UN WOMEN Jobs - 93610- Support on Private Sector Development and Gender E

Support on Private Sector Development and Gender Equality in Palestine

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home based (Virtual support and in-person as needed), PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

12-Oct-2020

Application Deadline :

15-Sep-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Seven months

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Seven 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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997. UN Women Palestine Office focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely, to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal, and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the Palestinian context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions towards the realization of following strategic goals: Mainstreaming gender in governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.Building on UN Women’s mandate in Palestine to ensure women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, and ILO’s Decent Work strategy in Palestine, UN Women and ILO are jointly implementing a 4 year regional programme “Promoting Productive Employment and Decent Work For Women” in Palestine, Jordan and Egypt, funded by Sweden. The JP aims to promote productive employment and decent work for women in Palestine by promoting equitable laws and policies, engaging public, private and community actors, and reducing the uneven burden of unpaid care and domestic work.

Emerging evidence on the impact of COVID-19 suggests that women’s economic and productive lives are affected disproportionately and differently from men. Women earn less, save less, hold less secured jobs, are more likely to be employed in the informal sector, have less access to financial services and lack access to professional networks. As a result, their preparedness and mitigation capacity to absorb economic shocks becomes more compromised than that of men. Therefore, it is important to engage private sector as a major employer and key player in the economic sector in Palestine in designing and implementing response and recovery action plans that attract, retain and promote women’s participation and leadership in the labour force and the world of work.

UN Women’s engagement with the private sector in Palestine focuses on mainstreaming gender in the world of work, specifically in promoting corporate policies that ensure decent working conditions and earnings for women; the approach is guided by the Women Empowerment Principals (WEPs). The WEPs are a set of global principles offering guidance to businesses on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Established by UN Global Compact and UN Women, the WEPs are informed by international labour and human rights standards and are grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake in and a responsibility for gender equality and women’s empowerment. The WEPs are a primary vehicle for corporate delivery on gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By joining the WEPs community, the CEO signals commitment to this agenda at the highest levels of the company and to work collaboratively in multi-stakeholder networks to foster business practices that empower women. These include, among others, equal pay for work of equal value, promote private sector affirmative procurement practices, gender-responsive supply chain practices and zero tolerance against sexual harassment in the workplace.

Building on previous support provided by UN Women in collaboration with other actors for private sector development with focus on gender equality, UN Women Palestine Country Office is seeking to recruit a national consultant to support UN Women’s partnership strategy with the private sector and other relevant stakeholders in Palestine.

Objective of the assignment:

The main objective of this consultancy is to design and implement a WEPs private sector partnership strategy that will increase the engagement of the private sector and other acting stakeholders, through the WEPs, and other gender mainstreaming tools and frameworks, including the Participatory Gender Audit (PGA), among others, to achieve and document a positive impact on women’s equal participation and retention in the labour market and leadership positions, through mainstreaming gender in the workplace, considering the emerging priorities of women and impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the national economy, for corporates’ adoption and implementation of WEPs and other gender equality tools and frameworks in Palestine through knowledge sharing, capacity building, networking, advocacy, research and outreach interventions.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Special Representative in the State of Palestine, and the direct supervision of UN Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme Manager, the consultant will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities:

Design and support in implementing UN Women’s private sector partnership strategy:

Undertake a comprehensive review to produce a mapping report of UN Women’s previous engagement with private sector and other acting stakeholders in Palestine through the Women Empowerment Principals (WEPs) and other gender equality tools/frameworks in Palestine;
Design and prepare of a private sector partnership strategy (of no more than 10 pages) which is in line with UN Women’s programming on Women’s Economic Empowerment, the WEPs and PGA, and engages with UN Women’s corporate partners and relevant international stakeholders in the design process;
Review and refine the strategy at regular intervals to harness new emerging opportunities, to anticipate changes and make mid-term adjustments;
Design an offline database for the WEPs signatories and potential signatories in Palestine and related details, profiles, sectors, geographical location etc. to be annexed to the Strategy, in coordination with the WEE programme manager; and
Support the implementation of the strategy in close collaboration with private sector partners and UN Women.

Provide technical advice to strengthen UN Women’s partnerships with the private sector and relevant acting stakeholders:

Provide UN Women and private sector partners with technical advice and gender equality and women’s empowerment tools and practices (including gender responsive procurement, social impact strategies, women leadership etc.);
- Design and deliver three trainings to develop private sector capacities and develop/amend existing gender responsive plans and institutional policies, including but not limited to, responding to COVID-19 impact; and documentation of best practices;
Support UN Women in facilitating a network of private sector partners to serve as role models and engagearound gender responsive policies and practices as means for private sector’s growth and improved socio-economic conditions;
Support UN Women’s coordination and collaboration efforts with other actors working on gender equality, such as IFC, World Bank, ILO etc. and private sector development and facilitate regular coordination meetings and events conducted; and
Support in identifying and reaching out to new companies (minimum of two), in different economic sectors, including women-led companies, seeking buy-in from their leadership to join the WEPs and advocate for corporate gender responsive policies and practices and their implementation.

