Research Officer, Papua New Guinea Women’s Business Agenda (WBA)

Job Description

Background:

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) strengthens democracy around the globe through private enterprise and market-oriented reform. CIPE is one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy and is an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce. Since 1983, CIPE has worked to build the political, market and civic institutions vital to a democratic societies and private sector led economies. CIPE’s key program areas include anti-corruption, public governance reform, support of civil society, property rights, economic empowerment of at-risk communities, and opening political space in closed societies. This position in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is funded through CIPE’s women’s economic empowerment project in the country, funded by the U.S. Department of State. The position is on a contract basis.

The PNG Business Advocacy Network (BAN) is a coalition of over 60 businesses and civil society leaders from diverse backgrounds who work together to advocate for regulatory reforms promoting women’s participation in the economy using a Women’s Business Agenda (WBA) as a guide to selected priority areas for reform. Developed during a coalition building workshop in 2020, the PNG BAN is dedicated to promoting economic opportunity and inclusive development through advocacy. The PNG BAN Steering Committee, elected in October 2020, is composed of seven members representing the diversity of the PNG BAN and women’s business sphere who drive awareness, discussion and implementation of expanded opportunities for women in business in PNG.

The PNG BAN, using the WBA as a roadmap, focuses on reducing barriers for business women in PNG by increasing efficacy of women in politics, policy and decision making to create an enabling environment for women in business, increasing access to finance, increasing empowerment and participation of women in the formal economy through SMEs, and increasing access for women to inclusive services including health, social welfare, justice and education that limit women’s participation in business.

CIPE PNG seeks a short-term researcher to assist in developing a second iteration WBA. A WBA elevates the voice and need of women in business, increases women’s participation in democratic decision-making processes, and promotes institutional reforms that create an inclusive enabling environment where women are able to participate fully in the economy. WBAs are a process, whereby private sector representatives work to better understand the laws and regulations that govern them and shape thoughtful debate to improve the governing framework on behalf of women-owned businesses and their communities. Through this process, the private sector identifies laws and regulations that hinder business activity, particularly focusing on the barriers that impact women in business disproportionately to men in business. They also offer a concrete product, a written agenda that includes recommendations and reforms to remove these barriers and improve the business climate.

In PNG, CIPE is offering technical and financial support to the PNG BAN who are the entity driving both the process and final document submission for the second iteration of the WBA. The first, and inaugural, WBA was published in 2022. The researcher for the first WBA worked closely with the BAN coalition and the BAN Steering Committee (SC) members to identify the priority issues, and subsequent recommendations, to increase women’s economic participation in PNG. The BAN SC members had been democratically voted in from a group of volunteers in the private sector and included individuals from varying backgrounds, age groups, and professional roles. Through the 2019 PNG Women’s Forum, and a series of private sector roundtables, CIPE and the BAN SC identified four priority agendas in which the BAN called for policy action to be taken. These four priorities included: leadership, access to finance, women’s empowerment, and access to services. The first WBA document can be accessed at www.pngban.org.

The purpose of the second WBA iteration is not to duplicate or supersede efforts that have progressed in certain policy areas, but rather advocate on the economic participation of women in PNG and assist policymakers, government officials, private-sector actors, and donors in identifying future reforms that enable greater economic participation of women in PNG. The researcher(s) will include and use the findings from the first WBA as guidance for the second WBA. The second WBA will build off the first, keeping in mind the need to reevaluate, analyze, and determine the relevancy of the previously identified priority agendas. This second WBA iteration will be used to determine the progress of the policy recommendations made in the first WBA publication, what has or has not been achieved since the first WBA was published, what, if any, shifts in priorities need to be made, and provide new policy recommendations based on new research. CIPE will bring the best practices and lessons learned from other parts of the world where CIPE worked with partners on developing their own business agendas.

CIPE and the PNG BAN will collaborate once more and identify recommended policy reforms through various roundtables and the 2024 PNG Women’s Forum, an event that the chosen researcher(s) will be expected to attend. The topic of this Women’s Forum will be focused on the digital transformation in PNG. More specifically, the digital economy in PNG and how the country’s digital gender gap (23%) prevents businesswomen from reaching their full participation in the digital economy, and the tech sector more broadly. Based on feedback from various roundtables and the Forum itself, CIPE and the BAN SC will have selected specific reform priorities related to digital transformation that women and other marginalized populations experience, which will represent the starting point of the second WBA development.

CIPE will cooperate with a group of PNG researchers or researcher to develop the second PNG WBA document, using priorities agreed upon with CIPE. The researcher(s) will ensure proper development of the WBA document and vet draft findings with private and public sector partners in the WBA process for PNG, including the PNG BAN Steering Committee. The incumbent will be expected to lead research, outreach, data collection and paper development, while ensuring adherence to the agreed upon contents, format, and the timeline of the policy papers development. The WBA document will be composed of the following main parts:

· Executive summary, which is a short, clear, and distilled version of the paper that summarises the main obstacles and the priority recommendations for reform.

· Background / Context, which describes general context of the women’s role in the economy and the operating environment for women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises in PNG; this section should introduce the main barriers to women’s empowerment in the country.

