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 women's 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 States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. UN Women is mandated to lead, coordinate, and promote accountability for the implementation of gender equality commitments across the UN System.

One of the key areas of concern is the economic empowerment of women. It is expressed in targets and indicators of SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and SDG 8 (Promote inclusive and sustainable development, decent work and employment for all). Progress toward it depends not only on the adoption of a set of public policies by governments, but also on the existence of an enabling environment and active engagement of the corporate sector. This is also relevant to the achievement of SDG 1 (Poverty Reduction), SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities) and SDG 17 (Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development).

The economic empowerment of women (WEE) – to succeed and advance economically and to make and act on economic decisions – is a prerequisite for realizing gender equality and empowering women in all areas of life. It is also a cornerstone for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. UN Women’s global Economic Empowerment Strategy focuses on the key strategic priorities, namely:

WE RISE Together (WRT) – Advancing gender-responsive procurement in the Mekong sub-region is a four-year Mekong-Australia Partnership (MAP) project developed by UN Women. It sits under MAP’s Economic Resilience Fund (MAP-ERF) and addresses its four drivers of resilience (including macroeconomic, household, business, and government resilience). The project responds to the prioritisation of women’s economic empowerment by expanding market access for Women-owned Businesses 1 (WOBs) and Gender Responsive Enterprises 1 (GREs) through procurement opportunities.

WRT tackles the structural gender inequities that exist within the global procurement market in which WOBs secure only one per cent of spending worldwide. 2 By introducing and advancing increased market access through gender-responsive procurement 1 (GRP), WRT operates with the overall objective to empower more women to equally access, lead, and benefit from expanded market opportunities in the Mekong subregion.

The project works across the Mekong subregion, namely in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam, leveraging the capacity, network and insights build during its phase 1 implementation. The project will work towards three interlinked outcomes:

Outcome 1: Increased awareness and commitment towards GRP at the ecosystem level & and more gender-responsive institutions through the collection of sex-disaggregated data & improved national data infrastructure

Outcome 2: Strengthened national policies and public procurement systems that are aligned with Mekong and ASEAN frameworks

Outcome 3: Increased market connections and opportunities for WOBs and GREs

A core objective of WE RISE Together (WRT), and UN Women’s broader Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) portfolio, is to strengthen enabling environments that expand women’s economic participation, including women with disabilities and other marginalized or underrepresented groups. Across the Mekong subregion, business registration/licensing systems are often a key administrative source for identifying formal enterprises and linking them to markets, government services, and procurement systems. However, these administrative registers typically do not collect sex-, disability-, or other intersectionally disaggregated characteristics at the enterprise or owner level, and data are frequently fragmented across multiple administrative agencies. As a result, statistical systems face limitations in reliably identifying women-owned and other inclusive enterprises, producing supplier-diversity indicators, and supporting the monitoring and evaluation of gender-responsive procurement (GRP) policies.

The consultant will be reporting to Gender Statistics Specialist in the Women’s Economic Empowerment Section at the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and will be supported by Statistics Specialist, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. In close coordination with UN Women and national stakeholders, the consultant will conduct a diagnostic assessment of data ecosystems, including data governance, for the production of business statistics in official statistics in four select countries in the region, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The diagnostic assessment will also include the identification of challenges and opportunities for integrating gender, disability and intersectionality in business statistics and gender-mainstreaming in the production of business statistics in contexts at different level of statistical maturity.

The work will generate an evidence-informed assessment of:

• Institutional and governance arrangements for the production of business statistics and related administrative data management.
• Administrative workflows and current processes for business registration, including complexity, duplication of steps/documentation, and resulting burdens on MSMEs. The assessment will examine accessibility and inclusion barriers (legal, administrative, digital, language, and service delivery) that may disproportionately affect women, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups;
• Interoperability and data exchange among business registries and adjacent systems (e.g., tax, licensing, statistics, SME support platforms, and procurement systems);
• Identification of current data sources for business statistics and the feasibility for sex-disaggregation, disability-disaggregation, and intersectionality analysis;
Practical reform pathways aligned with global guidance and national priorities (e.g., GRP, SME development, digital government).

