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.
UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and work with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes, and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind womenโs equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on four strategic priorities:
- Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems
- Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy
- All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violenceย
- Women and girls contribute to and have more significant influence in building sustainable peace and resilience and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action
UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN systemโs work in advancing gender equality in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda. The entity works to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals and a more inclusive world.
Consultancy Backgroundย
The UN Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris in December 2015 was a success in many respects. One of the key reasons was the momentum across national governments to develop their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) before the COP. Although NDCs are about countriesโ climate policy commitments, many countries also use the opportunity to embed climate policies within their broader development agenda and highlight cross-cutting priorities such as gender issues. For example, according to an analysis byย Women Environment and Development Organizationย (WEDO), 64 of 190 analyzed NDCs reference women or gender and all 64 countries are non-Annex I parties and most commonly about climate change adaptation. Among 64 countries, the most common way that the position/ role of women is identified as a vulnerable group. Moreover, gender equality in climate actions is also recognized in the Preamble of the Paris Agreement and Articles on Adaptation Action and Capacity Development.
The 2030 Agenda aims to shift global development to sustainability and resilience. Gender equality is integral to the agenda and cannot be separated from the challenges of poverty, hunger, poor health, well-being, hardship, environmental burden, etc. Besides, climate change also cuts across all the SDGs. It is recognized to have the potential to increase resource scarcity, undermine livelihoods, and increase migration and forced displacement pressures.
Nigeria, Africaโs largest economy, has a key role to play in delivering the aims of the Paris Agreement in the continent of Africa. Today, one ๏ฌfth of Africans, some 200 million people, are Nigerians. The World Bank projects that Nigeria will become the worldโs third most populous country by 2050, with over 400 million people. Nigeria has an important leadership role as a country that is both highly vulnerable to climate change's impacts and one of the largest emitters of GHG emissions across Africa.
Nigeria submitted its first NDC in 2015 and the revised NDC in 2021. Nigeria recommits to its unconditional contribution of reducing emissions by 20% below the business-as-usual scenario by 2030 and increased its conditional target to a 47% reduction in emissions by the same year. In the updated NDC, Nigeria has increased its ambitions with newly added sectors, including the waste and water sectors, and new gases, including short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The updated NDC broadens the scope and coverage of the country's climate commitments in the energy and efficiency, agriculture, oil and gas, power, infrastructure and housing sectors. Nigeria strives to achieve net zero by 2060.ย
Nigeria is currently in the process of revising the third version of its NDC, with the support of United Nations agencies, financial institutions and other key development partners, a rigorous process that reviews every detail of the previous NDC commitment with current findings changes in contexts and other national and international developments.ย It is anticipated that the NDC 3.0 will be richly gender inclusive across all sectors and have gender as a standalone component to foster gender equality and social inclusion in the implementation of the framework.
The submission for the government approval is expected in the 2nd quarter of 2025.ย
In this process, the Gender Core group (a team of gender experts from various UN agencies, government, consultants and development partners) will continue to provide technical support to NCCC on gender mainstreaming in the NDC revision process, focusing on providing recommendations on gender issues in the NDC and capacity building for government officers in line ministries on gender and climate change. UN Women is seeking a national consultant to provide advisory support on gender equality and social inclusion, conduct assessments of the seven NDC sectorsย (water, power, waste management, agriculture & forestry, oil & gas, industry, and transportation), conduct Focus group discussions with a gender focus, make recommendations for each sector based on the findings from the assessment, and support the capacity-building activities throughout the drafting process of the NDC 3.0.ย
Objective
The overall objective of the consultancy is to provide advisory support to the NDC facilitator for a gender-sensitive review of the NDC 3.0, covering all seven sectors (water, power, waste management, agriculture & forestry, oil & gas, industry, and transportation). The purpose of this consultancy is:ย
- to strengthen the reflection of gender equality and social inclusion in the NDC 3.0 and related documents (review reports, technical reports, monitoring and evaluation framework, etc.);ย
- to support capacity building for relevant stakeholders, including line ministries, gender machinery, and NGOs on gender and the NDC.
