International Consultant – Shaping a Business Case for Private Sector Companies in Egypt

Contract

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

Background

Globally, 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.

In support of the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women (NSEEW), the work of the UN Women Egypt Country Office (ECO) is grounded in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA). Under the Egypt UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2023-2027), UN Women implements its triple mandate of supporting normative standard-setting to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, working with the Government of Egypt, civil society and the private sector on implementing international and national commitments and best practices, and strengthening UN system coordination in this regard. Since the early 1990s, UN Women ECO has consolidated its expertise, partnerships and investments around three main areas of work: women's leadership and system-wide support to advancing gender equality; women's economic empowerment; and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, including harmful practices.

Women’s economic empowerment includes women’s ability to participate equally in existing markets; their access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time, lives and bodies; and increased voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels. The private sector is a key partner in efforts to advance gender equality and empower women. Research shows that women’s economic empowerment contributes to economic growth, innovation, and increased performance of companies. Ensuring the inclusion of women’s talents, skills, and energies—from executive offices to the factory floor and the supply chain—requires intentional actions and deliberate policies.

Under the framework of the Egypt/UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF 2023-2027), in support of the objectives of the Economic Empowerment pillar of the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women and the objectives of the Government of Egypt/World Economic Forum’s Closing the Gender Gap Accelerator, UN Women Egypt Country Office is working with the private sector through the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The WEPs are a primary vehicle for corporate delivery on gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.To date, more than 85 business leaders from Egypt have signed the CEO Statement of Support therefore, signaling their support to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and more specifically, to the guidance offered by the WEPs.

UN Women Egypt’s work on the WEPs is done in partnership with the National Council for Women, the Ministry of International Cooperation, the regulatory bodies working with private sector, and in collaboration with chambers of commerce and business associations in the country. This work is supported through the UN Women programmes on women’s economic empowerment, supported by Global Affairs Canada, KOICA and Sida, and in cooperation with the Entity’s joint programmes with ILO and UNIDO.

During periods of economic downturn, ensuring a business’s approach is grounded in Environmental and Socially Responsible (ESR) principles is a key driver of a company’s resilience. UN Women Egypt CO, working with private sector and government counterparts, will be developing a business case of the beneficial impacts the WEPs’ implementation will have on a company’s resilience and how advancing a model of equality remains a key aspect of a company’s resilience in times of slowed economic growth. To this end, UN Women will be recruiting an international consultant to support the participatory development of the Business Case.

Objective of the Assignment

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Egypt Country Representative, and working with the UN Women WEPs team, and drawing from relevant national and international best practices, the consultant will develop a business case on the benefits of the WEPs model to ensure a company’s resilience during economic challenges. The consultant will also support the UN Women ECO WEPs team in identifying and facilitating (virtually) sector-specific discussions among companies in different country contexts globally on how the WEPs have provided a key resilience strategy in times of economic challenges within a company and/or within national contexts.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Based on desk top review of best practices world-wide and working in partnership with the UN Women ECO WEPs team, develop a draft WEPs as an Economic Resilience Strategy Business Case. The target audience of the business case are private companies based in Egypt.
• Support and participate in a virtual discussion with UN Women’s national government counterparts working on the WEPs to share the draft Business Case and solicit feedback.
• Based on the above discussion and UN Women’s feedback, finalise the WEPs as an Economic Resilience Strategy Business Case in English and as per the agreed-upon template.
• Support the UN Women ECO WEPs team in identifying similar countries’ contexts in which the WEPs have been successfully used during times of economic challenges, and guide the UN Women ECO WEPs team in supporting sector virtual dialogues between private companies (WEPs signatories) in those countries and private companies in Egypt.
• Take the lead in developing one to two brief advocacy tools, as required, for the UN Women ECO WEPs team to use in advocating for WEPs adoption during times of economic challenges.

Deliverables Per Consultant

Level of Effort

Deadline for submission

Consultancy workplan, as per discussions with UN Women ECO and Regional Office’s WEPs team.

1 Day

June 2023

Submit first draft of a WEPs as an Economic Resilience Strategy Business Case to UN Women Egypt.