The mapping is intended as a diagnostic (not a full IT system redesign), producing actionable recommendations and country-level options to inform subsequent capacity development and guidance development under the WRT programme.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

A. Work planning and methodological design: co-develop an inception note outlining the proposed methodology, assessment framework, tools/checklists, coordination mechanisms and stakeholder engagement plan, validation approach, timeline, and risk mitigation measures.

B. Review and system mapping (all four countries):

• In coordination with UN Women regional and country teams, review existing statistical tools to assess the maturity level of data ecosystems to produce business statistics in official statistics and develop a module for assessing the capacity of national data ecosystems to produce business statistics disaggregated by gender, disability and other intersectionality lens.
• Conduct a desk review of relevant national documentation, including legal and regulatory frameworks for the production and use of business statistics, institutional mandates, public guidance on registration procedures, any existing registry modernization initiatives, and any other sources for producing business statistics in four select countries. The desk review should include a mapping of the current business registration workflow in each country, including (as applicable) steps for registration, licensing, tax registration, renewal/updates, deregistration, and data-sharing arrangements. Using the mapping tools above identified, conduct stakeholder interview (remote and/or in-country as agreed) with key national stakeholders, which may include: business registration authority, ministries of commerce/finance/planning/digital development, tax authority, national statistics office, procurement agency/platform administrators, SME promotion agencies, women’s machineries, business associations, WOB networks, civil society organizations, and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs).
Assess the feasibility of the data ecosystem for using available data to set up gender-responsive digital business platforms.

C. Validation of the mapping :

• Produce a structured overview of the business registry data model, including core variables captured, metadata/definitions (where available), update frequency, and data governance considerations.
Validate key findings through targeted check-ins with national focal points and UN Women country teams; document points of agreement and contested issues.

D. GEDSI and accessibility analysis: Assess whether and how registration systems capture sex-disaggregated and disability-related data, and identify administrative and accessibility barriers affecting women entrepreneurs, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups (e.g., documentation requirements, time/cost burdens, travel/mobility constraints, digital barriers, language barriers, service design, accessibility of one-stop shops).

E. Interoperability and policy-use assessment: Assess interoperability and coordination across systems (registry–tax–licensing–statistics–procurement), including presence and use of UBIs or other unique identifiers; data exchange protocols and governance.

feasibility of linking registry data to procurement/supplier databases for GRP monitoring.

F. Reporting, recommendations, and knowledge sharing:

• Draft country diagnostic summaries and a cross-country synthesis report including prioritized recommendations, feasibility considerations, and proposed entry points linked to GRP, SME development, and digital government agendas.
• Identify gaps and practical options to strengthen data governance, interoperability, and administrative coordination, including quick wins and medium-term reforms.
• Develop presentation materials and present findings to UN Women, and relevant stakeholders (e.g., for internal validation and/or regional workshop preparation), incorporating feedback into final outputs

Deliverables

The consultant is expected to deliver the outputs below to UN Women, in formats agreed at inception (Word + PPT; annexes in Excel/diagram formats as relevant). All deliverables should reflect a consistent structure across countries to support comparability and should integrate GEDSI considerations throughout.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum of 2 trips to Bangkok, Thailand. Travel will be managed following UN Women travel policy .

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:

• Technical credibility in the field of statistics
• Excellent analytical skills
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation
• Strong networking and partnership building skills

Education and Certification:

• Advanced university degree in Economics, Statistics, Mathematics
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:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in business statistics and administrative data ecosystems for producing business statistics is required.
• Experience in the use of statistical business registers at the national or regional level is desirable.
• Experience in conducting gender analysis in different areas with expertise on GEDSI assessments is an advantage.
• Familiarity with Mekong country context i.e. legal frameworks, stakeholders related to women economic empowerment is an advantage.
• Strong understanding of women’s economic empowerment or procurement system is desirable.
• Familiarity with international frameworks (e.g., CEDAW, CRPD, SDGs) is desirable.
• A strong understanding of a rights-based approach to disability and experience in working in partnership with persons with disabilities and facilitating accessible and inclusive consultations is desirable.
• Familiarity with the UN system is an asset.
• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
Excellent English communication and writing skills; (Samples of previous work will be required.)

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
Knowledge of French or 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:

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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 .