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.

The work of UN Women in Moldova is guided by its new Country Strategic Note 2023-2027, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Moldova (2023-2027), UN Women Global Strategic Plan, National Programs and Strategies and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Note focuses on four main areas: 1) Ending Violence against Women; 2) Women’s Leadership and Governance; 3) Women’s Economic Empowerment; and 4) Humanitarian and Peace development nexus and UN Coordination on gender equality and women empowerment.

To ensure that women and girls, including those at greatest risk of being left behind, have improved access to resources, equal opportunities, and rights to enjoy a life without discrimination and violence, UN Women is implementing the project “Ending Violence, Expanding Livelihood Opportunities for Women and Accelerating Gender Governance in Moldova (EVOLVE4GE)” with financial support of European Union. The project addresses the key challenges women and girls face in the country, such as a) gender-blind policies and budgets that enable the persistence and perpetuation of gender inequalities; b) uneven participation, contribution, and benefit of women and men from the national economy; c) high prevalence of gender-based violence and limited access to specialist services and capacities for integrated service provision.

One of the key priorities is to support national authorities in advancing women’s economic empowerment through data generation and analysis of women’s entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova. Building upon existing national analyses/studies on women’s entrepreneurship, UN Women will further support the data collection and analysis of women’s and men’s entrepreneurship activity and identify entry points for enhancing entrepreneurial opportunities.  By releasing a new study in this field, UN Women will bolster its support to the NBS and public authorities (as data producers and data users) to enhance the availability of data for developing a business environment that embraces sex disaggregation of data across the existing database.

In this regard, UN Women aims to engage a consultant who will be responsible for developing the concept and methodology for collecting and analyzing data on women’s entrepreneurship, including tailored support to NBS from the design stage to the data analysis and interpretation.

The study will provide comprehensive data and evidence of women’s overall participation and representation in entrepreneurship, including the number of women-owned businesses, their share in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and the sectors they operate in, access to finance and property, economic performance and export activities, use of innovation and information technologies within enterprises, etc.

The study aims to inform actions to remove barriers for women in business and recommendations for improving national policies and legal frameworks on women’s economic empowerment.

The consultant will report to the Pillar lead on economic empowerment and will be supported by the Project Officer on women’s economic empowerment, who will be the point of contact on contract and payment issues.

Deliverables

Working under the overall supervision of the UN Women Project officer on economic empowerment, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

As per Responsibilities outlined above, the incumbent will be responsible for delivering the following outputs:

• Assessment of the current data on women entrepreneurship collected by NBS
• Concept and methodology for the study on women’s entrepreneurship, including data collection instruments
• Survey for collection of data on women’s entrepreneurship
• Statistic report on women’s entrepreneurship

Language of deliverables  

• The reports and timesheets delivered to UN Women shall be prepared in English.
• The technical deliverables shall be provided in Romanian, upon need, in English.
• The technical deliverables shall be developed in consultation with NBS and UN Women.

The assignment should be carried out within a period of 12 months, not exceeding 75 working days (with the possibility of extension following satisfactory performance and needs for support expressed by national counterparts).

The assignment’s start date is envisaged for November 202​4​ and will be completed by November​ 2025 unless UN Women extends it based on amended ToRs.

Note: The mentioned number of working days has been estimated as sufficient/ feasible for the envisaged volume of work to be completed successfully and is proposed as a guideline for the duration of the assignment. It cannot and shall not be used as a criterion for the completion of work/assignments. The provision of envisaged deliverables approved by the UN Women Programme Analyst on Women in Leadership and Governance shall be the only criteria for the Consultant’s work being completed and eligible for payment/s.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. Under the current assignment, no travel is envisaged. In the case of unforeseeable travel, UN Women will ensure transportation outside Chisinau. All travel shall be coordinated with UN Women.

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:

• Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research methods, including designing effective surveys, including question formulation, sampling methods, and administration techniques.
• Ability to interpret data results accurately and derive meaningful insights and conclusions.
• Knowledge of gender dynamics, women’s economic participation, and the specific barriers women face in business.
• Ability to write clear, comprehensive, and accessible research reports that present findings, insights, and recommendations.

Education and Certification:

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics/Statistics/ Ergonomics or a 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.
• Other formal education relevant to the assignment is an asset.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of proven experience in designing and executing surveys, interviews, and focus groups specifically aimed at understanding entrepreneurial activities is required.
• Minimum 5 years of proved ability to analyze quantitative data using statistical methods and qualitative data through thematic analysis or similar techniques is required.
• Previous experience in studying entrepreneurship, with a particular emphasis on women entrepreneurs, small businesses, or startup ecosystems is an asset.
• Experience in working with international organizations (successful experience in working with UN agencies) is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in verbal & written Romanian and English.
• Working knowledge of Russian will be considered an asset.​

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE 

Interested candidates are invited to submit applications with the following documents. 

• Duly filled UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc . Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.
• Letter of Intent to include a brief overview of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position.  (maximum length: 1 page).

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. 

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.)