UN Women Coordinator for Collective Leadership Dialogues (CLD), Home based, National Consultant

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.

Given Sri Lanka’s high vulnerability to extreme weather events, women, especially those in rural communities and those engaged in agriculture and fisheries, face disproportionate challenges. Yet, they remain largely excluded from decision-making processes that shape climate adaptation and economic policies. Globally, UN Women promotes women’s economic empowerment within the broader sustainable development agenda, with a focus on green economics and climate change. Against this background, UN Women Sri Lanka is in the process of planning the implementation of a five-year project focused on “THRIVE: Together for Her: Resilience-building, Inclusivity, and Voices for Equality in Sri Lanka” to strengthen the economic and social resilience of women who are marginalized by equipping them with the resources needed to navigate and recover from crises, insecurity, and the impacts of climate change. The project envisions three main outcomes: a) Women’s enterprises are resilient to climate impacts and crises, b) Shifts in community attitudes towards the perception of women, and c) Women’s participation in leadership and decision-making.

UN Women Sri Lanka plans to conduct a series of Community Dialogues at the district level focused on collective leadership and women’s engagement in decision-making as part of THRIVE. This series is based on UN Women’s successful dialoguing model for the Multi-Party and Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues for Peacebuilding and Collective Leadership that were convened for each of the 25 districts in Sri Lanka in 2018-2022 and the Inter-Community, Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues that were convened in four districts to advance the Women, Peace and Security agenda in 2024. These women-centered dialogues aim to foster understanding, trust, and collaboration among diverse groups. It provides a platform for open communication, enabling communities to prioritize issues affecting their districts/communities, address grievances, and collectively develop joint, shared solutions to the identified issues. The dialogues contribute to the development of collective leadership by encouraging inclusive decision-making processes that incorporate the perspectives and lived experience of various community members, in particular, those of women and other marginalized groups such as persons with disabilities. Overall, the dialogues will target elected officials, public officers, civil society, women activists, media, religious leaders, Praja Mandala members, women entrepreneurs from the THRIVE project, and members from Community Development Forums (if existing in the district).

A central focus of the dialogues will be on inclusive governance within community and local level decision-making processes, with women and other marginalized groups at the forefront, as well as mitigating the impact of climate change and building climate resilience. The dialogues are expected to take place at the district level in Colombo, Badulla, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Monaragala, and Nuwara Eliya.

Against this background, UN Women is seeking to hire a National Consultant – Coordinator to support the National Lead Consultant with conducting the Collective Leadership Dialogues (CLDs) at the district level. The CLDs are conceptualized as part of the THRIVE project implemented by UN Women and Chrysalis in partnership with the Government of Australia and will be accompanied by capacity-building and workplan development workshops for sustainability.

The National Consultant – Co-facilitator will report to the Head of Office, and will be supported by the Project Officers, who will be the point of contact on substantive and administrative issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the supervision and guidance of the Head of Office, the Coordinator is expected to undertake the following tasks along with the National Lead Consultant, one Co-Facilitator, one other Coordinator (for Sinhala-speaking communities) and two Rapporteurs. The Consultant’s presence will not be required in the two predominantly Sinhala-speaking district of Monaragala for this project. The Consultant-Coordinator will work closely with the other Coordinator in Badulla, Colombo, and Nuwara Eliya due to the multilingual demographics of these districts. Additionally, the Coordinator will have sole responsibility for the Kilinochchi and Mannar districts, where support from the other Coordinator will not be provided.

The quality standards of the deliverables of this consultancy will be evaluated based on effective communication, proactive coordination and stakeholder management. 

1

Support the National Lead Consultant with the development of the inception report for the execution of the Collective Leadership Dialogues (CLDs) and the accompanying programmes, in consultation with UN Women.

2

Mobilise participants for the CLDs from the districts below: 

*Coordination in Badulla, Colombo and Nuwara Eliya will be carried out in close collaboration with the other Coordinator due to the multilingual demographics in these districts.

Note: A mapping of the participants must be included in the Inception Report finalized by the National Lead Consultant for the assignment. The coordinator must support the mapping exercise, entailing consultations with a sample of participants to assess their preferences regarding travel and the organization of the CLDs. The findings of these consultations must be summarized in a brief report to inform logistical planning. The Coordinator will be supported by one other Coordinator, and a Co-facilitator in undertaking this task. 

3

Support the National Lead Consultant to complete a rapid training needs assessment to identify the training needs of the participants, primarily with data collection and synthesis.

The Coordinator will be supported by one other Coordinator, and a Co-facilitator in undertaking this task under the overall guidance of the National Lead Facilitator. 

4

Coordinate and attend 05 CLDs at the selected districts below. Each CLD will be for 3-4 days as per the tentative schedule below. District No. of days Tentative Dates* Badulla 3 Q2 (2026) Colombo 4 Q2 (2026) Kilinochchi 4 Q2 (2026) Mannar 4 Q2 (2026) Nuwara Eliya 3 Q2 (2026)

*The above timeline and number of days are subject to change in line with other project activities and recommendations from the rapid needs assessment noted above. Coordination in Badulla, Colombo and Nuwara Eliya will be carried out in close collaboration with the other Coordinator due to the multilingual demographics in these districts.

