UN Women: International Consultant- Gender-Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development

Background:

UN Women is committed to promoting gender equality and empowering women globally, working to eliminate discrimination and achieve equality between women and men in all areas of life. The organization leads and coordinates efforts within the United Nations system to ensure that gender equality commitments are realized, providing strong leadership and fostering partnerships with civil society and other stakeholders.

Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) is central to UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2026-2029, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that focus on gender equality, decent work, poverty reduction, and inclusive growth. In the Asia-Pacific region, UN Women’s initiatives aim to advance gender-responsive business practices, transform the care economy, supports building inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems , and promote gender-responsive markets for climate action. These efforts are integrated with broader work in sectors such as climate change, ending violence against women, and humanitarian action.

At the regional level in Asia Pacific, UN Women has been working to support women entrepreneurs and gender inclusive businesses through multiple programmes. These programmes support entrepreneurs in identified impact economies, for example the Care and Green Economy – both holding the potential for outsized gender impact, and aim to create new/improved livelihoods for women through enabling their participation in the workforce.

The UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific’s Women’s Economic Empowerment team is seeking to hire an International Consultant to manage programmes related to ‘Gender-Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development’ , inclusive of enterprise support, skill development, and sustainable finance and also support UN Women’s efforts on policy advocacy supporting local and national governments as well as regional bodies, such as for example ASEAN and SAARC. This consultancy will be under the supervision and guidance of the Regional Advisor for Women’s Economic Empowerment. Under the strategic guidance of the WEE Regional advisor the consultant will have oversight of the overall entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy development and implementation and will lead the implementation of regional programmes such as:
Climate and Care Entrepreneurship Programming: Supported by Visa Foundation, the "UN Women Care and Climate Entrepreneurship Accelerator” works across the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions to support women-owned and women-benefitting enterprises operating in the care economy, the green economy and their intersection. This gender-smart acceleration programme provides enterprises with essential business support, gender expertise, mentorship, access to opportunities to raise capital and access to networks to build inclusive and resilient businesses. It also fosters cross-regional collaboration and knowledge-sharing and engages policymakers, experts, financiers and enterprise-support organizations to strengthen the ecosystem of support for impact enterprises and to catalyse investments in the care and green economies.

This programme is part of UN Women’s private sector innovation platform: UN Women Asia and the Pacific Gender Action Lab (GAL) – Innovation for Impact aiming to foster private sector innovations and concrete actions that advance gender equality and women’s empowerment and build more inclusive economies across the region. In collaboration with the private sector, the GAL will identify, pilot and scale up innovative multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives aligned with the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), such as thematic innovation labs, hackathons, incubators and accelerators, policy labs, applied research initiatives and other partnership support programmes. Finally, the GAL will generate new data and provide technical assistance to advance policy, investment and ecosystem development for gender-transformative innovations.

The consultant will lead the development of UN Women’s overall regional Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Strategy as a key pillar of the Gender Action Lab.

The Care and Climate Catalyst Program Asia: This is a pioneering initiative anchored by Dharmalife Foundation gGmbH (Dharmalife Labs), in close collaboration with UN Women, The Asia Foundation (TAF), and London Business School, to address the urgent and intertwined challenges of unpaid care work and climate vulnerability across the Asia-Pacific region. At a time when the global care crisis is intensifying alongside the climate emergency (particularly affecting low-income, resource-scarce populations) this program aims to reimagine care systems, strengthen climate resilience, and advance women’s economic empowerment.

At the same time UN Women is working together with UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on the second phase of the regional programme EmPower: Women for Climate Resilient Societies project, targeting Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Viet Nam, along with a regional focus, with the aim of building women’s resilience to climate change. The project is working towards supporting duty bearers in raising ambition in mitigation and adaptation, enabling women and marginalised groups leadership and participation in climate-related decision-making, and enhancing access of women and marginalised groups to climate-resilient livelihoods using renewable and other low carbon technologies. UN Women is uniquely positioned given complementary programmes to leverage synergies at the country level and drive regional action.

Through this Consultant, UN Women is aiming to strengthen its programmatic, normative and coordination work in its work in the intersection of: Women’s Entrepreneurship, Gender Financing and Climate Action.

