National Consultant- To plan and moderate a Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo, and facilitate participants’ learning

Background

1. 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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women has the mandate to lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate 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

COVID-19 is threatening to and can actually reverse gains made towards gender equality, and roll-back progress needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. To counteract the negative effects of COVID-19, the UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECA RO) are implementing a project funded by the Government of Japan: ‘Responding to the urgent needs of women and girls in marginalized and vulnerable situation exacerbated by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Europe and Central Asia’. Under this project, UN Women ECA RO are supporting women entrepreneurs (including vulnerable women and those affected by COVID-19) and providing them with opportunities to start, grow and secure their businesses beyond local markets.

A virtual ‘Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo’ will be between April-May 2021 and bring women entrepreneurs from across the region together with private sector companies, business leaders, investors and experts. With over 100 women entrepreneurs expected to attend, the Expo will offer them a platform to meet the wider business community in a relaxed and creative environment, and is designed to give women the tools, ideas and inspiration to plan their next entrepreneurial move.

Reflective of the above, UN Women ECA RO is seeking a consultant to provide specialist support in planning and moderating the Expo. In addition, the consultant will provide facilitation support during plenary and break-out sessions, and stimulate online engagement and learning between women entrepreneurs, business leaders and other participants. 

Duties and Responsibilities

2. Goal and Objectives

The objectives of this consultancy are to host UN Women’s first ‘Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo’ in the ECA region and provide technical support and expertise in Expo planning and management. The consultant will train, coach and prepare women entrepreneurs to develop and pitch business ideas to an online jury comprised of representatives of the private sector, business investors and women entrepreneurs. The consultant will also be the event moderator and master of ceremonies.  

 

3. Duties and Responsibilities

Working under the guidance of, and in close collaboration with the Expo project team in UN Women ECA RO, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

 

Expo planning and deliver trainings and coaching sessions  

• Plan the agendas and sessions, identify guest speakers, and prepare materials/resources/tools/ templates to host 2 creative and interactive business pitch sessions and a ‘Dragon’s Den’
• Pitch session I (training): The consultant will introduce women entrepreneurs to business pitch development concepts and guide them to develop and ‘sell’ their business pitches to investors and companies.
• Pitch session II (coaching): The consultant will provide one-to-one coaching to the groups, review pitches and offer guidance to improve pitches ahead of the Dragon’s Den session (an investor pitching session).
• Offer professional, creative and interactive techniques to plan and execute the sessions to most value for entrepreneurs and other attendees
• Ensure co-ordination of Expo hosting platform with a technical co-ordination team working on the platform and communicate requirements with UN Women team (if use of technical co-ordination team is required)
• The consultant will be responsible for the planning and execution of the sessions under his/her responsibility (and as agreed with UN Women ECA RO) in a timely manner and to assert the business and learning objectives of the Expo.
• Other related deliverables as agreed with supervisor.

 

Expo moderating and facilitation and coaching

• Provide professional, proactive and client-orientated event management and hosting services.
• Ensure smooth and professional facilitation between participants, and transitions between the sessions.
• As the master of ceremonies, welcome participants, introduce speakers and provide short summaries after each session, give appreciation to sponsors and direct participants to sessions and platforms being used.
• Other related deliverables as agreed with supervisor.

 

Expo report, and communications and visibility

• Prepare session reports and include a toolkit with resources used and shared.
• Conduct pre-event assessment on the knowledge and needs of participating women entrepreneurs and a post-event evaluation on their learnings.
• Prepare profiles of women entrepreneurs and their businesses on how they can take forward their learning from the Expo – with tips, advice and best practices.
• Prepare a short brief of the pitching training sessions and best practices for women entrepreneurs.
• Support the communication and visibility efforts of the Expo by working closely with UN Women team and partners to maximize Expo visibility on relevant social media channels and showcase supporters, relevant briefs and reports, activities and achievements.
• Other related deliverables as agreed with supervisor.

