Result of Service
Under the overall supervision of the Chief, Sustainable Socioeconomic Transformation Section, or her designate, the consultant is required to conduct in-depth assessment of inequalities and vulnerabilities in Cambodia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka based on an agreed set of indicators available in their latest household survey data and draft a succinct synthesis report narrating the results.
Expected duration
29/10/25-31/05/26
Duties and Responsibilities
Climate change and increasing socio-economic inequality are deeply intertwined, intensifying challenges for people in vulnerable situations who often lack the capacity and resources to manage complex shocks impacting health, income security, food security and displacement. Social protection is a critical tool for countries to respond to climate crisis. It reduces poverty and builds resilience before disasters occur and helps people cope better after a shock has happened. Through various combinations of income and in-kind transfers, contributory schemes and active labour market policies, social protection can support climate change policies and address the effects of climate change events. Social protection can also strengthen climate adaptation and mitigation policies by cushioning their potential negative impacts, and support loss and damage responses. Active labour market policies that support reskilling and job placements can help those affected by climate mitigation policies. By promoting green jobs and supporting transitions to sustainable livelihoods, these programmes can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while providing income protection. Social protection supports adaptation measures by providing income security to absorb the disruptive impacts of shocks and transitory measures, through for example supporting Payments for Environmental Services (PES) that simultaneously protect the environment and provide livelihood support. People in vulnerable situations face heightened vulnerabilities in the face of climate change but are often the most excluded from social protection systems. Social protection can strengthen their coping capacities by providing timely support. Social protection programmes offering cash transfers or food assistance support households in meeting their basic needs during extreme climate events, helping them avoid harmful coping mechanisms such as selling assets or pulling children out of school. It provides emergency cash transfers to the poor after an extreme climate event, thus addressing loss and damage and strengthening their resilience to build back better. Above all, by providing an income guarantee against key lifecycle contingencies, social protection helps redistribute resources across society, mitigate against poverty and thereby address root causes of vulnerabilities and inequalities which can be exacerbated through climate change-related events. Against this backdrop, ESCAP has developed the Climate Resilient and Inclusive Social Protection (CRISP) project, to be implemented from April 2025 to March 2028. This project will pioneer action in this emerging area within the Asia-Pacific region. It will build capacity of five beneficiary countries (Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand) through a three-pronged approach to: • Identify: Increase capacity to recognize social protection measures that mitigate climate risks and strengthen resilience for groups in vulnerable situations. • Quantify: Develop national capacities to quantify the impact of climate change on people and identify furthest behind groups. • Cooperate: Enhance regional cooperation for better social protection strategies to mitigate climate impacts and increase resilience of groups left furthest behind. Data analysis with a focus on climate change and disasters related indicators to identify the most vulnerable groups in Asia and the Pacific can help better inform policy options and help monitor and evaluate the potential impact of policy interventions. The results can be helpful in informing social protection policies and schemes with insights on climate change disaster related vulnerabilities. To support strengthened integration of social protection and climate change policies, the scope of this consultancy relates to the second pillar of the project “Quantify”. The objective is to develop national capacities to identify furthest behind groups in climate change and disaster risk related indicators. The consultant will focus on three of the five target countries, namely Cambodia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka and analyze latest household survey data with ESCAP LNOB methodology. To do so, the consultant will first review global and regional frameworks on climate change and disaster risk statistics. The consultant will complement these frameworks with a literature review focusing on academic publications that analyze inequalities in exposure and vulnerability to and capacity to cope with climate change. Considering these frameworks and literature review, the consultant will collate a list of indicators measured at individual and household level to create a country-specific list of indicators which are readily available for analysis in the survey data of the three target countries. Finally, the consultant will employ the ESCAP LNOB methodology to analyze all agreed indicators with agreed disaggregation models at agreed levels of analysis (i.e. national or sub-national) and draft a synthesis report narrating the results.
Qualifications/special skills
BA in social sciences, economics, sociology or related field. A Master’s degree would be desirable. Academic training in quantitative methods and in academic writing. Proven background in the analysis of inequality in the Asian and Pacific region, with capabilities to support capacity development and engagements in the country level. Knowledge and understanding of HIES, LFS, MICS and DHS data is required.
Languages
Fluency in English with solid drafting skills is required for this assignment.
Additional Information
Not available.
No Fee
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.
