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.
UN Women Cambodia focuses its programme actions on the achievement of planned results that are in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). To do that, the high-level actions are to enhance government capacity and accountability to integrate international norms and commitments (CEDAW, SDGs, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Security Resolution 1325, Sendai framework) into national legislative and regulatory frameworks to further strengthen state obligations to achieve gender equality. UN Women continues supporting dialogues and CSO engagement in accountability for gender equality and womenโs empowerment commitments to address gender inequality causes through the development of the fourth National Action to Prevent Violence Against Women (4th NAPVAW) and its monitoring framework, building national understanding of Women Peace Security, implementation of policies, tools and standard procedures for more gender-responsive actions in climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR) and labour governance, the transformation of negative social norms via strengthening community-based women networks and movements, and advocacy.
The Empower project
Women for Climate-resilient Societies (EmPower) is a unique partnership between UN Women and UN Environment, supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) that aims to ensure that climate actions and disaster risk reduction in Asia-Pacific respond to gender equality and human rights. EmPower Phase II in Cambodia will contribute to the overall Impact: โPeople in Asia-Pacific are less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and experience greater gender equality and the full enjoyment of their rights, including equal access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.โ EmPower Phase II aims to achieve the outcomes below:
Outcome 1: Asia-Pacific actors increase action on gender responsive climate change adaptation and mitigation. Outcome 2: Women in all their diversity and other marginalized groups are represented as key environmental actors in climate and DRR decision-making Outcome 3: Women and other marginalized groups in Asia-Pacific secure climate-resilient livelihoodsUnder Outcome 1, EmPower approach is to strengthen capacity of key government ministries to lead and provide technical support to promote women transformative leadership and gender responsive climate and DRR actions. Due to existing gender inequalities in resource access, economic opportunities, and participation in decision-making processes, women are disproportionately impacted by climate-related challenges. The Master Plan on Gender and Climate Change 2018 โ 2030 and the Gender Climate Change Action Plan 2019 โ 2023 emphasize the need for gender-sensitive, transformative leadership to build resilience across all sectors impacted by climate vulnerability. These frameworks highlight the importance of equipping leaders to navigate the complexity of gendered climate impacts. The Sendai GAP further supports transformative leadership by underscoring the critical role of women in disaster risk governance and advocating for gender mainstreaming in all aspects of CC and DRR. According to Sendai GAP, a gender perspective in DRR not only addresses the specific needs of women but also leverages their skills and insights in risk assessment, planning, and response. This form of leadership requires leaders to understand the intersecting social and economic factors that compound womenโs vulnerability in climate crises, such as limited land rights, responsibilities for unpaid labor, and restricted access to financial resources.
Thus, UN Women is looking for a national consultant to work closely with MoWA, CSO partners, and women leaders in communities on capacity development on women transformative leadership in CC/DRR, in alignment with MoWAโs national framework and the Sendai Gender Action Plan.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
The national consultant is expected to review and revise existing women transformative leadership curriculum and manual which was specifically developed to fit the needs of target women group in addition to other technical capacity development provided by UN Women and government partners. The consultant will conduct a ToT on women transformative leadership in CC/DRR to MoWA, provide backup support and conduct reflection with the key technical assigned group at MOWA as they roll out the ToT to sectoral line ministries.
The consultant will also provide capacity development to CSO partners and work with them further to apply their leadership skills, and knowledge to build capacity of community women on transformative leadership which aims at promoting their leadership for advocacy and engagements in climate change actions which enable them to open option for climate-resilient livelihood activities and other employment options. The key topics and methodologies should provide transformative and experiential learning for women leaders allowing them to yield ripple effect for other women in their communities.
