UN Women: International Consultant - Content Developer for Course materials for Entrepreneurship and Employment and Training of Teachers Course - Dili, Timor-Leste, Home-Based

Background:

UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.  A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. 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; fosters women’s empowerment and equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, peace and security. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality, and in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda. The entity works to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals, and a more inclusive world. 

UN Women’s goal in Timor-Leste is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality as the country works towards sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development. In this regard, its programming in the country is connected to two corporate priority areas: enhancing women’s economic empowerment (WEE), and engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes (WPS), supported by integrated efforts to ensure gender-sensitive plans and budgets and women’s right to live free of violence. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s joint work in advancing gender equality.

Despite increasing educational attainment among girls in Timor-Leste, this progress has not translated into equitable economic participation. Marginalized youth, particularly rural girls, face multiple intersecting barriers including early marriage, caregiving responsibilities, digital illiteracy, and limited access to safe and empowering vocational training. Women and girls in agriculture, hospitality, and informal work remain underrepresented in leadership and entrepreneurial roles.

To address this gap, the ASEAN-UK SAGE Skills Training for Economic Participation (STEP) Project is launching an initiative focused on building entrepreneurship skills, financial literacy, digital skills and 21st Century skills among marginalized youth in the municipalities of Lautem and Oecusse. 

As well as supporting national teachers to deliver this skills training to marginalized youth, STEP’s approach also incorporates community engagement to overcome cultural barriers, and partnerships with local businesses to enable sustainable income-generating activities beyond the project’s timeline. Aligned with the FCDO’s International Women and Girls Strategy (2023–2030), this pilot initiative prioritizes three key areas: ensuring girls’ access to quality education, promoting women’s economic empowerment, and addressing systemic and digital exclusion. By bridging educational and vocational gaps, the programme fosters gender equity and digital empowerment and contributes to Timor-Leste’s socio-economic development. Additionally, it supports the country’s aspirations for ASEAN membership by aligning its education system with regional priorities. 

Implemented in partnership with the British Council, SEAMEO and UN Women Timor-Leste, the project leverages the existing infrastructure of Community Learning Centres (CLCs) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools under the Ministry of Education (MoE).

The project will equip 100 marginalized youth (80 girls, 20 boys), the majority of whom will be aged from 16 to 22 years old, with market-relevant entrepreneurship skills, financial literacy, and digital skills training to boost economic participation. It will also build the capacity of 20 national teachers through a Teacher Training (TT) programme. Both programmes will incorporate gender-responsive pedagogies, and encourage teachers and learners to challenge traditional gender norms.

Objectives of the Assignment

The objective of the consultancy is to provide technical expertise and design a comprehensive, context-specific, and gender-responsive entrepreneurship training course and teacher training programme for the STEP project in Timor-Leste. 

The consultant will adapt open-source materials to develop a bespoke 100-hour Entrepreneurship Course, and an 80-hour Teacher Training (TT) programme which is locally relevant, inclusive, and aligned with the STEP project’s objective of improving economic opportunities for girls and boys in rural areas. 

To achieve this, UN Women is seeking 1 (one) international consultant to develop training materials for:

1. Development of STEP Course for Rural Youth:

Adapt existing open-source resources to create a bespoke, gender-responsive 100-hour Entrepreneurship Course tailored to the needs of marginalized girls and boys in Timor-Leste. Course materials will be developed in English and later translated into Tetum. The course will also