UN Women: National Consultant - Women’s Economic Empowerment Expert – Full-time basis, Office-Based, Ramallah, Palestine

Background:

UN Women (UNW), 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, the 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, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. 

UN Women’s triple mandate, along with its global network and deep policy and programming expertise, continues to endow the Entity with a unique capacity to: (i) support Member States to strengthen global norms and standards for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and mainstream gender perspectives in other thematic areas; (ii) promote coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and (iii) undertake operational activities to support Member States, upon their request, in translating global norms and standards into legislation, policies and strategies at country level. 

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). In line with the national priorities, the work of UN Women for the period 2023-2025 is aligned with three of the Palestine United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework’s (UNSDCF) outcomes:

•     Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector.

•     Palestinians, including the most vulnerable, have equal access to sustainable, inclusive, gender responsive and quality social services, social protection, and affordable utilities.

•     Palestinian governance institutions, processes, and mechanisms at all levels are more democratic, rights-based, inclusive, and accountable.

Its three-year Strategic Note supports the efforts to achieve measurable results in country in terms of four UN Women global Strategic Plan impacts (2022-2025): (SP Impact 1). Governance and participation in public life; (SP Impact 2). Women’s Economic Empowerment; (SP Impact 3). Ending Violence Against Women and Girls; SP Impact 4. Women peace and security, Humanitarian & Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Surging Women's Employment Flagship Initiative (SWEI) in the Green, STEM, and Care Economies seeks to increase women's employment in the Arab States region by 5% by 2030 through innovative and collaborative approaches across governments, international financial institutions, the private sector, UN agencies, NGOs, and media.  

This consultancy operates within the framework of the EU-funded programme "Support to Women's Employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region through Gender-Responsive Private Sector Development", which forms a core component of the SWEI Flagship in Palestine.  

In Palestine, where women's labor force participation stands at 18.4%¹with an employment target of 8,500 new jobs for women by 2030. The consultant will ensure that all programme activities will contribute to employment generation in three strategic sectors: Green Economy, Care Economy, and STEM fields including Transnational Remote Work under the SWEI programme. This position will advance gender-responsive private sector development and policy reforms in Palestine including Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 

The consultant will also provide technical expertise into the design and delivery of UN Women’s programming in Women’s Economic Empowerment in Palestine.

The consultant will be reporting to UN Women Palestine Deputy Special Representative, with close collaboration with the Palestine Country Office (PalCO) Programme Management Specialist and the SWEI team in ROAS.

Objective of the assignment   

The consultant will play a role in growing UN Women’s Economic Empowerment portfolio, including preparations for SWEI programme implementation in Palestine, by:  

1. Conducting analyses and developing employment generation strategies, policies and programmes for women employment through:  
2. Policy reforms that remove barriers to women's labour force participation; 
3. WEPs engagement with the private sector to adopt gender-responsive practices and create quality jobs; 
4. Innovative actions and investments (amplifiers) in the Green, STEM, and Care economies. 

The consultant will ensure that all strategies and programmes are aligned with the EU logframe and contribute directly to measurable job creation for women in Palestine, based on a workplan developed by the consultant in conjunction with Palestine Country Office and ROAS.

1. Ensure stakeholders engagement at national level, including public and private actors as well as the EU Delegation. 
2. Finalize the national country chapter for Palestine in consultation with relevant stakeholders including the employment generation activities following the results-based management model. 
3. Finalizing programme design and workplan for SWEI and broader WEE programming in Palestine including defining activities, partners and initiatives for immediate employment generation in the Green, STEM and Care Economy in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

      1. Technical expertise and programmatic design: 

• Develop a workplan for the assignment, in conjunction with PalCO and ROAS.
• Provide overall technical expertise for WEE programming in Palestine with UN Women. 
• Lead the finalization of Palestine's National Chapter, ensuring alignment with national priorities and EU programme objectives. 
• Develop and implement comprehensive work plans for employment generation in Green, STEM, and Care economies in Palestine to be implemented from 2027, as required by PalCO.
• Provide technical guidance on employment generation strategies, ensuring integration of gender-responsive approaches across all interventions. 

      2. Strategic Analysis and Programme Development: 

• Conduct and contribute to in-depth analysis of Palestine’s labor market dynamics, identifying opportunities and barriers for women's employment in target sectors, as required.
• Develop evidence-based employment generation strategies that respond to Palestine’s specific economic and political context, as required.
• Design innovative programme models for employment generation in Green Economy, Care Economy, and STEM fields, as required.
• Develop knowledge products, case studies as required. 

       3. Resource Mobilization and Partnership Development:  

• Support PalCO to build and manage strategic partnerships with national donors, IFIs, and financial institutions.
• Support PalCO to strengthen collaboration with government ministries including Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Social Development and other key line Ministries, UN agencies, and humanitarian clusters. 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is an office-based consultancy. 

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of women’s economic empowerment. 
• Strong analytical skills. 
• Coordination and organisation skills 
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making. 
• Strong knowledge of the Arab Region. 
• Ability to write policy papers and briefings.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, sustainable development, social sciences, or other relevant fields is required. 
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. 

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience in development and implementation, monitoring, and reporting on programmes related to women’s economic empowerment, employment, and/or the private sector is required. 
• Experience in providing advisory support to the government and/or private sector on women’s economic empowerment is required. 
• Experience in conducting and/or contributing to labour market and employment analyses is required.
• Experience in employment generation in the green (including agriculture and maritime), care or STEM sectors is highly desirable.
• Experience working with the UN, INGOs or NGOs is desirable.  

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required. 

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.