UN Women Lead for Collective Leadership Dialogues (CLD), Homebased, National Consultant

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.

Given Sri Lanka’s high vulnerability to extreme weather events, women, especially those in rural communities and those engaged in agriculture and fisheries, face disproportionate challenges. Yet, they remain largely excluded from decision-making processes that shape climate adaptation and economic policies. Globally, UN Women promotes women’s economic empowerment within the broader sustainable development agenda, with a focus on green economics and climate change. Against this background, UN Women Sri Lanka is in the process of planning the implementation of a five-year project focused on “THRIVE: Together for Her: Resilience-building, Inclusivity, and Voices for Equality in Sri Lanka” to strengthen the economic and social resilience of women who are marginalized by equipping them with the resources needed to navigate and recover from crises, insecurity, and the impacts of climate change. The project envisions three main outcomes: a) Women’s enterprises are resilient to climate impacts and crises, b) Shifts in community attitudes towards the perception of women, and c) Women’s participation in leadership and decision-making.

UN Women Sri Lanka plans to conduct a series of Community Dialogues at the district level focused on collective leadership and women’s engagement in decision-making as part of THRIVE. This series is based on UN Women’s successful dialoguing model for the Multi-Party and Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues for Peacebuilding and Collective Leadership that were convened for each of the 25 districts in Sri Lanka in 2018-2022 and the Inter-Community, Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues that were convened in four districts to advance the Women, Peace and Security agenda in 2024. These women-centered dialogues aim to foster understanding, trust, and collaboration among diverse groups. It provides a platform for open communication, enabling communities to prioritize issues affecting their districts/communities, address grievances, and collectively develop joint, shared solutions to the identified issues. The dialogues contribute to the development of collective leadership by encouraging inclusive decision-making processes that incorporate the perspectives and lived experience of various community members, in particular, those of women and other marginalized groups such as persons with disabilities. Overall, the dialogues will target elected officials, public officers, civil society, women activists, media, religious leaders, Praja Mandala members, women entrepreneurs from the THRIVE project, and members from Community Development Forums (if existing in the district).

A central focus of the dialogues will be on inclusive governance within community and local level decision-making processes, with women and other marginalized groups at the forefront, as well as mitigating the impact of climate change and building climate resilience. The dialogues are expected to take place at the district level in Colombo, Badulla, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Monaragala, and Nuwara Eliya.

Against this background, UN Women is seeking to hire a National Lead Consultant to conduct the Collective Leadership Dialogues (CLDs) at the district level. The CLDs are conceptualized as part of the THRIVE project implemented by UN Women and Chrysalis in partnership with the Government of Australia and will be accompanied by capacity-building and workplan development workshops for sustainability.

The consultant will report to the Head of Office, and will be supported by the Project Officers, who will be the point of contact on substantive and administrative issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the supervision and guidance of the Head of Office, the National Lead Consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks, with the support of a co-facilitator, two coordinators, and two rapporteurs. 

The quality standards of the deliverables of this consultancy will be evaluated based on effective facilitation, accurate synthesis of dialogue outcomes, and actionable recommendations. The delivery of the dialogues and workshops must also promote sustainable, community-driven leadership.

1

Develop the inception report for the execution of the Collective Leadership Dialogues (CLDs) and the accompanying programmes.

2

Conduct a rapid training needs assessment to identify the training needs of the participants. The rapid needs assessment should be less than 40 pages and the report can be submitted in any of the local languages (Sinhala/ Tamil) or English. 

National Lead Consultant will be supported by two coordinators with the data collection process.

3

Convene and facilitate 06 CLDs at the selected districts below with 40 community leaders from each district. CLDs. Each CLD will be for 3 days and will be convened as residential workshops as per the tentative schedule below. District No. of days Tentative Dates* Badulla 3 Q2 (2026) Colombo 4 Q2 (2026) Kilinochchi 4 Q2 (2026) Mannar 4 Q2 (2026) Monaragala 3 Q2 (2026 Nuwara Eliya 3 Q2 (2026)

*The above timeline and number of days are subject to change in line with other project activities and recommendations from the rapid needs assessment noted above.

The National Lead Consultant is expected to provide technical support to the rapporteurs to finalize the reports following the completion of the Dialogues.

4

5

Develop training materials for the workshops on collective leadership and governance for community leaders and stakeholders based on the findings of the rapid training needs assessment and the CLDs that are tailor made for each district. This includes customized templates for workplans for community-level implementation of outcomes.

Note: Efforts must be made to identify intersecting issues, such as climate and care work, and incorporate them into the training materials based on findings from the needs assessment.

