International Consultant – To support Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo 2023

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 center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality are translated into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts while building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Building on the successes of the Europe and Central Asia Expo “Connect and Create” for Europe and Central Asia in 2021 and 2022, UN Women is launching the third phase of its Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo series “Partner and Accelerate.” It will engage partners and mentor networks established and new ones to be established, the Expo will seek to accelerate women entrepreneurs’ greater access to markets and finance. Enhanced focus will be put on inclusion of women owned businesses in the corporate supply chains. In making more women become successful entrepreneurs regionally and beyond, UN Women is looking for partners to facilitate new business connections and maximize their business growth. Women-owned and-led businesses are gaining momentum in Europe and Central Asia, presenting benefits for women, marginalized groups, local markets and regional businesses and investors. There is a huge amount of business potential waiting to be unlocked which can lead to greater economic and social transformation. The Expo will provide an interactive and inclusive professional space for women entrepreneurs and business partners to convene and work together to grow and flourish businesses.

Expo 2022 catalyzed ongoing strategic partnerships with international finance institutions (IFIs) and private sector companies to facilitate business connections and growth for women entrepreneurs. As a result of these partnerships, over 1,600 women entrepreneurs accessed an interactive and inclusive professional space to develop their skills, access business tools, and receive mentorship. Further, 243 women entrepreneurs physically presented and sold products and services through satellite Expos, and 163 women entrepreneurs increased their knowledge, networked, and promoted products during in satellite summits.

Reflective of the above, UN Women ECARO is seeking for several consultants experienced in working with entrepreneurs (pre-accelerators, accelerators, bootcamps etc), to provide expert support in planning, preparing and organizing the Expo. In addition, the consultants may support the profiling process and act as focal points for Expo in respective countries.

Goal and Objectives

The objective of this consultancy is to support UN Women’s ‘Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo 2023’ in the ECA region and provide technical expertise in Expo planning and coordination.

As this is a retainer contract, UN Women will engage the consultant on an ‘as-needed’ basis and does not commit to guaranteeing a certain number of days work for the consultant, noting that the maximum number of days within the contract will not be exceeded.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working under the guidance of, and in close collaboration with UN Women, the consultant will be responsible for the following as required:

• To develop entrepreneurs profile template and submit for UN Women’s approval;
• To review submitted applications of women entrepreneurs, assess against eligibility criteria, systematize, group per sector and develop individual profiles of women entrepreneurs
• In case of missing information in applications, follow up with entrepreneurs to fill in the information gaps;
• To maintain regular contact with women entrepreneurs (respond to their emails, clarification requests, ensure their participation in meetings, seminars etc) in close coordination with UN Women in English and in local language;
• To plan and conduct in close coordination with UN Women meetings/orientation sessions with women entrepreneurs to guide them through Expo stages;
• If necessary, conduct seminars on the topics identified in coordination with UN Women;
• Offer professional, creative and interactive techniques to plan and execute the sessions to most value for entrepreneurs and other attendees;
• Support planning of the agendas and sessions, identifying of guest speakers, and, if necessary, preparation of materials/resources/tools/ templates;
• Provide professional, proactive and client-orientated event management and coordination services;
• Ensure smooth and professional facilitation between participants, and transitions between the sessions;
• If needed, prepare session reports and include a toolkit with resources used and shared;
• In coordination with UN Women and relevant partners, conduct pre-event assessment on the knowledge and needs of participating women entrepreneurs and a post-event evaluation on their learnings;
• Guide women entrepreneurs to the pitching training sessions and document best practices for women entrepreneurs;
• Support the communication and visibility efforts of the Expo by working closely with UN Women teams and partners to maximize Expo visibility on relevant social media channels and showcase supporters, relevant briefs and reports, activities and achievements.
• Support in systematizing information for creation of virtual booths of women entrepreneurs;
• Support the preparation process of women entrepreneurs for the meeting with investors;
• Prepare the detailed report on the tasks accomplished during the consultancy;
• Other related deliverables as agreed with supervisor.

2023-04-12T15:25:28.000 2023-04-21T23:59:59.000 TELECOMMUTE Ukraine ООН Жінки в Україні