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 international community has intensified efforts to find a peaceful and negotiated solution to the Syrian crisis that has had a gender-differential impact. Syrian women played an important role in the nonviolent protests that marked the beginning of the uprising. But as the conflict turned increasingly violent and militarized these roles have been marginalized and women themselves sidelined from efforts at conflict resolution. While women have continued to organize – often at the community level in relation to humanitarian needs – this has not translated into a voice at the international level or among the key parties to the conflict. Moreover, the efforts of international NGOs, while leading to establishment of a number of Syrian women networks and forums, have not materialized in any coordinated approach towards Syrian women’s participation in political processes.

As a result, women in Syria continue to face the increasing risk of being largely sidelined in ongoing mediation and decision making processes and have little representation across all parties to the conflict. Despite their significant presence on the front lines of the war demanding their rights and delivering services to all, few if any leaders on either side are speaking out in defense of women’s rights, with the Syrian parliament consisting of just 12% women (lower than the average for the region) and the National Coalition for revolutionary and oppositional forces including only 8 women out of 114 members.

In light of these challenges, and further to the commitments laid out in UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) which commits the international community to ensure women’s participation and leadership in all aspects of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, efforts are needed across the range of responses to ensure that women’s needs are assessed, appropriate responses are designed and financed, and that women’s empowerment and leadership is a core element of future actions. This is further reinforced by the Geneva Communiqué, which stipulates that women must be fully represented in all aspects of the transition. Beyond participation, peace efforts must place commitments to promoting women’s leadership and gender equality on the agenda.

To this effect, UN Women, with the support of the Government of the Netherlands, and in close collaboration with the Department of Political Affairs and Office of the Joint Special Envoy for Syria, on 11-13 January 2014 brought together a diverse group of 47 Syrian women leaders from inside and outside Syria to discuss women’s perspectives and articulate clear asks of the negotiating parties and international community in relation to women’s role in shaping the future of their country. The meeting resulted in the launch of the Syrian Women’s Initiative for Peace and Democracy.

The Syrian Women's Initiative for Peace and Democracy (SWIPAD) aims to build as broad a coalition of women’s organizations as possible, united by the principles of the Outcome Document, to ensure that the peace process and any future transitional process involve the active participation of women and address gender issues and the priorities of women’s civil society.

Scope of the Assignment:

As a next step, UN Women will convene the SWIPAD to consolidate and further strengthen the group internally to become a more cohesive, organized and unified body with a common understanding of its identity; to reach agreement on the ways of expanding social base, support and legitimacy; to build a common understanding of the internal working mechanisms of the initiative; to reach a common understanding and agreement on the Action Plan; and to create linkages with international partners to capitalize on the collective resources and expertise dedicated to supporting Syrian women’s engagement in the peace process. A series of virtual facilitated discussions will be conducted by the Political Advisor prior to the convening to support the women in evaluating and reaching consensus on key questions related to the identity, purpose and planned actions of the initiative.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Regional Director of the Arab States and under close guidance of the Programme Advisor, the Facilitator will undertake the following functions:

• Provide input and feedback into the development of all related organizational aspects, activities and functions related to the meeting to include agenda formulation;
• Facilitate the meeting of Syrian women (12-13 June 2014) and co-facilitate the meeting of international partners as needed (14-15 June 2014);
• Facilitate large and small group work discussions during the event and provide input into the design;
• Provide inputs for the final reports of the meeting.

• Input and feedback into the development of all related organizational aspects, activities and functions related to the meeting including the agenda formulation;
• Written input of the four days meeting for inclusion in the final reports.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Ability to lead strategically including management and reporting;
• Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the initiative;
• Ability to apply development theory to the specific country context to identify creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations.

Management and Leadership

• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Ability to lead effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience