Background

UN Women, 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.

Addressing gender-responsive investment and procurement in Europe and Central Asia is crucial given women account for less than a third of entrepreneurs in Europe . Moreover, the rate of entrepreneurial activity among European women is at 5.7 per cent – compared to an average of 11 per cent in the rest of the world. Globally, as in Europe and Central Asia, women entrepreneurs have trouble accessing assets, financial services, as well as information and markets, and receive less than half of the investment capital than their male peers.

In 2022, the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and Yildiz Holding – a Turkish conglomerate and one of the largest food manufacturers across ECA, the Middle East and Africa - signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support women’s entrepreneurship and inclusive supply chains. The strategic collaboration aims to accelerate women’s entrepreneurship and help create market opportunities for women owned/led businesses in the region of Europe and Central Asia and beyond. Within the scope of the cooperation, Yildiz Holding companies will accelerate best practices to encourage women entrepreneurship with the support of UN Women. In addition, UN Women and Yildiz Holding will cooperate to extend the scope of Gender-Responsive Procurement and Investment (GRPI) Programme in targeted countries. The partnership supports the goals of the Generation Equality initiative aimed at accelerating progress towards gender equality.

The partnership will be guided by and feed into the activities of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA), a multi-stakeholder partnership convened by the United Nations and housed by UN Women, aiming to create an enabling ecosystems for women entrepreneurs around the world. Yildiz Holding has recently become a partner to the Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator initiative and aims take initiatives on gender equality and women’s empowerment led under Yildiz Holding Women’s Platform to a global level. Furthermore, in June 2022, Yildiz Holding signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles - a set of Principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) in the workplace, marketplace and community.

Under the overall supervision of the Regional Director and reporting to the Deputy Regional Director, the Programme Specialist exercises overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under the Memorandum of Understanding with Yildiz Holding.  The Programme Specialist works in close collaboration with the relevant team at Yildiz Holding, ECA Regional and Country Offices programme and operations teams, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors, civil society and private sector partners ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio. 

Duties and Responsibilities

1.Design and develop programme strategies in the area of women’s entrepreneurship acceleration

• Design and formulate programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Draft inputs to country strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to women’s entrepreneurship.

2. Manage the implementation and management of activities under the UN Women-Yildiz Holding partnership

• Finalize the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
• Manage the technical implementation of the programme/project; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Manage the identification and engagement of partners including the submission of their financial and narrative reports, as needed;
• Provide guidance to staff and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Organize Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings, as needed.

3.Manage specialized advisory support and technical assistance on gender mainstreaming to Yildiz holding and its key subsidiary companies

• Manage the implementation of technical advice and guidance. Develop and implement technical tools, and initiatives
• Build and manage relationships with the partners to support implementation and expansion of gender mainstreaming of Yildiz Holding A.S. CSR initiatives under the umbrella concept of women’s entrepreneurship acceleration for a multiplied effect; respond to any potential problems;
• Identify capacity building needs of partners and lead the coordination of technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives. .

4.Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project

• Manage the monitoring of programme/ project implementation and finances using results based management tools;
• Oversee field missions and review reports on monitoring missions;
• Write quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output and outcomes;
• Contribute to office donor and UN Women reports.

5.Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Provide substantive contributions to the development of the ECA action plan  to operationalize UN Women corporate private sector engagement strategy and support implementation,  as needed
• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalize relevant documentation on partners and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on partners, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.

6.Contribute to inter-agency coordination on working with the private sector to advance gender equality  [thematic area]  to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners  in the region

• Provide technical support to the Regional Director and Deputy Regional Director on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, events, and participating in groups and committees as needed;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, private sector partners, donors and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with other efforts in the region.

7.Manage advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop and review background documents, briefs and presentations related to the UN Women-Yildiz Holding partnership and other collaborations with the private sector to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment [thematic area];
• Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to private sector partnerships, the Women’s Empowerment Principles  and the Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator, as necessary;

• Develop advocacy strategies together with UN Women communications teams in the region and oversee their implementation;
• Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
• Develop knowledge management strategies, products and methodologies on engagement with the private sector to advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
• Support UN Women offices and partners to share  knowledge and best practices on engagement with the private sector through a community of practice and other relevant platform.  
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Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality advisory services to Yildiz Holding on gender mainstreaming
• Timely and quality design and inputs into ECA RO strategic exercises
• Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget and workplans under the UN Women-Yildiz Holding partnership, and in line with all UN Women operational rules and regulations, including security
• Timely and quality monitoring and evaluation of programmes
• Relations with partners and stakeholders
• Quality reports and timely submission
• Regular communication with other agencies and partners
• Quality of advocacy and communication initiatives

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong knowledge of women’s economic empowerment, in particular on private sector partnership for GEWE
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies

Required Skills and Experience