Technical Consultant – Gender, Department of Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha – UN WOMEN (Open to Indian Nationals Only) (Re-Advertisement) – UNDP India

Application Deadline 20-Nov-22 (Midnight New York, USA)

UNDP has worked in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development, from democratic governance to poverty eradication, to sustainable energy and environmental management. UNDP’s programmes are aligned with national priorities and are reviewed and adjusted annually.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Additional Category : Gender Equality
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : National Consultant
Languages Required : English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 01-Dec-2022
Duration of Initial Contract : Six Months (20 Working Days Per Month)
Expected Duration of Assignment : Six Months (20 Working Days Per Month)

Background

(This is a Re-Advertisement. Applications received under Job ID: 109046 will not be considered in this announcement)

UN Women’s programme on Second Chance Education (SCE) and Vocational Training aims to reach out to and enable 40,000 underprivileged young women and women in India through education, training, employment and entrepreneurship skills. The programme is trying to address the structural barriers young women and women face in realizing their full economic potential by trying out innovative pilots  in all these verticals across project states viz Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan. To support young women and women in getting skilled and gainfully employed, the project adopts an empowerment approach to livelihoods as against the instrumental approach where the focus is merely on skills/income generation. The activities to strengthen women’s learning and earning pathways, therefore, will be coupled by the capacity building initiatives on making women aware about their rights and entitlements, raise voice against violations and demand accountability from duty bearers. The Programme will adopt evidence-based policy advocacy, leveraging UN Women’s and implementing partners’ institutional relationships with key relevant Ministries such as Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Rural Development/National Rural Livelihoods Mission and Ministry of Human Resource Development. The programme intends to create a supportive ecosystem to enhance; women’s participation in the workforce and opportunities of self-employment, at the state as well as national level.

Objectives of the Assignment:

As part of UN Women’s SCE programme, UN Women is providing technical support to the Department of Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha, Bhubaneswar. Technical support is focussed on developing the expertise of the Department of Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha, on gender equality and mainstreaming through knowledge transfer and capacity development.

The Department of Mission Shakti has partnered with the Industries Department in Odisha to organise the third Make in Odisha Conclave from 30 November to 4 December 2022. Make in Odisha is the State’s flagship business summit which invites investors from across the globe to invest in Odisha.

The Make-in-Odisha 2022 event would focus on sectors including metals and metal downstream, chemicals and petrochemicals, textiles and apparel including technical textiles, food processing including seafood processing, Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM), logistics and clean energy.

In this context the main objective of the technical consultancy  will be as follows:

• Support to Mission Shakti on engendering the policies and programmes and Make in Odisha, 2022
• Support the transition of champion Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs) to Micro, Small & Medium
• Enterprises, by Mission Shakti and the MSME State Department
• Resource mobilisation for the promotion of Mission Shakti WSHGS in Odisha.
• In this context, UN Women seeks to hire a Technical Consultant, Gender to provide technical and facilitative support to the Government of Odisha. Under the guidance and supervision of the
• Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha and Country
• Programme Manager – SCE, UN WOMEN, India the Technical Consultant will undertake the following key tasks and other responsibilities as may be assigned.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Technical Consultant is responsible for ensuring the following:

• Support the Make in Odisha, 2022 being organised jointly by Mission Shakti and Industries Department, by providing technical inputs to knowledge products as well as the design and development of Panels.
• Undertake desk review and compile a repository of State Policies on special provisions for women entrepreneurs in Odisha.
• Undertake desk review of existing policies of the government and suggest policy revisions/ incorporation of special provisions for women entrepreneurs.
• Support the preparation of new Policy Initiatives for strengthening the women SHGs specifically on
• Interest Subvention, SHG Product Marketing and State Level Federation based on evidence/best practices from other states/countries.
• Identify opportunities of partnerships with unique models & partner through Project Proposal for investment opportunities to promote the Mission Shakti SHGs in Odisha.
• Support the transition of the champion women Self Help Groups to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.

Deliverables:

• Develop a Workplan for UN Women to collaborate with the Mission Shakti Department
• Curate panels conversations, including identify speakers, develop briefing documents and develop knowledge products for Make in Odisha initiative.
• Review and compile a repository of the State Policies on special provisions for women entrepreneurs in Odisha, including work on new Policy initiatives.
• Develop proposal for resource mobilisations for strengthening Mission Shakti SHGs in Odisha.
• Coordinate with multiple agencies/organisations and participate in meetings/consultations with various stakeholders such as State government depts, CSO’s and other partners.
• Documentation & timely submission of monthly and Consultation/Meeting Reports.
• Any other tasks assigned by the Supervisors as per requirement.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles

Integrity:

Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff.
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicating and Information Sharing:
• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Functional Competencies:

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.
• Focuses on impact and result for the partners and responds positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, women’s rights, international studies, gender and development, law or any other related discipline.

Experience:

• 5 years of professional experience, preferably with the government or civil society sector on gender, skilling, employment and entrepreneurship.
• Experience of working on upscaling of women Self Help Groups and Federations.
• Experience of working with Government and knowledge of Government functions.
• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) required and advance knowledge of spread sheet and database packages desirable.

Language:

• Fluency in English and Odia. Good written & oral communication skills in Odia will be an added advantage.
• Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org.

Application:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from  http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs;
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
• Applications received after the close date will not be accepted;
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria:

Criteria for shortlisting of CVs will be based on the following assessment:

• Required Degree and Qualification (5 points);
• Minimum Experience relevant to the assignment (10 points);
• Working knowledge and experience of working with National /State Government (5 points);
• The evaluation process for selection of the candidate will be based on the following assessment:

Interview – 70 Points
Writing Samples – 30 Points

Please Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.

Note:

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.