Support UN Women’s efforts in documenting and showcasing best practices and lessons learned of WEPs signatories at the local, regional and global levels:

Facilitate UN Women’s WEPs events and webinars (at least 3) and produce relevant reports on lessons learned, best practices and challenges;
Facilitate strategic convenings with private sector companies (at least 5) to share innovative ideas and strategies for enhancing gender-responsiveness of their internal policies and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programming activities, and to adopt affirmative procurement practices;
Work closely with companies who are WEP signatories or partners through the WEPs to document the change and develop written materials (at least 2 case studies / best practices) to showcase the positive effect of women’s leadership and participation on development, growth and economic (i.e. reduction in staff turnover, less absenteeism, increased productivity, corporate financial performance, access to equal labour rights etc.) taking into consideration COVID-19 impact and response; and
Support in developing and conducting online surveys (at least 2), for WEPs signatories on the progress of WEPs implementation and impact on their performance, based on specific indicators and targets, such as women’s leadership and impact of companies’ performance, women and men’s equal access to professional development opportunities, protection in the workplace etc. to prepare relevant analyses and inform the WEPs interventions in Palestine and the impact on corporates.

Deliverables:

Deliverable 1: A mapping report on ongoing efforts by UN Women and other actors who are using gender equality tools/frameworks for private sector development. (expected delivery date: October 2020).
Deliverable 2: A draft and approved strategy, approved by UN Women, and a progress report against the ToR tasks and responsibilities, including minutes of meetings, draft case studies and trainings etc. (expected delivery date: November 2020).
Deliverable 3: Case studies/of at least two companies documented, and trainings’ reports, including related annexes. (expected delivery date: December 2020).
Deliverable 4: A final report summarizing the assignment results and materials developed, including a report on the UN Women’s strategy implementation progress, opportunities and challenges, an updated database of WEPs signatories and potential signatories per sector and geographical location, case studies and all related annexes, including, tools, pictures etc. (expected delivery date: February 2021).

All final deliverable shall be submitted in English and Arabic.

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

Strong knowledge of international standards on women economic security and rights and related instruments, including the WEPs other gender equality tools and frameworks.
Ability to liaise with a variety of stakeholders and partners, mainly the private sector.
Strong analytical, dialogue, consultation and communication skills.
Maturity, ability to take decisions under pressure and ability to deal with matters that are politically and culturally sensitive.
Ability to work as a member of a team.
Demonstrated experience in timely delivering of quality products, including knowledge products, and in contributing to complex processes within the women’s economic empowerment area of work.
Demonstrated coordination, training, facilitation and presentation skills.
Results oriented, flexible and problem-solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in business, economics, gender studies, international development, international relations, trade, or other related fields.

Experience:

At least 6 years of experience working on private sector engagement for gender equality and social impact;
At least 5 years of experience working with the private sector and other entities on strengthening capacities of private sector and developing partnership strategies, designing and management of learning materials and trainings on topics related to gender, institutional development, CSR initiatives, etc.; and
At least two years of experience in conducting research, analysis, assessments and/or studies related to private sector development.

Language Requirements;

Arabic and English

This SSA modality is governed by UN Women General Terms and Conditions. UN Women will only be able to respond to applicants who meet the minimum requirements.

Candidates should clearly indicate how they meet the above-mentioned criteria in their applications.

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

UN Women P11 including experience in similar assignments; the P11 form can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted; and
At least two samples of previous tools, research, analyses, assessments, strategies, or training materials related to private sector development, women’s economic empowerment and gender equality.

Note: Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Please upload as one attachment of the documents as mentioned above online through this website

Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) expression of Interest (EoI).

Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications mentioned above, and a financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Evaluation (70%) – max. 70 points:

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in business, economics, gender studies, international development, international relations, trade, or other related fields (max 10 points).

Experience:

At least 6 years of experience working on private sector engagement for gender equality and social impact; (max 15 points);
At least 5 years of experience working with the private sector and other entities on strengthening capacities of private sector and developing partnership strategies, designing and management of learning materials and trainings on topics related to gender, institutional development, CSR initiatives, etc.; (max 15 points);
At least two years of experience in conducting research, analysis, assessments and/or studies related to private sector development. (max 15 points); and
Two samples of previous tools, research, analyses, assessments, strategies, or training materials related to private sector development, women’s economic empowerment and gender equality. (max 15 points).

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Only long-listed candidates will be contacted.

Financial proposal. The shortlisted candidate will be requested to submit a financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount breaking down a daily professional fee, proposed number of working days and any related expenses, i.e. travel and communications expenses in USD.