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.

The scope of work of the Regional Women´s Economic Empowerment Specialist - Consultant requires strong knowledge and experience in developing and implementing economic policy at national and international levels and an in-depth understanding of challenges facing the region in order to translate UN Women's Strategic Plan into effective programmes and results on women’s economic empowerment. It also requires developing mutually reinforcing partnerships with relevant Government counterparts, UN organizations, and CSOs.

The Regional Women´s Economic Empowerment Specialist - Consultant is expected to be an economist, with significant experience in developing and implementing economic policies and research that support inclusive growth. The consultant will be based in UN Women´s Regional Office in Cairo, Egypt. The regional office covers 18 Arab countries, including 4 country offices, 1 multi country office and several project presences, as well as providing coordination and policy support to member states.

Objective of the Assignment:

Reporting to the Deputy Regional Director, the Regional Women´s Economic Empowerment Specialist - Consultant, will oversee the development of women´s economic empowerment programmes, provide capacity building to UN Women staff and country offices in the Arab States, establish and strengthen partnerships, and develop relevant knowledge products on women´s economic empowerment. More details are to be found under the description of responsibilities and expected deliverables.

Duties and Responsibilities

Development of programmes on women´s economic empowerment in the Arab States

• Development of regional programme documents on women´s economic empowerment;
• Provide technical inputs and contributes with drafting programme proposals for country offices;
• Develop and maintain thematic analysis pertaining to Gender equality and Women’s Empowerment by country;
• Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, global policies, and knowledge products;
• Coordinate proper monitoring and reporting for [thematic area] in collaboration with programme teams.

Provide capacity building support to country offices, teams and partners

• Provide substantive technical and policy support to the regional and country programme teams in developing and strengthening projects/ programmes to support the implementation of global norms and standards;
• Develop, implement and monitor regional capacity building initiatives;
• Provide technical support to partners on implementation of women´s economic empowerment;
• Provide technical policy advice to programme/ project managers/ specialists in the Cos.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners

• Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of women´s economic empowerment;
• Build and maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards women´s economic empowerment;
• Production of periodic updates and briefs on regional/country development situation to be used by stakeholders, CO and HQ;
• Maintain close contact with relevant units and staff in UN Women HQ.

Manage the resource mobilization strategy for women´s economic empowerment in the region

• Participate in the implementation, monitoring and periodic updating of the resource mobilization strategy on women´s economic empowerment in the region;
• Provide technical support to field based presences in the region in mobilizing resources for the implementation of women´s economic empowerment;
• Research and analyze information on donors; prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation.

Oversee the design of women´s economic empowerment in the region and the development of relevant knowledge products

• Provide policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on women´s economic empowerment;
• Work closely with and provide advice to regional/ national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to women´s economic empowerment and where necessary represent UN Women;
• Research, develop and present analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, correspondence, and knowledge products on women´s economic empowerment;
• Identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities in women´s economic empowerment.

Oversee knowledge building and sharing for women´s economic empowerment

• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with country offices;
• Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among COs.

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: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies

• Excellent knowledge of Women´s economic empowerment;
• Strong knowledge of the region;
• Excellent networking skills;
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising;
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in development, economics, human rights, international relations or other social science fields is required.

Experience:

•  At least 7 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for women´s rights ideally with some experience in developing countries;
• Experience in programme, policy analysis, and strategic planning;
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
• Experience working with the UN is an asset;
• Experience working in the Arab region is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset;
• Knowledge of Arabic and/or French is an asset.  

Evaluation Criteria:

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

• Criteria 1: Master’s degree or equivalent in development, economics, human rights, international relations or other social science fields is required (maximum obtainable points 15)
• Criteria 2:  At least 7 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for women´s rights ideally with some experience in developing countries, (maximum obtainable points: 20);
• Criteria 3: Experience in programme, policy analysis, and strategic planning, (maximum obtainable points: 15);
• Criteria 4: Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field, (maximum obtainable points: 10);
• Criteria 5: Experience working with the UN is an asset, (maximum obtainable points: 5);
• Criteria 6: Fluency in English is required, (maximum obtainable points: 5).

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points)

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;

'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

• Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.
• The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

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.