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.

UN Women Sudan’s Strategic Note (SN) 2014-16, aims "to consolidate efforts that contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment in Sudan". Key strategies for the implementation of the country programme include capacity building, advocacy, gender mainstreaming, evidence, information and data collection and the use of media to highlight and inform the general population of Sudan. The SN outlines the overall strategy and plan of action for the UN Women Sudan Country Office (CO) for the years 2014-16 and includes a Development Results Framework (DRF) and an Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency Framework (OEEF) with expected results and targets/ indicators/ baselines.  The SN 2014-2016 covers five impact areas, namely; 1) Women lead and participate in decision making at all levels; 2) Women, especially the poorest and most excluded, are economically empowered and benefit from development; 3) Women and girls live a life free from violence; 4) Peace and security and humanitarian action are shaped by women’s leadership and participation; and 5) Governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments and priorities.

2017 AWP of UN Women Sudan focuses on concrete, impactful and scalable initiatives, prioritizing 2 UN Women Strategic Plan Impact areas, namely Impact area 2 (WEE) and 4 (WPS/Humanitarian Response), in response to the prevailing context and opportunities. “EVAW” and “Gender Mainstreaming, Planning and Budgeting” interventions will be mainstreamed under each of the above accordingly. Under the Organizational Efficiency and Effectiveness framework the office will focus on coordinating GEWE work within the UN, with government, CSOs, Academia, Private sector, Donors and other stakeholders. The Country Programme also lays emphasis on strategic partnerships and resource mobilization to bridge the resource gap.

According to the 2008 Census, the population of Sudan is 30.9 million, of which 49.5% is female. The majority of the population (63%) is rural.  Nearly half (46.5%) of the population of Sudan falls below the poverty line. The economic hardships that the country experienced since the loss of oil in 2011, has contributed to the unemployment crisis for both sexes with women doubly affected by both circumstances. Moreover, women opportunities to participate in the economy are limited by cultural perceptions of women’s role in performing unpaid work within the household or in agriculture - mainly as farmers of food crops while men are mainly concerned with cash crops. The 2009 National Baseline Household Survey (NBHS) indicated that, unemployment rate is high between the two sexes (26% of men are economically inactive compared to 74% for women). In terms of labour force participation, males constitute 38.3% while females constitute 14.1%. Food deprivation is notably higher in female-headed households (37 percent) than in male-headed households (31 percent). This may be explained by the better access of male-headed households on average to education, jobs and higher incomes.

Women around the world dominate in more constrained sectors such as the informal economy and agriculture; their overall economic contributions are often not taken into account in the national economy. In the formal economy, women’s numbers in low- and middle-ranking positions is relatively significant, but they still occupy very few senior positions. Women’s economic opportunities could especially be promoted not only by improved access to formal employment in the private sector, but also by the setting up of schemes for income generation activities, microenterprises and cooperatives by women, as well as enhancement of their technical and entrepreneurship skills.

The gender gap for Sudan as a whole is estimated at 0.095. The gender gap is widest in South Darfur (0.132). Gender differences against females exist in human development components, except for longevity, in which females are better off than males. Progress on the human development achievements of women is not only an important end on its own, but it is valuable as a means to other ends as well. When women are knowledgeable, healthy and enjoy a decent standard of living, overall economic productivity tends to rise, maternal and infant mortality fall, and health and educational prospects of the next generation improve. Eliminating gender disparities in human development can expand human development opportunities for women, but also for men as well, through a more equal and just society.

Guided by the National Women Empowerment Strategy (2007), which is currently under revision, the national development and poverty reduction strategies, and its own Strategic Note and Annual Work Plan 2017, UN Women Sudan seeks to promote economic of women as key strategy and goal to ensure that women, especially the poorest and most excluded, are economically empowered and benefit from development. To achieve this result UN Women Sudan seeks the achievements of three major Outcomes: 1) National plans, legislation, policies, strategies and budgets adopted and implemented to strengthen women’s economic empowerment; and 2) Women's sustainable livelihoods enhanced by gender-responsive services and access, and control over means of production, resources and markets, and 3) Women small holder productivity in changing climate increased and physical burden of agricultural work reduced ( in Darfur and Kordofan).