The Coordinators and Co-facilitator are responsible for mobilizing the participants for the CLDs and providing support during the CLDs. This includes ensuring that participant disaggregated data is collected and digitized for reporting purposes.

5

Support the National Lead Consultant and Co-facilitator with the development of training materials for the workshops on collective leadership and governance for the participants based on the findings of the rapid training needs assessment and the CLDs that are tailor-made for each district. This includes customized templates for workplans for community-level implementation of outcomes.

The Coordinator must support this process through a second, smaller-scale round of data collection, to ensure that training materials meet the evolving needs of stakeholders engaged. 

6

Coordinate and attend 05 workshops for capacity building and workplan development as per the tentative schedule below. District No. of days Tentative Dates* Badulla 3 Q1 (2027) Colombo 4 Q1 (2027) Kilinochchi 4 Q1 (2027) Mannar 4 Q1 (2027) Nuwara Eliya 3 Q1 (2027)

*The above timeline and number of days are subject to change in line with other project activities. Coordination in Badulla, Colombo and Nuwara Eliya will be carried out in close collaboration with the other Coordinator due to the multilingual demographics in these districts.

The Coordinators and Co-facilitator are responsible for mobilizing the participants for the CLDs and providing support during the workshops. This includes ensuring that participant disaggregated data is collected and digitized for reporting purposes.

7

Assist with organizing quarterly check-in meetings with participants (to be divided into working groups) to gather updates on progress achieved and provide practical recommendations to address challenges. 

Support the National Lead Consultant and co-facilitator to prepare a mid-term progress report not exceeding 20 pages, which includes a brief evaluation of the progress of the CLDs, identifying successes, challenges, and recommendations for adjustments. The report must also include an assessment of stakeholder engagement and the effectiveness of the dialogues in building collective leadership. 

The Coordinators are expected to primarily support with data collection and synthesis for the report.

8

Coordinate and attend 04 follow-up workshops after 12 months following the conclusion of the CLDs as per the tentative schedule given below.  District No. of days Tentative Dates* Badulla 1 Q4 (2027) Colombo 1 Q4 (2027) Kilinochchi 1 Q4 (2027) Mannar 1 Q4 (2027) Nuwara Eliya 1 Q4 (2027)

*The above timeline and number of days are subject to change in line with other project activities. Coordination in Badulla, Colombo and Nuwara Eliya will be carried out in close collaboration with the other Coordinator due to the multilingual demographics in these districts.

The Coordinator is expected to support with data collection along with the Rapporteurs to finalize the district reports. This includes ensuring that participant disaggregated data is collected and digitized for reporting purposes.

9

Provide support to the National Lead Consultant to produce a consolidated final report suited to be disseminated among the dialogue stakeholders and to inform UN Women’s programming.

Deliverables

The National Consultant – Coordinator will remain accountable for the timely submission of the deliverables as per the timeline given below.

Activity completion report outlining the support given to confirm and mobilize the participants for the CLDs. 

The confirmed list of participants for the 05 CLDs with clear disaggregated data must be included as an annex. 30 May 2026 3 Activity completion report indicating support given to identify participant preferences for logistical planning. 30 January 2026 4 An activity completion report indicating support for the rapid training needs assessment. 30 January 2026 5 Completion of 5 CLDs in the selected districts. 30 July 2026 6 An activity completion report indicating the support given to develop training materials, including the smaller-scale second round of data collection for validation purposes. 05 January 2027 7 Completion of 05 capacity-building workshops. 10 April 2027 8 An activity completion report indicating support given to plan and organize the check-in meetings and draft the mid-term progress report. 20 June 2027 9 Completion of 05 follow-up workshops. 30 November 2027 10 An activity completion report indicating the support given to organize the follow-up workshops and the support given to develop the follow-up workshop reports. 7 December 2027 11 An activity completion report indicating the support given to finalize the final report developed by the National Lead Facilitator. 30 May 2028

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

The consultancy is expected to start on 30 August 2025 and continue until 29 August 2028. As part of the official duty of this consultancy, the consultant may be expected to travel, which will be processed by UN Women, following the duty travel policy. 

 Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will be made upon submission of deliverables with the approval of the Head of Office of UN Women Sri Lanka. Mobile and internet bills, as well as printing and stationery costs may be reimbursed based on prior approval from UN Women, and will be processed separately, following the relevant policy.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

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

Functional Competencies:

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

Experience:

Languages:

Proficiency in Tamil and working knowledge of English is mandatory.

How to Apply 

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application through UN Women website and complete all questions with below required document to upload in the system.

Intellectual Property

All information pertaining to this assignment (data, analysis, reports, documentary, digital, cyber, project documents, etc.) belonging to UN Women, which the consultant may come into contact within the performance of their duties under this assignment shall remain the property of UN Women who shall have exclusive rights over their use. Except for purposes of this assignment, the information shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever form, without the written permission of UN Women in line with the national and International Copyright Laws applicable.

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.