International Consultant - Women’s Economic Empowerment and Partnerships (Home Based)

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.

Under Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) UN Women Uganda focuses on programmes that provide technical, financial and opportunities for business development targeting women emerging entrepreneurs to own, manage and benefit from small medium and large enterprises in a profitable and sustainable manner. This includes providing opportunities for women and young girls to access sustainable livelihoods, strengthening the capacity of financial systems to empower young women and their allies, and strengthening the capacity of public and private sector employers to adapt practices and policies that promote decent work and socio protection policies for the vulnerable and marginalized populations, among others. WEE is a central component under UN Women Uganda’s Strategic Note 2026-2030. As implementation of the new Strategic Note begins, the Country Office is focusing on both the sustainability and the scaling up of our programming in this area, fostering robust relationships with donors, government partners, international organizations, and the private sector as well as non-traditional donors and high net worth entities.

This consultancy assignment is guided by this background and will be focused specifically on supporting the expansion of partnerships for the Country Office focused primarily on Women’s Economic Empowerment and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), but also on cross-cutting priorities including Humanitarian Action and Women, Peace and Security. It will also support the start-up of small WEE-focused projects.

The consultant will be reporting to the Programme Specialist for Humanitarian Action (WEE Focal Point).

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work:

Provide programme development services to the Women’s Economic Empowerment/DRR Portfolio:

• Prepare WEE programme briefs, policy position papers and other documents related to Women’s Economic Empowerment in Uganda and the region;
• Assist in drafting project concept notes and proposals;
• Identify areas for support and interventions within the Women’s Economic Empowerment Portfolio, particularly in its intersection with other thematic areas (Governance; EVAWG; GiHA).

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization with traditional donors, private sector, and philanthropists:

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization to fund WEE outcomes;
• Support in providing relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation;
• Determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships.

Provide technical support to the start-up, implementation and management of the WEE/DRR programme:

• Assist in the planning, implementation and evaluation of WEE projects, ensuring alignment with gender-responsive frameworks and standards;
• Provide inputs to the project workplan and budget and assist with setting up the projects in UN Women’s systems;
• Support results reporting on WEE/DRR in UN Women and inter-agency systems.

Support advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts: 

• Develop advocacy strategies related to WEE/DRR and support their implementation;
• Contribute and support knowledge management strategies, products, and methodologies on Women’s Economic Empowerment; 
• Support the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the programme and contribute to their global dissemination. 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy, with an expected full-time level of input throughout the consultancy period. 

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