UN Women is grounded in the vision of equality as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, it 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.
Background of the consultancy
UN Women is implementing a two-year project on Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment through Climate-Resilient Agribusiness in Nigeria. The project seeks to contribute to reduction in food insecurity and promote employment creation and increased incomes and economic security for women engaged in the rice value chain in Ebonyi State, and shea value chain in Niger State by working to achieve this key objective;
The project is designed to close the gender gap in ownership and control of productive resources by strengthening women’s agricultural productivity and access to markets in the rice and shea value chains.
The project aims to achieve the following results and target women farmers to benefit from the following interventions:
Women dominate the agriculture sector in Nigeria, where they work as farmers, food processors, and traders, but they face key structural barriers that limit their access to land, information, finance, infrastructure, technologies, extension services and markets. Women still have less access than men to resources and climate change adaptation mechanisms. Closing the gender gap in access to resources and climate smart agricultural and agri-business technologies through informed investments that remove these barriers represents a great opportunity for rural women’s economic empowerment, overall economic development, and societal resilience to climate change in Nigeria.
Specific to the rice value-chain in Ebonyi State, women are unable the derive the full value of their efforts because they lack the improved inputs and skills, technology and financial resources to increase their productivity and take advantage of the most financially rewarding stages of the chain, namely value-additive processing and marketing. The assistance will involve increasing access for the cooperatives to improved rice post-harvest processing facilities to help them improve upon the grain qualities of the local rice and enhance the competitiveness of the locally produced rice against the imported rice.
Purpose and Objectives of the Consultancy for the Training of Existing Women Cooperative Societies
As part of the effort to strengthen the capacity of the targeted women cooperatives, UN Women and partners are seeking the services of a consultant to adapt ILO cooperative training tools and conduct a Training of Trainers (ToT) on cooperative governance and management including understanding of cooperatives, leadership and governance, cooperative marketing and business management, and financial literacy skills.
The ToT will benefit a total of 120 women farmers (with 10 persons selected from each of the targeted beneficiary groups) and selected relevant staff and extension workers of the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Agriculture. Following the conduct of the ToT, the UN Women consultant will partner with trained Ministries staff and the implementing partner to facilitate the step-down training which will occur in three Project Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ebonyi State including Ohoazara, Ezza South and Ebonyi to leverage on partnership with government and enhance visibility of the activities. The step-down training will be monitored by the Ministries of Women Affairs and Agriculture and UN Women.
Description of Functions:
Deliverables and Timeframe
The final expected output from the consultant is a workshop and training materials. Specifically, the consultant is expected at the end of the contractual period to derive the following output:
Hiring Agency and Specific Consultancy Requirement
UN Women Nigeria is looking to hire one consultant with expertise in cooperative governance and management. Experience working in Nigeria in general and the South-East will be desirable
Expected Timeline
The consultancy fee for this assignment is for 20 working Days. The assignment is expected to be completed over a period of one month.
CORE VALUES:
Integrity: Demonstrates consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
Respect for Diversity: Demonstrates an appreciation of the multi-cultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrates an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.
CORE COMPETENCIES:
Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative
Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic 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
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
Strong research and evidence gathering and documentation expertise and experiences
Experience conducting training on cooperatives governance to smallholder farmers, particularly women using ILO cooperative training tools.
Knowledge and experience of working with crisis-conflict affected population, and humanitarian contexts.
Experience and strong facilitation capacity building skills
Ability to work under strict deadlines and schedules
Excellent skills in written and spoken English
Education and certification:
Experience:
Language Requirements:
AI: Hello human, I am a GPT powered AI chat bot. Ask me anything!