Background:ย
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 womenโs 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 Statesโ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.ย
UN Women in Bangladesh supports the government to implement commitments to international normative standards on gender equality and womenโs human rights. In line with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2022-2026, UN Women Bangladesh Strategic Note (SN) (2022-2026), defines UN Womenโs strategic engagement in Bangladesh. The country SN 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 womenโs access to decent and safe work; promoting policies and government investment in womenโs 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 womenโs organizations, youth, UN agencies and donors, to promote gender equality and womenโs empowerment.ย
UN Women in Bangladesh is supporting the Government of Bangladesh with the Rohingya humanitarian crisis response. In 2017-2018, UN Women developed its 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 and the women and girls in the host communities affected by the refugee influx in Coxโs 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 womenโs participation and leadership in the camps and host community, peace and social cohesion building activities, and gender-responsive policing. UN Women is an active member of the Protection Sector, the Gender-Based Violence Sub-Sector (GBV-SS), the Livelihoods and Skills Development Sector (LSDS), and chairs the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHA WG) for the Rohingya Refugee Response to promote gender-responsive humanitarian action across humanitarian agencies in Coxโs Bazar.ย
The Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHA WG) in Coxโs Bazar functions under the umbrella of the national GiHA WG to support humanitarian actors to mainstream gender equality considerations and uphold accountability to affected women and girls in the context of the Rohingya humanitarian response. The GiHA WG promotes accountability to global standards aligned with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Policy on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls (GEEWG) in Humanitarian Action, including standards on the role of local women-led organizations (WLOs) and on gender mainstreaming in response planning and implementation, using gender mainstreaming tools such as the Gender with Age Marker (GAM).ย
Description of responsibilities:
The consultant will work under the overall technical guidance and supervision of the UN Women Head of Sub-Office in Coxโs Bazar (primary reporting line) in matrix management with the country office Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change andย Humanitarian Action (DRR/CC/HA)ย Programme Specialist (secondary reporting line).ย
The consultant acts as the main focal point for GiHA coordination in Coxโs Bazar. S/he/they will work in close collaboration with the Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) and related coordination groups and will maintain close relations with UN sister agencies, womenโs rights- and women-led organizations and government officials, including at the camp level, to support a coherent and effective response to gender equality priorities across the humanitarian response in Coxโs Bazar. The incumbent will work closely with the UN Women sub-office team; and the UN Women country office DRR/CC/Ha team and the regional office Humanitarian Team to support in the application of best practices and alignment with national, regional and global commitments and guidance.
Specifically, the consultant will:ย
Technical and coordination assistance for planning and implementation of the GiHA WG Workplan, ensuring engagement of all sectors and WLOs in decisions and actions takenย Prepare bimonthly and ad hoc GiHA WG meeting agendas, ensuring alignment with the GiHA WG Workplan and handling all logistical arrangements for meetings and events, including soliciting / developing background documents, chairing meetings, drafting meeting minutes, and following up on action items. Coordinate pre-meetings and -briefings with local WLOs in advance of GiHA WG meetings, drafting and disseminating an email summary of discussions and action points. Prepare a camp-level GiHA Action Plan for integration within the GiHA WG Workplan, consulting and validating inputs with relevant stakeholders. Provide coordination support to update the GiHA WG Workplan for 2026;ย consulting members and the ISCG, finalizing on the basis of guidance from UN Women.2. Technical assistance and coordination support for GiHA assessments and advocacy
Prepare a Work Plan for camp-level GiHA actions ensuring a sound evidence base informed existing initiatives and needs, and alignment of camp-level activities with the GiHA WG Workplan. Facilitate the Gender and Age Marker (GAM) review of 2026 JRP project appeals, providing technical support to the process and preparing a report on the process and results, consolidating inputs from GiHA WG members. Coordinate GiHA WG inputs for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, consolidating and preparing inputs for the campaign workplan, related concept notes and campaign materials, and represent the GiHA at the main event.3. Technical and coordination support for GiHA WG capacity development initiatives
