- Job Schedule: Full time
- Locations Tirana, Albania
- Job Function : Ending violence against women
- Initial Contract Duration: May-December 2025 for up to 45 working days
- Vacancy Category: International opportunities
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 actively addresses the inequalities related to climate change in alignment with its Strategic Plan (SP 2022-2025)[1]. The SP prioritizes women’s leadership, resilience, and participation in climate action by advocating for gender-responsive policies, strengthening women’s access to climate finance, and promoting their role in disaster risk reduction. Through this approach, UN Women supports the implementation of key global commitments, including CEDAW General Recommendation No. 37[2], which underscores the need for gender-sensitive disaster risk reduction strategies, the Beijing+30 Review, which will assess progress on gender equality in climate governance, and the Enhanced Gender Action Plan under the Paris Agreement, which calls for integrating gender considerations across all climate policies and actions. By embedding gender equality in climate responses, UN Women ensures that climate actions and policies are inclusive, effective, and transformative at all levels.
The intersection of gender equality and climate change presents significant challenges to livelihoods, health, safety, and security, particularly for women and girls. Recent studies have highlighted the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls in Albania, particularly in rural areas. As primary caregivers and agricultural workers, women face increased workloads during extreme weather events. The climate crisis further exacerbates existing gender disparities, including unequal access to resources and energy, widening the pay gap, increasing poverty rates, and limiting women’s ownership of assets. These structural inequalities constrain their ability to recover from climate shocks, making them more vulnerable to the long-term economic and social consequences of environmental change. In addition, as Albanian women predominantly engage in informal or unpaid agricultural work, it is challenging for them to cope with climate change effects. Agriculture accounts for 18% of GDP and employs 40% of the workforce in the country. Women’s vulnerability in this area is exacerbated by limited access to resources and financial services, hindering their ability to adapt to environmental changes. Consequently, climate-induced disruptions in agriculture can lead to reduced income and employment prospects for women, perpetuating economic disparities and limiting their participation in sustainable livelihoods[3].
Although existing reports underline the broader gendered impacts of climate change in Albania, there is limited research and data available on this issue and there is a need for more targeted studies to better understand and address the complex intersection of climate change, gender roles in the Albanian context. In addition, Albania’s policy frameworks have yet to fully integrate a gender-responsive approach. While these frameworks acknowledge the broader impacts of climate change and disaster risks, they lack specific provisions addressing the unique vulnerabilities faced by women and girls. The NECP, which outlines Albania’s energy transition and climate objectives up to 2030, remains largely gender-neutral, failing to recognize the differentiated impacts of energy policies on women and their role in sustainable energy solutions. Similarly, while the NDRRS (2023–2030) aligns with international commitments such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, its gender components require further strengthening to ensure that disaster preparedness and response strategies adequately account for women’s needs and leadership.
Recognizing the gender dimensions of climate change is essential to address vulnerabilities requires availability of sex-disaggregated data and solid evidence to be used in relevant policies and plans, aiming to promote resilience, and leverage gender equality as a driver of climate adaptation.
In Albania, the UN Women Country Office is committed to increasing the availability of evidence and knowledge on the impact of climate change on women and girls and ensuring that national climate policies and programs reflect the needs, vulnerabilities, and contributions of women. With support from the Embassy of Sweden, UN Women has received funding to implement is Strategic Note (SN 2022-2026) including SN outcome 2 “By 2026, all persons benefit from, and contribute to, innovative and integrated policy solutions that accelerate sustainable, productive and inclusive development, enhanced climate change adaptation and mitigation and transition to a green and blue economy”. As part of this work, UN Women Albania is seeking to recruit an international expert to lead a data collection and assessment initiative on gender equality and climate change in Albania. These efforts will also support the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Outcome 2 , and the implementation of several SDGs such as SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 13 Climate Action, SDG 1 No poverty, SDG 10, Reduced Inequality.
The consultant will be working closely with the national expert, reporting to relevant project managers in the UN Women Albania Country Office and to the Head of Programme, will be responsible for the following:
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
- Propose a methodology for the data collection initiative (jointly with the national expert), which should follow a mixed method approach combining qualitative and quantitative research. These could include surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and a desk research on policy gap analysis to evaluate the extent to which climate change policies integrate a gender perspective, including in budgets. The methodology should include intersectional considerations, including youth, disabilities, rural/urban divides etc.
- Develop a data collection plan and methodology, tools and sampling approach to be used, including considerations for data privacy.
- Implement the data collection initiative with support from the national consultants.
- Support the national consultants to develop a review of the existing literature, guidelines and best practices from EU Member States and Western Balkan countries related to gender and climate change, including form a perspective of gender-responsive budgeting.
- Include case studies, examples and practical tools to promote gender mainstreaming in climate change, including from a perspective on gender-responsive budgeting.
- Support the national consultant to develop a contextual analysis and stakeholder engagement plan, including government institutions, civil society organizations, academia, amongst others.
- Develop a comprehensive outline and content of the structure of the assessment.
- Propose recommendations to promote evidence-based gender equality consideration in climate change policies
- Support the national consultants to prepare visual material with the findings of the assessment
- In the research, include an assessment of how climate-related budget tracking is currently implemented in Albania, identify areas where climate budget tracking and gender-responsive budget tracking intersect, overlap, or have the potential for integration. The findings of the report should highlight opportunities for strengthening synergies between climate and gender tracking mechanisms in the budgeting process.
- Prepare a short checklist for budget users on how to track gender and climate change at the same time in the budgetary programmes.
The assessment should include the following:
- A multi-sectoral analysis of gender equality and climate change in Albania, including existing policy and legal frameworks, representation of women in leadership and decision-making around climate change and relevant governing bodies, access to information and knowledge about climate change, level of availability of dedicated programmes aiming at integrating gender equality in climate change interventions
- An evidence-based assessment on the extent to which women and girls are affected by climate change in Albania, including rural areas.
- A set of recommendations and steps to create inclusive climate change policies, including guidance to policy makers, women CSOs, private sector, UN Agencies, donors and others
Deliverables
- All deliverables need to be consulted with and approved by UN Women
- A proposed methodology of the consultancy with a work plan that includes timeline and a proposed outline
- A comprehensive review of existing literature, guidelines, and best practices related to gender equality and climate change, in Albania, EU and in the region, including on a GRB perspective
- List/mapping of key stakeholders/interviewees/people of influence and interest in Albania on to GEWE and climate change
- Questionaries/surveys/data collection tools tailored to the target audiences and interviewees (decision-making representatives, institutions at central and local level, women living in rural areas and/or those most directly impacted by climate change)
- Survey results and interviews with identified stakeholders
- Draft report with analyses of interview findings, desk review etc. and to be shared for feedback with UN Women Albania, including how climate-related budget tracking is currently implemented in Albania highlighting opportunities for strengthening synergies between climate and gender tracking mechanisms in the budgeting process
- A short check list for budget users on how to track gender and climate change at the same time in the budgetary programmes.
- A final assessment which would include a country analyses and concrete recommendations.
- Power point Presentation of main analyses finding and recommendations