Specific Tasks
The national consultancy will collaborate with National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), UN Women, other UN agencies, development partners, and government agencies to support gender mainstreaming in the NDC revision process. The national consultant is expected to fulfil the following specific tasks:
- Closely follow the NDC revision process, proposing clear and realistic recommendations for integrating gender equality and social inclusion into the NDC revision and NDC Technical Report. Provide direct recommendations on gender content to be integrated, as agreed by the NDC review team gender core group, in this crucial policy, realizing Nigeriaโs commitment within the framework of the Paris Agreement.
- Liaise with the NDC review team on changes in the NDC technical report and its application on recommendations on gender.
- Conduct a nationwide Focus group discussion with women from all spheres affected by climate change to assess the impact of CC on them and their livelihood.ย
- Develop a strategy for adopting the recommendations to ensure the integration of gender considerations and actions.
- Support UN Women and the NCCC in the review of the Gender Action Plan review
- Participate in consultations, workshops, and meetings organized by UN Women, NCCC, and other relevant stakeholders to share recommendations on gender.
- Provide technical support to the organization of a workshop on gender and NDC for womenโs organizations, gender machinery, and NGOs, including inputs into the agenda, invitation list, presentations on gender and NDC and relevant policies in Nigeria, and consolidation of recommendations from the consultation.
Outputsย
Under the direct guidance and overall supervision of the Programme Specialist, Women Economic Empowerment, the National Consultant will undertake the tasks outlined in section five below. To facilitate the delivery of the above outputs, UN Women will provide the consultant with available documents and relevant templates.
Deliverable Expected completion time (due day)ย Written inputs into the technical brief on gender and NDC.ย Inputs on the NDC revision process, proposing clear and realistic recommendations for integrating gender equality and social inclusion into the NDC revision and NDC Technical Report. Provide direct recommendations of gender content to be integrated and agreed upon by the NDC review team gender core group in this crucial policy, realizing Nigeriaโs commitment within the framework of the Paris Agreement. March 2025ยConduct FDG and assessment on gender gaps in the 7 NDC sectors.
March 2025ย Facilitate a workshop on gender and NDC for gender machineries, Womenโs Union and NGOs.ย March 2025ยFacilitate a capacity building training on gender and NDC for NDC focal points from line ministries.ย
March 2025ยSupport UN Women and the NCCC in the review of the Gender Action Plan review.
March 2025ย Presentations on key gender recommendations and strategy for implementation at consultation/meetings/workshops organized by UN Women & NCCC March 2025ยFinal technical brief on gender and NDCย
March 2025ยConsultantโs Workplace and Official Travel
This consultancy requires travel within the six geopolitical zones for the FDGs.
Core Values:
- Integrity;
- Professionalism;
- Respect for Diversity.
Core Competencies:
- Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
- Accountability;
- Creative Problem Solving;
- Effective Communication;
- Inclusive Collaboration;
- Stakeholder Engagement;
- Leading by Example.
Please visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning
- Share knowledge and experience
- Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
- Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.
- Development and Operational Effectiveness
- Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies.
- Demonstrates an excellent understanding of and experience in communications and outreach/advocacy.
- Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded, and reported.
- Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify, and resolve operational problems.
- Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource.
Leadership and Self-Management
- Focuses on results for the client and responds positively to feedback.
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
- Remains calm, and in control even under pressure
- Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Womenโs mandate.
- Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners.
Education and Certification:
- A degree in Development studies, international relations, administration, human resource management, public policy, climate change, gender equality, or other social science fields is required.
- A masterโs degree is an added valueย
Experience:
- At least 2 years of solid, relevant professional experience in climate change, gender analysis, planning, and mainstreaming.
- Proven track record of successfully managing multi-stakeholder initiatives, particularly in the non-profit, gender, or environment sectors. ย
- Experience leading and motivating teams, fostering collaboration among diverse groups, and driving strategic initiatives. ย
- Experience in advocacy and policy influence related to climate change, womenโs economic empowerment, and overall gender equality
- Demonstrated ability to engage with various stakeholders, including government bodies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and international agencies.ย
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.ย
Languages:
- Fluency in English is requiredย
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,ย and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age,ย ability, national origin,ย 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 toย UN Womenโsย policiesย and proceduresย andย theย standardsย of conduct expected of UN Women personnelย 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.
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- Fluency in English is requiredย