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 is seeking to engage a Private Sector Liaison Consultant to build on the evolving partnership strategy with the private sector, using the Country Office  Private Sector strategy, as a guiding framework. 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. The Private Sector Liaison Consultant will facilitate the alignment of UN Women’s priorities and the SDGs with the private sector goals, to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality in Nigeria, in line with UN Women’s 5-year Strategic Note and the SDGs. The Consultant will also build on work established to introduce the Women’s Empowerment Principles to the Private Sector in Nigeria; to facilitate an alignment between UN Women’s work with the private sector and the EU/UN Spotlight Initiative; and to support efforts to promote private sector affirmative procurement practices.

[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 & RESPONSIBILITES

Liaison and partnership management with the private sector

1. Undertake regular mapping exercise of the private sector in Nigeria to identify opportunities for engagement and partnership with UN Women
2. Provide ongoing advice to UN Women on how to better-engage private sector companies as development partners
3. Facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and relevant research on women’s empowerment and gender equality to private sector companies to facilitate partnership-building
4. Undertake ongoing assessments of opportunities on CSR programmes of private sector companies to identify opportunities for building synergies with UN Women’s programming priorities
5. Elaborate concept notes and proposals to facilitate resource mobilization through programming partnerships with the private sector.

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

1. Elaborate and oversee implementation of a strategy to facilitate wide-scale adoption of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) by private sector companies in Nigeria
2. Oversee on request, the provision of targeted, costed technical support services to companies to improve the gender-responsiveness of their internal policies, using the WEPS  Gender Analysis Tool
3. Facilitate strategic convenings with private sector companies to share innovative ideas and strategies for enhancing gender-responsiveness of their internal policies and CSR programming activities, and to adopt affirmative procurement practices

Facilitate knowledge sharing, good practices dissemination and reporting on the private sector’s role in advancing gender equality

1. Facilitate dialogue and good practices documentation on the role of the private sector in addressing gender priorities within the framework of support for the COVID-19 response efforts
2. Facilitate the operationalization of a Private Sector “He for She” platform to identify male champions in the private sector who can promote UN Women’s programmes.
3. Oversee the publication of periodic briefs highlighting women’s leadership in the private sector in Nigeria across sectors, and facilitate partnerships to promote recognition of contributions of companies for investing in women’s empowerment and gender equality.
4. Facilitate coordination and complementarity between UN Women private sector partnership engagement initiatives and those of other UN agencies
5. Oversee preparation of reporting requirements related to private sector partnership engagement

DELIVERABLES

• Updated Mapping of Private Sector companies promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Strategy for expanding Private Sector adoption of the Women’s Empowerment Principles in Nigeria
• Strategy to guide affirmative procurement practices in the Private Sector
• Report on the role of the private sector in promoting the rights of women and girls in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Policy briefs on the role of the private sector in promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality

Planning and Organizing:

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

Communications:

• 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.

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 7 years of relevant professional experience in working with the private sector in Nigeria
• Experience working in women’s empowerment and gender equality
• 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 

Consultancy Requirements

• The consultant will be required to work full time, reporting to the UN Women office