UN Women: Women Economic Empowerment, Private Sector and Financing for Gender Equality Consultant, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, International Consultant

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 its existing Strategic Note 2024-2028, PNG Country Office continues to deliver programmes that are aligned to global norms, policies and standards under four thematic areas; Women’s leadership and political participation; Women’s Economic Empowerment; Ending Violence Against Women; Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Actions

UN Women’s work on economic empowerment has focused on strengthening informal economy markets- their management, working conditions, recovering women’s incomes and opportunities for business diversification. UN Women has continued to contribute to improving working conditions for women informal traders through capacity building for market managers, promoting women’s inclusion in governance, and raising public awareness of hygiene and women’s rights. Furthermore, UN Women has supported recovery of women’s incomes through financial literacy, business skills development and access to finance.

Key to labour force participation and employment rates for women is their engagement in agriculture and fishing for household consumption in rural areas, where some 87 per cent of the population is concentrated. Limited access to formal sector opportunities restricts economic growth, especially for women, who face both formal and sociocultural barriers to formal employment, including GBV[i]. As a result, most women engage only in the informal sector, primarily in agriculture and micro- and small-scale retail. Meanwhile, women who enter the formal sector struggle to reach management level: just 13.8% of firms had a woman as a top manager in 2015. Estimates indicate that if women had equal employment opportunities, PNG’s GDP per capita could be 20.8% higher. Financial inclusion is growing rapidly across the country, partly because of the expansion of mobile banking services, but as with economic participation, women’s financial inclusion lags behind men’s. Although financial institutions, including microfinance institutions, are making inroads with new products and in reaching underserved populations, many small business owners (particularly women working informally) struggle to access formal credit.

[i] Papua New Guinea Country Gender Assessment, UN Women ADB 2026

Engagement of the private sector is critical is accelerating gender equality, especially unlocking women’s potentials. It is evident that businesses influence women's access to formal employment, equal pay, safe workplaces, leadership positions, financial services and markets. UN Women's Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) — a joint initiative with the UN Global Compact — provide companies with practical guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. To date, private sector engagement in PNG has been limited and ad hoc, and there is a need for a coherent, evidence-based strategy to build durable partnerships with businesses that can champion and resource gender equality outcomes.

In addition, despite PNG's rich natural resource base and economic growth potential, gender inequality remains pervasive. Women face significant barriers to accessing financial services, economic opportunities and resources, with deep structural, cultural and legal constraints limiting their full participation in the economy. The financing landscape for gender equality and women’s empowerment in PNG remains fragmented, with limited domestic public financing, restricted access to private sector capital for women-led enterprises and constrained international development assistance

UN Women is seeking to engage a consultant to lead the design of the women’s economic empowerment strategy in alignment with agreed priorities in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2024-2028). In particular, the role requires strong knowledge and experience in developing and implementing initiatives focused on business development and women’s financial inclusion, women’s voice and agency and social protection. It also requires supporting and developing mutually reinforcing partnerships with relevant regional bodies, Government counterparts, UN organisations, private sector, financial institutions, and CSOs – including deeper understanding of emerging issues in financing for gender equality.

Under the overall guidance of the Country Representative, the Consultant will report to the Deputy Country Representative. S/he will work closely with the senior technical and programme management and operations teams respectively, UN Women CO/RO/HQ staff, government officials, multi- and bi-lateral donors, and civil society to ensure successful UN Women programme implementation under the portfolio.

The consultant will undertake the following tasks and produce deliverables below:

Deliverable 1: Design and develop programme strategy, Brief and Presentation Package on Women’s Economic Empowerment

• Map ongoing/previous UN Women’s Programmes and projects on Women Economic Empowerment across the various thematic areas
• Review and identify emerging opportunities for strategic and catalytic interventions for Women economic empowerment – at the policy and programmatic levels.
• Undertake tailored consultations with keys stakeholders on UN Women’s value addition on women economic empowerment at national and provincial level – including with relevant government departments, civil society, UN and development partners.
• Draft country office strategy on economic empowerment including a brief, presentation for development partners and government

Deliverable 2: Engagement Strategy for the Private Sector to advance gender equality and women's economic empowerment.

• Map and analyse private sector actors, industry associations and business networks in PNG relevant to gender equality, women's economic empowerment and ending violence against women.
• Develop a private sector engagement strategy and partnership framework, including a prioritized pipeline of potential partners and clear value propositions for engagement.
• Support the establishment of platforms such as the private sector roundtable, to facilitate dialogue and build relationships between UN Women, companies, business chambers and relevant government/employer bodies including Business Coalition for Women, PNG Chamber of Commerce and Industry, etc.

Deliverable 3— Gender Financing Models Analysis, and Report, Policy Brief and Presentation Package.

• Develop a suite of gender financing models tailored to the PNG context, drawing on international best practice and the evidence
• Models should address a range of financing instruments and mechanisms including gender-responsive budgeting, blended finance, impact investing, women-focused microfinance, donor pooled funds and private sector partnerships.
• Each model should include a detailed implementation framework covering institutional arrangements, resource mobilisation strategies, monitoring and accountability mechanisms and sustainability pathways.
• Draft Gender Financing Models Report including full model descriptions, implementation frameworks and resource mobilisation recommendations.

Required Core and functional competencies:

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong knowledge of Entrepreneurship development, financial inclusion, and social protection
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategie

Required qualifications, experience:

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Business Studies, International Relations, Development Studies or related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Technical experience in informal economy engagement, mSME development, financial inclusion;
• Experience of working in developing contexts an added advantage
• Experience in coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset;
• Experience in leading/managing a team is an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English required;
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset;

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:

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong knowledge of Entrepreneurship development, financial inclusion, and social protection
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies

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.