National Consultant to Develop the Gender and Climate Change Strategy

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.

In Uganda, this mandate is operationalized through the Strategic Note (2026–2030), which promotes gender equality through three priorities: strengthening gender-responsive norms and systems, advancing inclusive governance and data, and expanding economic opportunities for those at risk of being left behind.  These are supported by cross-cutting investments in gender data, coordination, and gender-responsive climate action. With a focus on green and blue economies, climate action is closely linked to Outcome 3, which promotes resilient livelihoods and inclusive economic opportunities, providing a strategic entry point for advancing women’s resilience to climate change. Aligned with this, the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2026–2030 identifies climate resilience, environmental sustainability, and inclusive, gender-responsive green growth as key priorities. 

Climate change in Uganda disproportionately impacts women and girls by worsening existing gender inequalities in access to resources, land, livelihoods, and decision-making. Because women are more reliant on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture and water collection, they are especially vulnerable to droughts, floods, and environmental degradation. Climate shocks also increase risks of gender-based violence, as resource scarcity and economic stress heighten exposure to exploitation, intimate partner violence, and child marriage.

In response to the intersecting challenges of climate change, gender inequality, and gender-based violence (GBV), efforts are being advanced to strengthen gender-responsive climate governance in Parliament. These efforts focus on enhancing legislation, budgeting, and oversight to ensure that climate actions reflect the distinct needs, capacities, and leadership of women and men, while also addressing and preventing climate-induced GBV.

UN Women is supporting the Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change Uganda (PFCC-U) in developing an institutional Gender Strategy aligned with its mandate, existing policies, and national frameworks on climate change and gender. There is also a need to strengthen the capacity of Members of Parliament (MPs) to effectively implement this strategy and champion gender-responsive climate action, including emerging priorities in both green and blue economies.

At the same time, women-led organizations continue to face barriers in accessing climate finance and translating policy commitments into practice. Addressing these gaps requires a combination of capacity strengthening and the development of clear, accessible, and evidence-based policy and technical resources.

Within this context, UN Women seeks to engage a national consultant to provide integrated technical support. The assignment will include supporting the development of PFCC-U’s Gender Strategy; strengthening MPs’ capacities through induction and targeted learning initiatives informed by a needs assessment; and producing user-friendly policy briefs, technical tools, and guidance that translate existing evidence into actionable recommendations for legislators, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Overall, the assignment aims to strengthen gender-responsive climate governance, enhance parliamentary advocacy, improve access to climate finance information for women-led organizations, and promote inclusive, evidence-based approaches to climate action in Uganda.

The consultant will report to the Humanitarian Specialist, work closely with the PFCC-U Secretariat, and coordinate with the Finance Associate on contractual and payment matters.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work:

The consultant will be required to undertake the following tasks.

1. Development of PFCC-U Gender Strategy:

A : Inception and Strategic Alignment:

• Conduct a desk review of relevant PFCC-U documents, including policies, strategic priorities, workplans, and partnership frameworks, as well as well as national climate change, GBV and gender equality policies, with attention to how gender equality and protection, including GBV risk considerations, are reflected in climate legislation, oversight, and participation;
• Conduct an inception meeting with UN Women and the PFCC-U Secretariat to agree on the approach, scope, timelines, documentation formats and validation process;
• Develop an inception report outlining the methodology, stakeholder engagement plan, key findings of the desk review and proposed outline of the Gender Strategy, proposed approach for policy briefs and parliamentary capacity strengthening.

B: Consultative Engagement and Drafting of the Gender Strategy:

• Conduct consultative meetings and validation meetings with PFCC-U members, selected Members of Parliament, and relevant parliamentary committees/caucuses to gather perspectives on gender and climate priorities, gaps, and opportunities. These consultations will examine gender equality and GBV risk considerations within climate governance, including the linkages between climate risks, displacement, and gender‑based violence, and identify entry points for GBV prevention and response within PFCC‑U’s mandate in climate change and disaster contexts;
• Synthesize findings from consultations and document review to inform the strategy;
• Draft the PFCC-U Gender Strategy, ensuring alignment with PFCC-U’s mandate, policies, and workplan.
  • Strategic vision, objectives, and priority areas;
  • A costed 3-year implementation workplan with roles and timelines; including consideration of GBV risks within climate change and disaster contexts, and entry points for prevention and response within PFCC’s mandate;   
  • A results and monitoring framework with clearly defined indicators and reporting responsibilities, integrating gender‑responsive and protection‑sensitive climate governance dimensions, including indicators that address climate change‑related gender‑based violence and associated protection concerns;
  • A proposed coordination and governance structure;
  • Linkages to national climate strategies such as the Uganda NDC, NAP, among others.

