Background

As part of its work to increase financing for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 5 – the achievement of gender equality - UN Women West and Central Africa regional office aims at developing strategic collaboration with donors that could support the realization of its mandate on women’s economic empowerment, women’s political participation, women, peace and security, and ending violence against women.

To support this effort, several initiatives are being conducted by the regional and country partnerships and resource mobilization units, which often require the development of high-quality proposals and fundraising materials. UN Women seeks to constitute a roster of highly skilled professional writers who will support regional and country offices grants development efforts.

Selected professionals will support the drafting and finalization of proposals, concept notes and other fundraising materials, in response to identified funding opportunities, through specific missions.

The duration of each mission will vary, depending on the requirements of the funding opportunity, and may request remote working, or travelling to the country office location. 

Its retainer, on request, for 1 year. You will be called upon as required, and the duration of the assignment may vary

Duties and Responsibilities

Selected professionals will work under the coordination of the regional or country partnerships and resource mobilization unit. In alignment with donor priorities and submission requirements, the consultants will prepare high quality grant applications (proposals or concept notes) or other material for submission to donors in a timely manner:

  • Participate in relevant staff briefings and meetings or donor engagements to support the preparation of submissions; capture notes and synthesize information into a cohesive narrative.
  • Provide relevant analysis of the donor guidelines and templates to the team to guide the preparation of submissions and needed technical, administrative and financial inputs.
  • As relevant, conduct or request for additional data collection needed to support proposal development.
  • Manage the full cycle of proposal / concept note writing, including: planning and requesting for the relevant contributions from the programs, finance, administrative and partnerships teams as per the call’s requirements ; following up on the needed technical, financial or administrative inputs and reviews from the team to complete the application; drafting the initial materials needed for the application for the technical team’s reviews; after reviews and quality checks, editing consolidating the team’s various contributions towards the finalization of the application documents; ensuring quality check and final consistency in regards to the donor language and requirements of the call for proposals ; delivering the finalized package to the partnerships team for submission

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

Functional Competencies:

  • Knowledge of international development issues is essential. Knowledge of UN Women and international development issues particular to gender and women’s empowerment is a plus.
  • Sound knowledge of key international donors’ funding mechanisms and regulations is essential, including, but not limited to: the European Union, the Governmental agencies from 
  • the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Korea, multilateral development banks, private foundations.
  • Superior writing skills both in English and French: demonstrated track record in writing proposals securing six and seven figure funding from private or public sources.
  • Strong research capacity (mainly on internet); interpreting, analyzing, complex international development issues and representing such information in a clear and concise written manner.
  • Ability to adhere to tight deadlines and manage multiple projects simultaneously while being autonomous; ability to exercise discretion and maintain confidentiality required.
  • Proactiveness in seeking for relevant inputs from different members of the team to complete a quality application.

Ability to travel in countries of West and Central Africa, as needed.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Advanced university degree in the social sciences (i.e. sociology, demography, psychology, political science and economics), public policy or international development.
  • A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

  •  A minimum of five years of experience in grants writing, in response to calls for proposals from institutional and private donors. Experience of proposal writing on gender-related issues is a strong asset.
  • A proven track-record of successful proposals submitted to major donor agencies such as : the European Union, the Governmental agencies from the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Korea, multilateral development banks, private foundations.

Languages : 

Superior writing skills both in English and French mandatory.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.