Background

In support of the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women (NSEEW), the work of the UN Women Egypt Country Office (ECO) is grounded in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA).

Under the Egypt/UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2027 and the Entity’s portfolio’s within, UN Women ECO implements its triple mandate of supporting normative standard-setting to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, implementing national and grassroots programmes grounded in international norms and best practices in partnership with national stakeholders, and strengthening UN system coordination. Over two decades of work in the country has resulted in UN Women ECO consolidating its expertise, partnerships, and investments around three main areas of work: women’s leadership and system-wide support to advancing gender equality; women’s economic empowerment; and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, including harmful practices.

The Government of Egypt has declared women’s empowerment to be an important goal with high level of political support illustrated in both Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy (Vision 2030) and the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 (NSWE). It is also a main pillar of the UNSDCF 2023-2027.

Women’s economic empowerment – which includes facilitating gainful employment and decent work opportunities, including entrepreneurship as well as safe work environments – is central to realising women’s rights and gender equality. Women’s economic empowerment includes women’s ability to participate equally in existing markets; their access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time and lives; financial inclusion and increased voice and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels. Empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps in the world of work are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 5, to achieve gender equality, and Goal 8, to promote full and productive employment and decent work for all; also Goal 1 on ending poverty, Goal 2 on food security, Goal 3 on ensuring health and Goal 10 on reducing inequalities.

About the “Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt” project

In partnership with the Government of Egypt and private sector, UN Women ECO and the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) are implementing a three-year project titled “Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt”. The project aims to ensure that women in three Governorates in Egypt are economically empowered through access to capacity development, decent employment opportunities, and increased community support for gender equality through enhanced cultural perceptions to realise the two outcomes:

• Outcome 1: A gender-responsive private sector that attracts, retains, and invests in women is expanded.
• Outcome 2: Women’s active participation in the private sector is facilitated.

About the “Women’s Economic Empowerment for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in Egypt – Rabeha” Programme

In partnership with the Government of Egypt, UN Women and UNIDO are implementing this five-year programme (ending in June 2025) funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The programme has exceeded its aim of reaching 6,300 direct beneficiaries of women entrepreneurs and women job seekers. The programme reflects an integrated approach combining both upstream interventions at the policy level and downstream measures directly working with women and businesses to realize each of the three outcomes:

• Outcome 1100: Increased productivity and job opportunities generated by women entrepreneurs.
• Outcome 1200: Increased employment of women by businesses.
• Outcome 1300: Reduced gender-specific barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and to women entering and remaining in the work force.

The Programme is implemented through partnerships with the National Council for Women (NCW), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), and the Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA). It also engages multiple service providers and implementing partners who contribute to the different program components.

Objective of the Assignment

Reporting to the UN Women Programme Analyst, under the overall supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist and UN Women Head of Programmes, UN Women will recruit up to 4 trainers with product design and quality expertise in the handicrafts sector (with a focus on recycled products, leather making, jewellery making, cosmetics, and textiles). The trainers will support women entrepreneurs in upgrading the design and quality of their handicrafts products and enhancing their product-market fit through providing them with hands-on technical capacity building services to ensure their products match the market needs and taste. The training aims to increase the entrepreneurs’ capacity to follow the creative process to create unique products with unique design identities that respond to the design trends in their target markets, using sustainable packaging, in order to increase the marketability of their products. The training should also cover other topics including but not limited to quality control and standards, raw material selection, available technologies, and the opportunities for upcycling available raw material. The selected trainers will be expected to work together in designing the training material as well as in setting the criteria for selecting the participants.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Training Design and Development of Material: Design a 5-day product design and quality training for women entrepreneurs in the handicraft sectors of recycling products, leather making, textiles, and jewelry making, with the aim to increase the entrepreneurs’ capacity to create unique products with unique design identities and high-quality standards, ready for the high-end local market and international markets. The training should also cover other topics including but not limited to stages of the creative process, design basics, understanding market trends, quality control and standards, raw material selection, available technologies, and the opportunities for upcycling available raw material. The trainer is responsible to submit a clear plan for the best learning approach and objectives for each topic, the training agenda, and the training presentations to UN Women for approval before commencing the workshops.

