National Consultant to Conduct an Assessment of Women Economic Empowerment opportunities in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces

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.

UN Women acknowledges that the economic empowerment of women including those facing intersecting forms of discrimination is a direct path towards gender equality, poverty alleviation and inclusive economic growth. Nonetheless, most women in Zimbabwe continue to be on the margins of economic development efforts with limited income security, few decent work opportunities and less economic autonomy. The situation is aggravated by the dwindling financing for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in many countries including Zimbabwe. It is against this backdrop that UN Women in Zimbabwe, through its Women Economic Empowerment initiatives, is collaborating with multiple stakeholders including the private sector, Government of Zimbabwe, development partners and other stakeholders to empower women to meaningfully contribute to, and benefit from, economic opportunities in Zimbabwe.

UN Women further acknowledges that data gaps make it difficult for women-owned enterprises to tap into economic opportunities available to them and for relevant public and private sector stakeholders to actively unlock more opportunities for optimum utilization by women-owned enterprises. The gaps exist despite increasing calls for gender statistics, sex-disaggregated data, and knowledge to be produced, analyzed and utilized to inform policymaking, advocacy and accountability for delivering gender equality and women’s empowerment results. In some cases, information is available in administrative records which are seldom processed further and disseminated for utilization.

Insights from the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MWACSMED) as well as stakeholder consultations on the Broad-Based Women’s Economic Empowerment Framework (2024-2030) point to the need for effectively mapping key economic opportunities for women-owned enterprises in different provinces and raising women’s awareness on how best these can be accessed and utilized.

It is against this background that UN Women seeks to engage a consultant to map out WEE opportunities in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces. With support and guidance from the Deputy Country Representative, the M and E Analyst as well as programme and operations teams, the consultant will report to the Women Economic Empowerment Focal Point who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Background/Context

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 acknowledges that the economic empowerment of women including those facing intersecting forms of discrimination is a direct path towards gender equality, poverty alleviation and inclusive economic growth. Nonetheless, most women in Zimbabwe continue to be on the margins of economic development efforts with limited income security, few decent work opportunities and less economic autonomy. The situation is aggravated by the dwindling financing for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in many countries including Zimbabwe. It is against this backdrop that UN Women in Zimbabwe, through its Women Economic Empowerment initiatives, is collaborating with multiple stakeholders including the private sector, Government of Zimbabwe, development partners and other stakeholders to empower women to meaningfully contribute to, and benefit from, economic opportunities in Zimbabwe.

UN Women further acknowledges that data gaps make it difficult for women-owned enterprises to tap into economic opportunities available to them and for relevant public and private sector stakeholders to actively unlock more opportunities for optimum utilization by women-owned enterprises. The gaps exist despite increasing calls for gender statistics, sex-disaggregated data, and knowledge to be produced, analyzed and utilized to inform policymaking, advocacy and accountability for delivering gender equality and women’s empowerment results. In some cases, information is available in administrative records which are seldom processed further and disseminated for utilization.

Insights from the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MWACSMED) as well as stakeholder consultations on the Broad-Based Women’s Economic Empowerment Framework (2024-2030) point to the need for effectively mapping key economic opportunities for women-owned enterprises in different provinces and raising women’s awareness on how best these can be accessed and utilized.

It is against this background that UN Women seeks to engage a consultant to map out WEE opportunities in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces. With support and guidance from the Deputy Country Representative, the M and E Analyst as well as programme and operations teams, the consultant will report to the Women Economic Empowerment Focal Point who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. 

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The Consultant will be required to conduct an assessment of Women Economic Empowerment opportunities in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces.

This exercise will entail:

Inception Meeting

This activity will focus on presentation of the inception report, proposed tools, sampling note, research methods and roadmap (the study protocol).

NB* UN Women will organise the conferencing facilities and invite stakeholders for this process.

Data collection

This activity entails collection and analysis including content analysis/ literature review, Surveys, Focus Group Discussions Interviews and secondary data gathering/ analysis for Manicaland and Masvingo provinces in Zimbabwe based on the approved inception report.

NB* UN Women will organise the conferencing facilities and invite stakeholders for this process. UN Women will also cover transport costs and Daily subsistence allowance for the Consultant based on approved UN Women rates.

Analysis of findings

This activity entails performing analysis of findings using approved business and economic analysis tools, statistical software and gender analysis framework.

Formulation, of Report

At this stage the Consultant will focus on the development/writing a report on the mapped women economic empowerment opportunities based on the approved data set and in line with the editorial guidelines for UN Women.

Reviews and Validation Meeting

This stage will include multiple reviews by stakeholders and will culminate into the final validation exercise for the study report. The validation meeting will be attended by all key stakeholders.

NB* UN Women will organise the conferencing facilities and invite stakeholders for this process.

Deliverables

Consistent with the above duties and responsibilities, the Consultant is expected to deliver the following:

Deliverable

No of days/duration

% Allocation for payment

Present an Inception report including proposed tools, sampling note and methods for the study and roadmap. These should also outline the proposed gender analysis framework, business/economic analysis tools and statistical software.

September 2024

5% of value of contract 

Conduct collection of data including content analysis/ literature review, Surveys, Focus Group Discussions, Key informant Interviews and secondary data gathering for Manicaland and Masvingo provinces in Zimbabwe based on the approved inception report. Consultant should submit a comprehensive dataset to UN Women.

September to October 2024

40% of value of contract 

Perform analysis of findings using business and economic analysis tools, statistical software and approved gender analysis framework.

October to November 2024

30% of value of contract 

Develop/formulate 2 provincial reports on the mapped women economic empowerment opportunities based on the analysed findings including the necessary graphs and text. Consultant should submit the reports to UN Women for reviews.

November 2024

20% of value of contract 

Present the revised/ reviewed reports at a Validation meeting. Consultant should submit the validation presentation and the final validated and refined reports to UN Women.

November 2024

5% of value of contract 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a full-time consultancy. The Consultant is expected to attend meetings related to the project at the UN Women Offices as part of the project. As part of this assignment, the Consultant will be needed to go for field missions in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces of Zimbabwe as may be required and will be stipulated in the mission plans. The costs for travelling will be covered by UN Women based on UN Women rates.

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/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Technical credibility in quantitative and qualitative research and data analytics,
• Ability to perform gender analysis
• Ability to perform economic analysis, and business analysis
• Technical credibility in market analysis and value chain analysis
• Credibility in business development and value chain growth
• Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics or Development studies or Gender studies or other related social sciences is required.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national level in different aspects of development research, economic analysis, business analysis and gender analysis
• Demonstrated ability to develop and review research reports, policy briefs and presentations
• Demonstrated ability to analyze and visualize socio-economic data using tools such as R, Stata, and E-Views
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with diverse stakeholders is an asset
• Experience in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) development, finance, and market studies and feasibility studies
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of at least one local language is an asset

V. How to Apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc)
• One journal paper or policy brief or paper that demonstrates the applicant’s economic analysis skills
• Please note that the Country Office may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of the applicant’s experience, such as reports, presentations or publications.
• 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, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided based on 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)

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