Development Account National Consultant

Result of ServiceThe national consultant will support the reinforcement of the national sustainability reporting infrastructure and it is expected to promote sustainable finance, enterprise sustainability and attract investment geared towards the SDGs. Work LocationHOME-BASED Expected duration15.08.25 - 20.11.26 Duties and ResponsibilitiesThere is a high demand for technical assistance to strengthen national sustainability reporting infrastructures to implement ISSB standards and to promote sustainability reporting for listed companies, non-listed companies (including SMEs), and public sector entities. As one of the beneficiary countries in Latin America, Ecuador will benefit from a series of national activities which will be planned in collaboration with the Undersecretariat for Governmental Accounting of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Ecuador. Under the supervision of the project officer of DIAE, the national activities include: i) Organizing an inception meeting to launch the national assessment with the expanded Accounting Development Tool (ADT). During the meeting, UNCTAD will elaborate on the project objectives, activities and expected outcomes, providing an overview of UNCTAD tools and initiating a collaborative multi-stakeholder dialogue. ii) Conducting an ADT assessment exercise of the national sustainability reporting infrastructure to identify possible gaps and priority areas and preparing a note on the status of sustainability reporting. iii) Organizing a national workshop to validate the findings of the ADT national assessment, the note on sustainability reporting and deliver capacity-building on sustainability disclosure for regulators, industry associations and leading financial institutions. iv) Providing policy advice/developing an action plan based on the assessment results on how to reinforce the sustainability reporting ecosystem. v) Conducting a virtual capacity building workshop on sustainability reporting for the public sector. After the national activities conclude, key findings obtained in the beneficiary countries in the region will be shared with members of the Latin American Regional Partnership for the promotion of sustainability and SDG reporting to enhance dissemination of lessons learned and good practices. In addition, a one-day hybrid cross-cutting forum with Regional Partnerships for the promotion of sustainability reporting will be organized to share experience and lessons learned and propose solutions for common challenges. These activities contribute to the Project OC2: “Strengthened capacity of public and private stakeholders, including institutional investors to reinforce their national sustainability reporting infrastructure” and OC3: “Enhanced capacity for regional collaboration among public and private stakeholders in Latin America and Asia for the promotion of sustainability reporting”. A national consultant will be engaged to facilitate the implementation of national activities. Under the supervision of the Project Officer the national consultant will: i) Inception meeting • Prepare a list of key national stakeholders from the public and private sector who should be involved in the evaluation with the Accounting Development Tool (ADT). • Prepare an assignment list of the different sections (indicators) of the revised ADT based on the area of expertise of the institutions participating in the exercise. This list will be discussed with UNCTAD. • Contribute to the organization and preparations of the kick-off meeting, including by ensuring the participation of key counterparts, preparing documents and delivering a presentation, supporting the logistics (venue, interpretation, etc.), etc. • Provide support in the collection of feedback evaluations and the preparation of a summary report of the meeting including an analysis of the feedback received. The report must be prepared in English. ii) ADT assessment exercise and note on the status of sustainability reporting • Provide substantive backstopping to each focal point during the data collection process if needed. • Collect and consolidate contributions from all stakeholders concerned. • Organize bilaterals to obtain additional information when needed. • Consolidate the results and prepare an integrated questionnaire with all questions completed and a summary report using UNCTAD’ s templates. The report should contain key findings, highlighting the main areas that require attention based on the responses received and on the consultant's expertise and knowledge of the local situation. A list of ADT indicators that require attention will be prepared, with particular attention to the sustainability components. The report will also include a section with recommendations concerning the next steps. • Prepare a note summarizing the status of sustainability and SDG reporting by companies in the country using UNCTAD’ s template. • Share the consolidated questionnaire, the ADT summary report and the note on sustainability reporting with UNCTAD for feedback. • Prepared revised versions of the questionnaire, the report and the note on sustainability reporting including UNCTAD’ s comments in Spanish and English. iii) National workshop to validate the findings • Contribute to the organization of the national workshop, including by ensuring the participation of key counterparts, preparing documents and delivering presentations as needed, assisting with the logistics (venue, interpretation, etc.), etc. • Share the summary report with all focal points from key organizations before the workshop; and any other relevant documentation agreed with UNCTAD such as the note on the status of sustainability reporting, the GCI, the Policy Guide and the ISAR issues note. • Contribute to the execution of the workshop with all focal points and other stakeholders to present the results of the ADT questionnaire and the summary report, as well as the Note on the Status of Sustainability Reporting and discuss and validate the findings and agree on priorities to develop policy recommendations/an action plan. • Prepare final versions of the questionnaire, the summary report and the note on the status of sustainability reporting incorporating comments from the workshop. The documents must be available in Spanish and English. • Prepare a summary of the meeting including an analysis of the feedback received. The report must be prepared in English. iv) Providing policy advice/developing an action plan based on the assessment results on how to reinforce the sustainability reporting ecosystem. • Prepare policy recommendations/an action plan based on the findings, gaps identified, and priorities agreed, and provide advice on organizing working groups for executing the recommended actions. Include comments from UNCTAD. • Prepare a brief presentation and organize bilaterals with key counterparts for feedback and to ensure buy-in. • Organize a virtual meeting to present and discuss the recommendations with the key counterparts. • Prepare a summary report of the virtual meeting including an analysis of the feedback received. The report must be prepared in English. • Prepare a final version of the recommendations/action plan in Spanish and English including comments from the virtual meeting. v) Conducting a virtual capacity building workshop on sustainability reporting for the public sector. • Prepare a presentation and other materials as needed based on UNCTAD’ s capacity building manual on sustainability reporting for public sector implementers. • Organize one virtual training for key public sector counterparts. • Prepare a summary report of the virtual meeting including an analysis of the feedback received. The report must be prepared in English. Contribution to meetings • The consultant will contribute to the meetings of the regional partnership for sustainability reporting and share experience and lessons learned as needed. • The consultant will also contribute to the hybrid cross-cutting forum with Regional Partnerships for the promotion of sustainability reporting. Qualifications/special skillsAdvanced university degree, Master, in accounting, economics, finance, business administration or related field. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted. At least 5 years of work experience in the areas of accounting, corporate reporting, sustainability reporting, auditing, finance or related field is required. Experience of work in sustainability reporting infrastructure, including implementing related reforms at the national level desirable. Knowledge of the national sustainability reporting infrastructure and corporate and sustainability reporting policy frameworks and reforms for high quality corporate reporting is an advantage. Previous working experience with the United Nations, using UNCTAD accounting and sustainability reporting tools is considered as an advantage. LanguagesFluency written and spoken in Spanish and good knowledge of English is required. Additional InformationNot available. No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.