National Gender and Social Inclusion Expert – Lesotho

Aninver Development Partners SL (www.aninver.com) is looking for a National Gender and Social Inclusion Expert for a environment, governance consultancy assignment financed by UNDP in Lesotho.

Aninver Development Partners is seeking an expert National Gender and Social Inclusion Expert for an upcoming proposal in Lesotho with UNDP. This initiative aims to support the Government of Lesotho in revising and enhancing its Nationally Determined Contributions to build climate resilience, advance low-emission development, and integrate social equity into climate action.

The selected expert will play a critical role in ensuring that gender equality, women's empowerment, youth participation, and social inclusion are systematically mainstreamed across all mitigation and adaptation targets, investment plans, and monitoring frameworks. The consultancy provides an opportunity to contribute to national climate governance and sustainable development in Lesotho.

Aninver is preparing a proposal for this assignment. The selected expert will be part of the proposed team; the engagement is conditional on the contract being awarded to Aninver. The full Terms of Reference for the position are shared with shortlisted candidates.

Objectives of the assignment

• Assess implementation gaps and lessons learned regarding gender equality and social inclusion from previous national climate commitments.
• Facilitate inclusive stakeholder consultations ensuring the active participation of women, youth, persons with disabilities, and marginalized groups.
• Conduct a comprehensive gender analysis of the differential impacts, participation, and benefits of climate change policies.
• Integrate gender-responsive approaches, safeguards, and sex-disaggregated indicators into the updated national climate commitments.
• Identify capacity-building needs and support stakeholder training on gender mainstreaming within climate planning.

Scope of work

• Review national gender policies, climate strategies, and baseline reports to identify gender-differentiated vulnerabilities and barriers.
• Develop and implement a stakeholder engagement plan ensuring the meaningful participation of women and marginalized communities.
• Conduct consultations with government ministries, districts, civil society organizations, the private sector, and vulnerable groups.
• Support the integration of gender-sensitive metrics and safeguards into both mitigation and adaptation technical working groups.
• Assess the distributional and gender dimensions of investment choices within the climate finance strategy.
• Contribute to the drafting, validation, and finalization of the enhanced national climate commitment document.

Your role as National Gender and Social Inclusion Expert

• Lead the gender and social inclusion workstream for the development of the enhanced national climate commitments.
• Facilitate targeted consultations with gender experts, community groups, and institutional stakeholders using a comment-response matrix.
• Perform a rigorous gender analysis to inform adaptation, mitigation, and investment planning components.
• Establish sex-disaggregated baselines, indicators, and data collection methodologies for tracking climate progress.
• Provide inputs to ensure that institutional arrangements and governance frameworks incorporate social safeguards and equity.
• Design and deliver capacity-building activities on gender mainstreaming for national stakeholders.
• Collaborate closely with team members to ensure cross-cutting social issues are fully reflected in all final deliverables.

Requirements

• Education: Master’s degree in Development Studies, Political Science, Sociology, or a related field
• 7 years relevant experience in Lesotho in gender equality, social inclusion and stakeholder engagement
• Languages: Good English and Sesotho
• National of, or based in, the project country

Desirable

• Prior professional experience working with UNDP or other international organizations on climate change initiatives.
• Familiarity with national development frameworks and climate policies in Lesotho.

An experienced social inclusion and gender expert with a deep understanding of Lesotho's socio-cultural context, skilled in stakeholder engagement and mainstreaming gender into national climate policy.

Assignment details

• Location: Lesotho
• Financed by: UNDP
• Sector: Environment, governance
• Estimated duration: 8 months
• Contract: individual consultancy (conditional on award)

About Aninver Development Partners

Aninver is an international development consulting firm headquartered in Spain. It supports governments, development banks, UN agencies and bilateral donors with feasibility studies, technical assistance, evaluations and capacity building across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Asia-Pacific, working with a network of international and national experts.

Why apply

• Join a multidisciplinary team on a UNDP-financed project in Lesotho.
• Individual consultancy: flexible, output-based engagement with an experienced proposal team.
• Your CV stays in Aninver's expert network for future assignments that match your profile.

How to apply

Sign in (or create a free account) and upload your CV in English. Add your LinkedIn profile, indicative daily rate and availability to speed up the assessment. Aninver will contact the shortlisted candidates.

Frequently asked questions

Is the position confirmed? The engagement depends on the contract being awarded to Aninver. Shortlisted experts are included in the proposal with their consent.

Can I apply if I am not based in the country? This position requires a national of, or a professional based in, the project country.

What happens with my CV? It is used to assess your fit for this and future positions and is not shared with third parties without your consent.