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.
Placing womenโs rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member Statesโ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. In a rapidly evolving donor landscape, resource mobilization is critical to ensuring the sustainability and scale of UN Womenโs programs. The Ethiopia Country office (ECO) seeks to enhance its strategic partnerships and broaden its donor base to mobilize additional financial and technical resources in support of its Country Programme /Strategic Note and aligned with national priorities.
To this end, UN Women ECO is recruiting an experienced international consultant to support the development and implementation of a comprehensive resource mobilization strategy and engage with potential and existing partners to secure sustainable funding and financing for gender equality in Ethiopia. The international consultant will drive outreach, intelligence, and proposals development.
The consultant will be reporting to Deputy Country Representative, and will be supported by Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
The consultancy service entails increasing financial resources of UN Women through enhancing resource mobilization capacity and strengthening strategic partnerships. Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Country Representative and close consultation of the Deputy Country Representative and leadย Program managers and Resource Mobilization Task Force , the international Consultant will review the UN Women Ethiopia Country Officeย Resource Mobilization Strategy/guidelines taking into account the current country programme as embodied in theย strategic note (2021-2025) and the forward looking on the future country priorities on gender equality and womenโs empowerment in order to propose andย lead the new projects and programme developments after a thorough donor intelligence and priorities mapping . Additionally, the consultant will support the UN Women ECO to analyze the RM environment, analyze the existing program and anticipated areas of work to design projects to support the RM efforts of program and operations.ย The consultant will actively engage and advise on strategic partnerships donor relations to foster and sustain good relationships with the current and potential new contributing development partners
Specifically, the international Consultant will be responsible for the following roles:
Oversee the development of UN Womenโs strategic partnerships in the Country Office
Manage relationships with key partners; provide substantive technical inputs to senior managementโs efforts at the country level to develop new and innovative partnerships; Provide substantive technical support toย the drafting and review of partner-specific Framework Arrangements and Cost Sharing Agreements; and the preparation of brief funding proposals and concept notes; Advise the Country Office on the design and implementation of effective advocacy strategies and methods for proactive and strategic targeting of partners and donors.ย Resource mobilization strategies and initiatives
Oversee the development and implementation of differentiated, donor fund-raising strategies, aligned and coordinated with country-level activities initiatives and outreach activities. Segment donors based on their giving patterns, interests, geographies, and philanthropic history as well as mapping out potential private sector partners whose corporate social responsibility (CSR) or sustainability priorities align with UN Womenโs thematic areas Oversee the development of targeted products and initiatives to mobilize programmatic resources and attract additional donorsโ funding; This will involve Working with programme teams to develop targeted products and initiatives to mobilize programmatic resources and attract additional donorsโ funding to address the SNsโ priorities and funding gaps. Identify opportunities to secure additional non-core resources through up-to-date donor mapping and intelligence on strategic priorities and entry points. The consultant is expected to support the country office to diversify the donor base by bringing in innovative funding mechanisms including the non-traditional donors.ย Build trust and maintain effective relationships with donors
Provide substantive technical support to the Country Representative and other senior managers in the preparation of missions,ย meetings and other consultations with donors, including the preparation of notes, briefs and other materials and actively engage into such bilateral partnerships building meetings. Act as a direct entry point for donors, building institutional relationships. ย Collaborate with the Communication team to develop a cohesive, compelling messaging strategy to promote fundraising efforts across multiple platformsย (e.g., digital, print, social media). Leverage existing public relations and media partnerships to amplify fundraising initiatives and gain visibility for donor contributions.Strengthen internal resource mobilization capacity
Advise and support UN Women CO on resource mobilization procedures and guidelines as well as funding modalities and strategies. Facilitate partnership resource mobilization training to program staff and managers in the CO including the development of tools and products. Work alongside the communications team to create impact stories and content that demonstrates the significance of donor contributions, ensuring it aligns with the overall brand and messaging of UN Women.Deliverables.
Resource Mobilization Strategy
The consultancy period coincides with the development of the UN Women Ethiopia Country Office Strategic Note 2026-2030 . The international consultant is expected to contribute throughout the process and serve as technical resource person on the development of the Resource Mobilization Strategy aligned to the next programme cycle . However, quick wins could be identified from the current Resource Mobilization Strategy aligned with the Strategic Note 2021-2025.
Donor mapping , intelligence and trackingย
Donor mapping database updated monthly with engagement plansย Visual dashboards and summaries created to track contributions and pipelines Tailored intelligence products (briefs, backgrounders, talking points) developed for key donor engagements New donors identification and partnershipsยServe as penholder for new ย Proposals and Concept Notes development and submissions to the potential donorsย
Real time identification of funding opportunities on gender equality and womenโs empowermentย including traditional and non-traditional funding sources and the private sector . High quality resource mobilization instruments (concept notes, proposals, donor engagement events ) prepared and strategically presented to potential donorsยCapacity development and communication
Inhouse resource mobilization capacities strengthenedย Advocacy, results documentation and communication oriented towards Resource mobilizationย Deliverables Expected completion time (due day)ย Donor mapping, intelligence and trackingย 30 August 2025 Resource Mobilization Strategy aligned to the next strategic Note 2026-2030 20 September 2025 New Proposals and concept Notes and their submission to donorsย Continuous until end of contract Capacity development and communication Continuous until end of contract Donor relations management and events organizingย Continuous until end of contractConsultantโs Workplace and Official Travel
This consultancy position is based in Addis Ababa -Ethiopia but with possibility of partly homebased on case per case basis if approved by the Supervisor.ย
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 visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:
Ability to work with minimal supervision. Evidence of having undertaken similar assignments of resource mobilization Strong knowledge of Resource mobilization skills. Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds.Required Qualifications
Education and Certification:
Masterโs Degree or equivalent in international development studies, gender/womenโs studies, economics, political science, international relations, social sciences, or related discipline. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.Experience:
A minimum of 7 yearsย of relevant work experience of which at least 3 must be at international level involving multi-stakeholder projects and partnership development. Extensive experience leading resource mobilization and donor relation efforts . This must be proven by evidence of previous resource mobilization records in that functional role.ย Proven expertise in the area of gender equality and womenโs empowerment Demonstrated experience preparing strategic presentations and communication materials for internal and external stakeholders. Familiarity with the main funding platformsย Experience in working with government, donors, development partners and the UN is an asset.Languages:
Fluency in English is required Knowledge of French or Spanish orย any other UN official language 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,ย and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age,ย ability, national origin,ย 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 toย UN Womenโsย policiesย and proceduresย andย theย standardsย of conduct expected of UN Women personnelย 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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