The findings of the training needs assessment must be validated by a second, smaller-scale round of data collection to ensure that training materials meet the evolving needs of stakeholders engaged. The Consultant will be supported by the Co-Facilitator and Coordinators for this task.

6

Convene and facilitate 06 workshops for capacity building and workplan development as per the schedule below. District No. of days Tentative Dates Badulla 3 Q1 (2027) Colombo 4 Q1 (2027) Kilinochchi 4 Q1 (2027) Mannar 4 Q1 (2027) Monaragala 3 Q1 (2027) Nuwara Eliya 3 Q1 (2027)

*The above timeline and number of days are subject to change in line with other project activities and recommendations from the rapid needs assessment noted above.

7

Conduct quarterly check-in meetings with participants (to be divided into working groups) to gather updates on progress achieved and provide practical recommendations to address challenges. 

Draft a mid-term progress report not exceeding 20 pages, which includes a brief evaluation of the progress of the CLDs, identifying successes, challenges, and recommendations for adjustments. The report must also include an assessment of stakeholder engagement and the effectiveness of the dialogues in building collective leadership.

8

Conduct 06 follow-up workshops and site visits of working group interventions after 12 months following the conclusion of the CLDs, as per the tentative schedule given below.  District No. of days Tentative Dates Badulla 1 Q4 (2027) Colombo 1 Q4 (2027) Kilinochchi 1 Q4 (2027) Mannar 1 Q4 (2027) Monaragala 1 Q4 (2027) Nuwara Eliya 1 Q4 (2027)

*The above timeline and number of days are subject to change in line with other project activities and recommendations from the rapid needs assessment noted above.

The National Lead Consultant is also expected to provide technical support to the rapporteur to finalize the district follow-up reports.

9

10

Produce a consolidated final report suited to be disseminated among the dialogue stakeholders and to inform UN Women’s programming.

Note: The report must include dialogue outcomes, policy and program recommendations, lessons learned and other important considerations.

11

Deliverables

The National Lead Consultant will remain accountable for the timely submission of the deliverables as per the timeline given below. All deliverables should be finalized in line with the feedback given by UN Women.

Inception report outlining the methodology for the Collective Leadership Dialogues (CLDs) and accompanying programmes.

Note: The inception report should consist of the methodology for the different components of the programme (dialogues, workshops), including the criteria for the selection of participants, mapping of potential participants, stakeholder engagement plan, programme flow, workplan and the timeline for the components of the consultancy.

Rapid Needs Assessment Report 

Note: The report must be less than 40 pages, submitted in any of the local languages (Sinhala/ Tamil) or English. Efforts must be made to gather data on participant preferences for dialogue modality and other practical considerations. 

Completion of the six (06) CLDs at the selected districts. 

Note: The National Lead Consultant is responsible for overseeing all implementation matters and will be supported by a team of five other consultants entrusted with co-facilitation, coordination and rapporteuring.

Completion of the six (06) capacity-building workshops at the selected districts. 10 April 2027 07

Mid-term progress report 

Note: The report must be concise and not exceeding 20 pages, which includes a brief evaluation of the progress made since the CLDs, identifying successes, challenges, and recommendations for adjustments. The report must also include an assessment of stakeholder engagement and the effectiveness of the dialogues in building collective leadership.

Completion of the six (06) follow-up workshops at the selected districts. 30 November 2027 09 Activity completion report indicating technical support for district-specific reports following the completion of the follow-up workshops. 30 January 2028 10

Consolidated final report 

Note: The report must be suitable for dissemination among the dialogue stakeholders and to inform UN Women’s programming. It must include dialogue outcomes, policy and program recommendations, lessons learned and other important considerations.

Activity Completion report – Technical advisory 

Note: The activity completion report must demonstrate all tasks completed in providing technical advisory for other activities to advance women’s leadership under the THRIVE project. The report must be accompanied by relevant supporting documents.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

The consultancy is expected to start on 30 August 2025 and continue until 29 August 2028. As part of the official duty of this consultancy, the consultant may be expected to travel, which will be processed by UN Women, following the duty travel policy. 

Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will be made upon submission of deliverables with the approval of the Head of Office of UN Women Sri Lanka. Mobile and internet bills, as well as printing and stationery costs may be reimbursed based on prior approval from UN Women, and will be processed separately, following the relevant policy. 

Intellectual Property

All information pertaining to this assignment (data, analysis, reports, documentary, digital, cyber, project documents, etc.) belonging to UN Women, which the consultant may come into contact within the performance of their duties under this assignment shall remain the property of UN Women who shall have exclusive rights over their use. Except for purposes of this assignment, the information shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever form, without the written permission of UN Women in line with the national and International Copyright Laws applicable.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

Experience:

Languages:

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application through UN Women website and complete all questions with below required document to upload in the system.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.