National Consultant - Programme Support

Contract

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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. Placing women’s rights at the Centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts and builds effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Women’s economic empowerment is central to realizing women’s rights and gender equality. 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 from the household to international institutions.

Empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps in the world of work are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 5, to achieve gender equality, and Goal 8, to promote full and productive employment and decent work for all; also Goal 1 on ending poverty, Goal 2 on food security, Goal 3 on ensuring health and Goal 10 on reducing inequalities.

UN Women and UNIDO in Egypt are implementing the Joint Programme (JP) entitled “Women Economic Empowerment for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in Egypt” funded by the Government of Canada from 2019–2024 and is implemented in partnership with the National Council for Women (NCW), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA). Presidential Decree No. 367 for the year 2020 was issued for the Programme in June 2020 and was ratified in November 2020 under the framework of the subsidiary agreement between the Government of Egypt and the Government of Canada.

The JP aims to reach 6,300 direct beneficiaries and 30,000 indirect beneficiaries by using an integrated approach, which combines both downstream measures directly working with women, businesses and support institutions and upstream interventions at the policy level, the JP aims to achieve the following:

• Increased productivity and job opportunities generated by women entrepreneurs.
• Increased employment of women by businesses.
• Reduced gender-specific barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and to women entering and remaining in the workforce.

Programme interventions will achieve the following results:

1. Increased number of new businesses established by women entrepreneurs in the sectors of focus
2. Enhanced capacity of women led businesses to grow, attract and retain workers
3. Strengthened performance of productive clusters to employ more women
4. Enhanced employability of women in growth-oriented sectors
5. Increased abilities of businesses to implement gender-sensitive corporate policies
6. Strengthened individual and collective agency of women in the sectors of focus
7. Enhanced capacity of Government to mainstream gender in public policies and programs
8. Increased access of women entrepreneurs to tailored financial and non-financial

The Programme is implemented in (7) governorates: Cairo, Giza, Beheira, Fayoum, Alexandria, Beni Sueif and Minya in the following value chains: Palm dates, Medicinal and Aromatic Herbs and Handicrafts. Two important value chains are crosscutting among all component’s Environmental sustainability and ICT.

The implementation phase of the JP began in Q3 of 2020 (1 July 2020) following the organization of the first Steering Committee (SC) meeting.

Objective of the assignment:

Reporting to the Programme Specialist under the overall supervision of the Country Representative/Head of Programmes and in coordination with the Programme teams, the Programme Support Consultant will assist in the implementation of the Programme objectives. The consultant will work and provide support to the members of the programme team in the development and support in the effective implementation of activities consistent with UN Women rules and regulations. The consultant is to contribute to the financial management and programme implementation including providing necessary operational, administrative, and programmatic support. The consultant will work in close collaboration with the operations and programme staff as required.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide support in the implementation of project activities:

• Provide administrative support to the programme team in the organization of events, meetings and workshops, travel, field visits, missions, etc.
• Maintain and organize up-to-date hard and electronic files for easy access and retrieval as per UN Women regulations in collaboration with the Programme Associate.
• Create and maintain files of correspondence/documents and electronically received information and ensure up-to- date filing. Maintain both hardcopies and electronic copies of the office records and reference files on various subjects.
• Prepare presentation material/slides in Power-point for presentations for the meetings/workshops and keep all documents ready for meetings.
• Support in the coordination of key Programme activities in collaboration with key stakeholders.

Provide administrative financial management support:

• Support the programme team in the financial management of the project and ensure timely disbursement as per UNW regulations.
• Keep record and up-to-date filing of all financial transactions related to project activities for reporting and audit purposes in accordance with NCW and UN Women regulations.
• Support in financial reporting in accordance with UN Women standards and regulations, working in coordination UN Women financial officers.

Provide support in monitoring, reporting and documentation activities:

• Closely work with programme teams to facilitate the preparations and implementation of field activities, events, and assessments.
• Support the Programme team with reporting under UN Women standards and regulations.
• Follow up on operations in the field and delivery of activities.
• Provide timely data collection for reporting purposes in accordance with UN Women regulations.
• Maintain database of Programme participants/beneficiaries for monitoring and evaluation purposes.
• Perform other duties as deemed necessary.

DeliverablesLevel of EffortTimeline- Provide overall support with the implementation of the Programme. - Monthly report of key achievements upon certification of satisfactory performance.

5 Days (20 Days per Month)1 Year

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Good knowledge of programme management;
• Ability to create, edit, synthesize and present information in a clear manner;
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Excellent administrative skills;
• Good financial skills;
• Excellent IT skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• University degree in Business, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences or any related field is required.

Experience

• 2 years’ work experience at the national or international level, required.
• Experience in Programme financial management, is required.
• Experience in women’s economic empowerment is an asset.
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc), required.
• Experience working on ERP systems is an asset.
• UN experience is an asset.

Language

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic is required.

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)

• Criteria 1: University degree in Business, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences, or any related field (10 points).
• Criteria 2: 2 years’ work experience at the national or international level (10 points)
• Criteria 3: Experience in programme financial management and programme management (10 points)
• Criteria 4: Experience in women’s economic empowerment; (10 points)
• Criteria 5: Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc). (10 points)
• Criteria 6: Experience working on ERP systems (10 points)
• Criteria 7: UN experience (5 points)
• Criteria 8: Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic (5 points)

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points)

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 Candidate must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Completed and Signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications, and
• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to a portfolio of work;
• Financial proposal; Proposed Inclusive Monthly Rate in EGP.

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

Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification. Make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications.

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.)