JPO - Climate Change Analyst

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. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women is mandated to lead, coordinate and promote accountability for the implementation of gender equality commitments across the UN System.  UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific has programme presence in twenty four countries in the Asia Pacific Region, while funding programmes in a total of 32 countries. With the Regional Office in Bangkok, there are two multi-country offices (India and the Pacific), eight country offices (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Timor Leste, PNG), 9 project offices in Asia (China, Indonesia, Thailand, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka) and five in the Pacific (Solomon Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, Nauru, Kiribati).

The ratified Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals have political awareness and commitment to address climate change and disasters respectively. These frameworks also recognise that combating, adapting and responding to climate change and disasters cannot be achieved without the leadership of marginalised groups such as women, children, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, among other groups. To achieve these ambitious goals, increased technical capacity will be necessary for national governments, CSOs, regional institutions and other stakeholders to meet these commitments and achieve sustainable development.

In this regard, UN Women supports national government and other stakeholders to ensure that investments made into climate change and disaster risk reduction adopt human rights approaches and are gender response. UN Women formulated its climate change and disaster risk reduction programmes based on the evaluation of current progress, capabilities and challenges facing the Asia and the Pacific region, and based on consultation feedback. Currently climate change and disaster risk reduction initiatives are being implemented at the regional level, but also in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, the Maldives, the Pacific region, and Viet Nam. In addition, UN Women is also embarking on expanding women’s access to livelihoods through renewable energy with planned activities in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Viet Nam. UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, where the JPO will be based, will be leading programme and project development in these areas as well as the management and documentation of lessons learned.

Content and methodology of supervision

As part of the UN Women JPO programme overall framework, the JPO will benefit from the following supervision modalities:

• Structured guidance provided by the supervisor, especially in the beginning of the assignment, with the purpose of gradually increasing the responsibilities of the JPO
• Establishment of a work plan, with clear key deliverable results
• Effective supervision through knowledge sharing and performance/development feedback throughout the assignment
• Easy access to the supervisor, including bi-weekly meetings for updates and feedback
• Participation in Unit/Team/Office meetings to ensure integration and operational effectiveness
• Guidance and advice in relation to learning and training opportunities within the field of expertise
• Completion of the yearly UN Women Performance Management Document (PMD)

Learning Expectations

As part of the UN Women JPO programme overall framework, the JPO will benefit from the following training and learning opportunities:

• Use of yearly JPO duty-related travel and training allocation (DTTA), as per the online DTTA guide
• Other training and learning opportunities, as available in UN Women

In addition, the JPO will benefit from the following specific training and learning modalities/opportunities in the receiving office:

• Develop in-depth knowledge of UN Women's work in development and climate change adaptation and mitigation in the region
• Develop a strong ability to develop and strengthen partnerships across a broad range of partners, including government, development partners, UN agencies, civil society organizations
• Gain ability to prepare quality knowledge products including briefs, concept notes and talking points
• Develop skills in the area of programme and project development, advocacy and strategic planning
• Have access to on the job training and mentoring
• Participate in a range of meetings and serve as a representative of UN Women on inter-agency teams and task forces.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Regional Climate Change Advisor, the Climate Change Analyst will be responsible for the following:

1.       Gender and Climate Change Programme Formulation and Management:

a. Provide UN Women with up-to-date information on regional trends on climate change mitigation and adaptation, and their strategic implications to UN Women’s climate change programming 

b. Support the translation of global and regional developments in climate change mitigation and adaptation, climate change financing mechanisms into strategic planning and direction of UN Women climate change programming

c. Support the conduct of gender and climate change related feasibility assessments in Asia and the Pacific to guide and shape programme formulation

d. Explore strategic opportunities with national governments that can maximize synergies between gender, climate change, disaster risk reduction, poverty, and sustainable development-related activities, including south-south cooperation schemes.

e. Support the preparation, review and submission of innovative gender and climate change concept notes, projects and activity proposals for funding

f. Support the overall delivery of UN Women’s climate change programmes and activities in an effective and efficient manner and in close collaboration with UN agencies, development partners and other actors as appropriate.

g. Undertake project management responsibilities, including monitoring of implementation of activities, providing strategic inputs on project work plans and budgets, and providing high quality inputs to reports on a regular basis

h. Ensure adequate documentation of programme implementation, results, lessons learned and promising approaches in strengthening gender equality women’s empowerment in climate change action in the Asia-Pacific Region

2.       Technical Support and Capacity Development

a. Support the capacity development of national governments and UN Women partners in integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment in climate change policy formation and implementation

b. Support capacity development and training of UN Women staff on climate change and gender equality in general and within the context of other thematic areas engaged by UN Women

c. Advise UN Women country offices on human rights, gender equality and climate change programme related areas, including in strategic planning, formulation and technical oversight of the projects

d. Support capacity development of relevant ministries mandated to deliver on climate change and gender equality, and hum rights CSOs at the regional and national levels

e. Contribute to the technical review of national and regional climate change and gender equality policies, strategies and plans.

f.  Contribute to the design and implementation of national and regional capacity development training activities to enhance skills and knowledge of climate change and gender equality and key management and quality assurance skills

3.       Facilitation of gender equality and climate change knowledge building and management:

a. Support gender analysis, studies, and research on emerging gender, climate change and disasters issues, which will inform UN Women policy and programme formulation

b. Collect, document and share lessons learned and best practices in strengthening gender equality and women’s empowerment through climate change policy formulation and interventions

c. Facilitate and contribute to South-South knowledge-sharing and dissemination within and beyond the region, through meetings, capacity-building workshops, publications and online and other communications;

d. Create strategic linkages between the synthesis of best practices and advocacy, resource mobilization, partnership-building and M&E activities

e. Develop and share knowledge products on the gender dimensions of regional, national and local climate change policies and their impact on sustainable development, growth and equity

f.  Serve as a communication resource for UN Women’s work on climate change and respond to request for information

g. Liaise with UN Women Communications team in the preparation of outreach/publicity material geared towards partners and donors.

• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative
• Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds
• Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication
• Self-Management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others
• Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

• Master's Degree or equivalent Advanced Degree in environmental science or climate change, social sciences, human rights, international development, or another related discipline

Experience

• A minimum of two years of relevant work experience in the area of climate change, environment, disaster risk reduction, human rights, gender equality and women's empowerment, preferably at the international level
• Strong personal commitment to gender equality, human rights, and respect for diversity
• Relevant communications experience, preferably related to the development and implementation of communications and advocacy strategies in a development context
• Ability to work efficiently and responsively within a multicultural team, while demonstrating strong initiative and high degree of personal motivation needed to carry out tasks independently
• Initiative, sound judgement, good coordination, communication and analytical skills as well as professionalism and maturity
• Strong planning and organizing skills with ability to identify priority activities and assignments and to use time efficiently
• Ability to take decisions and manage political/cultural sensitivity

Language

• Fluency in English, with excellent written and verbal communications skills.

Nationality

• This post is opened in the context of the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) scheme sponsored by the Government of Finland and is addressed exclusively to NATIONALS OF FINLAND

UNWOMEN is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.