International Consultant for Conducting Training on Gender in Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Preparedness

Background/Context

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, 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. UN Women 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 in Bangladesh supports the government to implement commitments to international normative standards on gender equality and women’s human rights. In line with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2022-2026, UN Women Bangladesh Strategic Note (2022-2026), defines UN Women’s strategic engagement in Bangladesh. The country strategy focuses on strengthening the national structures and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming in policies, plans and budgets; supporting efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women; promoting women’s access to decent and safe work; promoting policies and government investment in women’s empowerment and resilience building in the context of climate change, humanitarian crisis as well as other threats to peace and security. UN Women works with a range of stakeholders in Bangladesh including the government, civil society and women’s organizations, youth, UN agencies and donors, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

UN Women in Bangladesh is supporting the Government of Bangladesh with the Rohingya humanitarian crisis response. Leveraging its normative, operational and coordination mandate, UN Women has developed a humanitarian response programme in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to meet the specific needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized Rohingya refugee women and girls in the camps and the Bangladeshi host community in Cox’s Bazar. The objective of the programme is to ensure protection, as well as equitable and safe access to and benefit from life-saving humanitarian assistance and information to the most vulnerable, and marginalized Rohingya and host community women while assisting them to live with dignity, regain resilience and overcome restrictive gender norms. The programme promotes women’s empowerment, participation and leadership in the camps and host community, in line with global commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment and to ensuring a gender inclusive preventative approach to disasters.

The Rohingya refugee crisis is now in its seventh year and funding to the crisis is declining. Meanwhile, the refugees remain entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. Women and girls constitute roughly 52 per cent of the Rohingya refugees and face increased restrictions on their movement in accessing life-saving humanitarian services and support. This unfolds against increased insecurities and protection incidents within the Rohingya refugee camps since 2022. Meanwhile, the effects of sudden onset crises, including cyclones, floods and fires, exacerbated by restrictions placed on women’s movement and mobility, continue to drive acute insecurity for women in the camps and host community.

Women-led organisations are often left out of humanitarian decision-making platforms and have limited access to humanitarian and other sources of funding. To strengthen their role, and to ensure effective and sustainable responses to disasters and rapid onset crises in Cox’s Bazar, UN Women sub-office in Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh is seeking a consultant to build capacity of women leaders and women’s rights organizations as well as of key government and humanitarian actors at the camp levels, including through trainings, on gender responsive disaster risk reduction and emergency preparednessin line with the following outcome and outputs of UN Women project “Strengthening the Resilience and Disaster Preparedness Skills and Capacities of Vulnerable Refugee and Bangladeshi Women in Cox’s bazar, Bangladesh”:

Outcome 1: Improved resilience and agency among Rohingya refugee and Bangladeshi local community women in vulnerable situations in disaster-prone settings in Cox’s Bazar through access to essential services and support that enhance foundational life skills, positive coping mechanisms, and leadership development.

Output 1.1: Vulnerable women, adolescent girls and women-led organizations in the disaster-prone Rohingya refugee camps and local community have increased resilience, self-reliance and disaster risk management capacities.

The consultant will directly report to the UN Women Head of Sub-Office in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and will be supported by the Operations Analyst, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. Additionally, the consultant will coordinate closely with the Programme Analyst, Gender-Responsive Governance and Protection, who will provide technical inputs on the context and coordinate with organizations and government actors in Cox’s Bazar and will engage closely with UN Women Programme Specialist on Disaster Risk Reduction for technical inputs and guidance on relevant national frameworks and policies.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

