Gender and Adolescence Specialist, P-4, Suva, Fiji (Temporary Appointment, 364 days), # 912345

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, empowerment.

In the Pacific we work in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu: These 14 Pacific island countries are home to 2.3 million people, including 1.2 million children and youth, living on more than 660 islands and atolls stretching across 17.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, an area comparable to the combined size of the United States of America and Canada. Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu are classified as Fragile States according to World Bank/OECD criteria.

All 14 Pacific Island countries and territories have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but only a third are on track with reporting obligations. Explore the different areas of our work in the link provided here www.unicef.org/pacificislands.

The Pacific Multi-Country Office (MCO) is hiring a Gender Adolescent Specialist (P-4) on a temporary appointment for 364 days to increase dedicated capacity and expertise in the Pacific on gender and adolescence.

Gender equality is essential to realizing the mandate of UNICEF to uphold the rights of all children. The UNICEF Gender Action Plan (GAP), 2022–2025, operationalizes the UNICEF Gender Policy, 2021–2030, by specifying how UNICEF will promote gender equality across its programmes and workplaces. It affirms that promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is the responsibility of everyone, regardless of organizational role.

The GAP elaborates the steps required to accelerate progress on gender equality across the five Goal Areas of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2022–2025, as well as within institutional systems and processes, with clear indicators and monitoring mechanisms to track change. The GAP builds on an increasing knowledge base on gender equality, including current evidence regarding the gendered effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It responds to lessons learned from the implementation of previous GAPs and an extensive global consultative process with staff, partners and young people. It is grounded in the human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality and articulates the role of UNICEF, as a collaborator with Governments and other partners, in supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Recognizing that gender discrimination has lifelong and intergenerational impacts, the GAP advances gender equality throughout the life course. At the same time, it promotes targeted actions to advance the leadership and well-being of adolescent girls, as girls are both disproportionately affected by gender inequality and have tremendous potential to be leaders for change. This dual-track approach goes beyond responding to the manifestations of gender inequality to tackle its underlying drivers, including by engaging boys and men as allies; advancing upstream financing and policy solutions; and supporting girls’ agency and voice.

Investing in adolescents strengthens their ability to advance human rights and build a bright future for themselves, their families and entire countries. UNICEF takes a life-course approach to adolescent development and participation, identifying critical risks and opportunities that have implications for the realization of children’s rights, from the first decade through the second. In line with UNICEF global guidance on adolescent development and participation, as well as the UNICEF Pacific Multi-Country Programme for 2023-2027, UNICEF plans to support gender-responsive and adolescent-friendly systems and services and adolescent engagement and empowerment, including through meaningful participation of adolescents in their communities, social norms change, and the political processes that affect them.

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Representative-Programmes, the Gender Adolescent Specialist provides authoritative technical guidance/operational support throughout all stages of programming to facilitate the management and delivery of results contributing to gender equality and adolescent development and participation.

S/he supports the development, implementation, and monitoring of high-quality gender and adolescence programming across sectors. S/he 1) supports senior programme colleagues and management of the Country Office to mainstream gender and adolescence by prioritizing key results within relevant sector(s) and sub-sectors; 2) leads cross-sectional collaboration and coordination on key programmatic results on gender and adolescence, ensuring coherence, maximization of synergies and efficiency in utilization of resources and delivery of results; 3) works with programme colleagues and management so that gender and adolescence results are effectively defined, measured, and reported, and high quality assessment, research, evidence generation and evaluation is undertaken and utilized, including through the application of the MoRES framework and effective theories of change; 4) Supports/leads effective review, assessment, planning, capacity building, and knowledge management on gender and adolescence; 5) Supports the assessment and identification of gender and adolescence needs for emergency preparedness and response, and provides gender and adolescence-relevant guidance and technical input on emergency programming.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Management and/or advisory support to Deputy Representative

• Actively participate in Country Management Team (CMT); Programme Coordination Team; partnerships, research, financial and contract review committees; and other key country-specific leadership teams to ensure strategic inclusion of gender and adolescence in all country-specific programming.
• Coordinate with the Regional Gender and Adolescence Advisors to plan, utilize, monitor and report on any global/regional funding for these areas, or other programmatic funds with large gender and adolescence components that are allocated to the country-specific interventions for the Country Programme, under the Country Office senior management.
• In collaboration with sectoral colleagues and under the guidance of Deputy Representative, participate in the planning and monitoring of the utilization of the budget allocated to sectoral and cross-sectoral gender and adolescence interventions with sectoral colleagues.
•  Lead the gender and adolescence component of the reporting of the routine country-level programme expenditures, including the annual reporting and the Result Assessment Module (RAM).
• Provide technical input and review on the gender and adolescence components in key funding proposal appeals and submissions and in the design of funded projects/programs so that gender and adolescence technical components are clearly defined, and technical capacities are included.

2. Program development and planning (including emergency contexts)

• Lead and/or support the evidence-based programme planning on gender and adolescence, incorporating robust measurement and evaluation of results – especially in the event of the Country Programme development and Mid-Term Review.
• Provide technical leadership on integration of gender and adolescence into country programming phases, including strategic planning, SitAns, strategic moments of reflection, CPDs, CPMPs, mid-term reviews, extended annual reviews, programme component strategy notes and in the programmatic assessment and institutional strengthening components of gender and adolescence reviews.
• In collaboration with sectoral colleagues, identify the areas of focus for gender and adolescence programming with the greatest potential for impact and scale, in alignment with the GAP and the country/regional priorities.
• Work with sectoral counterparts to incorporate sound gender and adolescence indicators and measures in programme and policy initiatives, proposals, and advocacy efforts and assist in developing gender-sensitive theories of change models for sector and cross-sectoral programming, including for adolescence, in alignment with the MoRES framework.

3. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results (including emergency contexts)

• Provide technical support in indicator identification, measurement and performance tracking as it relates to gender and adolescence mainstreaming , in collaboration with Planning, M&E and planning section and sectoral teams.
•  Lead cross-sectoral collaboration and coordination on key programmatic results on gender and adolescence, ensuring coherence, maximization of synergies and efficiency in utilization of resources and delivery of results.
• Support the strengthening of data systems and collection, as well as accountability mechanisms to monitor and evaluate progress on gender and adolescence results.
• Support high quality reporting on gender and adolescence results, and an annual performance review of GAP specified results.
• Work closely with evaluation colleagues to effectively integrate data collection, tracking, analysis and reporting on the indicators for the GAP into programme results and gender and adolescence performance benchmarks into M&E systems.
• Support and strengthen the quality of research and evidence building on gender and adolescence related programming, bringing in the latest learning and insights from the field of gender and adolescence and development, and putting in place a coherent, well-prioritized research agenda in alignment with the GAP.
• Oversee the planning and implementation of the gender and adolescence reviews and make sure that the recommendations that come out of the gender and adolescence review are integrated into the Country Programme strategy and action plans and humanitarian strategies and action plans in emergency contexts.
• Actively represent UNICEF in relevant coordination bodies at the inter-agency level (gender theme group or other networks, protection cluster if relevant), participate as a member of steering committees, and provide close oversight of inter-agency joint programmes.

4. Advisory services and technical support

• Provide technical support and guidance to national government, NGOs, UN Agencies and other country-level and local-level partners on aspects of gender and adolescence programming and to ensure incorporation of gender and adolescence indicators and measures in programmes/projects, policy initiatives, proposals, and M&E systems.
• Provide technical support and advocacy to reporting and follow-up on international and regional gender equality commitments made by the countries.
• Support the development of adequate emergency preparedness measures, updating of contingency plans and establishment of early warning mechanisms that reflect gender and adolescence needs.
• Support the development and of sex-disaggregated databases on information crucial for the planning and implementation of emergency plans.
• Support the development and deployment of emergency training that incorporates gender and adolescence issues and relevant strategies.
• Lead and/or participate in needs assessment missions on gender and adolescence, and in the event of an emergency, be deployed as a member of the Emergency Response Team.
• Identify implementing/operational partners, and establish implementing arrangements in order to ensure an effective, gender-inclusive emergency response attentive to the needs of adolescents.

5. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Liaise and consult with sections, government and other external partners (civil society, NGOs, UN Agencies, private sector) to identify areas for convergence, and develop and reinforce partnerships in gender and adolescence programming.
• Forge and support internal and external partnerships and networks in the development of harmonized, gender-transformative and adolescent-friendly programme interventions.
• Build strategic alliances for gender equality and adolescent development and participation with various partners, including institutional links with UN agencies and other relevant entities.
• Collaborate with other UN agencies and partners to enhance robust gender results in sectoral programmes at the country level. If necessary, represent UNICEF in external meetings on gender integration into sectoral and cross-sectoral results, including UN Country Team meetings and UNDAF/UNAF preparations.
• Lead mapping of potential new partnerships and leverage existing partnerships to accelerate GAP implementation at the country level in determined priority areas.

6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Initiate documentation and sharing of the country-level experience in gender and adolescence programming and lessons learned, which will be shared with internal network and external partners and utilized for South-South cooperation.
• Represent gender and adolescence at sectoral, country-level and regional-level network meetings, and ensure best practices on gender and adolescence programming from the Pacificare highlighted in these forums.
• Bring best practices in gender and adolescence programming and measurement to the attention of senior management and sectoral colleagues, as well as relevant regional and global advisors.
• Support and conduct innovative research on gender and adolescence at the country-level.
• Support Regional Gender and Adolescence Advisors in advancing the technical and research capacity of country-level staff, offices and programs on gender and adolescence to continue to build evidence base for programming and to ensure continuous capacity in gender and adolescence at Country Office level.
• Support management and HR in the development of systems, tools and processes that enable staff members and external partners to enhance their understanding and adoption of gender and adolescence sensitive behaviors and to support implementation of the GAP. 

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

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in the social sciences (i.e. sociology, demography, psychology, political science, social policy or economics), public health, public policy, public administration, international development, or in an area relevant to UNICEF’s sectoral work (e.g. Health, Nutrition, WASH, Education, Child Protection, Social Inclusion, HIV/AIDs, etc.).
• Academic credentials in gender and adolescence are a strong asset.

Experience:

• Minimum eight years of progressively responsible professional experience and demonstrated track record of having undertaken and led substantive programming and research on gender and adolescence and development, including in key issue areas that are the focus of UNICEF’s Gender Action Plan.
• Experience in designing, implementing, managing, and delivering results-based programmes on gender, adolescence and development or any other cross-cutting programme, especially at the country/field level, experience in emergency response is an asset.
• One year of deployment in a developing country is required.
• Work experience with the UN or UNICEF is a strong asset.

Language: Fluency in English is required, Knowledge of a local language an asset.

 

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

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.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

Remarks:

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

In regard to higher educational qualifications, UNICEF only considers degrees obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.