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.

UN Women - in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and European Commission - is implementing the regional programme “Win-Win: Gender Equality Means Good Business” to contribute to the economic empowerment of women, recognizing them as beneficiaries and partners of growth and development, by increasing commitment of private companies to gender equality and women´s empowerment and strengthening companies’ capacities to implement these commitments. The programme will ultimately contribute to the achievement of gender equality through enabling women’s labour force participation, entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and thus their full and equal participation in society.

Targeting women led enterprises and networks, multi-national companies, and relevant stakeholders in Europe and selected Latin American and Caribbean countries, the project will promote business links, joint ventures and innovation between women from both regions, while supporting inter-regional dialogue and exchange of good practices to increase the capacity of the private sector more broadly in the implementation of gender equal business.

Empowering women to participate fully in economic life is essential to build stronger economies and improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities. Companies drive gains in productivity, competitiveness and innovation by developing policies and practices to improve gender equality at the workplace, and developing gender responsive procurement and source from women-owned businesses.

Private sector companies have a central and active role to play in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved unless women and girls are on an equal footing with men and boys and unless the private sector is on board. In addition to gender equality being a fundamental and inviolable human right and integral to the achievement of the SDGs, women’s and girls’ empowerment is essential to expand economic growth, promote social development and enhance business performance.  The full incorporation of women’s capacities into labour forces would add percentage points to most national growth rates – double digits in some cases. Further, investing in women’s empowerment produces the double dividend of benefiting women and children, and is pivotal to the health and social development of families, communities and nations.

Gender equality gives businesses the opportunity to hire from a wider pool of talent, gain greater insights into consumers’ needs, and improve the security and quality of supply. Enlightened businesses are realising that enabling women’s full potential delivers returns. For business, equal treatment of women and men means access to the most talented pool of workers, a more balanced and talented board, greater appeal to the consumer base, an enhanced corporate reputation, and even a more stable supply of basic commodities. Tackling gender inequality is also the right thing to do, as inequality increases women’s vulnerability to poverty and suffering

The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, in a 2015 report entitled “Private Sector Development in The Caribbean: A Regional Overview” referred to a scoping study of gender and enterprise development conducted by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The study noted that the Caribbean is characterized by low levels of labour market participation by women. Moreover, where women do participate in the labour market, it is mainly as employees and in low-growth, low-status and low-paying sectors. The suggested reason for this is the high level of gender stereotyping in the Caribbean, which has led to women being segregated educationally and consequently also occupationally and sectorally; this is even though women dominate tertiary education enrolment across the region. A recent study by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), an economics focused think tank, found that Jamaican women have less access to paid work and resources than men do and bear the largest responsibility for unpaid reproductive work. The study showed clearly that the allocation of Jamaican women's time to unpaid care work has a negative correlation with their labour force participation rates, labour exclusion and gender pay gaps.  

The Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs)

The guiding platform to achieve gender equality is the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), launched in 2010. The WEPs are a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. Coordinated by UN Women and the UN Global Compact, 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 inputs gathered from across the globe.

The WEPs call for a multi-stakeholder approach to gender equality and have generated the support of over 1900 business leaders from around the world. It is a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how to achieve gender equality and empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community.  Among other things, the Principles highlight the importance of creating formal and decent work opportunities for women throughout the pipeline, including leadership and decision-making positions, ensuring equal pay for work of equal value, promoting knowledge, education and skill-building for women and girls, support for women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses, and combating violence against women – a major impediment to the empowerment and well-being of women and girls worldwide. 

The Women's Empowerment Principles offer seven steps to guide business 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. Rather than being prescriptive or a new initiative to which business is asked to subscribe, the WEPs seek the point the way to best practices by elaborating the gender dimensions of good corporate citizenship, the UN Global Compact and business role in sustainable development.

In Jamaica, a total of twenty-four companies have signed the UN Women/UN Global Compact Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) CEO Statement of Support. While they have signed the WEPs CEO Statement of Support under Principle 1, only ProComm and Jamaica Stock Exchange are registered on the WEPs website. No company has not yet undergone the Gender Gap Assessment Tool (GGAT) Analysis. The Win-Win Jamaica component will be working with these companies to advance them through the WEPs pathway using culturally relevant and appropriate training materials to build the capacity of the private sector companies to do so.

Maximizing integration for greater impact 

Although businesses are already taking some action to promote gender equality, these efforts need to be scaled up and be more systematic and strategic.  Often, such efforts are siloed within an organization e.g. they may be confined to Human Resources or Procurement or be part of an initiative run by a corporate Foundation without being connected to the organization’s core activities or broader corporate sustainability goals.  This is true even in smaller enterprises, where different people may be working in isolation from each other.  The business itself may not have a good overview of the entire contribution it is making to gender equality and women’s empowerment and may be missing key opportunities to leverage their own business’ core strengths or philanthropic contributions to benefit the business, women and sustainable development. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO - Caribbean Representative and reporting directly to the National Private Sector Specialist the consultant will be contracted to modify the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Training Manual and Toolkit and Conduct two 3-day Training of Trainers Workshops primarily for selected staff of the Bureau of Gender Affairs, HR staff of WEPs companies and other persons who may later serve as focal points/resource persons/trainers.

