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 center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women (UNW) Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) is implementing a regional programme on economically empowering and addressing violence against Syrian refugees in the MENA region. The programme, funded by the Japanese government seeks to:

• Empower Syrian Women in Syria and neighboring countries through income generation activities to enable them support their livelihoods for the day after;
• Address violence against women and support women’s meaningful participation in community decision making processes.

The programme will build on prior successes as well as on the pilot phase implemented in Jordan and will pursue the following specific objectives: a) create and sustain access to economic recovery opportunities for vulnerable Syrian women through implementing income generation activities leading to increased self-reliance and durable solutions for the ‘day after’ in Syria; b) build a positive environment for increasing Syrian women’s active participation in social cohesion efforts taking place in their communities, including meaningful engagement in peace building efforts; c) increase awareness on women’s rights and responsibilities for an inclusive, equitable and peaceful society through enhancement of life skills such as literacy and computer classes,  etc. d) address prevention and response to Violence Against Women and girls though awareness-raising, provision of psychosocial, health, and legal services and referrals to service providers as appropriate.

The regional project will be implemented in a number of countries that are hosting Syrian refugees, including Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. In addition, the programme will aim to implement activities within Syria and serve as UN WOMEN´s entry point to the country.

In this respect, the programme manager will be based in Cairo and will be responsible for the day-to-day management, implementation and effectiveness of the regional programme, and more specifically the rolling out of the inception phase. In this regard, the staff member will be responsible for the following:

• Develop the programme, including the elements in Syria, and ensure that a strong logframe, workplan and budget, including M&E matrix and risk analysis are in place;
• Exercise overall responsibility for planning, implementation, management, monitoring, reporting and coordination aspects of the project operations and personnel;
• Facilitating linkages between the work of the Country Offices, Regional Office and UN Women HQ teams.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Arab States Deputy Regional Director, the Programme Manager will fulfill the following functions:

Summary of Key Functions:

• Oversee the implementation of programme activities;
• Provision of top quality advisory and programme development services;
• Facilitation of knowledge building, sharing and management;
• Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilization initiatives.

Description of Functions:

Implementation of programme activities:

• Finalize the programme logframe, including M&E framework and conduct a risk analysis;
• Exercise overall responsibility for planning, implementation, management, monitoring and coordination aspects of the project operations and personnel;
• Manage the recruitment of project team, consultants and support staff, as well as in identifying short-term international experts.
• Coordination and supervision of the activities of the project staff, experts and consultants working as part of the technical assistance team;
• Periodically update the overall programme framework on the basis of reviews, lessons learned and best practices derived from different thematic areas and evaluations;
• Identify local partners, and ensure that these are onboard and implementing activities as per contractual agreements;
• Be responsible for the timely preparation and quality control of all substantive technical reports, briefs and required documents, including donor reports;
• Ensure timely production and submission of all partial and/or progress reports by all members of the project team, contractors and project partners;
• Effective application of RBM tools and monitoring achievement of results, including implementation of the M&E framework for the regional programme, with specific and measurable indicators;
• Organize PSC, project review and/or evaluation meetings. Prepare background document, briefs, issues papers, progress reports for the PSC meetings and for donor reporting. Follow-up on the implementation of PSC decisions and recommendations;
• Analyze and identify interagency and intergovernmental processes relevant to the programme for visibility and advocacy purposes;
• In collaboration with project support, initiate procurement of goods and services including preparation of equipment specifications, ToRs and RFPs, managing process for the selection of suppliers, contractors and partners;
• Conduct field visits to supervise, coordinate and monitor field level activities of the project.

Provision of top quality advisory and programme development services:

• Thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation in the country and preparation of substantive inputs to the UNW country office programme planning;
• Design and formulation of project initiatives within the area of responsibility, translating UNW’s priorities into local interventions.

Facilitation of knowledge building and management:

• Identification of sources of information related to policy-driven issues. Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to programme country policy goals;
• In coordination with UN Women Country Offices in the region, ensure that knowledge is retrieved from the implementation of country action plans through periodic reporting, meetings, analysis of documents produced, lessons learned exercises, and other means;
• Ensure that this knowledge is documented and systematized and fed back into programme development including by contributing to the regional knowledge hub as well as networks both within UN Women and beyond;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
• Supervise the development and production of publications and other knowledge products on women’s political participation and economic empowerment in close coordination with the UN Women HQ teams.

Establish and support partnerships within and beyond the UN system:

• In the context of UN Women’s lead role in Gender Equality, support the development of strategic partnerships and alliances with other UN organizations, multilateral organizations, regional organizations, academic and technical organizations; contribute to the negotiations in establishing such partnerships, drafting of agreements and monitoring their implementation;
• Ensure close co-operation with other UN Women teams; develop alliances and working partnerships (thematic, advocacy, regional resource facilities, etc.);
• Identify and develop resource mobilization opportunities in support of the regional programme.

Management:

• Monitor, analyze and maintain an overview of the progress of project implementation to ensure that timely technical, managerial and administrative support is provided to all the country offices;
• Supervise the regional programme staff;
• Provide oversight on the contracting of project services to implementing agencies, ensuring compliance with UN procedures;
• Review financial reports in accordance with UN Women procedures and submit the reports to UN Women HQ and donors in a timely manner;
• Oversee the release of funds to counterparts, liquidation of funds and other processes;
• Liaise with appropriate officers of the partner UN, government and donor agencies, monitor and make necessary arrangement for the timely flow of project funds to the country offices.

Impact of Results:

The key results will have a decisive impact through the achievement of the programme objectives in economically empowering women to ensure women's active and meaningful engagement in public life and decision making spaces; and enhancing regional knowledge and experience-sharing on women's political and economic rights.

The programme will also have impact on the capacity of the UN system to support country offices in the design and implementation of strategies and activities that contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment in the region.  At the same time, the results will facilitate joint coordinated action by UN programmes, funds and specialized agencies and other partners.

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:

• Leverage 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 equality and women's empowerment issues;
• 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;
• Knowledge of methodologies and best practices for promoting gender equality, equity and women empowerment in general and in the Arab States region in particular;
• Experience with implementing gender mainstreaming agendas across a variety of sectors, including experience gender mainstreaming in governmental bodies;
• Experience working with and building capacity of national women’s machineries or similar institutions;
• Experience working with the UN in transition contexts;
• Experience working with women’s movements, NGOs and civil society networks, and familiarity with women's rights organizations and networks in the region and globally;
• High degree of sensitivity and demonstrated ability to achieve results in operationally complex environments.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, economics, law, public or business administration and related subjects.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in the area of governance and/or private sector development. Specific experience in gender-related initiatives is an asset. Prior working experience in the UN system and/or in the EU or other international organizations is required. Familiarity with the various donor project cycles is an added bonus.

Languages:

• Fluent oral and written English as well as Arabic is required.

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.
• Previous applicants will be reconsidered and do not have to resubmit new application.

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.