UN Women : Programme Specialist–Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Resilience (for Thai national only), NPSA10, Bangkok, Thailand

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.

Based on UN legislative mandates and the UNW Strategic Plan, the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) is tasked with providing strategic programme development, policy / technical advisory services and quality assurance support to Multi Country Offices and Country Offices. It undertakes or coordinates regional research and data analysis; advises on norms, policies and strategies for achieving the internationally and regionally agreed goals related to gender equality and women’s empowerment issues. It acts as a knowledge hub at the regional level, collecting evidence on progress and emerging issues and sharing knowledge on innovative approaches and lessons learned in implementation.

Reporting to the Portfolio Lead Humanitarian Action/Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Action, the Programme Specialist contributes significantly to the strategic engagement and effective management of UN Women programmes in the RO. This role involves providing substantive inputs to programme design, formulation, implementation and evaluation, with a focus on integrating gender equality and human rights into Disaster Risk Management.

The Programme Specialist is pivotal in guiding and facilitating the delivery of UN Women programmes by monitoring results achieved during implementation and ensuring appropriate application of systems and procedures and develops enhancements if necessary.  The Programme Specialist works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation, providing support at the country level and facilitating regional initiatives.

Scope of Work:

1. Contribute technically to the development of programme strategies in the area of disaster risk reduction

• Provide substantive inputs to the design and formulation of programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products;
• Identify areas for support and intervention related to the DRR programme, including strengthening synergies between DRR and climate adaptation strategies aimed at enhancing long term sustainability and resilience against future risks
• Support the alignment of DRR into national adaptation planning processes and sectoral development strategies, ensuring coherence across governance levels.

2. Provide substantive technical support to the implementation and management of DRR programmes

• Provide technical inputs to the annual workplan and budget;
• Support implementation of regional programme activities, leveraging technology and innovation solutions to DRM, including early warning systems and anticipatory action approaches.
• Support the coordination of the call/request for proposals, including the organization of technical review committees, and capacity assessment of partners, and ensuring localization of DRR strategies

3. Provide technical assistance and capacity development to UN Women country offices and DRR partners

• Provide technical and policy support to country and multi-country office teams in developing and strengthening projects/ programmes in disaster risk management; including to apply UN Women guidance on youth engagement, engagement of women with disabilities, local and indigenous peoples, other marginalized groups and promoting LGBTIQ rights;
• Maintain relationships with regional partners to support implementation and expansion of the DRR programme;
• Identify opportunities for capacity building of partners and facilitate technical/ programming support and trainings to partners, as needed.

4. Provide technical inputs to the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project

• Draft reports on monitoring missions, programme results, outputs and outcomes;
• Provide substantive inputs to the preparation of donor and UN Women reports relating to resilience building, ensuring the inclusion of sex-disaggregated data and gender-responsive vulnerability analysis.
• Support evaluation and impact assessment of DRR programmes and initiatives
• Strengthen the production and use of data to inform decision-making, including collecting, analyzing, and applying sex-, age-, and disability-disaggregated data in DRR programming.
• Promote the use of data-driven insights and research to enhance gender-responsive DRR interventions and policies.

5. Provide substantive technical inputs to the management of people and finances of the DRR programme

• Monitor budget implementation and make budget re-alignments/ revisions, as necessary;
• Provide substantive inputs to financial reports;
• Supervise Programme Assistants as relevant.

6. Provide substantive inputs to building partnerships and resource mobilization strategies

• Provide substantive inputs to resource mobilization strategies; analyze and maintain information and databases;
• Provide technical support to field-based presences in the region in mobilizing resources for the implementation of DRR Programme and humanitarian action and surge (when necessary);
• Participate in donor meetings and public information events, as delegated.

7. Provide technical support to inter-agency coordination on DRR to systematically integrate gender and social inclusion

• Provide substantive technical support to the Regional DRR Interagency and Coordination bodies including but not limited to Gender Action Plan, Issue Based Coalition- Resilience (IBC-R), Asia Pacific Partnership-DRR Gender Stakeholder Group;
• Coordinate specific efforts in mainstreaming gender and protection in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts of other clusters and relevant working groups,
• Advocate for the engagement and participation of local organizations and civil society networks in DRR coordination mechanisms.

8. Provide substantive inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop background documents, briefs and presentations related to gender in disaster risk reduction;
• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with country offices;
• Coordinate and organize advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products;
• Coordinate the development of knowledge management methodologies, and products on gender in DRR.

9. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendation
• Good analytical skills
• Good knowledge of gender in DRR and knowledge on humanitarian action is an advantage
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising

Minimum Qualifications :

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in relevant field including Environmental Science, Public policy, human rights, gender/women’s studies, international development, a related field, is required; A specialization in disaster risk reduction, humanitarian, climate change is preferred.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience in disaster risk reduction, humanitarian, climate change or development programme/project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building;
• Technical experience in inter-agency coordination, preferably in DRR, humanitarian action and/or climate change;
• Demonstrated experience engaging diverse stakeholders, including civil society and governments.
• Demonstrated technical expertise on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social inclusion in DRR, humanitarian action and/or climate change.
• Experience in the Asia Pacific region is desirable.

Languages:

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

Statements :

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.  Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.