Gender Programme Specialist, P3 (FT), Bangkok, Thailand, Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific, #129106

The UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific is recruiting for a Gender Programme Specialist, specializing in adolescent girls’ rights, to support the implementation of the UNICEF Gender Action Plan and the Adolescent Girls’ Programme Strategy. The Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific (EAPRO) is based in Bangkok, Thailand and covers 14 offices and 27 countries in a region that covers development and humanitarian contexts. It is estimated that 329 million adolescents live, learn, overcome challenges and contribute to their communities in the East Asia and the Pacific region – making up a quarter of the world’s adolescents.
If your profile matches the job description to the post and are passionate to make positive impact for children and women, we encourage you to apply and become part of our team.

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For every child, gender

UNICEF EAPRO has placed a high priority on adolescent Girls well-being and leadership, within the context of regional challenges and in line with the UNICEF Gender Action Plan (GAP) 2022-2025, recognizing that the multidimensional nature of risk factors affecting girls requires a multisectoral and multidimensional response that not only addresses the vulnerabilities they face but amplifies their agency. UNICEF’s Global Adolescent Girls Programme Strategy guides EAPRO’s work on adolescent girls’ empowerment, aligning with its convergent approaches to gender equality and adolescent programming, and by prioritizing 3 intersecting areas:

1. Promoting adolescent girls’ health and nutrition (including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR))
2. Advancing adolescent girls’ right to quality education and to relevant teaching and skills
3. Protecting every adolescent girl from violence, exploitation and abuse – online and offline – and preventing harmful practices, such as FGM/C and CEFM

The work on ending child marriage and harmful practices falls under the overall adolescent girls’ empowerment priority for UNICEF as defined in its Adolescent Girls’ Strategy. In addition to ending child marriage, several adolescent girls’ related programmatic initiatives are underway in UNICEF EAPRO, including Skill4Girls, Girls’ Education-GBV programme, and others. The successful candidate will provide programmatic and coordination support for all adolescent girls’ and gender related related initiatives, with a particular focus on the DFAT-supported Towards Universal SRHR in the Indo-Pacific (TUSIP) programme to accelerate efforts to end child marriage and FGM/C in Southeast Asia, including programme implementation regionally and at a country level in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Lao PDR and the Philippines. Their responsibilities include technical assistance, advocacy and programme management.

How can you make a difference? 

UNICEF EAPRO is seeking a Gender Programme Specialist who will provide technical support around the implementation and programme management to both UNICEF country offices and regional office sectors towards the implementation of the UNICEF GAP and Adolescent Girls’ Programme Strategy. They will also play a role in working with adolescent and gender specialists or focal points across the 14 country offices (in coordination with the regional adolescent specialist), and regional sectors such as Education, Child Protection, Health, WASH, Nutrition, Climate, Gender, Social and Behavioral Change, Emergencies and other enablers to ensure office-wide contributions to EAP Gender-ADAP convergent programming. A portion of their time will contribute to regional programming around adolescent girls, towards strengthening enabling environments and resilience-building and supporting adolescents girls to be changemakers at local and national levels.

Responsibilities under this role include providing technical and programme coordination support to regional adolescent girls’ programmes including the DFAT supported TUSIP and Girls’ Education programmes. This includes supporting the coordination among various partners working on other programme components; financial and narrative reporting to the donor; and coordination among internal UNICEF teams and other UN agencies working on this topic. The Gender Programme Specialist will serve as the anchor for coordination and management of the monitoring, learning, technical support and knowledge management for UNICEF’s participation in programming for adolescent girls and the UNICEF Gender Action Plan. The Gender Programme Specialist is expected to be based in Bangkok Duty station in EAPRO and will work under the supervision of the EAPRO Regional Gender and Adolescents Advisor, in coordination with the Regional Adolescent Specialist, to undertake the specific deliverables outlined below. 

Summary of results-based key functions/accountabilities:

1. Support the Regional Gender and Adolescent Advisor’s leadership of the Gender and Adolescent Girls’ priorities in the EAP region;
2. Planning, M&E, annual reporting for progress achieved on gender and adolescent girls’ programming in UNICEF EAP region;
3. Programme management and coordination for regional adolescent girls and gender programmes (CEFM and FGM/C), and other adolescent girls’ related initiatives in the region; and
4. Communication, advocacy and knowledge management for the Gender and Adolescent Girls’ portfolio.

This role is office/Bangkok-based, with the expectation that the Gender Programme Specialist may need to travel to countries in the region if necessary.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

The following minimum requirements:

Education: Advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in the social sciences (i.e. gender and development, sociology, demography, psychology, political science, social policy or economics, communications, intercultural/multicultural studies, Diversity & Inclusion), public health, public policy, public administration, international development, or in an area relevant to UNICEF’s sectoral work (e.g. Gender, Adolescent Development and Participation, Health, Nutrition, WASH, Education, Child Protection, Social Inclusion, HIV/AIDs, etc.).

Work Experience: Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience and demonstrated track record of having undertaken and led substantive programming and research on gender, adolescent girls’ and/or youth in key issue areas that are the focus of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan;

• Prior experience managing complex multi-partner, multi-country programmes;
• Prior experience in a work environment of an international agency, UN or international institutions is desirable; prior experience with UNICEF in women and girls’ empowerment, girls and women’s rights, GBV, ending child marriage and harmful practices is an advantage; and
• Prior experience in developing country contexts in the Asia-Pacific context and an understanding of development challenges from the field perspective is desirable.

Language Requirements: Fluency in written and spoken English, with excellent analytical writing skills, is required.  Knowledge of an additional UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) and local language in EAP region is considered an asset.

Technical Knowledge:

• Experienced in designing, implementing, managing and delivering results-based programmes on gender and adolescent girls at country and regional levels, with an understanding of theories of change and path from intervention to results;
• Strong technical, programmatic and research skills in gender and adolescence girls’ along with sectoral expertise in at least one of the following: Health, Education, GBV, WASH, HIV/AIDS, Protection, Social Policy, Social and Behaviour Change, or combined expertise in Emergency Response;
• Prior experience in supporting or conducting rigorous research and analysis on gender and with adolescent girls in particular, including quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, and M&E;
• Ability to contextualize and translate approaches into practicable programme design in complex environments where gender issues or girls’ rights are often sensitive to raise within certain national contexts, with due consideration and practise of do no harm principles;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including an ability to write analytically, succinctly and clearly to translate complex theoretical concepts into easy-to-digest briefs, and speak in public forums compellingly and with confidence;
• High level of initiative and independence in ability to undertake complex tasks while proactively seeking relevant input, cooperation, and guidance from key constituents;
• Experience and demonstrated ability to build rapport, motivate others and cultivate an environment of teamwork and collaboration across sectors within and outside the organization and in a multicultural environment;
• Required computer skills (MS Windows, MS Office applications, Infographics); and

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.