Liberia - Gender and Social Safeguards Expert

The expert will develop the gender-responsive measures, criteria and indicators for the Revised NDC Implementation Plan and the Updated NDC Investment Plan, supported by a project gender plan, an inception gender analysis, sex-disaggregated participation across consultations and validation workshops, a gender-responsive financing lens applied to the Investment Plan, and a final gender mainstreaming report documenting outcomes against the project gender targets.

Monrovia, Liberia

From 25 September 2026 to 30 March 2027 (45 working days over 6 months)

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the international environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. The NDC Act & Invest Initiative is a global project led by UNEP and currently funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and the NDC Partnership’s Partnership Action Fund (PAF) multi-donor trust fund. It is designed to help countries raise their climate ambition and translate their new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted in 2025 into actionable, investable plans. Structured around three interconnected workstreams: fostering G20+ ambition and action, piloting policy and planning alignment, and providing deep-dive support to enhance NDC 3.0 investability, the project aims to bridge the gap between climate commitments and tangible implementation. By aligning national strategies, strengthening enabling environments, and working collaboratively with key partners, including the NDC Partnership, GIZ, UNDP’s Climate Promise, UNFCCC, multilateral development banks (MDBs), development finance institutions (DFIs), and private sector actors, NDC Act & Invest seeks to make the next generation of NDCs 3.0 both more ambitious and more achievable, accelerating progress toward the 1.5°C goal and enhancing global resilience. The NDC Act & Invest team, based within the Mitigation Branch in Paris, is responsible for the global management and overall coordination of the project across partner countries, in line with UNEP’s delivery model. The team also acts as the main liaison between UNEP and the NDC Partnership, coordinating UNEP’s responses to country support requests shared through the Partnership, identifying and applying for additional funding where appropriate, and consolidating implementation and progress reporting. In addition, the team maintains close coordination with related projects under the IKI Programme to ensure coherence and synergies across initiatives. Liberia has submitted its Third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) to the UNFCCC, retaining its 64% emission reduction target against an updated business-as-usual baseline, with an unconditional reduction target of 5,551 GgCO₂e (10%) and a conditional reduction of 29,974 GgCO₂e (54 per cent) by 2035. To operationalise the NDC 3.0 ambition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia has requested technical support through the NDC Partnership to deliver two outputs: (i) a Revised NDC Implementation Plan, aligned with the updated NDC 3.0 targets, national policies and strategies, and relevant county climate action plans, and accompanied by sector-specific tracking tools; and (ii) an Updated NDC Investment Plan identifying priority interventions, financing needs, and viable resource-mobilisation pathways (national and international) to support NDC implementation. The project will be delivered by UNEP in close collaboration with the EPA, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), line ministries, and the NDC Partnership, using a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, with gender equality and social inclusion mainstreamed across all activities. Beyond this support under PAF, UNEP maintains an established presence and broader portfolio of support in Liberia, including long-standing engagement with the Government of Liberia through the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), as well as support to Liberia's electricity-sector investment planning delivered through the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The selected expert will be connected to this wider UNEP support in-country and will coordinate closely with UNEP's existing experts and teams in Liberia to maximise synergies across the organisation's engagement. ● Key Competencies o Excellent gender analysis skills, including the ability to identify gender-differentiated impacts of climate policies and investments and to translate findings into concrete planning measures. o Strong methodological outreach skills with women-led organisations, youth groups, indigenous and marginalised communities, and the private sector. o Clear and concise written communication in English; o Ability to produce gender assessments, gender strategies and gender sections of policy and investment plans of publishable quality. o Capacity to design gender Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including sex-disaggregated participation indicators and gender-responsive financing indicators. o Proficiency in MS Office. Result 1: A project gender plan and gender analysis grounding the technical work. • Activity 1.1: Conduct a detailed gender analysis at inception, considering all existing gender policies’ efforts in Liberia; • Activity 1.2: Develop the project gender strategy aligned with Liberia’s national gender policies and the international climate finance gender policies. • Activity 1.3: Provide gender-mainstreaming inputs to the review of the NDC 3.0 and to the prioritisation of NDC measures and activities under the Result-Based Framework. Expected deliverables: • 1.a Inception gender analysis documenting gender-differentiated impacts and entry points across NDC 3.0 sectors. • 1.b Project gender strategy with gender-responsive actions, KPIs and monitoring plan. Result 2: Gender-responsive Revised NDC Implementation Plan integrating inputs from women, youth and marginalised communities, with a sex-disaggregated M&E framework. • Activity 2.1: Provide gender-mainstreaming inputs to the sectoral analysis and prioritisation under the whole-of-society approach • Activity 2.2: Review and complement the stakeholder lists to include women's organisations, youth