Scope of Work and Deliverables

• Prepare a consultancy work plan and timeline.
• Conduct comprehensive desk review of training and awareness building materials of the We Empower, UN Women/UN Global Compact Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and other global programmes on gender equality in the private sector workplace.
• Based on the findings of the desk review and against the background of private sector development and the Sustainable Development Goals in Jamaica, modify WEPs Training Manual and Toolkit.
• Submit and revise final draft Training Manual and Toolkit to incorporate feedback from UN Women:
  • The Training Manual and Toolkit will be designed to train appropriate staff members of the Bureau of Gender Affairs (BGA), the National Machinery for the promotion of gender equality using the WEPs.  This will build the capacity of the BGA to conduct further work and training with the private sector in gender equality and women’s empowerment.
  • The Training Manual and Toolkit will also be used to train individuals who work in private sector companies of all sizes and from all sectors of the Jamaican economy. Executive management staff, human resources, PR and marketing, as well as staff responsible for corporate sustainability issues, will be important target groups. Additionally, other persons will be trained who may later serve as resource persons. The structure of the Training Manual and Toolkit should be flexible in order to accommodate the different needs of the various target groups.
  • The Training Manual and Toolkit training manual will provide a guideline for planning, implementing and evaluating trainings based on the WEPs. The purpose of the training manual is fully aligned with the WEPs and is to promote company policies and practices that foster gender equality and the empowerment of women in the workplace, the marketplace and within communities. The manual will include supporting material and handouts, as well as suggested templates for evaluation.
• Using WEPs Training Manual and Toolkit, and other relevant materials as necessary, conduct two 3-day Training of Trainers workshops for selected staff of the Bureau of Gender Affairs and HR staff of WEPs companies and other selected persons who may later serve as resource trainers for the WEPs.
• Provide weekly email updates to UN Women on the progress made, identify challenges and request support as needed.

Learning Objectives supported by the Training Manual and Toolkit:

Through the training using the Training Manual and Toolkit, participants will gain:

• An understanding of the human rights imperative, gender equality, corporate sustainability as well as the business case for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
• An ability to identify and analyse barriers to women’s empowerment in the workplace, the marketplace and within communities.
• Capacity to plan, implement, follow up and advocate for solutions to the identified barriers.
• Knowledge on implementing all seven principles of the WEPs, monitoring and reporting on the WEPs.

The Structure of the Manual:

The manual will consist of two parts:

• The Trainers’ Toolkit:

This will include practical guidelines on how to plan, implement and evaluate the WEPs training sessions.Also included will be training on the Gender Gap Analysis Tool (GGAT) to guide companies in identifying gaps and opportunities in gender equality policies and practices, as well as benchmarking progress.

• Participants’ Handouts:

Handouts will be developed for each training module. The purpose of the handouts is to support the continued learning process, after the training, and to enable companies to initiate and maintain the process of implementation of the WEPs. The information and supporting data in the handouts can also be referenced by the trainers when delivering the training.

Reporting Requirements

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO-Caribbean Representative, with direct reporting to the National Private Sector Specialist (NPSS) – Jamaica.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:

• 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:

• Ability to support the design and development of training and educational material for a professional audience.
• Knowledge of Results-Based Management principles and approaches, including gender mainstreaming.
• Ability to maintain networks and partnerships with key private sector partners.

Required Skills and Experience

Required skills and experience

The consultant should meet the following criteria:

Education:

• Postgraduate degree in public administration, law, economics, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences or other related areas is required.

Experience:

• At least nine (9) years’ experience project and programme development and management;
• At least 3 Experience working in private sector companies` environment and corporate management practices and policies;
• Demonstrated experience in development of at least 3 sets of training and educational material to a broad cross-section of participants
• Prior experience in the private sector and in the Caribbean is preferred.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of Spanish is an asset.

References:

• Minimum of three client references that include the name of the contact person, title and contact information.

Remuneration:

• The consultancy fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.

Hardware, Software and Communication:

• The consultant must be equipped with a laptop, which must be portable and must run at least Windows 7. The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based (Skype or equivalent) is required.

Location and Duration:

• The consultancy will be home based.
• The consultant will be engaged during the period April – June 2019 (20 Working Days).

Other

• The consultant contracted will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality and freedom from any conflict of interest with potential future contractors with respect to the TOR and work that they will be delivering
• The deadline for submission is 20 April 2019. Please submit relevant work samples.

Note:

Submissions to UNDP Jobs are limited to a maximum of 10 MB, virus-free or corrupted contents to avoid rejection, and no more than 1 email transmission.  

All applications must be submitted through UNDP jobs.  Please do not send applications to UN Women staff as they will not be accepted.