Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) was established by General Assembly resolution 64/289 of 2 July 2010 on system-wide coherence, with the mandate to assist countries and the United Nations system itself to progress more effectively and efficiently toward the goal of achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment and upholding women’s rights.

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.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute a broad and ambitious agenda for the world to achieve by 2030. Although governments are the primary drivers for achieving the goals, it is acknowledged that public-sector resources particularly in developing countries, will be insufficient to meet the targets and it would be vital to forge collaborations with the private sector. The 17 SDG Goals includes a stand-alone Goal on Gender Equality, SDG 5. Globally, a growing number of companies are investing in SDG 5 by supporting women’s economic empowerment. To date, multi-national companies have collectively invested more than $300 million and launched programmes on employment and empowerment.

UN Women envisages the private sector in Nigeria as integral to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals, and equally, its 5-year Strategic Note (2018-2022).  UN Women’s global work with the private sector and foundations provides a blueprint on how to collaborate with the private sector in Nigeria.

In 2010, UN Women and the United Nations Global Compact developed the Women’s Empowerment Principles. These are a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. Subtitled Equality Means Business, the Principles emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women's empowerment and are informed by real-life business practices and input gathered from across the globe[1].

As part of its commitment to expanding partnership with the private sector in Nigeria to advance implementation of its mandate priorities, the UN Women Nigeria Country Office has elaborated a Private Sector strategy, as a guiding framework for this evolving partnership. The strategy draws from the tools and experiences of UN Women and UN Global Compact globally and from good practice examples of how businesses support the SDGs.

Nigeria is one of a select number of countries globally, targeted to benefit from a partnership undertaking between the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN), focused on Eliminating all forms of Violence Against Women (EVAW) - the Spotlight Initiative.  As a core agency of the Spotlight initiative, UN Women Nigeria will commence implementation of programme activities to prevent and address gender-based violence in partnership with the other core agencies. UN Women’s interventions in this regard will include enhanced partnership with the private sector in efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

UN Women is seeking to engage a Private Section Liaison Consultant to facilitate cooperation with the private sector to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality in Nigeria, in line with the objectives of the Spotlight Initiative.

[1] The principles cover the following areas: Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality; Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination; Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers; Promote education, training and professional development for women; Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women; Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy; Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality

Duties and Responsibilities

Working integrally with UN Women’s Spotlight Team spearheaded by the Deputy Country Representative , and under the direct supervision of UN Women's Country Representative, the Private Sector Liaison Consultant will be expected to undertake the following functions:

1. Liaison and partnership management with the private sector
2. Oversee the delivery of gender technical support services to private sector companies
3. Facilitate knowledge sharing, good practices dissemination and the use of innovations to promote the private sector’s role in advancing gender equality

Liaison and partnership management with the private sector

• Undertake a mapping exercise of the private sector in Nigeria to identify opportunities for engagement and partnership with UN Women, including with respect to preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence
• Convene consultative dialogues with the private sector to educate businesses on the importance of investing in the thematic areas of priority of UN Women’s work in Nigeria, particularly with respect to ending violence against women and girls, and make a business case for private sector involvement
• Facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and relevant research on women’s empowerment and gender equality to private sector companies to facilitate partnership-building

Oversee the delivery of gender technical support services to private sector companies

• Oversee the provision of targeted, costed technical support services to companies to improve the gender-responsiveness of their internal policies, and support companies to adopt the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs)
• Facilitate the use by private sector companies of the WEP Gender Gap Analysis Tool to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities to improve their performance on gender equality
• Facilitate the design and delivery of  training activities targeted to private sector companies to enhance knowledge and commitment on their role on supporting strategies for ending violence against women and enhancing gender-responsiveness of their internal policies and CSR programming activities.

Facilitate knowledge sharing, good practices dissemination and the use of innovations to promote the private sector’s role in advancing gender equality

• Facilitate the establishment of a Private Sector “He for She” platform to identify male champions in the private sector who can promote gender equality and advocate for ending violence against women and girls
• Oversee the development of an ‘e-directory’ of private sector organizations that support women’s empowerment, in collaboration with key partners and stakeholders. 

Competencies

Planning and Organizing:

• Ability to plan work assignments, establish priorities and to meet strict assignment deadlines.

Communication:

• Compelling communication (verbal and written) skills, including ability to write reports, formulate and defend sound recommendations and articulate options concisely conveying maximum necessary information;
• Negotiating skills and ability to work at all levels with others to reach mutually benefiting and lasting understandings.
• Excellent facilitation skills and experience facilitating meeting and conferences with diverse audiences

Teamwork:

• Excellent interpersonal skills; capacity to recognize and respond appropriately to the ideas, interests and concerns of others;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

Functional Competencies:

• Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture.

Management and Leadership:

• Build strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrate openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrate good listening skills and responsiveness to the opinion of others.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in Social Science, Economics, Gender Studies, International Development, Law, Human Rights, Political Science, International Relations, or other related field.

Experience

• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in working with the private sector in Nigeria
• Experience working on issues of  women’s empowerment and gender equality, including on ending gender-based violence
• Good knowledge of the SDGs and women’s empowerment principles
• Demonstrated ability to work independently; ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks

Language

• Excellent oral and written English language skills