Through a consultative process, prepare a report on engagement of local WLO in the Rohingya humanitarian response, identifying recommendations for areas of improvement and/or capacity development.ย Prepare a learning session on the purpose and work of the GiHA WG, for use as induction for new GiHA WG members, and external stakeholders.ย Provide technical assistance and coordination support for the preparation of a half-day learning module for camp management actors to enhance gender sensitivity and raise awareness of GiHA issues. Organize and deliver minimum 2 training sessions on the GAM tool.ย 4. Participate in humanitarian interagency coordination structures and support coordination efforts on GiHA
Participate in weekly ISCG meetings to contribute technical inputs and advice on gender mainstreaming issues, preparing a monthly summary report on the meetings. Engage with sector coordinators to identify opportunities for collaboration, complementarities, and strategic partnerships for coordinated programming on gender equality priorities. Provide written inputs to the Joint Response Plan (JRP) and related processes, ensuring gender data and analyses inform JRP planning and programming. Regularly review SWG documents to ensure gender content and the utilization of sex-, age- and disability disaggregated data. Ensure that gender specific issues are explicitly included and prioritized in multi-sector assessments and reports, including Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) situational reports. Prepare written inputs on the implementation of the GiHA WG Workplan for ISCG and UN Women reporting, finalizing on the basis of feedback.ย
Deliverables:
Evidence of ย coordination and technical support based on the tasks mentioned above (not limited to meeting summaries, technical inputs). Provide a monthly report based on format provided by UN Women.ย This report will accompany all payment requests and detail support provided, annexing GiHA WG meeting minutes, key emails, and knowledge products (below). End of Consultancy report at the end of the assignment, inclusive of: Narrative report on support provided and results achieved, inclusive of results reporting for inclusion in UN Women 2025 Annual Report, and summary of lessons learned and recommendations. Knowledge products developed, including: Camp-level GiHA WG Survey Report and - Action Plan. GiHA WG learning materials (gender sensitization module for camp management; GiHA WG induction session; GAM training session) Report on GAM review process for 2026 JRP. Overview report on local WLO engagement in the Rohingya humanitarian crisis response. 16 DOA GiHA WG concept notes and campaign materials.Payment schedule:ย Monthly payments based on the satisfactory completion of deliverables mentioned above, and the number of working days used (maximum 20 working days a month).
Consultantโs Workplace
This is an assignment based on Coxโs Bazar, Bangladesh.
Competencies
Core Values:
Integrity Professionalism Respect for Diversityย
Core Competencies:
Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues Accountability Creative Problem Solving Effective Communication Inclusive Collaboration Stakeholder Engagement Leading by ExampleFunctional Competencies:
Strong analytical and planning skills; Strong drafting skills, including presentations, meeting minutes, and reports; Sound organizational skills and attention to detail; Knowledge of inter-agency coordination in humanitarian settings; Good understanding of UN Womenโs coordination mandate and overall operational environment of the Rohingya humanitarian crisis.ยRequired Qualifications
Required Qualifications, Experience and skills:
Advanced university degree (Masterโs degree or equivalent) in social sciences, human rights, gender/ womenโs studies, refugee studies, international development, or a related field is required. At least 3 years of specific experience in the field of gender equality and/or womenโs empowerment, including experience of work with womenโs CSOs and gender in humanitarian action. Previous experience in gender in humanitarian action coordination. Previous experience in gender analysis and capacity development.ย Knowledge of the Rohingya refugee response, including the ISCG coordination architecture and camp management.Languages:ย
Fluency in English and Bengali is required.ย Skills in Chittagonian and/or Rohingya is an asset.Application Procedure:
Contract period and work location
The consultancy is part-time for a maximum of 72 days over 17 weeks (expected start date 01 October 2025).ย [NS1]ย
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Payments
Payments for this consultancy will be made based on satisfactory submission of deliverables as identified above.
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