The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of 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 is also leading and coordinating the United Nations System to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. 

UN Women provides a strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with Civil Society Organisations, Private Sector and other relevant actors to attain gender equality. 

UN Women has recently developed a set of 12 global flagship programming initiatives that respond to its strategic plan, of which” Stimulating Equal Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs through Affirmative procurement, Investment and Supply Chain Policies” (hereafter affirmative procurement) is one. The Affirmative procurement programme is aligned to Goal 2 of UN Women’s Strategic Plan that” women especially the poorest and most excluded, are economically empowered and benefit from development”. UN Women South Africa Multi-Country Office[1] (UN Women SAMCO) is currently developing a flagship programme on Stimulating Equal Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs through Affirmative Procurement, Investment and Supply Chain Policies. The programme will seek to improve women’s access to public and private procurement of goods and services in general, linking women through the value chain directing existing large investments that are being made in entrepreneurship and procurement to women.

For this purpose, UN Women is requesting proposals from companies with significant expertise in the broad area of Women Economic Empowerment as well research and policy analysis to develop and produce an updated baseline study on Affirmative Procurement in South Africa. The initial procurement study was conducted by Frontier Advisors in 2013, supported by Business Women Association and funded by Oxfam which identified some of the key constraints to greater participation in government procurement by women. The research finding will be used to inform and strengthen programme implementation.

The company will develop and produce an Updated Research Report on the Status of Women Owned Businesses in Government Procurement in South Africa. The research will provide a comprehensive analysis of Women Owned Business and identify perceived main barriers in accessing government procurement opportunities. Lastly the research will identify key recommendations to address the barriers.

• Produce comprehensive analysis of women owned businesses and entrepreuners in government procurement policy and practice in South Africa.
• Identify common barriers experienced by women owned businesses and entrepreneurs
• Compile a list of recommendations and identify potential entry points for UN Women work.
• Implementation of the research process
• Produce research report 

• Deliverable One: Inception Report containing detailed work-plan specifying activities and timelines agreed with UN Women; detailed description of the baseline methodology including sampling, ethical considerations and data collection tools to be developed in close consultation with UN Women; Week 1
• Deliverable Two: Data collection tools ; Developed in close consultations with UN Women, Week 2 
• Deliverable Three : Inception meeting with key stakeholders

• Deliverable Four: Guidelines in Data Collection ; Data Cleaning Process and Data Entry for data collectors, Week 3 and 6
• Deliverable Five: Data Analysis and Draft Report ;  Quantitative and qualitative data analysed and triangulated, week 7 to 9
• Deliverable Six: Draft Report Developed and presented ;  Finalization of the report in close collaboration with UN Women and relevant stakeholders in English, with relevant annexes in same language as the report.  The report will include as a minimum: an executive summary presenting key findings; a methodology section detailing how the data was collected and analyzed, sampling strategy, and any limitations to the validity of the findings; the main body of the baseline report will include data for all indicators that will enable changes to be tracked over time; demographic data on age, sex, and marital status must be captured; all data must be disaggregated by sex and age; any other issues such as disability status, membership of women businesses, etc., must also be taken into account as far as possible and captured; and conclusions, which will analyze the various survey questions. Conclusions will have to be derived from findings and analysis thereof. Recommendations should be clearly related to conclusions but presented separately. The annexes will include the questionnaires, locations, date, time, and name of interviewers.
• Deliverable Seven : Power Point Presentation
• Deliverable Eight : Draft Policy Brief containing key policy considerations

   

  Location of assignment

• The assignment is home based.

April 2017 – June 2017 

Remuneration

• Amounts will be paid against deliverables and certification of the work. 
• Any anticipated travel expenses must be included in the financial proposal.

   

Core values / guiding principles

• Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values relating to human rights
• 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 competences

• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity Organizational Awareness
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment Development and Innovation
• 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 behavior 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 
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making 

   

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Team Leader

• Master’s Degree (Ph.D. preferred but not required) in Social sciences, Social Research, Gender & Development Studies, Demography or a related field.

Experience:

• At least 10 years’ demonstrable experience in research of both qualitative data and quantitative data;
• Experience working on Women Economic Empowerment and or on similar procurement studies
• Working experience in South Africa social research and policy analysis.

Languages:

• Fluency in English.

Team Leader

• Significant experience conducting research on social and economic policy 
• Strong qualitative methodological and analytical skills with considerable knowledge of the field of gender and the use of participatory research methods;
• Significant experience in surveys and use of mixed methods of research;
• Proven expertise in the area of conducting qualitative research, including focus group discussions and in-depth interviews;
• Proven capacity to work with a broad range of partners, including statistical experts, government bodies, non-government organisations and academia;
• Ability to work independently and as part of a small team, manage competing priorities and perform well under pressure;
• Experience in supporting or contributing to national policy development.

   

  Please send your proposal, together with the financial aspect of the proposal with a subject line “Women Procurement Study Document” to: [email protected]