UN WOMEN Jobs - 89522- Economic Empowerment Expert - (Home Based)

Economic Empowerment Expert - (Home Based) - Re-advertisement - International Consultant

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Cairo, EGYPT

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

25-Jan-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

One year (initial 30 working days)

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

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (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 provides support to Member States’ efforts and priorities in meeting their gender equality goals and for building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women operationalizes this through Flagship Programming Initiatives (FPIs) developed to achieve transformative results for gender equality and women empowerment. The FPIs respond to the expanded agenda for Beijing+20 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main objective of UN Women’s support in the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) is to achieve job creation and income generation for women from less formal, vulnerable and unprotected occupations, to formal, decent and sustainable work and business opportunities. Expanding women’s economic opportunities is important because it is crucial to women’s empowerment. UN Women’s work on economic empowerment is implemented in the context of women and labor rights, social justice and inclusive sustainable development that encompasses social, economic, and environmental dimensions in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In this context, the UN Women Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) rolled out women’s economic empowerment programmes to support in difficult political transitions, security challenges, declining oil prices and protracted regional conflicts continue to weigh on the economic prospects of the region. Economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is estimated to have slowed sharply to 1.8 percent in 2017. Growth for the region is projected to accelerate to 3 percent in 2018. Economic structures are characterized and influenced by dominant public sectors and there is limited diversification of the economies. While less than 3 per cent of the population live in extreme poverty, vulnerability remains high owing to 53 per cent of the population living on $4.00 a day or less.

Against this background, UN Women ROAS is supporting the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to establish a subsidiary women’s organization, namely the ‘OIC Women’s Development Organization.’ The organization will be established to achieve the following objectives:

Highlight the role of Islam in promoting and preserving the rights of the Muslim woman especially at the international fora in which the Organization is involved.

Develop plans, programmes and projects necessary to implement policies, and decisions of the OIC in the area of women’s empowerment.
Organize conferences, symposia, workshops and meetings in the area of women’s empowerment and development in the Member States.
Conduct courses and training programmes aimed at strengthening and building capacity, skills and competences in the area of women’s empowerment and development them to their mission in society.
Support and encourage national efforts in Member States to develop human resources in the area of women’s development.
Organize activities aimed at upgrading the role of women and ensuring women’s full rights in Member States’ societies, in line with the Charter and the decisions of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Carry out studies to enhance the role of women in Member States.
Activate the rights of women enshrined in the OIC Charter by working on the elimination of the barriers that will enable women to participate in community building.
Suggest ways and methods of the society’s support for women.
Establish an information network that will enable Member States to identify experiences and practices regarding women, including through the cooperation with civil society.

The Government of Egypt will host the Organization in Cairo, and it is expected to be operational by the end of the year 2020. To support its establishment, UN Women will engage a series of thematic experts to initiate the vision and policy development across three specific thematic areas, namely: Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE), Women’s Economic Empowerment, and Ending Violence against Women. For the purpose of this assignment, UN Women ROAS is seeking to recruit an expert in Women’s Economic Empowerment who can support in the development of the organization’s strategic vision for the thematic area of ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment’ to guide the development and prioritization setting of the organization, in line with the ‘OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW).’

In this, UN Women is supporting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Council of Women in Egypt in supporting the establishment of the new institution. In support of this, UN Women is hiring Economic Empowerment Expert with dual reporting lines between the President of the National Council of Women and the Directors of the Regional Offices of Arab States and of Asia and the Pacific.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the President of the National Council of Women and the Directors of the Regional Offices of Arab States and of Asia and the Pacific, the consultant will be responsible for the development and prioritization setting of the organization for the thematic area of ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment.’ In line with the OPAAW, the consultant will be expected to:

Compile relevant information on Women’s Economic Empowerment in OIC Member States with the objective of highlighting potential areas of engagement, gaps, and best practices and lessons learned to inform programme design.
Prepare a concept note which outlines the possible interventions for the new OIC Women’s Development Organization in the area/pillar of Women’s Economic Empowerment. The concept note is expected to be presented at the OIC Ad-Hoc Working Group of Experts Meeting, which will be expected to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in January 2020;
Develop a full-fledged proposal of the Women’s Economic Empowerment programme/pillar for the thematic work of the OIC Women’s Development Organization. The Proposal should include a detailed situation analysis, justification, results and resources framework, strategy and partnerships, risk and mitigation strategies, evaluation and knowledge management. The proposal will be presented at the OIC Ad-Hoc Working Group of Experts Meeting, which is expected to be held in May/June 2020. The proposal should be inclusive of a policy orientation, advocacy and outreach;
Develop a policy paper on Women’s Economic Empowerment in OIC member states, with proposed recommendations for further consultation with member states; the paper should be linked to OPAAW and should highlight areas where gaps still exist and where more policy attention is needed;
Provide technical assistance to the host government, which includes but is not limited to preparing relevant background documents as requested, and generating relevant knowledge to inform the work of the OIC Women’s Development Organization;

All deliverables and related documents will have to be reviewed and accepted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Egypt and the National Council for Women.

Deliverable 1: Desk review on the status of Women’s Economic Empowerment in OIC Member States;
Deliverable 2: Concept note on the proposed programme for the Women’s Economic Empowerment thematic area/pillar of the OIC Women’s Development Organization;
Deliverable 3: Full-fledged proposal on the on the proposed programme for the Women’s Economic Empowerment thematic area/pillar of the OIC Women’s Development Organization;
Deliverable 4: Policy paper on Women’s Economic Empowerment in OIC member states;
Deliverable 5: Reports on the type and details of technical assistance provided to the host government.

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:

Expert knowledge in Women’s Economic Empowerment;
Strong knowledge of international and regional normative frameworks;
Proven ability to advocate and provide policy, substantive and strategic advice in Women’s Economic Empowerment;
Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships;
Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
Excellent analytical and communication skills required;
Strong knowledge of UN programme management systems.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in International Relations, Political Science, Public Policy, Public Administration, Economics, Gender Studies, or a related field in Social Sciences.

Experience:

At least 10 years of progressively responsible work experience in the field of Gender and/or Economic Empowerment is a must.
Prior experience in supporting the development of programmes is required.
Knowledge of the context of the OIC Member States.
Prior experience in policy development as an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in both spoken and written English and Arabic is a must.
Knowledge of French is an asset.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points):

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and;
Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Technical Evaluation (70%) split such as:

Education: 20%;
Professional Experience & background: 30%; should detail work experience, specifically experience which is relevant to the consultancy requirements indicated above;
Cover note: 20%; cover note should clearly state the availability and method of engagement to deliver on key outputs, while clearly explaining how the candidate meets the requirements and their ability to deliver in due time.

Financial Evaluation (30%): 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.

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.