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist and the overall guidance of the Country Representative, the Women Economic Empowerment Consultant will work in close collaboration with staff of UN Women-Darfur sub Office and Khartoum to support implementation of women economic empowerment initiatives in Sudan.

The main responsibilities include:

• Strategic position on national plans, legislation, policies, strategies and budgets on women’s economic empowerment in Sudan;
• Programme development, management and implementation;
• Effective management and accountability of Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) portfolio;
• Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation for timely delivery of results;
• Resource mobilization.

Strategic position on national plans, legislation, policies, strategies and budgets on women’s economic empowerment in Sudan:

• Ensure UN Women substantively contributes to engendering the development and implementation of national policies and plans relevant to women’s economic empowerment at all levels, especially Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP); National Development Strategy; National Action Plan (NAP) on UN SCR 1325; National Women Empowerment Policy, amongst others relevant economic policies and poverty eradication strategies;
• Provide strategic and policy guidance to UN Women interventions in the areas of GRB and planning arena;
• Strengthen dialogue mechanisms and enhance policy space to enable gender equality advocates to engage at all levels of economic policy and poverty eradication processes;
• Support UN Women Sudan and provide substantial technical support on women’s economic empowerment intervention planning and implementation, including proposal development and technical guidance;
• Work with other UN Women Sudan programmes to ensure linkages between the WEE and provide update information on the situational analyses and intervention planning, and to ensure timely monitoring, evaluation and documentation of interventions;
• Support rapid, multi-stakeholder assessments and field visits for the identification of appropriate interventions by the UN Women Sudan and its partners;
• Provide technical review and support to UN WOMEN partner activity development and implementation on WEE; 
• Ensure effective UN Women coordination and communication with relevant State Government Ministry, UN/INGO/LNGO, civil society and other key stakeholders;
• Ensure that UN Women Sudan programming on Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) builds on the overall UN Women’s comparative advantages, adds value to existing UN support, and strengthens contribution to the attainment of national priorities;
• Inform UN Women Sudan- Programme Specialist as appropriate on area of responsibility, as well as represent UN Women Sudan in forums relevant to the thematic area.

Programme Development, Management and Implementation:

• Thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation in the country pertaining to women’s economic empowerment and preparation of substantive inputs to Country Strategy and other documents including inter-agency UN assessments and plans and UNDAF; 
• Domestication of the global indicators to be able to develop baselines and tracking the progress;
• Support building and enhancing capacities of gender advocates at federal at state levels to advocate for implementation of gender-responsive policies/microfinance;
• Support enhancement of capacity of MFIs and gender advocates at federal at state levels to implement gender-responsive microfinance policy;
• Support enhancement of capacity of the private sector to provide enterprise development assistance and access to market to women;
• Strengthen the coordination within the UN agencies to support women economic empowerment agenda and work;
• Support initiatives that aim to improve access to productive, time-saving and climate-resilient assets, tools and technologies;
• Support initiatives that aim to improve access to climate–resilient agricultural extension services for women and households;

• Ensure effective management and implementation of the UN Women supported programme activities within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned, focusing on quality control from design to implementation, paying attention to the effective application of RBM and the UN Women assessment tools, establishment of management targets and monitoring the achievement of results;
• Provide technical inputs to CO knowledge products and reports; and manage knowledge products;
• Ensure systematic monitoring and reporting Programme implementation and results.

Effective management and accountability of the Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) portfolio:

• Develop results oriented work plans, undertake effective monitoring and supervision and providing technical assistance to their implementation and reporting on the project activities;
• Analyse reports from partners for quality control, undertake field missions, analysing key events and changes in context and provide substantive and appropriate advice and briefs and support, sharing experiences/reflections sessions of good practices, and dissemination of lessons learned;
• In collaboration with the M&E Programme Specialist/Analysts, undertake financial and substantive monitoring and evaluation of the WEE programmes and projects, identification of operational and financial problems and development of solutions;
• Organize training required for activities within the thematic areas and related work on gender indicators and gender statistics.

Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation for timely delivery of the results:

• Contribute to the development and strengthening of networks and forge partners at national, state, county and community levels, with government, key women’s organizations, UN agencies and bi-lateral development partner organisations to ensure optimal collective knowledge of gender equality and women’s rights issues within the context of women economic empowerment;
• Development of partnerships with the UN Agencies, relevant government institutions, private sector, and civil society, particularly women's organizations at community and state and federal levels for securing women economic empowerment agenda based on strategic goals of UN Women Annual Work plan for 2017, particularly the goal of WEE, and emerging priorities in the country as approved through UNDAF; 
•  Analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for initiation of new projects, active contribution to the overall office effort in resource mobilization.

Resource Mobilization:

• In close consultation with UN Women Sudan Programme Specialist and under the overall guidance of the Country Representative and in liaising with donors, support resource mobilisation through the development of concept notes and project proposals / documents, identifying potential sources of funds;
• Sustain donor confidence in UN Women’s capacity to deliver by supporting the implementation of set procedures for donor reporting, and the provision of timely, regular and quality donor briefs and reports as may be required from time to time;
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by UN Women Sudan Programme Specialist and Country Representative.

Deliverables:

The consultant is expected to contribute and promote translate the objectives and goals of Impact Area 2 of UN Women Sudan AWP 2017, notably Women Economic Empowerment, into concrete strategic plans and results and thus contributing to strengthening UN Women overall interventions in Women Economic Empowerment Impact Area and promote gender-sensitive WEE programming, which impact in turn on the overall effectiveness of the UN Women programme of the CO.  In addition, by helping ensure effective design, planning and implementation of Women Economic Empowerment portfolio, the incumbent enhances the organization’s capacity and credibility in implementation of highly effective programs with strong impact.

Specifically, the consultant, supported by short-terms consultants, is expected to deliver the following:

• Supported by a short-term consultant finalize analysis of gender statistics in the House Hold Survey with National Bureau for Statistics;
• Commission Background paper on GEWE to support the gender module of the House Hold Survey;
• Training gender equality advocates on gender gap analysis of national plans, budget analysis of NAP 1325 and equip them with GRPB advocacy tools;
• Organize 1 high-level advocacy event for ministers and senior government officials on the importance of GEWE, especially WEE in SDGs;
• Train MFIs in Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan on implementation of the microfinance policy at state levels;
• Reinforce capacity of gender advocates in Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan to influence implementation and monitoring of gender responsive micro-finance policies;
• Support poor women in Khartoum, Darfur and Kodorfan organize in groups of common interest groups/cooperatives for economic empowerment, peace and security;
• Provide vocational training to vulnerable young women, especially in Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan and link them with MFIs;
• Supported by a short-term consultant conduct assessment of women's role and gender implications in natural resource management in Kordofan, including land use and technologies;
• Conduct workshops and community consultations with all relevant stakeholders on women’s access to climate resilient ant time-saving tools and technologies.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

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

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

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

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic 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 behaviour 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.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards, shows commitment to UN Women’s mission, vision, values and strategic goals of UN Women’s and displays cultural, gender, religion, race, and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to establish and maintain strategic partnerships with government institutions, donors, civil society partners and other UN agencies. Has proven expertise in resource mobilization and strong negotiation skills;
• Excellent personal and professional communication and presentation skills abilities; Has the ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor the progress of the projects and activities within the area of responsibility and achieve planned results;
• Strong teamwork spirit and interpersonal skills demonstrated by the ability to gain the assistance and cooperation of others in a team endeavour; ability to build trust through operating with transparency and creating an open, positive and enabling environment; ability to work in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;
• Sound judgment and decision-making skills, with the ability to make effective timely decisions;
• Results based programme development and management;
• Ability to work under minimal supervision and be proactive and initiative;
• Has the ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor the progress of the projects and activities within the area of responsibility and achieve planned results;
• Sound judgment and decision-making skills, with the ability to make effective timely decisions; Ability to lead effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills;
• Generate new ideas and approaches for communication and visibility of UN Women.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master Degree) in economics, gender studies, administration, social sciences, peace and security or a related field.  

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience in development work with specific emphasis on gender equality and women’s empowerment focusing on women economic empowerment;
• Demonstrated hands-on experience in development, monitoring the implementation and the evaluation of development projects, capacity building and resource mobilization;
• Recognized experience in the field of gender and development;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management systems.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic.