Deadline: 31-Jul-2025
The UN Women is requesting applications from Civil Society Organization(s) to Support Empowering women artisans in Ostren (Bulqiza Municipality) through market-driven handicraft development.
The focus of the intervention will be to enhance the economic empowerment of women artisans in Ostren by building their technical, entrepreneurial, and market access capacities, promoting sustainable self-employment and income generation; strengthen women artisans’ skills, equipment access, and market linkages; improve handicrafts value chain production capacity and market reach; preserve traditional crafts while supporting market-oriented product development; promote formalization and visibility of women artisans in official frameworks; facilitate intergenerational knowledge transmission through school and youth engagement; and foster institutional recognition and support for artisans’ role in rural development. The proposed intervention should drive product innovation and quality assurance based on consumer insights, strengthen collective brand identity and digital presence for broader market reach, and establish direct links to buyers—local, regional, and online to secure sustainable orders and income.
Funding Information
- All proposals under this Call must fall within a maximum of 6,000,000 ALL.
Expected Outcomes
- To achieve such result, UN Women is focused on three outcomes, which mirror verbatim the areas of focus of the United Nations Albania:
- Increased and more equitable investment in people to remove barriers and create opportunities for those at risk of exclusion.
- Innovative and integrated policy solutions that accelerate sustainable, productive, and inclusive development.
- Gender-responsive governance that strengthens equality and non-discrimination.
Eligibility Criteria
- Technical/functional competencies required
- At least 7 years of proven experience in designing and implementing women’s economic empowerment initiatives, particularly in rural or marginalized communities, using participatory and inclusive approaches.
- At least 5 years of experience working with artisans in the fields of traditional crafts, textile production, and/or cultural heritage preservation, including demonstrated experience in supporting product development, improving quality standards, and facilitating market adaptation.
- Capacity to deliver training and coaching on business planning, financial management, access to finance, and entrepreneurship tailored to micro and small enterprises.
- Experience in facilitating group formation, governance training, and leadership development, especially among women and youth.
- Demonstrated experience supporting market access strategies, including branding, packaging, digital marketing, and establishing connections with buyers and retailers.
- Experience working with schools and youth-focused programs to promote intergenerational knowledge transfer and vocational skills development.
- Capacity to collect and analyze disaggregated data (by age, ethnicity, disability, etc.) and report on gender-sensitive indicators, with ethical data management practices.
- Ability to engage and coordinate with local government, chambers of commerce, and civil society organizations to ensure sustainability and policy alignment.
- Other competencies that can be an asset for the performance of services:
- Experience in cultural heritage preservation: Familiarity with safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, particularly traditional crafts and costume-making.
- Knowledge of the local context: Prior engagement in the Dibra region or similar rural communities, with established relationships with local stakeholders.
- Experience with digital inclusion: Ability to support digital literacy, e-commerce, and online visibility for women-led microenterprises.
- Creative content development: Capacity to produce promotional materials (e.g., photo reportage, short documentaries, social media content) to support visibility and storytelling.
- Environmental sustainability: Knowledge of sustainable sourcing practices and eco-friendly production methods in the artisan sector.
For more information, visit UN Women.