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.

In line with UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2018-2021, the UN Women Egypt office is contributing to three interdependent and interconnected outcomes:

• Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems
• Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy
• All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence

Women’s economic empowerment is central to realizing women’s rights and gender equality. Women’s economic empowerment includes women’s ability to participate equally in existing markets; their access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time, lives and bodies; and increased voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels from the household to international institutions.

Empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps in the world of work are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 5, to achieve gender equality, and Goal 8, to promote full and productive employment and decent work for all; also Goal 1 on ending poverty, Goal 2 on food security, Goal 3 on ensuring health and Goal 10 on reducing inequalities.

Under the framework of the United Nations Partnership Development Framework (UNPDF) Output 4.2: Women Economic Empowerment  and in alignment with the goal and objectives of the Economic Empowerment pillar of the National Strategy for Women’s Empowerment (NSWE), UN Women Egypt has supported the economic empowerment of women through implementation of projects such as the One-Village-One-Product (2014-2016), Village Savings and Loans Associations (2014-2017), and the creation of a more inclusive and gender-sensitive environment along the agricultural value chains of select agribusiness firms (2017-2018). The projects have had positive outcomes for women participants, the majority of whom are poor and marginalized, as demonstrated in their increased income through savings, access to loans and investments, in addition to greater self-confidence and community recognition. A critical factor across all UN Women interventions has been the formation of women’s networks that have enhanced participants’ social skills and created opportunities for networking and exchange of knowledge, thus contributing to better and more effective cooperation among them. These networks have also provided a voice to women’s need for formal financial services (as in the case of the VSLAs) and improved working conditions (as in the case of the agribusiness firms).

Building on the successful results achieved through the above-mentioned projects, UN Women in Egypt is implementing a 5-year project (2019-2024) that aims to support women's empowerment for sustainable economic growth in Egypt. The project will be implemented by a consortium made up of UN Women and UNIDO, with UN Women as the lead agency.

The project intermediate outcomes are contributing to:

• Increased productivity and job opportunities generated by women entrepreneurs;
• Increased employment of women by businesses; and
• Reduced gender-specific barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and to women entering into and remaining in the work force.

Project interventions will result in a) Increased number of new businesses established by women entrepreneurs in the sectors of focus, b) Enhanced capacity of women led businesses to grow, attract and retain workers, c) Strengthened performance of productive clusters to employ more women, d) Enhanced employability of women in growth-oriented sectors, e) Increased abilities of businesses to implement gender-sensitive corporate policies, f) Strengthened individual and collective agency of women in the sectors of focus, g) enhanced capacity of Government to mainstream gender in public policies and programs, and h) Increased access of women entrepreneurs to tailored financial and non-financial services.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide support to the formulation and management of programmes under the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Portfolio

• Provide administrative support in the preparation of programme work plans, budgets, and proposals on programme implementation arrangements;
• Coordinate and liaise regularly with projects’ focal points on project activities for the preparation of terms of reference and the recruitment of experts in support of project activities.
• Provide technical guidance to the CO and executing agencies on routine delivery and reporting of programme supported activities and finances;
• Prepare information for the audit of programmes/ projects and support implementation of audit recommendations; 
• Review programme data from programmes/ projects for the CO website;
• Identify sources, and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers.

Provide support to the financial management of the WEE Programme Unit

• Create projects in Atlas, prepare budget revisions, revise project awards and status; and determine unutilized funds and the operational and financial close of a project;
• Provide support in monitoring budget preparation and the finances of programmes/projects; including the finalization of FACE forms;
• Review financial reports; prepare non-PO vouchers for development projects;
• Ensure timely preparation and submission of consultants’ requests for payment to Finance; Process payment for consultants;
• Provide assistance in monitoring project budget implementation/expenditures.
• Maintain internal expenditures control system;
• Create requisitions in Atlas for development projects; register good receipts in Atlas;
• Assist in the preparation and follow up of cost-recovery bills in Atlas.

Provide support to the WEE Programme Unit

• Undertake all logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for organization for meetings, workshops, events, and missions;
• Make travel arrangements for the Programme Team, including travel requisitions and claims; 
• Prepare public information materials and briefing packets; 
• Assemble briefing materials and prepare power-point and other presentations;
• Provide guidance and training to Programme Assistants as needed.
• Draft, submit for review and approval routine correspondence such as Inter-Office Memoranda, emails, SOPs, administrative circulars. Maintain a filing system.
• Keep the files for the related activities (procurement, travel, payments) up to date and in order

Provide support to Resource Mobilization

• Prepare cost-sharing and other agreements; follow up on contributions within the CO resource mobilization efforts;
• Organize, compile and process information from donors, CO, and programme team, as inputs to various databases and documents.

Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Provide administrative support synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices related to programme management and finance;
• Provide administrative support to the organization of training for the office staff and partners on programme and operations related issues.
• Collect and disseminates information related to thematic area, including inputs for donor reports and provides information when requested from various sources
• Support the process of donor reporting for all projects in coordination with program teams.

Key Perfromance Indicators:

• Timely and accurate support to events, workshops, and missions;
• Full compliance of administrative activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures;
• Timely recording of overall programme unit finances;
• Timely and accurate tracking of data for CO management and donor purposes;
• Quality maintenance of internal systems.

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Good knowledge of programme management;
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Strong financial and budgeting skills;
• Strong IT skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor Degree in Social Sciences, Political Science (Economics Section), Business or Public Administration, development studies or other relevant degrees.

Experience:

• At least 6 years of progressively responsible experience in administration or programme management/support;
• Experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages;
• Experience in the use of ATLAS is an asset;
• Experience in supporting a team.

Language Requirenments:

• Fluency in both spoken and written Arabic and English is essential. 
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.