UN WOMEN Jobs - 78537- International Consultant: Women’s Economic Empower

International Consultant: Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Specialist

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Amman, with travel to field as required, JORDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-May-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3 months

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

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.

With the protracted nature of the Syrian conflict and its impact on neighboring countries and host communities, there is an increasing recognition among all partners that the development challenges arising from the crisis need accelerated actions and enhanced capacity to be addressed. In this respect, UN Women is contributing to the UNCT and HCT processes to support the Jordanian Government’s efforts and the UN response to the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on Jordan’s host communities. UN efforts have supported the preparation and adoption of Jordan Response Plan for the Syria Crisis 2017-19 which provides a coordinated and coherent multi-sectorial national response to the crisis.

Jordan’s labour market is segmented along gendered lines, providing opportunities for women primarily in the civil service (particularly health and education) and areas that have witnessed growth in employment over the last decade – such as industry – traditionally have low levels of female engagement. The wage gap is pronounced, with women earning on average 88.3 piasters for every one Jordanian Dinar (JOD) a man earns. And while women are under-represented in the formal labour market, they are over-represented in the informal labour market. This means that too often they are working without security, social protection and for lower wages than their male counterparts.

Women’s under-representation in the labour market in Jordan can be attributed to many factors. Less than 10% of women with low levels of education – who also tend to be from working poor and abject poor families, join the labor force, against almost 70% of young female graduates and 50% of young females with post-secondary education. Married women tend to remain outside of the labor force, with the ‘marital-status gap’ in labor force participation (the relative difference in labor force participation between married and never married women) standing at around 24%. Amongst employers, women are perceived as less productive than men and face significant restrictions to become entrepreneurs. To address this, the Government of Jordan has set out a number of equality related commitments in the Vision 2025 national blue print. This includes a goal to increase overall female participation in the workforce from 15 to 27 per cent by 2025.

Empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps at work are central to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (leaving no one behind), CEDAW, and national priorities on supporting women’s economic empowerment (refugee as well as Jordanian nationals).

Against this background, UN Women’s approach will focus on supporting women’s economic empowerment through supporting their increased access to sustainable economic opportunities; investing in women’s skills which have immediate labour demand; and advocating for a greater enabling environment for women’s economic participation.

Under the overall guidance of the Recovery Specialist and the direct supervision of the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Programme Officer, the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Specialist will be providing strategic technical support to programme design, progarmme implementation, and policy advice in the area of women’s economic empowerment. The WEE Specialist will also support efforts to build strong partnership with key stakeholders while enhancing knowledge management and capacity development.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provision of top quality advisory, policy and programme development services

Develop thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation in the country that affects women’s economic empowerment and support preparation of substantive inputs to the UN Women country office programme planning in those areas;
Undertake constant monitoring and analysis of the economic environment also providing suggestions for timely readjustment of economic empowerment interventions;
Identify areas for support and interventions within the women’s economic empowerment area.
Provide programme advisory support to the Programme Officer on women’s economic empowerment;
Provide technical assistance to UN Women staff and partners on issues of gender equality and WEE strategies;
Advise UN Women on the best approaches to transition from direct humanitarian assistance to resilience focused programming that would promote WEE in Jordan.

Designing of Women’s Economic Empowerment programmes

Based on research and evidence gathered, support the design and formulation of programme initiatives for women’s economic empowerment, translating UN Women’s priorities into local interventions;

Identify the best providers of specific WEE programmes for women that can be potential partners of UN Women in the implementation of its programmes;
Review and assess policies in women’s economic empowerment with the objective to identify gaps and opportunities for development of new policies and to guide the overall team priorities and workplans;
Provide context input to support UN Women strategic plan development and programme design.

Support the programme’s partnership building and resource mobilization

Act as focal point in assigned partnerships with the relevant UN Agencies, government institutions, private sector, and civil society in relation to women’s economic empowerment;
In coordination with the partnership unit, create and regularly update the mapping of different partner interventions in the areas of women’s economic empowerment;
Provide analysis and research of information on donors’ strategies in the economic sphere; also preparing substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation;
Assist the implementing partners to benefit from funds provided by different foundations, the private sector and other donors.

Advocacy support and facilitation of knowledge building and management

Actively participate in the livelihood working groups and other fora focused on women’s economic empowerment;
Proactively and substantively support and implement relevant, high-impact advocacy activities and campaigns with key partners on women’s economic empowerment;
Identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to women’s economic empowerment;
Proactively contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
Prepare periodic information products (briefing notes, reporting) in coordination with the WEE programme Officer;
Perform other tasks as may be assigned.

Results/Expected deliverables include:

Monthly progress reports;
WEE brief and policy paper;
WEE Programme Strategy developed;
Draft Project document on WEE in Jordan.

Fees and Schedule of Payments

The position will be remunerated based on an “all inclusive” monthly lump-sum (week-ends and public holidays are not included).

The successful candidate will receive his/her payment based on satisfactory deliverable and a time sheet duly approved by the UN Women Country Representative.

Competencies

1. Core values:

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;
Respect for 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.

2. Functional Competencies:

Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to results management, including support to design, planning and implementation of programme, managing data, reporting;
Ability to establish and maintain broad strategic networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners;
Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
Strong Knowledge of WEE and gender;
Strong capacity in research and capacity development.

3. 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 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;
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in social sciences, public administration or related fields.

Experience:

Minimum 5 years of experience in women’s economic empowerment preferably in a transition context.
3 years of experience working on gender equality, women’s rights and human rights within a transition setting.
Experience in partnership building and knowledge management.
Experience providing trainings to a multi-disciplinary audience.
Prior experience with the UN System will be an asset.

Language requirements:

Fluency in English.