Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women 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 Nigeria, UN Women works to support the Government’s national development agenda, which prioritizes the empowerment of women and girls and their contribution to all areas of economic, political and social development.

With an estimated population of over 200 million people, Nigeria is a political federation of 36 autonomous states, and a multi-ethnic and culturally diverse society with over 500 ethnic groups and over 500 different languages. With an abundance of natural resources, Nigeria is the Africa’s biggest oil exporter and owns the largest natural gas reserves on the continent. The country spans to an area 923,768 square kilometers, making it the world's 32nd largest country. It is located in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and shares borders with Benin (773 km), Niger (1,497 km), Chad (87 km), Cameroon (1,690 km), and has a coastline of at least 853 kilometers.

Nigeria continues to experience multiple challenges with differentiated impacts on women and girls. The country faces terrorist attacks in the northeast, a restive insurgency in the Delta region, and the perennial inter-communal violence across the middle belt. At the root of the security challenges are high levels of poverty, joblessness, growing numbers of frustrated youth, and the degradation of natural resources and climate stressors. In addition, gender inequalities in all its forms and in all aspects of life persist. The widespread gender inequalities as manifested in Nigeria have been attributed to several factors including patriarchy, imbalance in socio-economic opportunities, cultural and religious factors, and inadequate enabling legal and policy frameworks, among other factors.

UN Nigeria’s programming is embedded in a periodic Strategic Note (SN) essentially used as a tool to address national priorities, goals and results set out in the country’s National Development Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (hereafter CF). The SN also provides an indication of resources needed to achieve results and strategies for partnerships, communication, resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation. As the Country Office is in the final year of the current SN (2018-2022) implementation, it becomes imperative to develop a new SN covering the period: 2023-2027. The new SN will outline UN Women’s overall strategy and plan of action for Nigeria and respond to the developmental and humanitarian priorities of the government at the federal level and in targeted states. It will also contribute directly to the new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for Nigeria (UNSDCF: 2023-2027), currently at the final stage of development, and translate UN Women’s Global Strategic Plan (2022-2025) and its All-Africa Strategy (AS) at the country level. The new SN will build on the achievements of the current one, thus the need to reflect on challenges and lessons learned by the CO over the past four years.

The production of the SN for the Nigeria Country Office will be informed by national state level and grassroots consultations, staff contributions, and dialogues with different government, non-government and donor organisations. The SN process will also source information from the Country Gender Profile under preparation by the Country Office, in collaboration with the African Development Bank and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs. In addition, the Country Office will collaborate with the Regional Office and Headquarters for guidance and validation of the new SN.

To this end, UN Women Nigeria would like to recruit a senior international consultant to facilitate the process of preparing the Country Office Strategic Note and all relevant documents. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women Deputy Representative in Nigeria and working closely with the Nigeria Country Office technical team assigned to support the SN preparation process, the Consultant will be responsible for the following specific tasks:

Deliverables and Schedule of Payment

Competencies

Core Values:

• Demonstrates highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty by modeling UN Women values and ethical standards.
• Professionalism
• Respect of diversity

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and sensitivity to gender, inclusion and human rights
• Accountability
• Creative problem solving
• Effective communication
• Inclusive collaboration
• Stakeholder engagement
• Leading by example

Functional Competencies

• Strong commitment and sound understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues in Nigeria
• Strong interpersonal skills;
• Strong organizational skills and strong self-direction;
• Strong research and communication skills;
• Ability to prioritize and work under pressure with colleagues at all levels;
• Knowledge the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard in Nigeria.
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative;
• Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.
• Conflict management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution;
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Development Studies, Law, Political Science, Sociology, International Relations and equivalent practical experiences

Experience

• At least 10 years of experience in programme management, including programme design, programme coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building, ideally in gender equality and women’s empowerment focused programmes.
• Demonstrated experience in strategic planning including the preparation of logframes and theories of change.
• Experience in participatory planning and coordination, including the ability to coordinate, probe and stimulate discussions.
• Understanding of UN Women corporate plans and systems would be an advantage

Language Requirements

• Fluency in oral and written English.

Requirements and Selection Criteria

Applicants will be evaluated based on technical capacities (70%) and financial proposal (30%). Technical evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

Application Process and Deadline

Candidates are requested to submit the following documents in a single file. (pls note the system allows only a single attachment)

1. Application letter explaining interest in the consultancy and suitability of the candidate for the consultancy position
2. Updated CV
3. A short proposal (max 4 A4 pages) that explains how the consultant will do the work.
4. UN Women Personal History Form (P11). The P11 Form can be downloaded from the following website: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc
5. Financial proposal specifying a daily consultancy rate and a breakdown per deliverable.