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.

UN Women’s Country Office, based in New Delhi, India, works to accelerate the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women through the strengthening of strategic partnerships, technical and policy advisory services and advocacy with governmental, inter-governmental and civil society partners. In addition, UN Women CO is charged with leading and coordinating the UN system’s work on gender equality, including through ensuring accountability for results.

Aligned with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Women is currently implementing a programme called Empowering Women in STEM to motivate and support young women to pursue education and careers in STEM. The programme is aimed at empowerment of the most marginalized women and girls from the tribal areas of Gujarat, already enrolled in STEM courses in higher/technical/vocational education.

The programme is being implemented with Higher Education Institutes (HEI), Vocational Education Institutes and Technical Education Institutes in five districts of Gujarat to upskill young women and enable them to participate in the economy gainfully, or make informed choices to take up higher education in STEM.

The programme undertakes a holistic approach to empowerment offering pathways and support to access higher education, internships, apprenticeships, and employment opportunities for women. The programme offers a comprehensive solution by adopting a holistic approach, leveraging partnerships at all levels, using innovative pedagogies and finance to achieve its objective.

In this context, the Consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Programme Analyst and overall supervision of Country Programme Manager (WEE), to support in the management of programme activities and coordinate with relevant team members, including the operations team, implementing partner organisations and government officials, to ensure successful implementation of Programmes.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide technical support for the implementation of the Empowerment of Women in STEM program in Gujarat.
• Assist the state Department of Skill Development and Employment (DSDE), Government of Gujarat, in undertaking actions and initiatives on issues related to skilling and employment and/or as per the mandate and priorities of the Department.
• Coordinate and work with ITIs and Polytechnics in the program districts and other nodal departments towards successful implementation of the program
• Coordiante on the programmatic implementation with the Implementing partner, relevant stakeholders, partner orgnaisations and agencies in the state.
• Identify job opportunities for women passing out of ITIs and Polytechnics from the program districts.
• Mobilize companies and connects for placement of women graduating in the STEM field.
• Organize job fairs for the final year students graduating from the technical colleges.
• Support in the convergence of the program with other relevant departments/schemes/ programmes.
• Cooridnate for activities on women’s education, skilling and employment with relevant team members within the Department and UN Women, and work with them in close collaboration to ensure successful implementation of the programmes. This will also include facilitating systematic coordination between UN Women and the Department of Technical Education, Skill Development and Employment, Government of Gujarat
• Prepare briefing notes and updates on the status of women in Gujarat, particularly on issues of skilling and employment in the area of STEM in Gujarat.
• Conduct assessment and monitoring of the skilling and STEM programmes in Gujarat
• Support districts, where required, to prepare gender-responsive skill development plans and programs with a focus on STEM.
• Preparation of monthly performance reports.
• Any other duties assigned by Supervisors from time to time.

Deliverables:

• Inception Report/Workplan document with DSDE developed – November 2024
• New financial/non financial partnerships established for the programme through convergence with other departments/schemes/programmes – December 2024
• Technical inputs provided to the department on gender mainstreaming in STEM education, skilling and employment in the state – Ongoing
• Timely and quality technical support to the programme team and partners for preparation of background papers, programme briefs, speaking notes, customised research papers, etc. in line with work plan – Ongoing
• Monthly progress reports developed and submitted capturing quantitative and qualitative progress of the program to the Government as well as UN Women in consultation with UN Women M&E expert – First Week of Every Month
• Developed a list of network of employers and shared with Govt placement coordinators and staff that will assist all program participants in securing employment and/or internships. – March 2025
• Mobiilised private companies for participation in job fairs and for offering job/apprenticeship/ internships etc – Ongoing
• Facilitated exposure visits for program participants – February 2025
• Conducted capacity building trainings of placement coordinators of Govt ITIs and Polytechnics, contributing towards strengthening their capacities – March 2025
• Orientation of girls, boys and community members on gender and STEM – January 2025
• Mobilisation of more women in ITIs – Ongoing

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

• Good programme management, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Good knowledge of technical area
• Ability to identify and analyze trends and opportunities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Minimum masters degree in Science/Social Sciences/Development Studies with atleast 3 years of progressive experience in the area of STEM and/or working with government agencies; 5 years of exprience would be considered in lieu of Master’s degree;
• Degree in management related field will be an asset.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of experience in programme management, coordination and capacity building;
• Experience of working in the UN System is an asset;
• Experience in the thematic area of women’s economic empowerment will be an advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and working knowledge of Hindi is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org.

Application:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs.
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• Applications received after the close date will not be accepted.
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria:

Criteria for shortlisting of CVs will be based on the following assessment:

• Required Degree and Qualification (5 points).
• Minimum Experience relevant to the assignment (10 points).
• Working knowledge and experience of working with National/State Government (5 points).

The evaluation process for selection of the candidate will be based on the following assessment:

• Interview
• Writing Samples

Please Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
• Consultants are required to submit doctor’s certificate to state fitness to work and travel for this assignment.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.
• The consultant is expected to use their own computer equipment. The office will not provide any computer equipment for this assignment.
• This is a full-time assignment. The consultant is expected to disclose any outside activity and shall not be permitted to take up any outside work during this assignment.

Note:

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.