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. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Sudan gained independence in 1956 and immediately sunk into prolonged conflict, resulting in the loss of over two million lives in the south alone. Southern Sudan marked a critical juncture with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005, which paved the way for a new political dispensation. Some of the gains realized include the creation of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), with a decentralized structure providing for ten (10) state governments. South Sudan has since undertaken elections in 2010 and the Southern Sudan Referendum for self-determination in 2011. Following the internationally acclaimed Referendum in which majority voted for separation, South Sudan gained independence on 9th July 2011. 

Six years after the signing of the CPA, South Sudan continues efforts to address post war demands for basic service delivery, community security, and poverty reduction. The situation necessitated starting from rudimentary levels most often in an environment where many parts of the country are totally cut off periodically due to lack of roads and other communication infrastructure. In addition, many public sector organs are seriously constrained by a shortage of personnel in virtually all sectors, with the state levels being most affected. Informal reviews indicate that most of the current staff lack necessary work experience and with illiteracy rate of over 70%, they also have difficulties with communicating in English, which is the official business language of South Sudan. Capacity building at individual, organizational and institutional levels therefore remains an urgent priority to enable South Sudan to restore its institutions, and render basic services to its citizens.

UN Women has established a programme for South Sudan that targets 3 key Result Areas: (1) enhanced women Leadership and participation in gender responsive governance; (2) increased access to women’s empowerment and opportunities; (3) Improved protection and security for women and girls. Increased women’s access to education opportunities will be cross-cutting and supports all the three pillars. Capacity building is the overarching strategy with technical support to functional literacy as the basis for the social, economic and political empowerment of women.

South Sudan has a unique starting position. The constitutional review process is on-going, the general elections are scheduled to take place in 2015 and the national reconciliation efforts are being initiated. Furthermore, the country is piloting the New Deal with 5 peacebuilding and statebuilding goals addressing issues of UNSCR 1325 – hence providing opportunity to integrate UN SC resolution 1325 and measures for the elimination of GBV into national priorities, planning and financing from the onset.

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Country Representative, the Gender Specialist will advance the development and Implementation of UN Women Programmes in South Sudan.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:
  • Analysis and monitoring of trends, opportunities and challenges;
  • Programme development and technical support;
  • Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners;
  • Knowledge management and reporting.
Analysis and monitoring of trends, opportunities and challenges:
  • Identify and provide analytical based advice on UN Women’s comparative substantive role and specific contribution in the development agenda, and participate in policy dialogues around gender equality and the empowerment of women;
  • Support UN Women involvement in humanitarian efforts in the country including the integration of women concerns in humanitarian assistance with different UN agencies, Humanitarian Cluster Group, HCT and relevant national authorities;
  • Support the UNCT in monitoring and reporting of UN work focused on gender and ensure that existing UN policies and any new guidance on gender equality work are widely disseminated and supported at country level.
Programme development and technical support:
  • Provide guidance and support to country office programme staff, national partners on gender responsive initiatives and build strategic links with the work being done on National Development Strategies and National Action Plans;
  • Provide guidance and advice to the UN Women Country Office, development partners and national counterparts on implementation of key UN frameworks and conventions on women such as CEDAW, UNSCR 1325, UN SG Seven Point Action Plan, CSW, UNiTE Campaign and international frameworks such as New Deal and post 2015 development agenda;
  • Support the UN Women South Sudan Civil Society Organizations Advisory Group and advocate to increase their influence in shaping national development plans, strategies and financing mechanisms, through network development, capacity development and support to the development of national advocacy platforms;
  • Provide advice and inputs into the formulation of quality project proposals for UN Women's intervention areas. Study and synthesize proposals from partners and advise on the relevance to UN Women programming;
  • Provide specialized advice to the Country Office to enhance integration of gender principles in UN frameworks as well as work closely with the UN Thematic Working Groups, Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and different Cluster Groups to promote the harmonization of gender-related activities.
Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners:
  • Strengthen and enhance partnerships/cooperation/consultations/coordination with national and local state actors, national and international civil society actors, especially, women's organizations, UN, World Bank, bilateral donors, academia, private sector and private foundations for more effective and coordinated implementation of gender equality strategies;
  • The Gender Specialist will assist in resource mobilization for the UN Women Office, in consultation with the Country Representative; participate in setting strategic goals and identifying opportunities for productive long term interventions in order for the Country Office to meet its mandate;
  • The Gender Specialist will generate donor reports in collaboration with the relevant programme officers in a timely and professional manner. S/He will contribute to reports, concept notes and other written materials; review and provide feedback to project-related strategies and documents, case studies and related knowledge products and office website content and publications as requested; contribute substantively on knowledge management and ensure documentation and dissemination of lessons learned through different forums.
Knowledge management and reporting:
  • The Gender Specialist will support the capacity building programme for staff to maximize their potential and optimize the existing knowledge in the Office;
  • Facilitate advocacy efforts, South-South and regional cooperation, and access of national women’s organizations to knowledge products and global best practices in gender mainstreaming.
Impact of Results:

The key results directly impact on the overall effectiveness of Representative to lead, manage, monitor and oversee UN Women’s programs and operations at the country level leading to enhanced visibility and image of UN women as an effective leader on gender equality and women’s rights and 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 safeguard ethics and integrity.
Organizational Awareness:
  • Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
Development and Innovation:
  • Take charge of self-development and take initiative.
Work in 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.
Communicating and Information Sharing:
  • Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for 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:
  • Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:
  • Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.
Functional Competencies:
  • Demonstrated development/programming skills particularly those that are pertinent to UN Women strategic priorities on gender issues and women’s rights;
  • Ability to lead formulation and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
  • Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them for development results;
  • Good knowledge of Results Based Management principles and approaches;
  • Ability to establish and maintain broad strategic networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies;
  • Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Master’s Degree or equivalent in Political or Social Science, International or Gender Studies, Public Policy, or related filed.
Experience:
  • At least 7 years of substantive experience at International senior programmatic position with recognized expertise and experience in gender; particularly mainstreaming and public policy analysis;
  • Experience with post conflict programming;
  • Strong analytical and writing skills.
Languages: 
  • Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another UN official language is an asset.
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.

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.