Pacific region is an asset.

Languages: 

Fluency in English is mandatory, with excellent written and verbal English skills.
A second UN language is an asset.

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.