UN WOMEN Jobs - 48902- Proposal Writing Consultant “One Stop Shop for Cre

Proposal Writing Consultant “One Stop Shop for Creating Sustainable Business” SSA Consultancy Assignment

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Occupied Palestinian territory (Jerusalem, with travel to other locations in the West Bank)

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

31-Aug-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

One month (20 working days, 7 working days in oPt)

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

One month

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The UN Women (UNW), 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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) since its inception in 1997. UN Women oPt focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the oPt context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realization of following strategic goals: Engendering governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

In December 2006, UNDP and the Government of Spain signed a far-reaching agreement to establish a new fund to accelerate efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, and to support UN reform efforts at the country level. In 2007, the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F) was established by an agreement between the Government of Spain and the UNDP on behalf of the United Nations system. This was the largest development cooperation mechanisms designed to actively promote MDG achievement and inter-agency cooperation. In continuing their support of inter-agency cooperation aimed at MDG achievement, and based on the experience gained with the MDG-F, the Government of Spain and the UNDP have established a new Fund: the “Sustainable Development Goals Fund” (SDG-F). The SDG-F will intervene in a number of thematic areas and one of the thematic windows under the SDG-F is inclusive economic growth.

In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), UN Women has led the development of a concept note for a joint programme in partnership with FAO, ITC and UNCTAD developed a concept note, which is designed to contribute to fostering institutional and sustainable economic development through supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s) working in culture and agriculture industries. It aims at contributing to the achievement of MDG 1 (eradicating extreme poverty), MDG 3 (promoting gender equality and empowering women) and MDG 7 (ensuring environmental sustainability).

UN Women will work jointly with FAO, ITC and UNCTAD in oPt in collaboration with governmental institutions, local authorities, private sector, community based organizations and civil society at large. The programme relies on a participatory bottom-up approach to a) establish policies and practices for promoting and supporting MSME’s and standardization, b) creation of a one-stop-shop to support cultural and agricultural MSME’s in developing and sustaining their businesses, based on the UNCTAD Empretec approach.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Special Representative and the Economic Security and Rights Unit Project Coordinator, Proposal Writing Consultant will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities to develop the programme document, in close consultation with the four participating UN agencies and in line with the SDG-F guidelines, key government ministries and civil society organizations:

Review the SDG-F guidelines and previously submitted concept note;
Draft the work plan for the assignment including key dates of primary actions, consultation meetings with stakeholders, in addition to other required actions to fully meet the requirements of the assignment;
Meet individually and collectively with the joint programme partners to agree on the goal hierarchy of the project and set the Logical framework, work plan, and other relevant documents;
Conduct a desk review, research and compile the background information for the project, key partnerships, sustainability and risk mitigation strategies;
Liaise with all stakeholders involved in crafting the programme proposal ensuring constant communication and flow of information, and the active participation of all key partners throughout the formulation process;
Organize internal and external meetings, ensuring proper meeting minutes are recorded and documented;
Ensure efficient and timely provision on inputs by all stakeholders;
In close collaboration and full participation of project partners draft a high quality, fully developed and all inclusive project document and relevant annexes;
Provide a final draft of the document (by 30 August 2014);
Garner feedback from the participating agencies and partners on the draft document;
Finalize the project document in accordance with SDG-F guidelines and based on the feedback from participating agencies and partners (by 12 September 2014);
Delivery of a high quality project document and needed annexes to UN Women in a timely manner.

Timeframe:

The assignment is expected to start on 18 August 2014 and to be finalized by 15 September 2014 (duration of 4 weeks).

Key Deliverables:

A payment will be issued for the following deliverables:

Draft Programme Document (30 August 2014);
Final Programme Document incorporating feedback from all partners (12 September 2014).

The successful candidate will be requested to submit a detailed work plan of the consultancy assignment upon signing of consultancy agreement.

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:
Integrity:

Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Results oriented:

Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals, generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations.

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

Initiative-taking; coaching and mentoring ability.

Working in Teams:

Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

Managing conflict.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other.

Functional Competencies:

Proven record in programme development, proposal writing and resource mobilization
Demonstrated experience in MSME’s, economy, agriculture and/or culture-related fields;
Demonstrated strong coordination and facilitation skills;
Strong communication skills in English and Arabic (oral and written);
Able to work in an international environment;
Able to work under pressure and to deliver on time;
High standards of accuracy and attention to detail;
Accountable, flexible and prepared to work under pressure and long hours;
Results oriented, flexible and problem solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University Degree in economics, agricultural/cultural development, project management or related fields.

Experience:

The Proposal Writing Consultant should have the following qualifications:

Minimum of 5 years of programme development proposal writing;
Proven skills in Gender Sensitive Programming;
Knowledge of the challenges of economic development in the context of the occupied Palestinian territories;
Experience in women’s economic empowerment and/or MSMEs promotion is an advantage;
Experience in agricultural and cultural activities is an advantage;
Previous experience in the UN system is considered an asset.

Language:

Very good communication and writing skills and fluency in English;
Arabic language skills considered an asset.

Note:

Deliverables must be submitted in English.