Location : Nairobi, KENYA
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : National Consultant
Languages Required : English
Expected Duration of Assignment : 20 Working Days
Background
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and was established in 2011 to accelerate the attainment of the rights of women globally. UN Women stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life and is mandated to support UN Member States to apply global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and the civil society to design and develop laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. UN Women is further expected to provide leadership in enhancing and coordinating the accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and women empowerment. It is in this spirit that UN Women, and the Rome-based UN agencies (FAO, IFAD and WFP) are mandated to spearhead a comprehensive UN system approach and response through joint actions to support rural women’s economic empowerment in the region, and indeed globally. The priority areas of focus for UN Women include: enhancing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; and to champion women’s economic empowerment.
Furthermore, longstanding and persistent gender inequalities in accessing economic resources and services by the majority of women in Africa has directly resulted in poorer human development outcomes and productivity, particularly for women in agriculture, where up to 86 percent of rural women and men are engaged. Various studies have shown that improving the entrepreneurial capacity of women and providing women farmers with the same quantity and quality of inputs that men receive typically has the potential to increase national agricultural output and incomes by an estimated 20% (World Bank, 2005).
It is in this context that the UN Women Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) has designed a Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) programme, to advance solutions aimed at significantly elevating women’s rights and contribution to the national economic priorities of wealth creation, employment and growth. Accordingly, the Women’s Economic Empowerment programme for ESARO region is premised on a strategy to develop the entrepreneurial and leadership capacities of women and youth; and to link them to innovative business models (value chains and innovative technology) and formal services (mainly financial), in collaboration with strategic partners, and as a pathway for them to effectively participate in gainful economic activities and opportunities. In view of the agrarian nature and rural structure of the most African economies, and the central role agriculture plays in determining human development outcomes in the region, UN Women expects that this strategy will also bring women and youth to the forefront in the process of agricultural transformation and commercialization, across specific agro-processing, industry and trade value chains.
UN Women considers strategic partnerships as key enabler in the implementation of its WEE programme. UN Women has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Equity Group Foundation to strengthen collaboration in the areas of capacity development and training for women entrepreneurs, development of appropriate financial products and support to the implementation of the Women Economic Empowerment programme.
Equity Group Foundation [EGF] was established in 2006 in recognition of the need to scale up the existing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives by the Equity Bank Group. The Foundation acts as the institutional home for the Group’s social initiatives and interventions. Since its inception, the Foundation has significantly enhanced the coordination of CSR interventions for Equity Group. The Foundation’s aim is to catalyze the socio-economic prosperity of the people of Africa by giving opportunity to the millions at the bottom of the pyramid to be incorporated into the modern economy.
Having demonstrated scalability, impact and high return on investment, the Foundation has embarked on partnerships with organizations and other entities with a shared goal of social transformation and empowerment. This innovative and creative vehicle has fundamentally transformed the concept of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. EGF has six social thematic areas all of which synergizes with UN Women WEE programme. They include: Education and Leadership; Financial Literacy and Access; Agribusiness; Environment and Sustainability; Health; and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The overarching goal of the WEE programme is to “Bring women to the heart of Africa’s development”, as key players and leaders in accelerating economic growth with equality. UN Women to achieve this goal through mainstreaming and investing in women as the key economic agents, and by facilitating an enabling environment that supports the full integration and inclusive participation of women at all levels of the sectors driving economic growth in the region. The approach envisaged requires a conceptual shift from a livelihoods approach to greater emphasis on entrepreneurship development, business leadership and asset building as the core elements and delivery modes of this empowerment programme for enhancing productivity, wealth creation, and the share of women’s contribution to GDP.
Duties and Responsibilities
In this context, UN Women’s and Equity Group Foundation (EGF) seek to hire an expert to map out the
landscape of women businesses in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan which will include assessing the needs of these businesses and outlining potential intervention strategies that will help transform them into profitable ventures. In addition, the consultant will map out partners, institutions and agencies that are currently engaged in supporting women businesses and potential partners and the opportunities to engage and leverage on on-going enterprise development and entrepreneurship programs. It is expected that the selected consultant will prepare a scoping report that will meet the standards and expectations of both UN Women and EGF in terms of structure and content.
Specific tasks and responsibility:
Under the overall supervision of the WEE Program Manager andworking in close consultation with the EGF Managing Director, the Consultant will be expected to undertake the following:
Undertake a scoping study to map out women enterprises in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan;
Review existing documentation on women-led enterprises’ capacitybuilding initiatives;
Review key past and ongoing state and non-state interventions in women’s businesses, draw lessons and identify opportunities to engage and partner as well as ways to leverage and amplify impact on women businesses;
Provide information on financing opportunities for women businesses;
Meet withexisting and potential donor agencies to assess their current levels of fundingand/or possibilities for co-financing;
Produce a report on key businesses across various sectors, general capacity needs as well as areas of opportunity to improve businesses for women;
Presentation of findings to UN Women and EGF teams.
Deliverables:
A report of the Capacity Needs Assessment submitted to EGF for review and comments across several business sectors and size of businesses;
A draft project report to be submitted to EGF for review and comments;
A final Project Report to be submitted to EGF no later than one week after receipt of comments from the stakeholders on the first draft and which complies to the EGF report Submission Guide, with the final output of the assignment specifically addressing the following issues, among others;
Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the operating environment of women run businesses in the country;
Identification, categorization and mapping of the cultural, geo-political, gender, legal, financial and other variables that affect the scaling of women and youth run enterprises in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan;
A well structured synopsis and PowerPoint presentation of report and study findings to UN Women and EGF teams.
Methodology
The assignment will be conducted through:
Desk review of relevant documents;
Interviews with women and Youth in enterprises;
Survey of experiences and perception on existing financial products available to women and youth;
Interviews with institutions/programs that are focusing on women enterprise support e.g. the Women’s fund, Kenya Women’s Finance Trust etc;
Potential partners, players in the field of women enterprises/empowerment;
Any other methodology deemed by the Consultant as appropriate for the task objectives.
Competencies
Mature judgment and initiative;
Ability to think out-of-the-box;
Ability to present complex issues in simple and clear manner;
Cultural, gender, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Ability to work under pressure and deliver high quality results on time;
Initiative and independence.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Masters degree in Business Management, Economics, Development or any other relevant fields.
Experience:
Minimum of 5 years professional field experience;
Must demonstrate extensive knowledge in women empowerment and interface activities as well as private sector development and youth empowerment;
Knowledge of current situation on gender equality and the empowerment of women and youth employment creation;
Research experience;
Full computer literacy.
Language:
Fluency in English and Swahili.
How to Apply:
http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=39493
Deadline: 21/08/2013
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