Development Account Regional Consultant

Result of ServiceThe regional consultant will contribute to the successful implementation of activities in Ecuador and Peru, and he/she will ensure the sharing of experience with other countries in the region through the ARL and will contribute to the strengthening of the regional partnership with a view to promote sustainable finance, enterprise sustainability and the attraction of investment geared towards the SDGs. Work LocationHome-Based Expected duration01.02.2026 - 20.11.2026 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. The two beneficiary countries in Latin America are Ecuador and Peru, and series of activities have been conducted or are in progress in both countries including kick off meetings and the start of the assessment of the national financial and sustainability reporting infrastructure. The national activities will also include: i) Finalizing the ADT assessment exercise of the national financial and sustainability reporting infrastructure to identify possible gaps and priority areas and preparing a revised ADT summary report and a revised note on the status of sustainability reporting. ii) 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. iii) Providing policy advice/developing an action plan based on the assessment results on how to reinforce the sustainability reporting ecosystem. iv) Conducting a virtual capacity building workshop on sustainability reporting for the public sector. After the national activities conclude, regional activities will take place: v) Strengthening of the Latin American Partnership for the promotion of sustainability reporting (ARL). vi) Sharing of key findings obtained through the application of the ADT, the preparation of the note on the status of sustainability reporting, and the development of action plans in the beneficiary countries in the region with members of the ARL. vii) 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”. The implementation of activities will be facilitated by a regional consultant who will contribute to the successful implementation of national activities in the beneficiary countries and conduct regional activities. Under the supervision of the Project Officer the regional consultant will do the following activities: i) Finalization of the ADT assessment exercise, including the complete ADT summary report and a revised note on the status of sustainability reporting in beneficiary countries • Contribute to an effective data collection process to adequately consolidate input from all stakeholders concerned to fill in the ADT questionnaires, ADT reports and the Notes on the status of Sustainability Reporting. • Contribute to the preparation of integrated ADT questionnaires with all questions completed and summary reports based on UNCTAD’ s templates. The reports 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 reports will also include a section with recommendations concerning the next steps. • Contribute to the preparation of a full and revised version of the notes summarizing the status of sustainability and SDG reporting by companies in the beneficiary countries using UNCTAD’s template. • Contribute to the preparation of revised versions of the questionnaires, the reports and the notes on sustainability reporting including UNCTAD’ s comments in Spanish and English. ii) National workshop to validate the findings in beneficiary countries • Contribute to the organization and successful execution of the workshops with all focal points and other stakeholders to present the results of the ADT questionnaires, the summary reports, as well as the Notes on the Status of Sustainability Reporting to discuss and validate the findings and agree on priorities to develop policy recommendations/ action plans. • Contribute to the preparation of final versions of the questionnaires, the summary reports and the notes on the status of sustainability reporting incorporating comments from the workshops. The documents must be available in Spanish and English. • Provide input for the preparation of summaries of the meetings including an analysis of the feedback received. The reports must be prepared in English. • Provide support to the organization and execution of bilateral meetings between UNCTAD and key counterparts to ensure buy-in. iii) Providing policy advice/developing an action plan based on the assessment results on how to reinforce the sustainability reporting ecosystem in beneficiary countries. • Contribute to the preparation of policy recommendations/ action plans 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. • Contribute to the organization of virtual meetings to present and discuss the recommendations with all counterparts. • Provide input to the summary reports of the virtual meetings including an analysis of the feedback received. The reports must be prepared in English. • Contribute to the elaboration of the final version of the recommendations/action plans in Spanish and English including comments from the virtual meetings. iv) Conducting a virtual capacity building workshop on sustainability reporting for the public sector. • Provide input to the preparation of presentations and other materials, as needed, based on UNCTAD’ s capacity building manual on sustainability reporting for public sector implementers. • Contribute to the organization of virtual trainings for key public sector counterparts in the beneficiary countries. • Provide input for the preparation of summary reports of the virtual meetings including an analysis of the feedback received. The reports must be prepared in English. v) Strengthening of the Latin American Partnership for the promotion of sustainability reporting (ARL) • Assist in mobilizing key stakeholders from countries in the region to participate and join the ARL. • Contribute to the continuous improvement and update of the online platform of the ARL and assist in updating the database of members and potential members. • Contribute to the activation of the Forum on the online platform. • Support the collection of data on the status of sustainability reporting of the members of the ARL, including by contributing to the development of a survey, following up with members to collect the data and conducting interviews are needed. • Contribute to the preparation of a report with the data collected. vi) Sharing of key findings obtained through the application of the ADT, the preparation of the note on the status of sustainability reporting, and development action plans in the beneficiary countries in the region with members of the ARL. • Contribute to the organization of the regional meeting to share key findings, challenges and lessons learned from beneficiary countries, including by providing substantive inputs to the agenda of the partnership meeting, as well as preparing a list of questions for discussion for the different presentations. • Support the preparation of presentations and other materials as needed to share experience from beneficiary countries with all members of the ARL. • Prepare a summary report of the meeting highlighting lessons learned from Ecuador and Peru and including the results of the feedback survey. vii) 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. • The consultant will contribute to the organization and execution of the hybrid cross-cutting forum with Regional Partnerships for the promotion of sustainability reporting. Qualifications/special skillsAdvanced university degree, Master, in accounting, sustainability reporting, economics, finance, business administration or related field is required. A First-Level university Degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of Advanced Degree. At least 5 years of work experience in the areas of accounting, corporate reporting, sustainability reporting, auditing, finance or related field, is required. Specific knowledge of the financial and sustainability reporting infrastructure in the Latin American region and sustainability reporting policy frameworks and reforms for high quality corporate reporting is an advantage. Specific knowledge of UNCTAD accounting and sustainability reporting tools is considered is an advantage. LanguagesFluency written and spoken in Spanish and 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.