Result of ServiceUnder the supervision of the Programme Management Officer, Finance Unit, Mitigation Branch, Climate Change Division, the consultant will deliver the specific outputs as follows: I. Conduct initial consultations with UN Women and UNEP to align on project objectives, methodology and timeline. II. Review EmPower documents, existing literature, and practitioner reports. III. Select key stakeholders from business accelerators and financial institutions and conduct semi-structure interviews for additional, more detailed data collection. IV. Based on inputs from interviews of key stakeholders, finalize a detailed analysis of the following and provide actionable recommendations: a. identified business accelerator / initiatives / facilities. b. different financial mechanisms offered by commercial banks. c. public policies on business accelerator / initiatives / facilities and commercial banks ecosystems. V. Incorporate feedback from UN Women/UNEP to finalize the analysis & recommendation report. VI. Prepare Powerpoint presentation and present findings to UNEP and UN Women. Performance indicators: Efficient completion of the deliverables as stipulated and evaluated by UNEP for completeness and quality. Work LocationHome-based Expected duration3 months Duties and ResponsibilitiesThe UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. Building on its institutional policy, guided by Member States, UNEP’s Mid-Term-Strategy for 2022-2025 states that “gender equality and a rights-based approach are key to ending all forms of discrimination and ensuring progress towards environmental sustainability” and explains how UNEP will increase responsiveness to gender equality and human rights and gather good practices within the organization. UNEP’s strategic objectives comprise: “Climate stability: Countries increasingly transition to low-emission economic development pathways and enhance their adaptation and resilience to climate change”. Under this objective, UNEP works to contribute to Programme of Work Outcome 1B: “Countries and stakeholders have increased capacity, finance, and access to technologies to deliver on the adaptation and mitigation goals”. Through the EmPower programme, UNEP supports access to low carbon technologies for decarbonization, enhance resilience and increase access to climate finance. The EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies Programme background: The programme seeks to accelerate gender-responsive and human rights-based climate action across Asia and the Pacific with a focus on Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines and Viet Nam. Building on the first phase of the project, UNEP and UN Women are scaling up the work in its second phase which started in 2023. EmPower Phase II leverages a variety of tools, methodologies, and empirical data to implement existing plans and policies for gender-responsive, human rights-based climate action. The project expands the scope for women and other marginalized and gender-diverse groups to shape decisions and build resilience, including through new access to finance, technology and renewable energy as a driver of better livelihoods. For this, further support is needed to unlock finance for low caron technologies for women-led as well as other socially inclusive enterprises to build climate-resilient livelihoods, and to bring women’s leadership to the forefront of climate action and the just energy transition. The programme aims to contribute to the following long-term impact - people in Asia-Pacific experience greater gender equality and the full enjoyment of their rights, including equal access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, reducing their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Assignment Background: It is estimated that there were approximately 358 million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) worldwide in 2023. MSMEs make up over 90% of all firms and account, on average, for 70% of total employment and 50% of GDP worldwide. They contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). MSMEs help reduce levels of poverty through job creation and economic growth. They are key drivers of employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship for women, youth and groups in vulnerable situations. They are the majority of the world’s food producers and play critical roles in closing the gender gap as they ensure women’s full and effective participation in the economy and in society. In most developing economies, MSMEs employ up to 78 percent of the population and account for approximately 29 percent of the national GDP. Their presence in communities throughout the world– big and small, rural and urban – allows them to get products and services to hard-to-reach populations. This market concentration and high level of employment mean MSMEs are in a good position to contribute to making vulnerable populations more climate resilient. But while MSMEs can assist in helping vulnerable households adapt to climate change, they are also extremely vulnerable to the impacts of a warmer world, such as intensification of precipitation and shifts in water availability. It’s important that MSMEs overcome these challenges and capitalize on their unique business opportunities in ways that help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change. However, access to finance remains one of the most important constraints for the survival, growth, and productivity of MSMEs. The IFC’s MSME finance gap analysis 2017 indicates that 40 percent of formal MSMEs have an unmet financing need of US$5.2 trillion, including US$1.5 trillion attributable to women owned MSMEs. In 2024, the finance gap has increased to US$5.7 trillion, a number that swells to $8 trillion when informal enterprises are included. Over the last 2 decades, business accelerators have emerged as an important innovation intermediary, with their primary role identified as stimulating premature startups through mentorship and training programs, thus allowing them to access investment capital to develop, grow and reach business and financial maturity. However, despite significant improvement and 17 years of working history, there are still gaps in working behaviour, business accelerator forms, organizational structure, operations, and outcomes. Especially, due to various financial constraints, business accelerators have generally focused their attention on bankable enterprises that could yield significant returns, thus leaving behind the vast majority of NMSMEs. However, there remain significant opportunities for global actors to leverage the transformative capacity of business accelerators to address the financing and capacity building needs of MSMEs. Supporting MSMEs accessing renewable and clean energy technologies through loans and other affordable financial mechanisms from commercial banks, offers a yet untapped but tremendously promising avenue to significantly curb greenhouse gases emissions, and thus contribute to global decarbonization and a just energy transition. UNEP under the EmPower programme, recently conducted a review and analysis of over 1800 existing business accelerators and other initiatives and facilities focusing on connecting capital and enterprises. This study identified the different types of business accelerators / initiatives / facilities operating in the global south with a focus on Asia and Africa as well as their respective business models, and evaluated the challenges, gaps and potentialities for these business models to address the financing and capacity building needs of NMSMEs via a sustainable / self-sustaining business model that does not require grant support. The study also briefly looked at financial mechanisms from over 300 financial institutions and identified their target groups (business types, social and demographic targets) their geographic and economic sector focus, and whether they have financial products specifically supporting new technologies and clean energy. Qualifications/special skills• Master’s degree or certification equivalent in social sciences, economics, business administration, statistics, or a related field is required. • A first-level university degree in combination with five additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. • At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in business analysis. • Experience in reviewing policy environments and providing policy recommendations • Experience in designing tools and strategies for data collection, analysis and production of reports. • Strong communication skills. • Knowledge about gender equality, the empowerment of women and violence against women. • Experience working with UN bodies / international organizations / non-profit sector highly desirable • Knowledge about climate finance, SME sector understanding Languages• Fluency in English and Vietnamese is required. • Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset. Additional InformationNot available. No FeeTHE 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.