 

4. Deliverables

The consultant will be required to support and produce the following indicative key deliverables within a period of 35 days between 5 March to 25 April 2021:

Deliverables	Timeframe
Detailed weekly work plan of how the tasks in the TORs will be delivered, and timelines	By 17 March
Updated full agenda with detailed plan of each session – include roles, areas and levels of engagement from women entrepreneurs, representatives of private sector, business investors and other guests/participants	By 26 March
Detailed plan and resources to be used for sessions: Pitch session I (training), Pitch session II (coaching) and the Dragon’s Den session	By 26 March
Detailed planning and coordination support of all sessions during the expo (including liaising with stakeholders and creating a pitching template for entrepreneurs to use)	By 18 March
Design a pre-Expo needs and knowledge assessment for participating women entrepreneurs and private sector/investors	By 31 March
Design, and add to technical platform, polls to be conducted during the Expo for entrepreneur and private sector attendees	By 22 March
Design a post-Expo evaluation on knowledge and learning for participating women entrepreneurs and private sector/investors	By 9 April
Moderation, facilitation (preparing and delivering), technical support for event coordination	Between 12 April and 21 May
Develop profiles of each Expo group (up to 10) comprised of women entrepreneurs, and develop a toolkit of blueprint business  plans/ideas and how women entrepreneurs can take forward their learning from the Expo – with tips, advice and best practices.	Between 14 April and 7 May
Detailed reports from 3 sessions (Pitching perfectly 1, 2 and Dragon’s Den), including toolkits, resources, best practices provided to the women entrepreneurs (including drafts and re-drafts)	Between 10 and 23 May

 

Competencies

5. Competencies

 

Core Values:

• 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 respect for diversity - Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Additionally, the individual should have an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

 

Core Competencies:

• Communication - Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
• Planning & Organizing – Develops clear goals in line with agreed strategies, identifies priorities, foresees risks and makes allowances accordingly.
• Organizational Awareness - Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Teamwork - Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Accountability – Takes ownership of all responsibilities and delivers outputs in accordance with agreed time, cost and quality standards.

 

Functional Competencies:

• Proven organizational and networking skills, demonstrating ability to build Partnerships by maintaining a network of contacts for general information sharing and being up-to-date on issues.
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with UN Staff members; 

Required Skills and Experience

6. Required Skills and Experience:

 

Education and certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in business management, social sciences, public administration, international relations, communications, gender studies, or a related field relevant to the requirements of this TOR;

A Bachelor’s degree can be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree with two additional years relevant experience (total 7 years).

 

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in entrepreneurship skills development (women's economic empowerment)
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience at a national and/or international level in event planning, hosting and management, and developing event related material
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience at a national and/or international level mentoring and coaching entrepreneurs in business idea generation and facilitating businesses and entrepreneur networking
• Experience working with the UN and/or civil society organizations, international institutions and the private sector is an asset
• Experience working in the Europe and Central Asia region is an asset

 

Language and Other Skill Requirements

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required
• Knowledge of a local language, Turkish and/or Russian is an asset
• Good skills in event platforms (TV and online) are required
• Good computer skills in Windows, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Power Point, Word, Excel) required 

 

7. Application procedure:

 

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

• Cover letter to include a brief overview about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position
• P11 including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted with the application
• Financial Proposal a US$ amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days). The Consultant will work from home.

 

8. Payment schedule

 

Workplan will be set at beginning of the contract with clear scheduled milestones/deliverables. This workplan will be agreed between the Consultant and the ECA RO supervisor of the Japan funded project.

Monthly payments will be made based on the Supervisor reviewing and confirming that the consultant has met the required deliverables set in this workplan. This will also be accompanied by a time sheet submitted by the Consultant to the Supervisor.

 

 

9. Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

 

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

 

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

	Evaluation Criteria	Max points
TECHNICAL EVALUATION (70%)
Language Requirements	Fluency in written and spoken English	REQUIRED
Education	Minimum educational requirement	10
Professional experience	5 years of professional experience at a national and/or international level in event planning, hosting and management, and developing event related material	25
	Minimum 5 years of professional experience at a national and/or international level mentoring and coaching entrepreneurs in business idea generation and facilitating businesses and entrepreneur networking	30
	Experience working in the UN and the Europe and Central Asia region is an asset	5
Total technical		70

 

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points:

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated