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. 

UN Women Regional Office for Europe has identified a number of sectors and issues as priority for the next years.  Priority areas of work within the European Regional Strategy:

  • Expand women's leadership and participation in the economy;
  • Enhance women's economic empowerment;
  • Help Address the structural causes of gender based inequality and discrimination;
  • Support gender mainstreaming of national development strategies processes;
  • In addition to the above, UN Women also actively participates and contributes to various UN inter-agency processes and collaborates with UN organizations around specific programme areas. 

The scope of work of the Economic Empowerment Adviser requires strong knowledge and experience in developing and implementing economic policy at national and international levels and an in-depth understanding of challenges facing the region in order to translate UN Women's Strategic Plan into effective programmes and results on women’s economic empowerment. It also requires developing mutually reinforcing partnerships with relevant Government counterparts, UN organizations, and CSOs. 

The Economic Empowerment Advisor is expected to be an economist, with significant experience in developing and implementing economic policies and research that support inclusive growth. Under the supervision of the UN Women Regional Director of Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, the Economic Empowerment Adviser, based in Istanbul, will work in close coordination with the Economic Empowerment section in the Policy Division at UN Women Headquarters.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:
  • Analyze economic trends and Institutions and conduct research;
  • Programme development and technical support;
  • Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships;
  • Knowledge management and reporting.
Description of Functions:

Analyze economic trends and institutions and conduct research:
  • Analyze and understand the relationships between economic trends, household economic security, women’s rights and access to services and socio-economic resilience in different national contexts;
  • Analyze economic institutions and policies with a focus on job creation, employment of high-skill and low-skill women workers and access to credit and markets to identify the most relevant opportunities and challenges for women;
  • Provide policy recommendations, strategic advice and proposed courses of action to the Regional Director and Country Representatives. Maintain up-to-date knowledge of economic events and integrate information and analysis in support of policy development, analysis, outreach and advocacy;
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of economic events and integrate information and analysis in support of policy development, analysis, outreach and advocacy;
  • Prepare analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, correspondence and talking points;
  • Work closely with the EU and other regional bodies that influence national economic policies and represent UN Women at inter-governmental and regional meetings on Women's economic empowerment in the region;
  • Propose plan of action for immediate and long- range actions on women's economic empowerment in the region;
  • Work closely with UN Women's policy advisors in the region and at HQ to identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities for enhancing gender equality and women's economic empowerment.
Programme development and technical support:
  • Support  the overall development and implementation of the UN Women regional economic empowerment portfolio;
  • Assist country offices in developing and strengthening policies to increase women's access to decent work, social protection and economic empowerment;
  • Work closely with UN Women field based presences in the Europe and Central Asia Region and provide programme guidance and support to develop and implement programmes at the local and national level to enhance women's economic empowerment;
  • Promote coordination and participation in joint activities with various stakeholders such as UN agencies, women's national machineries, civil society, inter-governmental organizations and regional women's networks, so as to work collaboratively in pursuit of the shared goal of increasing women's economic empowerment.
Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional/international actors and  development partners:
  • Support the building of strategic alliances and partnerships for women’s economic empowerment related strategies and initiatives;
  • Maintain close liaison with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards women's economic empowerment in the region;
  • Support country offices in mobilizing resources for the implementation of women's economic initiatives;
  • Maintain close contact with relevant staff at UN Women HQ, and colleagues in other Regional Offices to foster south-south cooperation.
Knowledge management and reporting:
  • Manage the process of compiling indicators of relevant regional growth and economic development trends and women’s economic participation;
  • Manage the process of report preparation and lessons learned on women's economic empowerment and contribute to UN Women's knowledge management efforts;
  • Work with relevant UN Women teams to identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in the area of gender and economics;
  • Contribute to the development of a regional knowledge hub and propose plans to enrich its gender and economics coverage. 
Impact of Results:
  • The work of the Economic Empowerment Advisor will impact the success of the formulation and implementation of UN Women Economic Empowerment programmes, as well as initiatives in the Europe Region to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Competencies

Core values and Guiding principles: 

Integrity: 
  • Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
Professionalism: 
  • Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: 
  • Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
  • Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity. 
Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:   
  • Demonstrate and promote ethics and integrity by creating organizational precedents.
Organizational Awareness:  
  • Build support for the organization and ensure political acumen.
Development and Innovation:  
  • Support staff competence development, and contribute to an environment of creativity and innovation. 
Work in teams:     
  • Build and promote effective teams. Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
Communication and Information Sharing:    
  • Create and promote an environment for open and effective communication.
Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:  
  • Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.
Conflict Management:   
  • Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:  
  • Share knowledge across the organization and build a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:    
  • Ensure fair and transparent decision making processes and manage risk.
Functional Competencies:
  • Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the area of Gender and Economics;
  • Additional expertise on labour markets and social protections, with broad knowledge of gender and development.
  • Demonstrated People Management Skills;
  • Familiarity with the Europe Region, women's rights organizations and networks the region and globally;
  • Good knowledge of UN Women and the UN system;
  • Proven ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
  • Ability to lead strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting;
  • Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Master's degree in Economics with specialization in economic policy in developing countries.
Experience:
  • A minimum of 10 years progressively responsible experience in gender and economics issues, ideally with some experience in developing countries in the area of Gender and Economics.
Language:
  • Fluency in written and spoken English. Working knowledge of another UN language will be an asset.

Application:

  • All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
  • Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

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.