2. Participants’ Selection: Develop the selection criteria for, review the profiles of, and follow up on the attendance of the nominated participants from the larger pool of women entrepreneurs in the handicrafts sector (especially in the leather making, product recycling, textiles, and jewelry making sub-sectors) that have benefitted from UN Women’s entrepreneurship services under both programmes.

3. Training Delivery: Deliver 10 rounds of the training in Arabic for a total of 200 women entrepreneurs in the following governorates: Cairo, Alexandria, Minya, Fayoum, and Beni Suef. Each training round should consist of at least 5 days of training covering the above-mentioned topics. The trainer is to submit a training reflection by the end of each training round that includes the means of verification (attendance sheets, pictures, etc), and observations on the participants’ engagement and skills acquisition. The trainer is also responsible to liaise with the events management team and communicate all the needed logistical provisions to ensure a smooth running of the workshops.

4. Training Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting: Develop the monitoring and evaluation tools for the trainings, including pre and post assessments, learning assessments, and feedback surveys. Follow up on the participants’ submission of the above-mentioned tools, as well as gather the needed documents from the participants, including their national IDs and signed attendance sheets.

Submit a final comprehensive report summarizing the overall training program, key findings, and recommendations for future training initiatives. It should include the:

• Overall analysis of participants’ demographics and attendance;
• Analysis of the pre- and post-assessment results;
• Learnings and observations on participant engagement and skill acquisition;
• Identification of top performing participants;
• Further needs of participants to ensure high quality products;
• Recommendations for improvement.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

The assignment will require the consultant to travel to Alexandria, Minya, Beni Suef, and Fayoum in order to deliver the training sessions, as well as to commute within greater Cairo.

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.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Demonstrated expertise in the design and production of high-quality handicraft products;
• Strong up-to-date knowledge of the latest design trends and understanding of market needs;
• Experience in developing engaging and effective training materials for adult learners;
• Strong communication and presentation skills;
• Ability to adapt training content to diverse audiences;
• Proven track record of successful training program implementation;
• Ability to draft and communicate high quality clear and concise outputs;
• Capacity to set priorities, self-organize and to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time;
• Knowledge and use of computer office tools (powerpoint, etc).

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification

• Bachelor’s degree in arts, applied arts, product design, industrial production, or similar, is required.

Experience

• At least 3 years of demonstrated expertise in handicraft design and quality assurance procedures, required.
• 2 years of proven experience in designing and delivering effective training programs including interactive presentations, required.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate productive group discussions and provide constructive feedback, required.
• Strong understanding of market needs, taste, and design trends, required.
• Understanding of sustainability and circular economy provisions, is an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency (written & spoken) in English is required.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 100% (100 points)

• Criteria 1: Bachelor’s degree in arts, applied arts, product design, industrial production, or similar (15 points).
• Criteria 2: At least 3 years of demonstrated expertise in handicraft design and quality assurance procedures (25 points).
• Criteria 3: 2 years of proven experience in designing and delivering effective training programs including interactive presentations (20 points).
• Criteria 4: Demonstrated ability to facilitate productive group discussions and provide constructive feedback (15 points).
• Criteria 5: Strong understanding of market needs, taste, and design trends (15 points).
• Criteria 6: Understanding of sustainability and circular economy provisions (10 points).

Application:

Interested Individual Candidate must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11). UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; make sure that you sign the form, and
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment, and
• A cover letter (no more than 400 words) explaining your suitability for the assigned task in Arabic or English.
• Applicants must submit samples of previous animation videos produced.

The above-mentioned documents MUST BE merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to uploading one file per application.

You can merge your documents by using Online resources.

Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification. Make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications.

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.)