Senior consultant on social protection and climate change

Result of ServiceUnder the overall supervision of the Chief, Sustainable Socioeconomic Transformation Section, or his/her designate, the consultant will conduct research to prepare the conceptual framing of regional and national activities and identify the overall scope and common criteria for comparative analysis. This will include desk research and key informant interviews to identify the overall scope for the regional and national studies, suggested NDC economic sectors for analysis as well as common criteria for national mapping and national studies on informal workers/women to enable comparative analysis on a) impact of climate change policies and events and social protection measures/responses, including impact on informal workers and/or gender, b) key issues to identify on climate financing for social protection practitioners. The Consultant will also provide overall analytical direction to country mapping and country studies on informal workers and gender, review and provide comments to 2 rounds of drafts on country mapping and country studies on informal workers and gender. The Consultant will further design and draft a regional synthesis report that draws on findings of country mapping and studies on informal workers/gender from 5 country studies. In addition, the Consultant will support the regional workshop (9-10 November 2026), back-to-back with 9th session of Committee on Social Development (11-13 November 2026). Travel and Daily Subsistence Allowance to be paid separately. Work LocationRemotely Expected duration01/09/25-31/12/26 Duties and ResponsibilitiesClimate change and increasing socio-economic inequality are deeply intertwined, intensifying challenges for marginalized households who often lack the capacity and resources to manage complex shocks impacting health, income security, food security and displacement. Social protection is critical for the region’s response to the climate crisis. It reduces poverty and builds resilience before disasters occur and helps people cope better after a shock has happened. Through various combinations of income and in-kind transfers, contributory schemes and active labour market policies, social protection can support climate change policies and address the effects of climate change events. There is emerging acknowledgement of the role of social protection to strengthen climate resilience in climate change and Agenda 2030 related intergovernmental processes, highlighted in COP outcome documents, regional reports and forums and more recently in the 2024 Pact of the Future, Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Declarations. Despite the recognition on the need to integrate social protection and climate change sectors, there remain key capacity gaps in terms of policy integration, sectoral coordination mechanisms, lack of data, lack of analysis and understanding of key affected populations and climate financing mechanisms, and normative consensus. Although there is progress in promoting shock-responsive social protection, there is still limited awareness of the need to address risks arising from climate policies. As a result, there is limited capacity for countries to effectively harness social protection to adapt, and respond, to climate change policies and events. To strengthen these interlinkages, further efforts are required to harness policy integration, cross-sectoral coordination mechanisms, data as well as address key affected populations and increase knowledge and awareness on the urgency to integrate social protection and climate change policy tools. ESCAP is conducting a project to pioneer action in this emerging area for the Asia-Pacific region. It will build capacity of five beneficiary countries (Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand) that have engaged, or will engage, with ESCAP in the implementation of the Action Plan. It will engage five additional countries (China, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam) to share findings and build knowledge as part of ESCAP’s capacity development efforts through the Action Plan. It adopts a three-pronged approach to: a) Increase capacity to recognize social protection measures that mitigate climate risks and strengthen resilience for groups in vulnerable situations; b) Develop national capacities to quantify the impact of climate change on people and identify furthest behind groups; c) Enhance regional cooperation for better social protection strategies to mitigate climate impacts and increase resilience of groups left furthest behind. A senior consultant will be recruited to develop the substantive framework for the project, prepare regional knowledge products and support regional workshops in this new and emerging area of social protection and climate change. A conceptual framing will be developed for the regional and national activities, and guidance and inputs provided to national studies to ensure alignment with the conceptual framing and relevance of the studies to meet country needs and demands. A synthesis report of the country studies will be developed to identify key findings and learning in this area, including on informal workers and/or gender. In addition, a regional workshop will be conducted back-to-back with the 9th session of the Committee on Social Development to share findings from the studies and build knowledge and awareness in this emerging area. Qualifications/special skillsPhD degree in economics, social development, social administration or labour studies, or an equivalent 15-years work experience in social protection. At least 10 years working on social protection in a development context, including authoring reports and publications in areas relevant to social protection, employment and shock responsive social protection. Demonstrated expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methodology. Experience and published material on social protection and climate change. Expertise and experience advising governments in Asia and the Pacific on social protection, including working with international organizations. LanguagesMust have excellent speaking and drafting skills in English. 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.