UN WOMEN Jobs - 49824- UN Women: Gender & Humanitarian Specialist

UN Women: Gender & Humanitarian Specialist - World Humanitarian Summit (WHS)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

01-Nov-2014

Application Deadline :

29-Sep-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

364 Days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.

In undertaking its mandate to support “existing coordination mechanisms to generate a more effective United Nations system-wide humanitarian response to respond to the specific needs of women and girls…” UN Women seeks to complement and enhance the capacity of other UN entities to serve their respective mandates and deliver on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The United Nations Secretary-General has requested that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) organizes the first World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) to set an agenda for a changing community of humanitarian actors to work together better to serve people in need. The summit will take place in 2016 and will set the agenda beyond 2016 to make humanitarian action more effective, inclusive, and global – and overall, fit for the future.

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment is a key priority that cuts across the four thematic areas of the WHS and also underpins the process of thematic debates, consultation and participation leading to WHS and beyond. UN Women will support the WHS Secretariat and OCHA by deploying technical expertise during this period to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment is at the center of humanitarian action and its future global agenda. The Gender & Humanitarian Specialist will consult and utilize the resources available at the OCHA Gender and Protection Team.

The scope of work of the Gender & Humanitarian Specialist requires experience and understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues in order to support the thematic teams on the subject and influence and advocate around other processes implemented during the same period including Beijing +20, Sustainable Development Goals – post 2015, Hyogo Framework for Action II etc. The Gender & Humanitarian Specialist will also provide direct support to the Chief of WHS ensuring that the WHS agenda and process fully mainstream gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In accordance with the overall objectives of the WHS, the Gender & Humanitarian Specialist will develop a dedicated gender equality strategy and ensure its effective implementation. The Gender & Humanitarian Specialist will also develop partnerships, with civil society, regional institutions, government and the international humanitarian system, including relevant UN entities and bilateral donors to enhance awareness, commitment, visibility and resources to advance gender equality and women's empowerment that will contribute to create a more inclusive, effective and interoperable humanitarian system for all.

The position of Gender & Humanitarian Specialist will be located primarily in the WHS Secretariat in OCHA, and other times in UN Women. The incumbent will report to both the Chief of the WHS Secretariat through the WHS Thematic Team Leader, and UN Women Gender and Humanitarian Advisor.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Chief of the WHS Secretariat, the Gender & Humanitarian Specialist will have the following functions:

Summary of Key Functions:

Technical Support;
Coordination, partnership and resource mobilization support;
Evidence-based advocacy and communication;
Capacity-building and knowledge management.

Description of Functions:

Technical Support:

Contribute to development of the WHS gender equality strategy, policy and technical notes as relevant for thematic teams and regional and global consultations;
Facilitate and coordinate implementation of the gender equality strategy including reporting, tracking and analyzing progress on achievement of the objectives and results, and proposing adjustments and solutions as maybe required;
Draft substantive inputs for the SG report(s) on gender equality and women’s empowerment mainstreaming leading to WHS. Under the overall strategic guidance of the Chief of WHS Secretariat, support regional consultations and thematic discussions, through direct or remote technical support across the four thematic areas;
Contribute to regular reviews and assessments of global, regional and country inputs on humanitarian issues from the gender perspective;
Contribute to the analysis of regional consultations and feed discussions on gender related trends;
Undertake and coordinate stand alone consultations on gender equality and women’s empowerment in humanitarian action, including contribute to the work on gender-based violence and sexual violence in conflict.

Coordination, Partnership, and Resource Mobilization Support:

As designated, participate in and support relevant inter-agency and inter-governmental forums and UN system-wide inter-agency tasks forces, notably the IASC Gender Reference Group, the Protection GBV Area of Responsibility, the Hyogo Framework for Action 2, ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment, Women Peace and Security, donor conferences and others;
Coordinate with UN Women Strategic Partnership Unit and engage with UN Women Civil Advisory Boards at the global, regional and country levels for effective gender equality and women’s empowerment mainstreaming throughout the process leading to WHS;
Support the identification and development of strategic partnerships and alliances at the country level to promote gender equality and women's empowerment including support with drafting key advocacy messages and ensuring coordinated advocacy efforts;
As designated, in consultation with the Chief of WHS Secretariat, support with fund-raising activities focusing on implementing the WHS gender equality strategy including drafting of additional projects as opportunities develop;
Establish and forge partnerships with other UN agencies and NGOs.

Evidence-based Advocacy and Communication:

Support with the analysis and information gathering for the Chief of the WHS Secretariat, Thematic Team Leader and UN Women Head of Humanitarian Unit in their engagement in policy debates relevant to the issue of gender equality in humanitarian action leading to WHS;
Advocate on behalf of WHS and its mandate to help raise awareness and to stimulate action to advance gender equality and women's rights within humanitarian contexts by, inter alia, forming strategic partnerships with government, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, media and the private sector;
Ensure information and evidence based analysis are exchanged across four thematic areas, including also between the IASC Gender Reference Group and other fora as required;
As designated, participate in working groups, meetings, conferences, consultations with other agencies and partners on WHS, focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment in humanitarian action;
Drafts background documents, talking points, speeches and meeting notes for the Chief of WHS Secretariat particularly related to post-2015 processes.

Capacity Building and Knowledge Management:

Collect, analyze and disseminate inputs and best practices on gender equality in humanitarian contexts and contribute to the knowledge management efforts of the WHS;
Drive the process of engaging civil society and women’s organizations including providing capacity building to ensure their contribution to thematic discussions and regional and country based consultations;
Contribute to the development and maintenance of global, regional knowledge networks and practices on mainstreaming gender into humanitarian action.

Impact of Results:

The functioning of UN Women’s Humanitarian Unit impacts directly on changing humanitarian practices to benefit women and girls; which takes place through enhancing coordination and accountability for gender mainstreaming in humanitarian action, promoting consistency and sustainability in addressing gender equality concerns, and strengthening capacity and effectiveness of UN Women field offices together with national entities and civil society.

The work of the Gender & Humanitarian Specialist will have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the processes leading to WHS and will ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda is fully integrated in the thematic debates, advocacy related to the parallel post-2015 processes and build consensus and influence partners so that the humanitarian agenda has a people center approach where voices and capacities of women, men, boys and girls are heard and utilized.

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:

Substantive knowledge and experience related to current inter-governmental, policies and practices in the fields of gender equality and humanitarian action including women peace and security, disaster risk reduction, and early recovery;
Strong communications skills, with experience in contributing to the development and drafting of policy papers, advocacy statement and programme/ project documents;
Proven analytical and problem solving skills;
Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills;
Effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners;
Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal performance.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in humanitarian, disaster management or development-related disciplines, gender issues, public policy or other social science fields.

Experience:

Seven years of experience in humanitarian action work, minimum five of which focused on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment;
Experience in inter-agency coordination and collaboration with governments, donors and civil society organizations at HQ and field level, preferably in crisis and emergency contexts;
Experience in inter-governmental processes, formulation of policy and advocacy statements and academic research on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues;
Familiarity with the Humanitarian System and Civil Society Organizations in particular would be an asset;
Ability to relate humanitarian affairs issues and perspectives particularly and with a focus on gender equality, to political, economic, social and human rights programmes.

Languages:

Written and oral proficiency in English is required;
Knowledge of another UN official language is 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.