· Methodology, description of the techniques pursued in developing this document.

· Explanation of the Problem, in this section the researcher will go in depth describing and analysing the problem based on findings from the desk study and meetings with the private sector.

· Possible Approaches to Deal with Problem, in this section the researcher describes the solutions from the private sector perspective that would address the obstacles described above.

· Recommendations, in this section, the researcher would prioritise the most important policy recommendations and necessary interventions to address the identified challenges.

The researcher will enrich the above-mentioned sections with relevant economic indicators and information. The desk study should include authentic economic information, facts and indicators on the number of employment opportunities for women as well as prospects for growth for women-owned businesses, the contributions of women to the GDP, the main sectors women operate in and the benefit of those sectors to the overall economy, and the ease of doing business as a woman. The researcher(s) will be expected to gather information from outside Port Moresby by attending a maximum of three (3) provincial advocacy events that are tentatively scheduled during the months of April and May 2024. Additionally, research and analysis for the WBA are expected to be inclusive and reflective of people with disabilities. The researcher(s) will include information gathered from their attendance at business advocacy trainings, business/civic rights information sessions, and focus group discussions that will each emphasize the inclusion of people with disabilities. Researcher(s) should include case studies and best practices from other countries that strengthen his/her approach from CIPE and other resources.

In addition to supervising the desk studies, researchers are expected to lead and facilitate the outreach efforts to the private sector, ensure that the right private sector representatives are targeted, and closely monitor the data collection and analysis. Allowances for a formal review of the WBA will be provided to ensure the final product correctly aligns with and adheres to principles of a free market. The selected researcher/s is also expected to provide guidance and mentorship on the proper inclusion of survey results and analyses to the agenda document and elaborate on identifying the obstacles and solicit the recommended reforms to address those obstacles from the private sector perspective. The outreach platform may include phone calls, informal and cost-effective surveys and/or focus group meetings and one on one meetings.

The researcher/s is also expected to co-facilitate the workshop(s) that CIPE and the PNG BAN Steering Committee would organize to share the paper with the private sector representatives and seek their feedback. Feedback collected during the workshop should be incorporated into the paper accordingly. Following this session and final revisions, the researcher/s will present the final product to CIPE for approval.

During the document development since inception until delivery to CIPE, the researcher/s is expected to regularly consult with CIPE and the PNG BAN Steering Committee and inform them on the progress of the project activities implementation. More so, they are expected to share with CIPE any obstacles or challenges in any phase of the project cycle. The researcher(s) will be expected, where possible, to participate in Public Private Dialogues (PPD) with government, to assist and support the BAN Steering committee, in presenting and facilitating the WBA discussions.

· Develop a WBA first draft and submit to CIPE for feedback by the end of May 2024.

· Develop a WBA second draft and submit to CIPE for feedback by the end of June 2024.

· Develop a final WBA document by the end of July 2024.

· The researcher/s is expected to share the finalized document with CIPE to obtain final approval and follow the guidelines described in the scope of work. The following methodology/activities will be employed:

· Develop research work plans according to project needs.

· Interpret and analyze 2024 Women’s Forum findings and recommendations.

· Lead research, outreach, data collection and paper development, while ensuring adherence to the agreed upon contents, format, and the timeline of business agenda development.

· Co-facilitate workshop(s) with CIPE and the PNG BAN to collect feedback on the draft business agenda.

· Participate in public-private dialogue sessions.

· Regularly consult with CIPE and the PNG BAN Steering Committee and inform them on the progress of the project activities implementation.

· When possible, participate in provincial advocacy events, business advocacy trainings, focus group discussions, and business/civic rights information sessions.

· When necessary, attend BAN coalition meetings

· Review the first WBA to determine if or how its findings are relevant to the second WBA

· Collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team at CIPE’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

· Demonstrated experience in designing and conducting research / evaluation projects in either a university, or organisational setting.

· Able to handle multiple detail-oriented tasks with limited supervision

· Strong organizational, interpersonal and communication skills; team orientation.

· Experience monitoring the quality of research implementation

· Experience in applying screening, assessment and interviewing skills.

· Knowledge of and interest in women’s economic empowerment

· Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal, especially in areas such as report writing, journal publications, conference presentations

· Education and professional background in relevant fields in Papua New Guinea, at least two years’ experience required

· Fluency in Tok Pisin required

· Excellence in English composition, writing and reporting.

· Computer skills, proficiency in MS-Office, specifically Word, Excel and Outlook.

· Internet research skills

· Immediate start; completion by July 31, 2024.

· Candidates should already reside in or around Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Research firms are welcome to submit applications and may submit a description of relevant past work in place of a resume. Applications will be accepted, and interviews will be conducted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please.

About the Organization

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) strengthens democracy around the globe through private enterprise and market-oriented reform. CIPE is one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy. Since 1983, CIPE has worked with business leaders, policymakers, and journalists to build the civic institutions vital to a democratic society. CIPE’s key program areas include anti-corruption, advocacy, business associations, corporate governance, democratic governance, access to information, the informal sector and property rights, and women and youth.