UN WOMEN Jobs - 97703- Expert on Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Euro

Expert on Women’s Economic Empowerment in the European Union

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Homebased

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Apr-2021

Application Deadline :

01-Apr-21 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

4 months, part-time

Languages Required :

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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.

The Strategic Partnerships Division (SPD) works to strengthen UN Women’s position as a partner of choice for gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) among governments and private sector actors around the world. The Division does this by positioning GEWE in the intergovernmental and multilateral fora, and engaging with governments and private sector corporations, foundations and individuals as policy, programme and resource partners. A key premise for SPD is that engagement with partners should be holistic based on multiple aspects of partnerships, including policy advocacy and resource mobilization.

SPD convenes a number of partnerships with private sector partners and seeks to ensure that these are complementary and synergistic. The Multi-Stakeholder Private Partnership Section brings these together, leveraging the range of UN Women’s partnership vehicles and its National Committees to achieve maximum impact for gender equality. It is the driver of UN Women’s corporate engagement with the private sector both in terms of substantive partnership and resource mobilization.

UN Women—in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Union (EU)—implements the EU-funded programmes: WE EMPOWER G7 (“Women’s economic empowerment at work through responsible business conduct in G7 countries”) and Win-Win (“Win-Win: Gender Equality Means Good Business”) which are operational in Canada, Japan and the USA; and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Uruguay, respectively. The overall objective of these programmes is to contribute to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

Targeting women-led enterprises and networks, multinational corporations and other relevant stakeholders in the nine programme countries and the European Union, the programmes will promote gender-responsive business conduct through fostering business links, joint ventures and innovation, while supporting inter-regional dialogues and exchange of good practices.

To bring a strong EU perspective and ensure collaboration with EU partners, including companies, women entrepreneurs and their business networks, in these three programmes, the joint WE EMPOWER G7 –Win-Win Steering Committee has decided to recruit an EU expert to support the three programme managers and teams.

The EU expert will be responsible for enhancing and coordinating the two Programmes’ EU component with the view to further improve the integration of EU interests into the programmes’ implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide EU news and updates relevant to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment

Research weekly news on EU matters as they relate to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment (e.g. on the economy, trade, entrepreneurship, private sector, gender lens investment and innovative financing, and future of work), including EU pipeline policies and share these in bite-size format for the teams’ information and reference.
Share relevant resources from this research to the programmes´ coordinators. including news, updates, resources and other material.
Assess implications and makes recommendations to UN Women senior management on possible strategies, or funding opportunities on gender equality and women´s empowerment based on EU´s priorities;
Ensure efficient relationship and communication with EU and UNW Representatives, as well as efficient preparation and conduct of meetings on gender equality and women´s empowerment;
In consultation with the appropriate UN Women Offices, prepare official correspondence and online information to EU delegations/Representatives on gender equality and women´s economic empowerment, supporting the EU funded programmes´ communication strategy

2. Updated database already developed, including good practice legislation, companies’ policies and practices, as well as companies, networks, and EU experts.

Develop a content strategy on how to update the database content.
Respond to queries for EU experts while the database is being designed and developed, and to further refine the database content strategy.
Update with good practices, illustrative examples and case studies on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment (with contact details to the organizations):

EU directives and European countries’ national laws, policies, EU/government initiatives at national, regional and local levels.
Small, medium, large and multinational companies, including start-ups, with innovative practices for implementing the Women’s Empowerment Principles (both existing WEPrinciples signatories and potential ones).
Networks/associations of key stakeholders, including women entrepreneurs’ associations and networks, employers’ organizations, chambers of commerce and other civil society organizations.
Institutions working on innovative financing and gender lens investing.
Names and contact details of key experts and advocates in the programmes’ thematic areas who can engage in online and offline events and input into knowledge products.
Support connections with and introduction to key stakeholders that have innovative practices on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

3. Identify networking opportunities for women entrepreneurs

Identify existing networks and platforms of women-led businesses in the Europe Union.
Identify key events and opportunities in the European Union to promote exchanges and networking with women in the three programme regions.
Support existing networking opportunities (eg EEN in WinWin) and identify potential partners to build an exit-sustainability strategy for the programme
As for ongoing alliances support interaction with counterparts in Brussels and other women led businesses ‘associations, especially for the EEN Women Entrepreneurs sectorial group and for the economic sectors we are already focusing on: energy, green solutions and technology
Support the identification, follow up and relationship with European women leaders, business women and women-led businesses, specifically in sectors where we are focusing our impact: energy, technology, green solutions, food, coffee
Identify events and/or activities in which we could join efforts
Support the identification, follow up and relationship with European women leaders, business women in the corporate world, especially WEPs signatories for events, interviews, quotes, exchange of experience
Make connections and promote synergies with other programs funded by the EU related to the main areas Win Win is implementing (i.e. WEGate for Women entrepreneurs, Horizonte 2020 for women in STEM… etc), and also, with the European Commission and its DGs (i.e. DG Trade, DG Energy… )
Identify European speakers and promote exchange of experiences events, to have more European participants onboard.
Identify good examples of WEPs companies implementing gender equality and women empowerment initiatives, specifically considering transformative gender response to the COVID 19 crisis

4. Support the organization of EU-based activities related to the projects and support the communication in Europe of the planned activities for first semester 2021.

Research top companies in the EU (non-G7 countries) and invite them to join WEPs through personalized messages for email, online conferencing (e.g. MS Teams, Zoom) and social media.
Coordinate with relevant EU Directorates General for consultations, collaboration and engagements.
Provide logistical support as needed. Identify speaking opportunities, as well as get potential European speakers to the programmes´ webinars/online events.

Institutional arrangements

The EU expert will be supervised and will report through a matrix arrangement to the Deputy Director of the UN Women Liaison Office in Brussels, and the Managers of the two Programmes in New York, and Sao Paolo. The EU expert will also engage collaboratively with the two programme teams at UN Women.

Competencies

Core values and Guiding principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff.
Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competences:

In-depth understanding of legislation, public and private sector policies on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment within the European Union.
Knowledge of networks within the private sector, women-led businesses and women entrepreneurs from Europe.
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities.
Experience establishing, building and sustaining effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.
Knowledge of EU or UN funded programmes as well as general functioning of EU Commission.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in international or European affairs, social sciences, economics, communications, political science, or related fields.

Experience:

Minimum 2 years of relevant experience in the field of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment research and building networks of stakeholders, particularly the private sector. This experience must be in Europe or with projects/programmes focused on Europe.
Knowledge of policies, practices and laws in the private and public sector on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in the European Union context.
Knowledge of companies, networks, and experts working on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in the European Union context.
Experience in working in a multicultural and web-based environment.

Languages:

Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another EU language such as French and Spanish is an asset.