In November 2025, our members had access to over 900 open tenders for individual consultants operating in the international aid sphere. With such a complex global landscape of opportunities, it is often difficult to keep track of all these bidding opportunities, particularly for individuals without dedicated tender support. That’s why in this article, you will find an in-depth analysis of the current market that offers you an overview of the key locations, categories, popular sectors, and lead funding organizations that are looking for bids from freelance consultants like you.
Individual consultants are key players in the global development field and, as a consequence, essential for the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. At DevelopmentAid, we provide near-real-time information on the employment opportunities available to help these professionals to succeed and move the needle further in the direction of a more sustainable and fair society. In November 2025, our tender database contained 904 tenders open to proposals from individual consultants, such as the five highlighted in Table 1.
Table 1 – Five tenders eligible for individual consultants open in December 2025.
However, for this article, we have analyzed the details of all the calls that were open to individual consultants during November 2025, and extracted five important insights to help you to understand the market’s needs and refine your bidding strategy accordingly.
Insight #1: Africa and Asia lead individual consultant demand
During November, most open tenders for individual consultants were based in Africa (38%) and Asia (36%), although many other opportunities were also available in Europe.
This distribution was somewhat predictable, as our last global tender analysis in May 2025 revealed that these three continents were the frontrunners with the most open tenders in the development sector.
Number and percentage of open tenders for individual consultants per continent. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during November 2025. Note: tenders can be based on more than one continent.
Insight #2: Most open tenders seek consulting services
Consulting services represent the majority of tender requests in international development. This was already evident in our February and May analyses. However, for individual consultants, this focus was even more pronounced in November, with 99% of open calls seeking to procure consulting services.
Number and percentage of open tenders for individual consultants per need category. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during November 2025. Note: tenders can span over more than one category.
Insight #3: Environment is the sector with the highest demand
In November, the environmental sector dominated the need for individual consultants, with 22% of all open tenders seeking experts in this field. IT & Engineering tenders ranked second, and those relating to education placed third.
While environment and IT & Engineering have consistently occupied the top 2 in both our previous tender analysis (for organizations), education was not as well-positioned. This suggests that education is a market segment that is gaining importance for individual consultants rather than organizations.
Number and percentage of open tenders for individual consultants per sector. Only the three sectors with the most open tenders are shown. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during November 2025. Note: tenders can be classified into more than one sector.
Insight #4: Fundraising & Grant sector has the least demand
At the opposite end of the rankings are three sectors with very few opportunities for individual consultants – Fundraising & Grants, Nonprofit, and Youth & Child Welfare. Together, these three sectors represented less than 5% of all tenders available for freelance consultants in November.
Number and percentage of open tenders for individual consultants per sector. Only the three sectors with the least open tenders are displayed. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during November 2025. Note: tenders can be classified into more than one sector.
Insight #5: The UN ecosystem is the leading aid sector contractor of individual consultants
If you are a consultant looking for freelance opportunities, the United Nations ecosystem is the funding entity you should keep an eye on. A total of 22% of all tenders open for individual consultants were funded by its various organizations. The World Bank is also an important funding institution for natural persons working as freelancers, financially supporting 20% of all open tenders eligible for individual applications. This top 5 is completed by the Asian Development Bank, EuropeAid, and several nonprofit organizations.
Must-read: Experts’ tips for starting a career at the United Nations | Experts’ Opinions
Table 2 – Top 5 funding agencies with the largest number of open tenders for individual consultants. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during November 2025.
Final thoughts: “Ok, now what? How to leverage this data?”
This analysis offers you at least three advantages and tips to use for your future tendering activities.
Tip #1: You now know which organizations to follow to win your next assignment. On DevelopmentAid.org, you can create a Tender Alert, and the system will notify you automatically when a call that meets your criteria is published.
Tip #2: You are aware of the development sectors where individual consultants’ services are most required. This allows you to plan for your future career or adapt your services offer.
Tip #3: You are now aware that the UN leads the demand for individual consultants, and you know about experts’ tips for starting a career at the United Nations. Use this to guide your future career.
What are the stages of the bidding process?
Here is a breakdown of the standard bidding process that unfolds in 4 stages:
Stage 1: Opportunity identification and monitoring
Stage 2: Bid preparation and team assembling (if relevant)
Stage 3: Proposal writing and submission
Stage 4: Post-submission and follow-up
The first stage sounds simple enough: screening tenders and selecting those that are right for you. But that is easier said than done. With such a complex global landscape of players and the evolving needs of contracting organizations and shifting priorities of funding institutions, this first step can become quite challenging. That’s why we have published this editorial. Make sure to subscribe to our News Digest to receive notifications about the release of the December individual opportunities monthly review.
This article was written to offer you a quick glimpse into the landscape of individual consultant tenders in the development sector. You can use the insights gained to prioritize certain sectors or donors in an effort to maximize your bidding efficiency. And if you need a tool that helps you to find and filter tenders according to your specific criteria, you can register on DevelopmentAid and use our tender database.