5 Days

Early July 2023

In cooperation with UN Women’s WEPs’ team corporately, identify those countries and sectors which have faced similar economic challenges but which have private companies which have drawn heavily on ESR and WEPs responses as a form of economic resilience.

3 Days

Mid July

Participate in virtual discussions with UN Women Egypt’s national stakeholders (to be convened by UN Women) in which: a) consultant presents the Business Case and solicits feedback so as to ensure relevance to Egypt’s context and b) UN Women, consultant and stakeholders discuss the potential cross-country/cross-sector dialogues and approach.

2 Days

Mid July 2023

Finalise and submit revised Business case based on the above discussions and feedback from UN Women.

3 Days

Late July 2023

Facilitate a UN Women-convened cross-regional/cross-company virtual dialogue on WEPs as a economic resilience tool.

3 Days

Early September 2023

Based on the cross-regional/cross-company virtual dialogue, support UN Women ECO in developing brief advocacy tools and in identifying strategies for continued mobilization of private companies under the WEPs. Within this process, provide guidance to the ECO on the types of Egypt-specific data the office should be using (and potential sources) to advocate more effectively with the private sector.

7 Days

End September 2023/Mid-October 2023

Submit a two-page end-of-consultancy report detailing deliverables under the consultancy and recommendations for future actions.

1 Day

End October

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: UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf (unwomen.org)

Functional Competencies

• At least 5 years’ experience in working with private sector companies in a diverse range of countries on ESR and/or gender equality;
• Strong experience on engaging with Ability to engage with all levels of private sector employees (management, white collar, and blue collar)
• Capacity to engage and communicate with partners from private sector, business associations and national governments.
• Knowledge and expertise in private sector governance structures and operations.
• Knowledge and expertise in ESG private sector practices.
• Knowledge and expertise in gender research and policy analysis.
• Excellent analytical and research skills.
• Ability to draft and communicate high quality clear and concise outputs.
• Familiarity with statistical analysis and indicators, especially gender-related statistics, and indicators.
• Capacity to set priorities, self-organize research work and to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time.
• Knowledge and use of computer office tools (word, database, spreadsheets, etc.).

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in economics, finance, business administration, education, international development, or another relevant science area, is required.

Experience

• At least 5 years of relevant work experience with private sector companies on adopting ESR and/or gender equality required.
• Knowledge and understanding of the SDGs and the Women’s Empowerment Principles, or similar tools such as the Gender Equity Seals in different countries, an asset.
• Evident experience in working with data and statistics in building business cases and advocacy tools for governments and private sector, an asset
• Experience in engaging with business associations, Chambers of Commerce, and national governments is required.
• On-the-groundwork experience in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion with the private sector in a diverse range of countries, required.

Lanquage Requirements

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge of Arabic considered an asset.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Technical Weight Criteria: 70% (100 points)

• Criteria 1: Master’s degree in economics, finance, business administration, education, international development, or another relevant science area (10 points).
• Criteria 2: At least 5 years of relevant work experience with private sector companies on adopting ESR and/or gender equality (15 points).
• Criteria 3: Knowledge and understanding of the SDGs, the Women’s Empowerment Principles, or similar tools such as Gender Equity Seals in different countries (10 points).
• Criteria 4: Evident experience in working with data and statistics in building business cases and advocacy tools for governments and private sector (15 points).
• Criteria 5: Experience in engaging with national governments, business associations, and Chambers of Commerce (10 points).
• Criteria 6: on-the-groundwork and technical experience in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion with the private sector in a diverse range of countries (10 points).

Financial Proposal

Financial Weight Criteria: 30% (30 points) – Lowest Financial Daily Rate Proposal

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:

• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) signed, is required when applying including the permanent current valid e-mail and phone contact, it can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment and,
• Financial proposal must be submitted based on daily rate in USD inclusive of all the travel and other related costs,
• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to portfolio of work.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged into a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

IMPORTANT: The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all of them, since the online application submission only permits one file upload per application. Incomplete submission can be grounds for disqualification.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)