The detailed key responsibilities of the consultant will be as follows:
Provide technical lead on the design and roll out of the women transformative leadership programme for target women groups to strengthen their leadership, and active participation to build resilience in CC/DRR
ย
With MOWA
ย
Review existing UN Women and partner training manual and materials on womenโs transformative leadership in CC/DRR and provide technical inputs to update the manual where needed. Provide ToT training to a technical team of the Ministry of Women's Affair to enable them to roll out the leadership training to women leaders from line ministries. Observe and coach the technical team of the Ministry of Womenโs Affairs as they cascade the training to women leaders from line ministries.ย Provision of practical suggestions to enhance the training manual and strengthening the trained women leaders networkWith CSO partners and communities
ย
Review existing UN Women and partner training curriculum and materials on womenโs transformative leadership in CC/DRR and provide technical inputs to update the training materials to meet the needs of partners. In collaboration with UN Womenโs programme team and CSO Partners, conduct pilot capacity building for identified community women leaders. Support CSO partners to apply training programme and methodologies to co-facilitate the workshops and create an experiential and transformative learning space for identified community women leaders. Design and produce monitoring tool to track progress and changes among women leaders. Handover of training curriculum to CSO Partner and UN Women programme team.With MoWA Tasks and Deliverables Target Date
Task
Work collaboratively with project teamย and MoWA ย toย improve ToTย onย women transformative leadership in Climate change and DRR packageย (manual, tools, exercises)ย by ย reviewing and consolidating inputsto revise existing packageย
Facilitate theย leadershipย training forย MoWA key technical groupย
1st Deliverable:
ย
A. Submission of revised ToT packageย
B. Submission of training report 10 December 2025Task
Provide coaching and reflection workshop for MoWA key technical groupย to enable them toย cascade the training to women leaders in line ministries2nd Deliverable:
ย
20 January 2026
With CSO partners and communities
Task
Prepare and conduct 3 days TOT training for CSOsย
3rd Deliverable:
Submission for training concept note and report 30 December 2025Task
Prepare and conduct pilot training withย community ย women group, co-facilitated with CSO partnersย
4th Deliverable:ย
ย
Submission ofย report on the workshop with women including the recommendation on further support for the group15 February 2026
Task
Provide coaching and reflection workshop to CSO partners to enable them to roll out the workshop withย target community womenย
5th Deliverable:ย
Submission of coaching and reflection report15 March 2026
Consultantโs Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy. This is a home-based consultancy. 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.
The consultant will work in close collaboration with the programme team in Cambodia, primarily the EmPower team, under the direct supervision of Country Programme Coordinator. A workstation will be provided to the consultant to ensure effective consultation and support. The Consultant will bring his/her own personal computer to conduct this assignment. With the facilitation of the CCO team, the consultant will also be expected to engage with external stakeholders, especially with the responsible partner.ย
Competencies :
Core Values:
Integrity; Professionalism; Respect for Diversity.Core Competencies:
Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues; Accountability; Creative Problem Solving; Effective Communication; Inclusive Collaboration; Stakeholder Engagement; Leading by Example.Please visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:Technical Competencies:
Good knowledge of development of individual agency/self-esteem as well as robust skills in mentoring/coaching young women, women leaders and gender advocates through feminist framework; A proven history of leadership, management and womenโs capacity building through a participatory and interactive learningย style;ย Proven experience and skills in critical analysis, participatoryย capacity design, facilitation/coordination,ย and coaching; A proven ability to liaise and coordinate with a myriad of stakeholders and partners, including gender advocates, formal and informal womenโs network, civil society organization, and governmental department. Functional Competencies:ย Knowledge of the social, cultural, and political contextย ofย Cambodia and local issues of gender, womenโs participation in private and public sphere, multiple challenges that potential young women leaders and gender advocates face to advance their personal development plan as well as participate equally in emergent socioeconomic development; Broad understanding on the national policy frameworks, and actions plans related to gender equality, women empowerment, and CC/DRR; Promotionย ofย respectful and gender sensitive learning environment throughout the assignment and in the office;ย Solid experience in coordination and facilitation to engage relevant stakeholders in the process and learning space;ย Demonstrated sensitivity, discretion, tact, and courtesy in relation to gender equality and womenโs rights, development principles, working with implementing young people and other stakeholders; and Proven excellent context analysis and high-quality reports produced.Required Qualifications
Education and certification:
Masterโs degree in public policy, gender/women studies, development studies, international relations, or other related disciplines 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:
Minimum 5 years progressivelyย responsible relevantย experience,ย preferably in the field of womenโs empowerment, gender equality and leadership development, with a focus on building agency of individualย At least 5 years of experience in designing capacity development programme and conducting participatory skill building for government counterparts, CSOs, and community women;ย Sound knowledge of womenโs empowerment and feminist leadership concept as well as excellent understanding of multiple gender challenges in socioeconomic aspect;ย Demonstrated working experience on women transformative leadership in the context of CC/DRR. Experience working with government, UN Agencies, or development partners is an asset.Language Requirements: