Country: Egypt
Closing date: 25 May 2016
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, UN Women leads and coordinates 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 Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) is currently implementing regional programmes to advance the economic empowerment of women in the Southern Mediterranean region and to assist them to reposition themselves in the political and decision making spaces in their respective countries. In addition to country-level interventions, the programmes work at the regional level through several initiatives including the establishment of a knowledge hub on women’s economic empowerment and political participation, which generates knowledge products, facilitates experience-sharing, and provides the technical assistance to the region.
There is no single accepted definition or indicator for levels of financial inclusion. But we can agree that women‘s financial inclusion occurs when women have effective access to a range of financial products and services that cater to their multiple business and household needs and that are responsive to the socioeconomic and cultural factors that cause financial exclusion in women and men to have different characteristics[1].Financial inclusion benefits individuals and households, and well-functioning financial systems benefit whole countries. However, access to financial services is highly unequal, with poor people – and particularly poor women – frequently the least served by existing institutions and systems.
Recently, the G20 has acknowledged the important role that financial inclusion can play in development. Under the Korean presidency, at the Seoul Summit in November 2010, G20 Leaders formally recognized financial inclusion as one of nine key pillars of development and also committed to the launch of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI)[2]. One area of the GPFI’s work has been to establish the Global SME Finance Initiative, which aims to provide at least £5 billion of additional finance to over 200,000 SMEs, with at least 25% of loans reaching women-headed SMEs.
Financial inclusion can increase the empowerment of women in a number of ways. Firstly, having access to resources on their own account and to the tools that help them to earn a living can increase women’s bargaining power within households and their influence over how money and other resources are used. Secondly, financial inclusion can help increase women’s opportunities to earn an income or control assets outside the household. Thirdly, it can reduce women’s vulnerability by, for example, allowing them to insure against risk or borrow to meet unexpected expenses, such as medical treatments. These are all key factors for economic empowerment and they can also help to empower women more broadly and particularly those in fragile situations.
Conflict negatively affects men and women in different ways, resulting in gender-specific disadvantages often not addressed in recovery and reconstruction programming. The gender dimensions of conflict range from gender-based violence such as rape and sexual exploitation, exclusion from reconstruction and peace processes, unequal market opportunities, discriminatory legal frameworks and limited access to financial services.
Women’s financial inclusion is an underused source of growth that could be harnessed to achieve sustainable and inclusive development. Women are at a particular disadvantage in accessing financial services. They have less access to safe savings vehicles and are more likely to use informal, and therefore probably riskier and more expensive, mechanisms. [3]Globally, 58 percent of women have an account, and 65 percent of men do. The Arab countries are no exception. The region continues to have a particularly large gender gap in relative terms, with women half as likely as men to have an account. Only 14% of the women in the region have access to their own an account impeding their ability to start their own businesses.
It is in this context that the following terms of reference have been developed to solicit sound understanding of women’s financial inclusion in conflict and post conflict situations; assess prospects and challenges to the achievement of women’s financial inclusion and document good practices and lessons learned to inform Un Women’s future interventions in this area. Specifically, the proposed study seeks to answer the following key questions. “What are the opportunities available for women’s financial inclusion in conflict and post conflict contexts? How do the legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks affect women’s financial inclusion in conflict and post conflict context? What cultural norms are there that affect women’s participation in the economy? How does gender constrain access to finance and other productive resources? How exactly would improve financial inclusion for women result in women being more empowered in this particular context? What can be done at different levels to make financial inclusion for women a vehicle for building resilience?”
The specific objectives of the assignment are:
(i) To examine the factors affecting women’s financial inclusion in conflict and post conflict situations.
(ii) To assess existing institutional, policy, legal frameworks and cultural norms that support/hinder the financial inclusion of women in conflict and post conflict situations and recommend key areas for strategic actions;
(iii) To document the success stories and which financial inclusion approaches/types that are more suitable in conflict and post conflict situations;
(iv) To provide recommendations for building and consolidating the advancement of women’s financial inclusion in conflict and post conflict contexts.
Scope of Work
The consultant will collect data, conduct the following analyses and assessments and recommend strategic actions in selected Arab countries in conflict or post conflict situation:
Governance, Institutional and Legal Framework for Financial Inclusion
(i) Provide an overview of national legislations enacted to promote women’s economic opportunities and financial inclusion in the selected countries;
(ii) Review laws, institutional frameworks, norms, and other societal practices in relation to women’s economic empowerment and access to finance;
(iii) Examine the institutional and informal mechanisms for promoting women’s financial inclusion;
(iv) Examine how the current banking system could hinder women inclusion especially in rural areas and what type of system can promote women’s financial inclusion? And What types of reforms must be carried?
(v) Recommend actions to accelerate the promotion of financial inclusion of women within;
Social Norms, Cultural Practices and Women’s Financial Inclusion
(vi) Examine widely-held social norms and cultural practices that impact (positively or negatively) on women’ access to financial resources;
(vii) Assess how the experience of conflict has impacted on gender disparities and the vulnerability of women and girls;
(viii) Examine the gender roles and responsibilities and traditional norms and expectations that position women and men differently with regards to their access to and control over resources and assets;
Women’s Economic Opportunities
(ix) Examine women’s participation in economic activities and identify constraints;
(x) Assess the level of women’s entrepreneurship development; outlining key sectors or activities where women are engaged;
(xi) Assess women’s access to productive resources (credit) from both formal and informal sectors and outline best practices, challenges and opportunities for improvement;
(xii) Assess the status of women’s property rights and land rights in post conflict contexts and how it affects their access to finance and economic opportunities;
(xiii) Document the different approaches/types of financial inclusion programs that are more suitable to women in conflict and post conflict situations;
Methodology
The study will involve field work and desk review. The consultant is expected to use both primary and secondary data to inform his/her analysis. S/he shall conduct a review of existing documentation in selected Arab States countries in conflict or post conflict situation (i.e. Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Tunisia, Syria and Yemen), examining policy and strategic documents, reports and related reviews/assessments conducted by government agencies, donors, and academic and civil society groups. The consultant shall also visit some projects to document good practices and lessons learned.
Duties and Responsibilities:
The consultant will have the following duties and responsibilities:
· The consultant will collect data, conduct the following analyses and assessments
· Conduct field visits in two out of the seven selected countries for not more than 15 days.
· Draft report on findings including recommendations on strategic actions in selected Arab countries in conflict or post conflict situation.
· Prepare and submit final report and summary of not more than 20 pages of the study.
Expected Places of Travel: Field visit in two of the seven countries
Deliverables
Timelines
Proposed methodology and detailed work plan with associated milestones
One week after signature of the contract
Draft detailed study report containing analysis of the existing situation, challenges, opportunities, selective case studies, recommended actions, relevant stakeholders and roles identified.
6 weeks after approval of proposed methodology and detailed work plan
Final detailed study report integrating UN Women comments and feedback
One week after approval of draft detailed study report
Summary of not more than 20 pages of the study
Monitoring and Reporting Requirements:
The progress of the work will be delineated and supervised by the Women’s Economic Empowerment Advisor and the Programme Manager.
Competencies
Core Values and Guiding Principles:
• Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
• Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity**:** Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.
Core Competencies:
• Ethics and Values**:** Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity;
• Organizational Awareness**:** Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
• Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring : Self-development, initiative-taking;
• Working in Teams**:** Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
• Communicating Information and Ideas**:** Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
• Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control;
• Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements;
• Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning**:** Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.
Functional Competencies:
• Excellent communication skills and analytical capacity.
• Excellent understanding of gender and development issues, gender and financial inclusion/women’s economic empowerment
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• Ability to analyse data and identify issues;
• Ability to present practical, innovative business solutions to countries for macro and micro level policies;
• Proven record of conducting stakeholder consultations.
Education, Experience and Language Requirements
Education:
Essential Master’s degree in international development, gender, social studies or related field.
Experience:
At least 15 years of professional experience in the area of gender and development. Specific experience on gender and financial inclusion/women’s economic empowerment is required. The consultant should have strong background in conducting quality researches and studies in gender equality and the economy and gender analysis, especially within the Arab context and conflict/post conflict situations. The consultant should have demonstrated professional experience in three of the seven selected countries of the study. Substantial consultancy experience with a record of delivering high-quality documents and reports within strict timeframes.
Language Requirements:
Excellent verbal and written skills in English
Signatures- Job Description Certification
Incumbent (if applicable)
Name Signature Date
Supervisor
Name Signature Date
Chief Division/Section
Name Signature Date
Evaluation Criteria (This part is needed for the announcement)
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Criteria Weight Technical: 70%
- Criteria: At least 15 years of professional experience in the area of gender and development; specific experience on gender and financial inclusion/women’s economic empowerment is required. (Weight: 25%. Maximum obtainable Points: 25);
- Criteria: The consultant should have strong background in conducting quality researches and studies in gender equality and the economy and gender analysis, especially within the Arab context. (Weight 25%; maximum obtainable points 25);
- Criteria: The consultant should have strong background in conducting research on economy and conflict/post conflict situations (Weight: 25%. Maximum obtainable Points: 25);
- Criteria: The consultant should have demonstrated professional experience in three of the seven selected countries of the study. (Weight: 20%. Maximum obtainable Points: 20);
- Criteria: Excellent written and spoken English (Weight 5%; maximum obtainable points 5);
Financial: Lowest financial proposal: 30%.
Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combines score (financial and technical). The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:
(Lowest Bid Offered*)/(Bid of the Consultant) x 30
*"Lowest Bid Offered" refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in technical evaluation.
Applications
Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
Proposal:
To be included as part of the proposal:
- A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work;
A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (limit to under 1,500 words).
UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; and
Personal CV.
Financial proposal:
- Proposed daily fee;
The following five (5) documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.
[1] Promoting women’s financial inclusion, GIZ, 2013
[2] See: www.gpfi.org.
[3] THE GLOBAL FINDEX DATABASE, 2014
How to apply:
Application must be on the UN job site : kindly go to this link :