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.
The Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) sets the programmatic standards, assures the quality of programme design, and provides guidance to country level programme work of UN Women, as well as supporting the coordination role of UN Women at regional and country level. The division has global policy expertise, manages Global Trust Funds, and Global Programmes, and provides technical capacity to countries on request, including a humanitarian response capacity.
The UN Women Strategic Plan (2022-2025) is based on key findings from an extensive consultative process and draws from the analysis of lessons learned and recommendations from evaluations, audits, and other assessments, including those from the 25-year review and appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Given the interconnected nature of global challenges, UN Women will focus on integrated approaches with seven systemic outcomes to address the root causes of inequality and affect broader systems change, across its four thematic focus areas: 1) governance and participation in public life; 2) womenโs economic empowerment; 3) ending violence against women and girls; and 4) women, peace and security, humanitarian action, and disaster risk reduction.
The Research and Data Section (R&D) in PPID is responsible for leading UN Womenโs research and data agenda and for positioning UN Women as a global knowledge broker on gender equality and womenโs empowerment. It leads UN Womenโs work on gender statistics and produces knowledge products including UN Women flagship publications such as Progress of the Worldโs Women, The World Survey on the Role of Women in Development (World Survey) and the global Beijing review reports.
The next edition of Progress of the Worldโs Women will focus on gender equality and climate change. The global report will build on the paper, Feminist Climate Justice: A Framework for Action, as its conceptual framework. Alongside the global report, a gender equality and climate policy scorecard will be produced, which will define a gender-responsive climate policy agenda and assess the extent to which countries are implementing it.
Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Chief, Research and Data section and in close collaboration with the research specialists in the team, the research specialist on climate change consultant is responsible for leading on the pilot for the gender equality and climate policy scorecard; and for producing an outline and research commissioning strategy for the global report.
Duties and Responsibilities
1. Lead the development of an outline of the global Progress of the Worldโs Women report.
Based on the conceptual framework outlined in UN Womenโs paper: Feminist Climate Justice: A Framework for Action, and in consultation with the research and data section, other experts in UN Women and external experts on gender and climate change, develop options for the outline of the global Progress of the Worldโs Women report.Once an approach has been agreed, develop initial outlines for the chapters, to include key policy issues covered, and data to include.
2. Lead the development of a commissioning strategy for the global Progress of the Worldโs Women report
Develop a research commissioning strategy for the chapters identified, based on a scan of existing research and an analysis of where UN Women can add value and contribute to the global knowledge pool on gender equality and climate change. Work with data specialists in UN Women (HQ and regional offices) to identify new data analysis that could be commissioned, based both on data that UN Women holds, and on data collected and held by other institutions in and beyond the UN system.Draft TORs and identify leading researchers to commission background research papers and data analysis
3. Contribute to the pilot of the gender equality and climate policy scorecard.
Building on the scorecard methodological note developed by UN-Women, with partners at IUCN and Binghamton University, feed into a pilot study of 15-17 countries that aims to test and refine the methodological approach and indicator framework developed for the analysis of National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and for climate funds project data. This will involve working with UNWโs research team to review results, contribute to country coding, analysis and indicator adjustment. Provide substantive inputs to adapt the NDC methodology already developed to analyse UNFCCC climate finance mechanisms project data (e.g. the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Fund) to gain insights on the gender-responsive implementation of the NDCs. Support the writing of a proof-of-concept for the scorecard in the form of a short brief or presentation that summarizes and validates the scorecardโs unique research approach, which can then be used to facilitate stakeholder engagement in key multilateral forums, for instance at COP29, and with UNFCCC national gender and climate focal points.Support liaison with scorecard partners as well as external academic/experts to ensure the scorecard methodology is informed by in-depth technical comments and guidance.Identify strategic opportunities to disseminate the scorecard, as a basis for positioning UN Womenโs approach to climate policy analysis with a range of internal and external stakeholders.The outline for the global Progress of the Worldโs Women report is completed and agreed.The commissioning strategy for new research and data analysis is competed, and ready for implementation.The gender equality and climate policy scorecard pilot is successfully completed, and recommendations are made to strengthen the methodology and data collection/analysis strategy.Expertise and advice is provided to the research team on other aspects of the project to produce Progress of the Worldโs Women global report and scorecard.
Competencies
Core Values:
Respect for DiversityIntegrityProfessionalism
Core Competencies:
Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender IssuesAccountabilityCreative Problem SolvingEffective CommunicationInclusive CollaborationStakeholder EngagementLeading by Example
Please visit this link for more information on UN Womenโs Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
Expert researcher on gender and climate change policy broadly, and/or with specific expertise on a major aspect of this area, such as agriculture, energy, financing, etc. Proven track record of work to develop new research and/or data analysis on gender and climate change, including broad and deep research and policy networks. Experience of analysing gender and climate policy data, including on in relation to NDCs.Ability to work with diverse stakeholders.Ability to build strong relationships with clients; focus on impact on results for the clients and responds positively to feedback.Ability to manage complexities.
Required Skills and Experience
Education and certification:
Masterโs degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, International Relations, Political/Development Studies, or other relevant discipline, with a strong gender component is required.A PhD in an area relevant to gender and/or climate change/environment would be considered a strong asset.
Experience:
At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in research and/or policy work with a strong component on gender equality and climate change/environment.Record of peer reviewed publications on gender equality and/or climate change/environment is strongly preferred.Experience of and participation in research networks on gender equality and climate change/environment.Experience of analyzing climate change policies from a gender perspective is an asset.Experience in an international organization, in the UN system and/or in multilateral climate negotiations and fora is an asset;
Language Requirements:
Fluency in English is required.Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.