• Prepare an Inception Report, comprising a brief analysis of the project and situational context related to disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness and related gender considerations and priorities for enhancing the role and leadership of women leaders and women-led organizations in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char, and a workplan and methodology for the assignment.
• Prepare an Analytical Brief summarizing the situation based on the desk review and any additional documents identified through assessment; findings from key informant interviews; and recommendations for strengthening the capacities of women-led organizations (WLOs) and disaster affected and impacted host community and Rohingya refugee women for disaster and emergency preparedness and response.
• Prepare a rapid assessment tool for assessing needs of WLOs in the refugee camps, host community, and on Bhasan Char related to disaster and emergency preparedness items.
• Prepare a three-day training package on disaster and emergency preparedness for WLOs; and facilitate a three day ‘Training of Trainers’ (TOT) event on the package.
• Develop a three-day training on gender-responsive humanitarian action, disaster- and emergency preparedness for Rohingya and host community volunteers; and facilitate a three day ‘Training of Trainers’ (TOT) on the package.
• Develop a three-day training package on disaster and emergency preparedness for WLOs; and facilitate a three day ‘Training of Trainers’ (TOT) event on the package.
• Develop two (2) half-day training packages for camp management officials and actors on 1) gender-responsive disaster preparedness, and 2) gender-responsive emergency preparedness; and facilitate a one-day induction event on the training packages.
• Prepare final report with recommendations for further advancing gender-responsiveness of disaster risk reduction and emergency response activities in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based assignment. The consultant will be required to travel to Cox’s Bazar for completion of the TOT events and induction training. Upon prior agreement/approval from UN Women, such travel expenses shall be borne by UN Women: the individual contractor/SSA shall receive a per-diem not to exceed the United Nations daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rate in such other location(s), and actual travel costs to and from Cox’s Bazar for that period.

Supervision and Performance Evaluation: The consultant will be supervised by UN Women Head of Sub-Office in Cox’s Bazar 

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 

• Integrity 

• Professionalism 

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 Core Values and Competencies:  

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Preparedness Expertise: Demonstrated ability in the field of disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness. 

• Needs Assessment Experience in Emergency Preparedness: Ability to develop simple assessment tools tailored to assess the readiness of women-led organizations in disaster-prone areas. This involves designing tools that effectively capture key indicators of preparedness and vulnerability, enabling accurate needs assessment and strategic planning.

• Gender-Responsive Training Design: Proficiency in designing comprehensive training packages, materials, and facilitation guides specifically focused on gender-responsive disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness. The consultant should be capable of integrating gender-sensitive approaches into training content, ensuring inclusivity and effectiveness in addressing the needs of diverse stakeholders.

• Inclusive Capacity Building: Demonstrated experience in delivering inclusive capacity-building sessions aimed at enhancing the knowledge and skills of women-led organizations, refugee volunteers, and camp management actors in disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness. This includes fostering a participatory learning environment that empowers participants to contribute effectively to disaster response efforts.

• Community Engagement and Outreach: Demonstrated understanding of how to engage with local communities to promote awareness and convey key messages and facilitate dialogue on risk mitigation measures, fostering community resilience and preparedness.

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness or a related field is required.
• 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 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in disaster management, including practical experience in disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, and response activities is required, with specific experience of the Rohingya refugee response qualifying as an asset.
• At least 3 years’ experience in gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment, particularly in the context of disaster risk reduction and humanitarian action.
• Experience in designing and implementing gender-responsive interventions and promoting women's leadership and participation in disaster preparedness and response efforts is required.
• Proven experience in designing and delivering training programs and capacity-building initiatives in the field of disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness is required.
• Experience in participatory, feminist informed approaches to capacity development is an asset.
• Experience working with diverse stakeholders, including local communities, government agencies, humanitarian actors, and international organizations, to promote collaboration and coordination in disaster risk reduction efforts.
• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
• Excellent English communication and writing skills; (Samples of previous work will be required.)

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge Bengali or Chittagonian language is an asset.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual consultant is evaluated based on following technical evaluation criteria:

Evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on the following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Criteria-01; Educations Qualification  - Max Point 20

Criteria-02; Years of progressively responsible work experience in disaster management, including practical experience in disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, and response activities is required. Max Point 30

Criteria-03; Experience in gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment, particularly in the context of disaster risk reduction and humanitarian action. Max Point 20

Criteria-04; 

• Experience in designing and implementing gender-responsive interventions and promoting women's leadership and participation in disaster preparedness and response efforts is required.
• Proven experience in designing and delivering training programs and capacity-building initiatives in the field of disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness is required.
• Experience working with diverse stakeholders, including local communities, government agencies, humanitarian actors, and international organizations, to promote collaboration and coordination in disaster risk reduction efforts.
• Excellent analytical skills with a strong drive for results and capacity to work independently. Max Point 15

Criteria-05; Excellent communication and writing skills in Bangla and English. Max Point 15

Interested Individual Consultants will submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

How to Apply 

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc)

• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.

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. (Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check).

NB: 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 based on 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.