NEW National Consultant – To support Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo 2024 Consultancy – National Consultant – Locally recruited Contractors Agreement UNDP – United Nations Development Programme Closing in 2 days Istanbul

Background

Only applicants who complete and upload a filled in will be reviewed.

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 center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality are translated into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts while building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Building on the successes of the , UN Women is launching the second phase of its Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo series “Partner and Accelerate.” Bringing women entrepreneurs at the heart of Expo 2024, it will engage partners and mentor networks established in 2021 and new ones to be established, the Expo will seek to accelerate women entrepreneurs’ greater access to markets and finance. Enhanced focus will be put on inclusion of women owned businesses in the corporate supply chains. In making more women become successful entrepreneurs regionally and beyond, UN Women is looking for partners to join Expo 2024 to facilitate new business connections and maximize their business growth. As the world begins to emerge from the impact of COVID-19, boosting women’s entrepreneurship is more important than ever. According to UN Women research in 2020, one quarter of self-employed women across many countries in Europe and Central Asia region lost their jobs. Micro, small and medium-sized business account for 70 percent of global employment and the majority of new jobs. The Expo provides an opportunity to support women businesses affected by the pandemic be part of a recovery journey to launch and expand business ideas and opportunities.

Women-owned and-led businesses are gaining momentum in Europe and Central Asia, presenting benefits for women, marginalized groups, local markets and regional businesses and investors. There is a huge amount of business potential waiting to be unlocked which can lead to greater economic and social transformation. The Expo will provide an interactive and inclusive professional space for women entrepreneurs and business partners to convene and work together to grow and flourish businesses.  

UN Women’s first Expo, held on 27-29 April 2021, brought together more than 500 participants from 50 countries on a multilingual platform, engaging over 200 entrepreneurs. It established a market space for over 100 Expo booths by women entrepreneurs which gained 2,456 visits during the three days. The Expo platform also facilitated nearly 4,000 chat messages, over 300 private and network meetings, and triggered hundreds of connection requests. There were huge benefits for partners who had access to profiles of entrepreneurs. Over 40 new partnerships were formed between private sector, civil society organizations and UN Women.

Expo 2024 will seek to accelerate these gains and foster productive partnerships to foster and deepen business growth and opportunities. Reflective of the above, UN Women ECARO is seeking for a consultant experienced in working with entrepreneurs (pre-accelerators, accelerators, bootcamps etc), to provide support in planning, preparing and organizing the Expo. In addition, the consultant will conduct profiling process and manage communication with entrepreneurs.

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of this consultancy is to support UN Women’s ‘Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo’ in the ECA region and provide technical expertise in Expo planning and coordination.

Working under the guidance of UN Women Programme Specialist for Women’s Entrepreneurship Acceleration, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

• To review submitted applications of women entrepreneurs, assess against eligibility criteria, systematize, group per sector and develop individual profiles of women entrepreneurs
• In case of missing information in applications, follow up with entrepreneurs to fill in the information gaps;
• To maintain regular contact with women entrepreneurs (respond to their emails, clarification requests, ensure their participation in meetings, seminars etc) in close coordination with UN Women in English and in local language;
• To coordinate the work of UNVs engaged in Expo;
• To plan and conduct in close coordination with UN Women meetings/orientation sessions with women entrepreneurs to guide them through Expo stages;
• Support planning of the agendas and sessions, identifying of guest speakers, and, if necessary, preparation of materials/resources/tools/ templates;
• Provide professional, proactive and client-orientated event management and coordination services;
• Ensure smooth and professional facilitation between participants, and transitions between the sessions;
• If needed, prepare session reports and include a toolkit with resources used and shared;
• In coordination with UN Women and relevant partners, conduct pre-event assessment on the knowledge and needs of participating women entrepreneurs and a post-event evaluation on their learnings;
• Guide women entrepreneurs to the pitching training sessions and document best practices for women entrepreneurs;
• Support the communication and visibility efforts of the Expo by working closely with UN Women teams and partners to maximize Expo visibility on relevant social media channels and showcase supporters, relevant briefs and reports, activities and achievements.
• Support in systematizing information for creation of virtual booths of women entrepreneurs;
• Prepare the detailed report on the tasks accomplished during the consultancy;
• Other related deliverables as agreed with supervisor.

Deliverables

The consultant will be required to support and produce the following indicative key deliverables within a period of up to 100 days between 1st October 2024 and 1st October 2025. 

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:  

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• commitment to continuous improvement,
• partnerships building,
• coordination experience
• good time management skills 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in business management, social sciences, public administration, international relations, communications, gender studies, or a related field relevant to the requirements of this TOR;
• A Bachelor’s degree can be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree with two additional years relevant experience (total 5 years)

Experience:

• Minimum 1 years of professional experience in entrepreneurship skills development, building of entrepreneurship ecosystem  
• Minimum 1 years of professional experience at a national and/or international level in event planning, hosting and management, and developing event related material
• Experience at a national and/or international level in mentoring and coaching of entrepreneurs in business idea generation and facilitating businesses and entrepreneur networking would be an asset
• Experience working with the UN and/or civil society organizations, international institutions and the private sector is an asset
• Experience working in the Europe and Central Asia region is an asset

Language and Other Skills

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required
• Good computer skills in Windows, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Power Point, Word, Excel) required.

How to Apply 

• Only applicants who complete and upload a filled in will be reviewed.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc 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.

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.)