UN Women: International Consultant, Gender and Private Sector Engagement Expert in Crisis and Recovery Settings

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, 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  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 ): (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.

UN Women is planning to implement early recovery programming which aims to support enterprise recovery, restore livelihoods, create employment opportunities, and strengthen economic resilience, with a strong focus on ensuring that women benefit equitably from economic recovery efforts. Emphasis for this assignment will be on private sector recovery including in light industries, and in the textiles and garment industries, as well as in the care industry and food production and processing, among others.

Women-owned businesses, SMEs and women workers face multiple barriers to participation in economic recovery initiatives, including limited access to productive resources, workplace discrimination, care responsibilities, mobility restrictions, and reduced opportunities for advancement. In fragile and crisis-affected contexts, these challenges are often exacerbated. Consequently, there is a need to engage private sector actors in adopting gender-responsive business practices that promote women's participation, retention, leadership, and economic empowerment.

The consultant will provide…