groups and marginalised communities • Activity 2.3: Contribute to the design of the consultation methodology to capture gender-differentiated impacts and priorities. • Activity 2.4: Design the sex-disaggregated participation tracking approach and synthesise gender insights emerging from the consultations. • Activity 2.5: Provide gender content for the national validation workshop on the Implementation Plan. • Activity 2.6: Draft the gender-responsive action section and sex-disaggregated indicators for integration into the draft Implementation Plan. • Activity 2.7: Train the project team and key EPA and line-ministry staff on gender mainstreaming for NDC 3.0 implementation. Expected deliverables: • 2.a Gender section of the Revised NDC Implementation Plan with gender-responsive activities, sex-disaggregated indicators (target: 100% of Implementation Plan indicators disaggregated by sex), and a gender M&E framework. • 2.b Technical note synthesising and analysing inputs gathered from women, youth and marginalised communities, together with gender mainstreaming guidance and training material, documenting at least 40% cumulative female participation across consultations and engagement with at least five women’s groups or gender-focused organisations throughout the project. Result 3: A gender-responsive Updated NDC Investment Plan, with gender-specific financing opportunities and engagement of women-led enterprises. • Activity 3.1: Apply a gender lens to the analysis of historic climate-related public and private expenditures and to the assessment of policy coherence and mainstreaming efforts. • Activity 3.2: Identify gender gaps in current financial flows and draft gender-aware policy recommendations for the improved financial architecture. • Activity 3.3: Provide gender inputs to the climate finance readiness assessment, including the development of gender-responsive financing criteria and the identification of gender-specific financing opportunities. • Activity 3.4: Analyse inputs from women-led enterprises and chambers of commerce and formulate recommendations to strengthen access to climate finance for women and vulnerable groups. • Activity 3.5: Identify women-led enterprises and gender-focused organisations whose inputs should inform the analysis of NDC investment priorities and assess female participation against the ≥40% target in at least one consultation on the Investment Plan. Expected deliverables: • 3.a Gender section of the Updated NDC Investment Plan with gender-responsive financing criteria, gender inputs to the ten (10) project concept notes in the investment pipeline prepared by the NDC Implementation, Investment Planning and MRV Expert (including at least three (3) priority investment projects specifically empowering women), and identified gender-targeted finance mobilisation opportunities. • 3.b Final gender mainstreaming report consolidating outcomes against the project gender targets (sex-disaggregated participation, women-led enterprise engagement, women-focused investment opportunities), and lessons learned. Specific tasks and responsibilities Across all tasks, the consultant will: • Provide the gender expertise to embed gender equality and social inclusion throughout the project cycle, in line with Liberia’s national gender policies, the international climate finance gender policies, the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan and UNEP’s Gender and Environment Support Toolkit. • Develop the project gender plan and conduct the gender analysis at inception. • Develop gender-responsive actions and indicators for the Implementation Plan and the Investment Plan, including sex-disaggregated indicators across the M&E framework. • Provide technical inputs to outreach to women’s organisations, youth groups and marginalised communities, and to strengthening female participation across consultations and validation workshops. • Design gender KPIs and the approach to track them and provide gender mainstreaming training for the project team and EPA and line-ministry counterparts. • Provide gender inputs for the integration of gender-specific financing opportunities into the Investment Plan and assess compliance with applicable social safeguards. The gender analysis and the gender-responsive measures, criteria and indicators produced under this assignment will feed directly into the work of the NDC Implementation, Investment Planning and MRV Expert, who will integrate them jointly with the GEDSI expert into the Revised NDC Implementation Plan and the Updated NDC Investment Plan. Performance indicators: • Timely submission of all deliverables in line with the agreed work plan. • Implementation Plan includes a gender action section and gender-responsive activities; 100% of Implementation Plan indicators disaggregated by sex. • Investment Plan includes at least three (3) priority investment projects specifically empowering women and identified gender-targeted finance mobilisation opportunities. • 100% of progress reports include sex-disaggregated participation and benefit data. The consultant/individual contractor will report to Jérôme Malavelle, Global Coordinator of NDC Act & Invest, Global Climate Action Unit, Mitigation Branch.

o A master’s degree in gender studies, sociology, development studies, or related social sciences is required. o At least nine (9) years of experience working on gender equality and social safeguards in climate or development projects. o Demonstrated expertise in mainstreaming gender in policy and investment planning, including the design of gender-responsive measures, criteria and indicators. o Experience integrating inputs from women’s groups, gender focal points and civil society organisations into technical analyses, planning frameworks and deliverables in Liberia. o Familiarity with international gender frameworks and with Liberia’s national gender frameworks. o Experience in gender-responsive indicator development and tracking, including sex-disaggregated data collection and reporting. o Proven ability to produce actionable gender assessments and to train multi-sectoral teams on gender mainstreaming.

o Fluency in written and spoken English is mandatory.

Not available.

THE 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.