This assignment is designed to enhance UN Women’s Leadership in Asia and the Pacific to build strong and effective coalitions with stakeholders, namely government, development partners, the private and civil society organizations particularly in South and Southeast Asia, for transformative change in building more Gender- Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Financing Ecosystemsin Asia and the Pacific focused on impact economies (i.e. Climate, Care, Tech etc.) . The International Consultant will work in close collaboration with the ROAP programme and operations team, UN Women country offices (COs) and programme presences, government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors, civil society and the private sector and programmatic partners. The Consultant will work in the Women’s Economic Empowerment Team, reporting to the WEE Programme Lead and will also contribute to the UN Women’s Resilience Team providing technical and coordination support.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work:

The Consultant will undertake the following tasks:

1. Programme Implementation and Technical Support

• Provide technical support and supervision for the implementation, management, and reporting of the UN Women Care and Climate Entrepreneurship Accelerator, and the Care and Climate Catalyst Program Asia.
• Provide technical assistance to service providers, including providing operational oversight, and guiding implementation of accelerator programmes.
• Ensure accelerators are implemented in a gender‑responsive way using UN Women resources (e.g., WE RISE Toolkits for Accelerators and Entrepreneurs).
• Contribute to synergies between entrepreneurship programming and policy advocacy efforts through engagement with ASEAN and SAARC (as required)

2. Capacity Building, Training and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Toolbox Development

• Support implementing partners to conduct trainings for climate and care entrepreneurs in gender‑responsive business conduct and inclusive business models.
• Document, consolidate and systematize all UN Women entrepreneurship capacity-building curricula and materials, including advocacy training content, gender equality modules and financing-related curricula, and integrate relevant resources into the WE RISE Toolbox. Establish a curated library for Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Partners and socialize the materials within the UN Women WEE Community of Practice to promote a more coordinated, accessible and efficient approach to entrepreneurship capacity-building across the region.
• Provide oversight into the delivery of tailored business support for relevant entrepreneurs to prepare them to be investment‑ready, connect them to networks, and access finance.

3. Communications and Advocacy

• Support communications and advocacy efforts to promote women’s entrepreneurship in climate action, with focus on key programmes
• Co‑organize events and advocacy initiatives.
• Develop knowledge products, background notes, thought pieces as required to support advocacy efforts.
• Develop impact stories in collaboration with WEE Communications Officer to showcase entrepreneurs in the public domain.
• Work closely with UN Women and experts to advocate for policy reforms and create enabling environments for women entrepreneurs.
• Provide technical inputs to UN Women ROAP’s Resilience Team to support achievement of resilience outcomes.

4. Finance Access and Enterprise Support

• Support enterprises under the UN Women Care and Climate Entrepreneurship Accelerator to access finance under relevant in-house finance facilities, donors and external sources.
• Promote uptake of Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) among engaged businesses.
• Assist implementing partners in identifying additional finance partners.

5. Gender-Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Strategy Development

• Lead the development Gender-Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Strategy (inclusive of Gender-Lens Investing pillar)
• Codify UN Women’s Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Offering
• Consult with key countries (e.g., China, India, Indonesia) to ensure regional relevance of the newly developed strategy
• Establish partnerships with key entrepreneurship and financing institutions in strong collaboration with the UN Women Sustainable Finance consultant
• Develop a strategic anchor and approach of the ‘Entrepreneurship Systems Approach’ with UN Women’s Innovation Platform Gender Action Lab

6. Resource Mobilization and Partnerships

• Develop presentations, briefings, and concept notes for resource mobilization.
• Organize panels, small events, and convenings to engage stakeholders.
• Advance advocacy, policy changes, and programming in sustainable finance and impact entrepreneurship.
• Prepare a clear action plan for resource mobilization in these areas.

7. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Expected Deliverables:

Provide monthly progress report on the following activities (as relevant):

• Programme Implementation and Technical Support
• Capacity Building, Training and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Toolbox Development
• Communications and Advocacy
• Finance Access and Enterprise Support
• Gender-Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Strategy Development
• Resource Mobilization and Partnerships

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel:

This consultancy is home-based. The consultant is expected to work on a full-time basis (20 working days per month). As part of the official duty of this consultancy, the consultant may be expected to travel (including up to 2 visits to Bangkok during the initial assignment duration), which will be processed by UN Women, following the duty travel policy.

Schedule of Payments:

A monthly rate will be paid upon submission of a monthly update reports with an approval of the supervisor.

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 this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of Gender-Lens Investing and Financing
• Strong overall knowledge of women’s entrepreneurship and women’s economic empowerment
• Strong technical expertise in climate economy
• Strong writing skills
• Strong knowledge of development and political understanding in ASEAN
• Ability to work with different stakeholders from private sectors, investors up to policy makers and donors
• Strong ability to work on the practical implementation of programmes

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, law, public policy and governance, gender/women's studies, international development, finance, business administration or a related field is required;
• A first-level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in ASEAN in the space of minimum 2 of the following areas: women’s economic empowerment, gender financing, entrepreneurship business development and/or acceleration, and climate technology
• Experience in implementation of entrepreneurship programming
• Experience working with government, private sector and/or investors in ASEAN
• Experience in providing capacity building, training or support to entrepreneurs and/or investors in climate change / gender-lens investing
• UN experience is an asset

Language and report writing requirements:

• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Strong proficiency in English. Other UN languages an asset.
• Fluency in another South-East Asian spoken language is a strong asset

Statements :

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.