National Programme Specialist (Coordination and Intergovernmental Unit)- ESARO

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The UN Women Regional Office for East and Southern Africa (ESARO) addresses gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) challenges in the ESAR region, including deeply embedded discriminatory social norms and practices that perpetuate inequalities based on gender and other intersectional identities (e.g. ethnicity, class, region, age, disability, migratory status, and sexual orientation and gender identity, among others). In line with its triple mandate the ESARO works across the following areas: Inter-governmental support, Women’s leadership and political participation, Gender-responsive Governance; Women’s Economic Empowerment; Women, Peace and Security; Gender Statistics, Disaster Risk Reduction and Humanitarian Action. Additionally, ESARO is engaged in UN Coordination to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Covering 25 countries (in 13 of which UN Women has physical presence), it exercises its triple mandate and functions at a regional level and in support of UN Women’s offices in the region. ESARO oversees also one Multi Country Office (MCO) based in Pretoria and Liaison Office for AU and UNECA based in Addis Ababa.

Under the supervision of the Regional Coordination Specialist, the national Program Specialist will be responsible for supporting regional and country level coordination processes, providing technical support to inter-governmental bodies, UN, civil society, private sector, multi and bi-lateral donors and supporting the office’s engagement in intergovernmental processes.

Additionally, he/she will provide technical and capacity development support to UN Women Multi/Country offices/programme presences in UNSDCF formulation and implementation processes, including supporting joint programme development, and UN interagency coordination to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. He/she will also support the office’s resource mobilization in consultation with the UN Women Regional Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Advisor, as well as knowledge-building efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

High-quality technical and policy advisory support:

• Draft policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/ materials for the use in the development and presentation of positions linked to the same;
• Identification of areas for support and interventions on normative processes;
• Provide technical support and/or provide quality control and identification of potential challenges for regional and country level interventions;
• Review and provide feedback to project/ program strategies and documents, workplans based on UN women’s normative mandate, as needed.

Provide technical support on GEWE related normative commitments and intergovernmental processes such as CEDAW, Beijing Platform for Action (stakeholder initiatives/convenings for the promotion of state obligations on GEWE):

• Provide technical support to ESARO units and country offices  on Human Rights treaty body mechanisms and special procedures, to facilitate their effective support to/or engagement in intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder initiatives/convenings;
• Support ESARO units and country presences in providing and/or coordinate substantive inputs to UN Country Team (UNCT) Confidential reports and/or other reporting processes/mechanisms as needed;
• Support capacity building of ESARO units and country presences, UNCTs and partners as needed, to ensure that they can meaningfully engage on normative processes;
• Contribute to the ESARO’s efforts to build, manage, and expand relationships with national and regional partners to advocate for enforcement of international standards and norms on GEWE, including by supporting the design and implementation of joint actions and initiatives with key partners through intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder spaces/initiatives;
• Coordinate ESARO’s Regional Civil Society Advisory Group (R-CSAG) and the Youth Advisory Group (R-YAG) secretariat by doing so to ensure meaningful engagement of diverse Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Youth participation;
• Identify areas for joint interventions and advocacy in partnership with UN agencies, international/regional inter-governmental bodies etc. in collaboration with ESARO units and country presences;
• Provide substantive inputs to resource mobilization actions supporting the intergovernmental and normative engagement.
• Participate in events, as delegated.

Provide Inter-Agency Coordination Support as delegated:

• Provide substantive support to ESARO and country presences on UN inter-agency coordination related activities, as delegated;
• Provide substantive inputs to CCA/ UNSDCF and other documents analyzing and researching the political, social and economic situation in the country/region, and mapping of GEWE-related normative issues based on findings and recommendations of normative review processes and Human Rights treaty body mechanisms and special procedures, ensuring that GEWE concerns are clearly captured to support their mainstreaming in these processes;
• Support the preparation of analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s experiences in support of its inter-agency coordination role.

Manage knowledge-building efforts:

• Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to ESARO’s normative efforts and/or inter-agency coordination and contribute to their global dissemination;
• Prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation with key partners, in support of the ESARO’s normative efforts.
• Contribute to the development of analytical knowledge products on regional progress on normative commitments to advance GEWE, in close consultation with the Regional Gender Statistics Specialist;
• Review and provide feedback to project/ program related knowledge products and publications, as needed.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  

Functional Competencies:

• Solid understanding of women’s human rights issues.
• Good knowledge of mechanisms for advancing normative commitments on GEWE including Human Rights treaty body mechanisms and special procedures.
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice on women’s human rights issues.
• Ability to support corporate and UN strategic planning, results-based management and reporting.
• Ability to support formulation, implementation, monitoring and reporting of development programs and projects.
• Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery.
• Strong interpersonal and communication (verbal, listening, writing) skills.
• Ability to build strong relationships with diverse stakeholders focused on impact and results for target beneficiaries.
• Ability to work under pressure within strict deadlines

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Human Rights Law, International Development, Gender, Political Sciences field is required;
• At first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• At project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience working in support of normative intergovernmental processes;
• Technical and capacity building experience in the field of gender and/or human rights of women;
• Experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Experience in partnership building with development stakeholders including national governments, international organizations and other UN entities;
• Experience in leading and coordinating teams effectively is an asset;
• Experience working in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programs coordination is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

All applications must include (as an attachment) a completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from 

Please note that the system will only allow one attachment and candidates are required to include in the P-11 form links for their previously published reports and articles completed within the last two years. Applications without the completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Notes:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel 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.