National Climate Change and Gender Specialist

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the agency for human settlements mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. UN-HABITAT helps governments and the urban poor by transforming cities into safer, healthier, greener places with better opportunities where everyone can live in with dignity. It works with organizations at every level, including all spheres of government, civil society and the private sector to help build, manage, plan and finance sustainable urban development. In Lao PDR, the UN-Habitat country office was opened in 2005, and now operates as a regional hub for water and sanitation programmes in the Mekong sub-region in South-East Asia. The office works in close collaboration with several different Ministries on various urban topics and community-based initiatives in urban and peri-urban areas throughout Lao PDR.

UN-Habitat is the coordinating agency within the United Nations system for human settlements and works with governments and partners to promote sustainable urban development, particularly in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 11: making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. It also supports the implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted at Habitat III (Quito, 2016). The UN-Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), established in 1997 in Fukuoka, supports countries across the region to implement its mandate through technical cooperation and country-level projects. In Lao PDR, UN-Habitat supports the Government with technical assistance on urbanization, disaster risk reduction, climate change, and WASH. Lao PDR is highly vulnerable to climate change, with increasing impacts from floods, storms, and droughts, alongside limited coping capacity. Rapid population growth and environmental degradation have further increased these risks. Strengthening climate adaptation planning is therefore critical. While Lao PDR has made progress in policies and frameworks, challenges remain in integrating climate adaptation across sectors and levels. The revised 2021 NDC emphasizes improved mainstreaming of climate adaptation into development planning. Understanding vulnerability and risk is essential for effective adaptation. Strengthening capacity in risk analysis will support better decision-making, particularly for vulnerable communities. The proposed intervention aims to enhance disaster risk management and climate resilience by strengthening institutional and technical capacity for climate adaptation planning and improving access to adaptation finance. At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, UN-Habitat will support the development of Vulnerability and Risk Assessment tools to improve climate understanding and inform sub-national planning. This intervention will: - Strengthen risk-informed development planning and investment - Support integrated, area-based approaches - Enhance stakeholder engagement - Address the needs of vulnerable communities

Under the direct supervision of the UN-Habitat Head of Office in Lao PDR, the candidate will liaise with the Government, UN Agencies, other development partners and colleagues to support the implementation of ongoing projects and other relevant activities. The tasks to be developed by the candidate include research; preparation of technical documents; support to the organization of workshops and consultations; and monitoring and reporting, in addition to any other assignment(s) requested by the Head of Office. Some of the key actions in line with the assigned projects mentioned above are: Project Management and Implementation: - Participate in the development of indicators and data collection methodologies to ensure that gender and ethno-linguistic group considerations are fully integrated into climate change and vulnerability assessments. - Act as focal point for gender integration for the vulnerability assessment, within the climate change vulnerability guidelines as well as the capacity building activities. - Coordinate with internal and external partners and stakeholders to mainstream gender into adaptation planning, including provincial plans and sub-national adaptation roadmap. - Support and deliver capacity-building activities on gender-sensitive data collection, climate change, and inclusive adaptation. - Engage government, development partners, women’s unions, and private sector actors to strengthen gender inclusion and promote women’s participation in adaptation. - Guide collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated data; formulate gender specific targets, develop gender-responsive indicators; and ensure integration of gender dimensions across technical outputs, including gender-sensitive analytical products. - Liaise with partners and provide substantive inputs in relevant meetings with other development partners and government counterparts. - Coordinate and participate in project missions and meetings at regional, national and subnational levels as appropriate. - Provide written and oral translation and interpretation support as appropriate. Knowledge Management and Communication: - Prepare and contribute to reports, studies, and communication materials, ensuring strong integration of gender dimensions. - Support knowledge sharing and outreach, including presentations and communication products on gender-responsive climate action. Country Office Support: Undertake other assignments as required to support climate change and gender-based objectives. This role specifically requires at least 4 years of relevant professional experience in desk research, consultations, coordination of project activities with diverse stakeholders, etc. Experience working in Lao PDR and/or familiarity in undertaking climate change vulnerability assessments will be preferred. To coordinate and undertake works across the country (one in northern provinces of Vientiane Capital, Phongsaly, Luangnamtha, Oudomxay, Bokeo, Luangprabang, Huaphanh, Xayabury, Xiengkhuang, and Vientiane Province; and one in central and southern provinces of Borikhamxay, Khammuane, Savannakhet, Saravane, Sekong, Champasack, Attapeu, and Xaysomboon). The responsibilities to contribute to the development and finalization of the following project deliverables are included as per the donor-approved project document (https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/lao-un-habitat.pdf) but not limited to: - Compiling available data for the development of A.2.1.b; - Analysing provincial-level data (socio-economic perspective) (A3.2.1b); - Providing provinces' inputs for the completion of Activity 3.2.1c; - Coordinating and completing Activity 3.2.1c; - Providing quality-assurance support for the achievement of Output 3.2.2; - Facilitating workshops and meetings under Activities 3.2.2a and 3.2.2b; - Executing activity A3.2.2c; - Peer-reviewing the CCVA guideline (D3.2.3a); - Coordination of trainings under A3.2.3b; - Preparation of deliverable D3.2.3b, ´1 Report describing the activities done, the stakeholders involved and concerns raised´; - Providing technical support for identifying sector-specific implications for climate change and priority measures (A3.2.4a); - Circulating the NAP draft (D3.2.5a) with relevant development partners and stakeholders for validation - Developing reports on the piloting experience of district-level Adaptation Action Plans (D3.2.5c) in target provinces; - Organizing consultations (A3.3.1b); - Preparing deliverable 3.3.1b; - Preparing outline and providing technical inputs for the development of D3.4.1a; and - Organizing and gathering data and contributing to the completion of Activity 3.4.1. In addition, the successful candidate will contribute to the project by applying their experience in gender equality, with a focus on climate change adaptation. To provide support across a range of activities, in particular to mainstream gender inclusion at all steps of the project, including the preparation of specific training sessions on gender integration into climate change action, capacity building activity support and overall guidance, under the following activities and deliverables: - Activities 3.2.1a, 3.2.1b and 3.2.1c, and their respective deliverables; - Activities 3.2.2a, 3.2.2b and 3.2.2c, and their respective deliverables; - Activities 3.2.3a and 3.2.3c, and their respective deliverables.