The draft strategy should include:

• Strategic vision, objectives, and priority areas;
• A costed 3-year implementation workplan with roles and timelines; including consideration of GBV risks within climate change and disaster contexts, and entry points for prevention and response within PFCC’s mandate;   
• A results and monitoring framework with clearly defined indicators and reporting responsibilities, integrating gender‑responsive and protection‑sensitive climate governance dimensions, including indicators that address climate change‑related gender‑based violence and associated protection concerns;
• A proposed coordination and governance structure;
• Linkages to national climate strategies such as the Uganda NDC, NAP, among others.

The strategy should be presented in a clear, well-structured, and user-friendly format to facilitate understanding and uptake by diverse stakeholders, and should not exceed 30 pages, excluding annexes.

C: Finalization and Communication of the Strategy:

• Review and initialize the Gender Strategy incorporating comments and recommendations from PFCC-U, UN Women and other stakeholders;
• Develop a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the final Gender Strategy for use by PFCC-U in internal briefings, parliamentary engagements, and external communication;
• Develop a simplified, user-friendly version of the Gender Strategy (e.g., a brief, visually engaging summary or “popular version”) tailored for the general public and non-technical audiences, using clear language, colorful infographics, and key messages to enhance accessibility, awareness, and uptake.

2. Capacity Needs Assessment and Capacity Building for Members of Parliament on Gender-Responsive Climate Action:

• Conduct a comprehensive capacity needs assessment of Members of Parliament (MPs) on gender and climate change;   
• Identify knowledge gaps, priorities, and preferred learning approaches;
• Develop practical and user-friendly training materials, including a standardized training manual, facilitation guides, and presentation materials, to support sustained learning and future reference for a 4-day capacity-building training and a half-day induction session for Members of Parliament;
• Deliver a structured half-day induction and 4-days capacity-building sessions on gender-responsive climate action, including key themes such as Gender-responsive climate governance; Gender equality and climate policy; and Climate-related GBV prevention and response;
• Prepare a capacity building report on key outcomes and recommendations or future parliamentary engagement.

3. Development and dissemination of integrated policy and technical briefs to support gender‑responsive climate action, access to climate finance for women‑led organizations, and parliamentary advocacy on green and blue economies:

• Conduct literature review on gender and climate change in Uganda consultative and validation meetings with Members of Parliament, WLOs and other relevant actors; 
• Develop a 2-page digital advocacy briefing note summarizing key policies and programme recommendations linking women’s economic participation, climate resilience, and unpaid care burdens for inclusive climate action. The recommendations should be translatable into practical solutions that WROs, CBOs, and other partners can easily use to strengthen proposals, advocacy, and programme design, and disseminate it to increase awareness and application of evidence-based recommendations;
• Prepare a 5-6 page technical brief and guidance note consolidating the core eligibility and compliance requirements for women-led organizations to access climate finance, drawing on existing guidance from diverse climate related funds, projects and programmes, and disseminate it digitally, and include, eligibility requirements, registration requirements , fiduciary/compliance expectations safeguarding/gender requirements, co-financing expectations, common mistakes, donor examples, checklist format;
• Deliver two interactive virtual capacity building sessions (2h – 2.5h each) to strengthen women’s preparedness for financing opportunities;
• Develop a 3–4-page policy brief for Members of Parliament on gender-responsive green and blue economies, drawing on the work of the National Gender and Climate Change Technical Working Group to support evidence-based parliamentary advocacy.

4. Gender Appraisal of Select Government Policies and Programmes:

• Conduct a comprehensive gender analysis of selected government policies and programmes to assess the extent of gender responsiveness, alignment with national gender frameworks, and integration of gender equality principles;
• Develop an appraisal report outlining key findings, gaps, and actionable recommendations to strengthen gender integration and advance gender responsive and transformative approaches across the identified policies and programmes.

Deliverables:

All the deliverables should be agreed with UN Women and be provided in English in digital format.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel:

This consultancy is primarily home-based, with a requirement for occasional presence at the UN Women office, as well as in-person meetings and consultations within Kampala. 

Competencies :

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

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of results-based management and its application to strategy development with data;
• Excellent knowledge of UN system and understanding of inter-agency level results monitoring and reporting;
• Excellent knowledge of development and use of indicators to develop results framework;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills with use of qualitative and quantitative data;
• Technical knowledge of gender equality, GBV and gender mainstreaming in governance and policy processes;
• Ability to translate policy concepts into practical, implementable strategies.

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Gender Studies, Public Policy, Political Science, Development Studies, International Relations, Climate Change, Social Sciences, or a related field. 
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in programme design, planning and implementation in the areas of gender equality, GBV and climate change, public policy, governance, or related fields is required;
• Experience in developing gender strategies, action plans, or institutional frameworks is required;
• Experience developing strategies with the use of quantitative and qualitative data is required;  
• Experience working with the Parliament or similar governance institutions is desired;
• Experience facilitating consultative and participatory processes is desired;
• Experience with gender, intersecting issues in climate change such as GBV and climate change, displacement, and unpaid care work, among others is highly desirable;
• Experience in designing and delivering learner-centered capacity building methodologies;
• Experience working in the UN or other international development organizations is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of any other UN official language is an asset.

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.