National consultant to support the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in strengthening data on women's entrepreneurship 

Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Job Info

Job Identification: 24556

Posting Date: 02/28/2025, 10:37 AM

Apply Before: 03/16/2025, 02:36 AM

Job Schedule: Part time

Locations: Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Agency: UN Women

Vacancy Type: Individual Consultancy

Job Function: Economic Empowerment

Initial Contract Duration: March 2025 - November 2025

Education & Work Experience: Master's Degree - 2 year(s) experience OR Bachelor's Degree - 4 year(s) experience

Required Languages: Fluency in verbal & written Romanian and English

Desired Languages: Working knowledge of Russian

Vacancy Category: Local Opportunities

Vacancy Timeline: 2 Weeks

Job Description

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 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 gender sensitive data. National Bureau of Statistics as the main central authority responsible for data production and coordination of production and development of official statistics in the national statistic system in the Republic of Moldova is the key partner for collecting gender-sensitive economic data. Part of the process, UN Women will provide targeted capacity-building initiatives for NBS staff and other data producers to strengthen their ability to collect, process, and analyze gender-disaggregated data. Additional support is oriented toward the development, analysis, and presentation of reports, studies/national analyses in the above-mentioned fields to provide comprehensive data and evidence for informed decision-making and actions, as well as to offer recommendations regarding national policies and the legal framework for the economic empowerment of women and women entrepreneurship.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

In this regard, UN Women will contract an individual consultant to support NBS on mainstreaming gender into business statistics. Specifically, the consultant will lead efforts to: 1) map available statistical and administrative data from various sources, related to women entrepreneurship; 2) provide technical support to operationalize the statistical definition of women-owned businesses (WOB) and/or women-led businesses (WLB), 3) identify the core indicators to measure business demography by sex, women on business and trade, as well additional indicators needed to assess the entrepreneurial attitudes and barriers from gender perspective. The identified and analyzed core indicators will initially be produced as experimental statistics with potential to be integrated into official statistics on a regular basis.

The consultant will be responsible for the following activities:

1. Assess business statistics, trade statistics and other relevant statistical surveys and administrative data sources to generate additional data to analyse women’s entrepreneurship.
2. Facilitate the user-producers dialogue to identify needs and priorities on women’s entrepreneurship data.
3. Provide technical support to operationalize the statistical definition of women-owned businesses (WOB) and/or women-led businesses (WLB).
4. Develop recommendations on core indicators and lead the documentation of data selection and analysis for business demography statistics, business and trade statistics as well qualitative indicators to assess the entrepreneurial attitudes and barriers from gender perspective.
5. Provide technical support for developing and/or adjusting the existing methodology for data collection, data linkage and analyses, including tabulation of new indicators.
6. Lead the development of final reports on business demography, mainstreaming gender into business and trade statistics.
7. Lead the analysis of qualitative data to assess the entrepreneurial attitudes and barriers from gender perspective.
8. Prepare Power Point Presentations and other materials for national workshop on women’s entrepreneurship data and statistics.

The consultant will report to the Project Officer on women’s economic empowerment, who will be the contact point on contract and payment issues, under overall coordination of the Project Manager and UN Women Specialist on women’s economic empowerment. The ECA Regional Specialist on Statistics will lead the technical oversight of the entire process, ensuring alignment with international recommendations and the quality of the final deliverables. The consultant is expected to collaborate closely with designated counterparts at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the ECA Regional Specialist on Statistics. Regular progress reports will be required in accordance with the outlined deliverables and work plan.

Deliverables

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

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 BNS and UN Women. 

The assignment should be carried out within a period of 9 months (with possibility of extension following satisfactory performance and needs for support expressed by national counterparts). The start date of the assignment is envisaged for March 2025 and will be completed by November 2025, unless extended by UN Women based on amended ToRs.  

Financial Arrangements

Payments shall be made following certification by UN Women that the services related to each deliverable, as described above, have been satisfactorily completed and the deliverables have been achieved by or before the specified due dates.

Performance evaluation  

The consultant’s performance will be evaluated against performance criteria such as timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

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. 

Required Qualifications

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.

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years of proven experience in designing and conducting surveys on topics related business and/or women’s entrepreneurship is required. 
• Minimum 2 years of proven experience in analyzing quantitative data using statistical methods and qualitative data through thematic analysis or similar techniques is required.
• Previous working experience with official statistics, with a particular focus on business statistics is required.
• 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.​ 

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 statistical work including designing methodological notes for data collection.
• Skills in the development of qualitative and quantitative tools for data collection.
• 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.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE 

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their online applications by March 16, 2025  through the following link: National consultant to support the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in strengthening data on women's entrepreneurship (Local post for Residents of the Republic of Moldova) - UN Women Careers . Applications should include 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. 
• 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.)

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.