UN Women, Gender and Climate Finance Consultant, Home Based, International Consultant
- Organisation: UN Women
- Location: Home Based
- Deadline: 18 November 2026
Background/Context
Climate finance is increasingly important across Asia and the Pacific, a region facing rising climate risks while pursuing development, energy transition and resilience goals. Governments and other actors draw on domestic public budgets, international climate funds, development finance, private investment and financial markets to support mitigation and adaptation. However, the availability of finance does not always translate into resources reaching the countries, sectors and communities that need them most. Barriers include limited fiscal space, gaps in project preparation and institutional capacity, difficulties accessing international funds, and challenges in mobilizing private investment for adaptation and locally led initiatives.
These challenges have gender dimensions. Women’s access to finance, assets, markets and decision-making remains unequal, while women-led enterprises and organizations often face barriers in accessing financial products and investment. Although gender equality is increasingly recognized in climate policies and funding frameworks, commitments are not always carried through into financing decisions, implementation and measurement of results. Strengthening gender-responsive climate finance therefore requires attention to the full financing cycle, from policy priorities and resource allocation to financial instruments, delivery mechanisms, participation and accountability.
To help address these gaps, UNDP, UN Women and UNEP jointly convene the Gender and Climate Finance Collective (Collective), a regional practitioners’ platform bringing together institutions working across climate finance, gender equality, financial markets, research, policy, civil society and implementation in Asia and the Pacific. The Collective, aligned with the Belem Gender Action Plan, enables members to exchange practical knowledge and good practices, identify opportunities for collaboration, and advance approaches that strengthen the design and implementation of gender-responsive climate finance.
The Collective has built an active foundation through member participation, regional webinars, bilateral consultations, case studies and an open resource hub. Consultations point to the value of a combining collective exchanges across the membership; thematic collaboration around shared financing and implementation challenges; and selective targeted support to member-led institutional, national and subnational processes. Members have also emphasized the importance of focusing on implementation, domestic and subnational financing pathways, practical peer exchange, and concise, usable knowledge products.
Building on this foundation and members’ expressed priorities, the GCFC is seeking to strengthen opportunities for practical collaboration across the network. UN Women, in coordination with UNDP and UNEP as co-chairs, therefore seeks an international consultant to serve as the Collective’s focal point and support its coordination, member engagement, thematic collaboration and knowledge-sharing.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
Under the supervision of the designated co-convenors, the Consultant will serve as the focal point and support implementation of the 2026-2027 Member Engagement Strategy. The Consultant will coordinate the secretariat function, support member engagement and communications, facilitate thematic collaboration, and coordinate knowledge management and dissemination.
In light of this, the Consultant will perform the following tasks:
• GCFC Secretariat Coordination and Member Engagement
• Coordinate implementation of the annual GCFC workplan, activity calendar and engagement strategy, and the three-layer engagement model (Collective, Thematic, Targeted Bilateral).
• Serve as the day-to-day focal point for GCFC members and maintain active engagement across the network.
• Prepare and support quarterly member meetings and regular co-convenor meetings, including agendas, background materials, notes and follow-up.
• Support periodic reviews of member engagement, priorities and future direction of the Collective
• Facilitate selected member-led national or subnational exchanges where there is clear demand and a defined contribution from the GCFC. Such support will be time-bound and will complement, not replace, the responsibilities of country offices and implementing institutions.
• Maintain a simple member engagement and action tracker, including agreed follow-up, collaboration interests and emerging opportunities.
• Thematic Collaboration and Strategic Partnerships
• Coordinate priority thematic collaboration tracks identified in the engagement strategy.
• I dentify opportunities for collaboration among members, connecting institutions working on shared gender and climate finance challenges and connect GCFC with relevant regional and global processes
• Plan and coordinate up to four (4) regional webinars, technical dialogues or peer-learning activities on priority issues in gender-responsive climate finance
• Develop up to four (4) practical technical resources that respond to identified needs of GCFC members and partners and support the operationalisation of gender-responsive climate finance. Resources may include guidance notes, checklists, or decision-support tools.
• Provide targeted technical and coordination support to member priorities, including short technical review, evidence curation, follow-up discussions and introductions.
• Content Development, Communications, and Knowledge Dissemination
• Develop and implement a communications and knowledge management plan aligned with the engagement strategy.
• Develop key messages, member-spotlight stories, and strategic content.
• Translate complex technical content on climate finance and gender into accessible and engaging products (e.g., blogs, social media content, event summaries, briefing notes) for diverse audiences.
• Maintain and curate all GCFC digital platforms, including the resource hub, ensuring content is regularly updated with member resources, case studies, and knowledge products.
• Provide substantive content for event and product dissemination, coordinating with co-convenor’s communications focal points.
[AG1] [AG2]
• Planning, Monitoring, Reporting and Adaptive Management
• Monitor progress against the agreed workplan and results framework, tracking member participation, follow-up actions, collaboration generated and uptake of selected knowledge products.
• Prepare concise progress updates, learning reviews, and annual reporting for the co-chairs, documenting implementation progress, member engagement, emerging results, lessons and recommendations
• Identify potential partnership and resource mobilization opportunities for consideration by the co-convenors.
Additional Related Assignments
The Consultant may be requested to undertake other tasks directly related to the objectives of this assignment and the agreed priorities of the Collective. Such tasks may include research, technical review, communications, facilitation, knowledge documentation, support to relevant regional or global processes, or follow-up on emerging member and country-level opportunities. Any additional assignment will be agreed in advance, accommodated within the approved number of working days and available resources.
Based on the revised responsibilities, the deliverables should reflect the consultant’s coordination and technical role, while keeping communications production focused on substantive content and coordination with agency communications teams.
In consultation with the designated UN Women supervisor and GCFC co-convenor focal points, the Consultant will submit regular progress updates and complete the following deliverables:
[AG1] I think this section is quite heavy on comms responsibilities, “Develop key messages, member-spotlight stories, and strategic content that positions GCFC as a leading regional platform.” or “lead all communications and outreach for webinars and events, including promotion...” This would require more strategic comms/ social media, digital platform management capacity which I doubt we will get. I suggest we downgrade comms related work and have this person manage an intern/ UNV to help him/ her do the campaigns, repository mngt, etc. This specific consultant can still do the key messages, technical summaries, draft text, make knowledge products, etc.
[AG2] Suggested responsibilities:
C. Knowledge Management, Evidence Capture and Dissemination
Develop and implement a practical GCFC communications and knowledge management plan aligned with the annual workplan and thematic priorities.
Translate complex technical content on gender-responsive climate finance into concise and accessible knowledge products, briefing notes, learning summaries and practitioner-oriented materials.
Maintain and curate the GCFC resource hub, including relevant member resources, case studies, tools and knowledge products.
Provide substantive inputs for dissemination of GCFC events and knowledge products and coordinate with co-chair communications focal points
Deliverable
Expected completion time
1. Inception package: An agreed workplan and activity calendar for the assignment, an updated member and stakeholder mapping, an engagement approach based on the Collective, Thematic and Targeted Bilateral support, and a practical communications and knowledge management plan. The package will include a simple framework for tracking participation, follow-up, collaboration and uptake of selected knowledge products.
31 December 2026
2. Secretariat coordination and member engagement: Coordination support for quarterly GCFC member meetings and regular co-convenor meetings, including agendas, background materials, meeting notes and follow-up. The Consultant will maintain the member engagement and action tracker and provide periodic updates on member priorities, collaboration interests and emerging opportunities.
28 February 2027