UN Women

Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, empower women, and achieve equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security.

As part of its efforts to increase financing for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 5—achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment—UN Women’s West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO) aims to expand its portfolio of donors and partners by developing strategic collaborations with non-traditional donors that can support the realization of its mandate, including with financial contributions. UN Women’s pillars include advancing women’s economic empowerment, political participation, leadership in peace and security, and efforts to end violence against women.

Given the growing strategic presence of donors from the Arab Gulf in West and Central Africa, WCARO is particularly focused on exploring partnership and resource mobilization opportunities with the latter and identifying areas of alignment with their mandate and priorities. Such an alignment will support the establishment of partnerships based on shared values and the elaboration of funding proposals, as part of WCARO’s income diversification strategy.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

The consultant will be hired with the objective of strengthening UN Women West and Central Africa (WCA) regional partnerships and resource mobilization efforts by supporting the identification of and engagement with donors in the Arabian Gulf.

Key outcome areas include:

1. Donor Mapping:

Identify and map potential donors, including philanthropic foundations, corporate and public institutions in the Arabian Gulf region with aligned priorities and funding interests relevant to UN Women WCA.

2. Stakeholder Engagement Facilitation:

Facilitate strategic introductions and meetings between UN Women senior management and technical teams, and key stakeholders in the Arabian Gulf region.

3. Strategic Proposal Guidance:

Provide expert advice on thematic areas, funding priorities and interests proposals should target to attract donor attention and alignment with funding strategies and then guide and facilitate the proposal development and submission process to targeted donors.

Expected deliverables

Deliverables

Deliverables

Date

Mapping of potential donors of interest for UN Women

Clear resource mobilization plan determined based on the mapping and engagements with donors (with targeted donor and estimate funding and concrete next steps for UN Women)

15 January 2026

Meetings with most strategic donor agencies held with UN Women Regional Office and facilitated by the consultant

At least one concept note submitted to a prospective donor

28 Feb 2025

Reporting line

The consultant will report to UN Women Regional Office Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Specialist, in close consultation with Global Sustainable Finance Specialist at HQ.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

As part of this assignment, the consultant should expect at least 50% of time travelling to Gulf countries of interest.

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:

• Private Sector Engagement & Resource Mobilization: Ability to identify, conduct outreach, and manage relationships with the public and private sector. Ability to identify, develop and manage partnerships that leverage private sector technical expertise and resources.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UN Women’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions; Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends
• Business Acumen: Ability to understand and deal with a business situation in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome.
• Knowledge and understanding of the operational frameworks in the organization and ability to make good judgments and quick decisions within such frameworks

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Advanced university degree (Masters or its university equivalent) in economics, business management, social sciences, public administration, international relations, communications, or a related field is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of experience in partnerships and resource mobilization, business development, while managing a diverse portfolio of donors and prospects including institutional and private donors, philanthropies and high net worth individuals in the Arabic Gulf
• A proven track-record of successful proposals submitted to major donor agencies based in the Arabic Gulf
• Demonstrated expertise in conducting research on institutional, corporate and philanthropic giving, and developing an evidence-based approach to engaging with such prospects
• Experience developing pitch materials within an international organization is desirable
• Extensive network of contacts across the financial and investment sectors and proven record of successful partnership development with donors from the Arabic Gulf.
• Proven leadership experience working with high-level decision-makers
• Excellent negotiating and communication skills to mobilize support from a wide range of partners (public, private, business community leaders).

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Arabic required.
• Knowledge of any other UN official is an asset.

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.

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