General Information
Title: International Consultant for the Advancing of Financial Partnerships and Inclusion Related to Entrepreneurs, Women and Youth
Project Name: Rapid Finance Facility
Reports to: Private Sector Development Specialist
Type of Appointment: Individual consultant (international)
Expected Places of Travel: Lae and Buka, Papua New Guinea
Duty Station: Port Moresby (PNG)
Duration of the Contract: 120 Days over the period of 6 months (From April 20, 2022 to 20 October 2022)
I. Background
UNDP’s Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA) of the COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea (PNG) reveals deep and multidimensional impacts of the crisis at macro, sector, enterprise and household levels. The survey of 6,000 households and 3,000 firms across 89 districts found that living conditions have deteriorated in 30% of female-headed households and 95% of informal enterprises have been adversely impacted. The crisis is disproportionately impacting women, youth, poor households, informal and self-employed workers, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The cascading effects of the pandemic are exposing and interacting with PNG’s pre-existing vulnerabilities and stark gender gaps. Women, who are overrepresented in PNG’s informal entrepreneurial sector and subject to discriminatory gender norms regarding financial decision-making, are economically and socially disempowered by their limited access to financial services. In a majority cash-based society, there is strong demand for safe access to finance that provides the means to transact, store, and accumulate value. It has also been shown that women create a ‘multiplier effect’ when they generate income, with women tending to reinvest up to 90% of their earnings in a family’s well-being, compared to 30% – 40% of men. One of the SEIA’s key recommendations for recovery is to, “re-orient business operations to make better use of digital platforms and technology.” However, female informal entrepreneurs are particularly vulnerable to being left behind in PNG’s recovery.
Partners such as UNCDF have delivered results in this area in PNG, and this project will work closely with UNCDF to leverage and scale those results. Doing so will build off the current situation where existing products that are tailored to female needs are small-scale, and problems such as affordability, accessibility and comfort using digital tools as well as social barriers lock women out of financial inclusion.
For this purpose, UNDP PNG is seeking an International Consultant for the advancing of financial partnerships and inclusion related to entrepreneurs, women and youth.