Consultant for Research on Women Entrepreneurs and Procurement in UAE-Home and Office based

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

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.

Empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps are key to achieve the sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 5 on gender equality, and Goal 8 on promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Economic empowerment is one of the priority areas of UN Women. UN Women works with Governments and multilateral partners to promote women’s economic empowerment and increase their access to economic opportunities, especially for those who are most excluded. The flagship programme contributes towards outcome 3 of UN Women’s strategic plan: women have income security, decent work, and economic autonomy through contributions to see that more women own, launch, and manage small, medium and large enterprises.

UN Women launched the Flagship Programme Initiative (FPI) on stimulating equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs in July 2018. The programme is implemented in UAE, as well as in South Africa and at a global level from UN Women’s headquarters. It is funded by NAMA Women Advancement Establishment, a semi-governmental entity in Sharjah, UAE and is implemented under the supervision of the UN Women Liaison Office (LO) for the GCC.

The FPI was designed as a three-year research, capacity building, and advocacy programme to support women entrepreneurs through promoting Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP) in the public and private sector, supporting women entrepreneurs to access these opportunities and to strengthen their access to finance. The programme takes forward the findings of the Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) which highlighted the benefits of inclusive procurement from women-owned businesses (WOBs).

The programme aims to foster WEE through entrepreneurship. The theory of change is that if organizations make concerted efforts to procure from WOBs and engage in gender-responsive supply chain and investment practices, and if women business owners’ capacity to access finance and skills development is strengthened then women will have access to a more equal share of the market, and will be able to seize these new market opportunities to increase their sales, leading to their higher incomes and expansion of operations creating jobs.

UN Women LO for the GCC seeks to hire an Entrepreneurship and Procurement consultant to undertake a research study on procurement in the public and private sector in UAE with special focus on procurement that goes to women-owned businesses (WOB). The research study is expected to inform the FPI with regard to programme implementation and provide base line data on women entrepreneurs in order to identify context, necessary interventions, challenges and way forward to support them accessing procurement opportunities for their enterprises.

UN Women launched a survey in UAE, in partnership with NAMA, on 1 Aug 2020 to collect information on the current business status and general barriers faced by WOBs in UAE, in particular throughout and post- COVID 19. The collected information would enable the Programme to identify the business sectors, size, supply capacity, financial challenges, marketing barriers, and training needs of WOBs. Inputs would form the foundation allowing tailored interventions that best suit the sectors and business needs of women entrepreneurs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Research and document the status of WOB in UAE so that it provides the following:

• Complete the ongoing survey/assessment on the impact of COVID-19 on WOBs and their current needs and challenges. Ensure a proportionate number of respondents and the heterogeneous sampling covering all emirates of UAE (The representative sample to cover, for example, various business sectors, owner nationality and size. Criteria to be confirmed during assignment).
• Develop a typology of WOB identifying characteristics such as size of business, ownership structure, sector/ field of business and others.
• Identify common and gender specific barriers for women entrepreneurs in UAE with a focus on barriers in accessing financial services and procurement opportunities.
• Analyze financial services targeted at entrepreneurs in UAE from a gender perspective and recommend policies to improve access of WOBs to financial capital in UAE.

Review, document and develop programming recommendations for UN Women on enhancing GRP policies, procedures and regulations in the private and public sector in UAE as follows:

• The review should provide a factual description of the current procurement framework in UAE identifying policies and legislative framework.
• Analyze current procurement in public and private sectors to develop base line data on the percentage of procurement that goes to WOB.
• Recommend methodologies for public and private entities to adopt GRP initiatives in their policies and develop indicators to support them to measure performance towards GRP.
• Recommend strategies and approaches that increase access by WOB to procurement opportunities in private and public sectors.

Based on findings of research, come up with recommendations on key interventions for the FPI from both the supply side (WOB) and the demand side (public and private sector) to increase access of WOB to finance and procurement opportunities in UAE.

Deliverables:

• Report on WOB survey assessment.
• Report on procurement policies and procedures.
• Report on WOBs access to finance.

The reports are expected in Arabic and English and should include the following elements:

Executive summary, introduction, literature review, methodology, findings and analysis, conclusion & recommendations

• Conduct workshops in Arabic and English for governmental entities in UAE to present the findings of the research and recommendations, particularly on recommendations to enhance and develop gender-responsive policies

Financial arrangements:

Payment will be disbursed upon submission of approved monthly progress report that contain follow-up on tasks and responsibilities mentioned in the TOR.

Travel:

The selected applicant will work remotely given the current restrictions in the UAE. The selected candidate may be required to continue the assignment in-person when it is feasible. No international travel needs are anticipated. For local business travel requirements for meetings and events across the emirates and if any international travel emerges, the UN Women LO for the GCC will organize the logistics of the travel including providing daily substance allowance and terminal fees as per UN Women travel policies.

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

Functional competencies

• Demonstrates strong writing skills, particularly the ability to present persuasive, coherent and well-founded arguments,
• Has ability to write in a style that is accessible to a broad audience of policymakers, academics and activists.
• Reliably takes action to honor commitments; takes international outlook in decision-making.
• Possesses good grasp of development policy issues,
• Demonstrates analytical rigor, intellectual creativity and contributes original ideas,
• Contributes to team spirit, inspires, and motivates staff and colleagues at all levels,
• Remains composed under stress,
• Demonstrates drive to achieve results in timely manner and to seek and find solutions to any problems encountered,
• Makes efficient use of available resources,
• Demonstrates ability to multitask.

Innovation and marketing of new approaches:

Generates new ideas, seeks new approaches and introduces and promotes them in the workplace. Ability to identify opportunities and builds strong relationships with client and external actors.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualification Education:

• Advance (Masters) degree or equivalent in public administration, economics, international relations, or related fields.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of related work experience.
• Strong networking capabilities.
• Proven knowledge in procurement and entrepreneurship
• Proven experience with public and private entities in UAE
• Proven experience in research, assessment and conducting surveys.
• Strong research, writing and copyediting skills; ability to convey technical and complex concepts for a variety of audiences.
• Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills suitable for collaborating with multiple stakeholders.

Language requirement:

• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Arabic.

Submission of application:

Interested candidates are requested to submit electronic application by the deadline indicated in the post by submitting the following:

• CV.
• Letter of Interest containing the statement on candidate's experience in the field of recruitment.
• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from P11 form. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• Please note that only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.