UN Women: National Consultant - Coordination and Communications Support, Manila (Home-Based), Philippines

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.

In the Philippines, it has played an important role in supporting critical agencies in aligning mandates and their articulated commitments to the global normative standard of human rights, gender equality and empowerment of women and including important international conventions particularly the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action and UN Security Council Resolution 1325. With the continued work and strengthened resolve to deliver on its normative, coordination and operations mandate as articulated and further committed through its new Strategic Plan for 2026 – 2029, UN Women is furthering its work and readiness to jointly deliver on various actions through joint programming.

With new opportunities presenting, UN Women is implementing the joint programme Zero Hunger Accelerator: Catalysing Local Investments for Food System Transformation and Green Transition (JP ZHA), with World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization. Funded by the Joint SDG Fund, to strengthen inclusive, climate-resilient food systems in the Philippines by mobilizing innovative local and blended financing. In identified target areas it intends to address long-standing barriers faced by smallholder famers, fisherfolk, cooperatives and women-led enterprises, including limited access to capital, rigid procurement systems and fragmented local planning. The joint programme blends public funds, concessional finance and private investment, anchored in institutional markets such as school meals and social protection programmes. Core mechanisms will include nano credit tailored to smallholder farmers and fisherfolks, bundled climate-responsive insurance and a first-loss guarantee designed to de-risk rural investments and attract domestic and international capital.

Alongside financial solutions, the joint programme strengthens national and local systems to create the enabling environment needed for sustained transformation by supporting the local government units to align climate, disaster risk, gender and development and agricultural budgets with food systems investments, making institutional feeding programmes accessible to local food producers and co-creating investable pipelines such as food fortification facilities, community kitchens, cold storage and developing women-led agri enterprises. Through coordinated action across national, subnational and local level mechanisms and institutions, the joint programme aims to mobilize at least US$24 million, reach 6,500 smallholder households (50-60% women) and indirectly benefit 3.3 million people, ultimately creating a scalable model for gender-responsive, climate resilient and locally driven food systems transformation.

Furthermore, with the increasing constraints on global development financing and the limited expansion of international support portfolios, UN Women recognizes the imperative of tapping into and leveraging domestic resources to sustain and scale impact. Strengthening local financing ecosystems and mobilizing national and subnational investments are critical to ensuring inclusive and gender-responsive access to capital, markets, and enabling infrastructure to support women’s economic empowerment. By aligning domestic resources with global commitments, UN Women seeks to maximize the reach and sustainability of interventions, reinforcing women’s leadership in social transformation and embedding gender-responsive financing within national development priorities.

The consultant will be reporting to the Planning, Coordination and Programme Analyst, and will be supported by the Operations Associate, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

• Support inter-agency coordination and stakeholder coordination/engagement, including attending meetings and collaborative processes and tracking of follow-up to strengthen alignment and ensure UN Women’s contributions
• Provide coordination support with external partners and consultants engaged in JP ZHA and other UN Women initiatives, contributing to ensuring coherence, synergy and effective collaboration across engagements
• Assist in the planning, preparation and rollout of communications and advocacy strategies, ensuring consistent messaging and visibility
• Develop briefs, reports, presentations and/or visual materials that synthesize key insights and position UN Women strategically
• Track progress of coordination and communications activities, document lessons learned and recommend adjustments for greater effectiveness
• Any other requests within their functional profile, as guided by the supervisor

Monthly progress reports are to be submitted, describing completed work and listing any finalized deliverables/outputs, as outlined in the above scope of work. Payments will be made upon review and approval of each progress report by the Country Programme Coordinator.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

UN Women will provide the Coordination and Communications Consultant with substantive inputs to ensure the completion of outputs in line with the objectives of the organizations. This is a home-based consultancy, with reporting to UN Women Philippines office as needed. The consultant may access the UN Women Philippines office for printing of relevant documents or when required to work on-site at any point during the assignment.

As part of this assignment, there may be at least one mission related to the scope of work, which will be arranged by UN Women and paid for separately in accordance with UN Women’s travel policy.

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

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues
• Communication, networking and advocacy skills
• Ability to be strategic and analytical
• Strong negotiating skills
• Strong IT skills, including databases, extranet and office software packages

Education and Certification

• Completion of secondary education required
• Bachelor's degree in international development, communications, public relations, journalism or related field is required.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in inter-agency/stakeholder coordination and engagement, programme coordination or communications and advocacy is required
• Experience working in gender equality and development issues in the context of the Philippines is required
• Experience in preparing analytical reports, policy briefs, and visual communication materials is required
• Experience in managing and curating content across social media platforms is required
• Experience working with the UN system and familiarity with inter agency coordination processes is desirable

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Filipino is required.
• Knowledge of any other UN official is an asset

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.)