UN WOMEN Jobs - 49988- Re-advertisement - UN Women: HIV/AIDS Specialist

Re-advertisement - UN Women: HIV/AIDS Specialist

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

06-Mar-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

Candidates who previously applied need not re-apply.

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.

UN Women is seeking to hire a Programme Specialist in the area of gender equality and HIV and AIDS for its Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESARO) and Western and Central Africa (WACARO). This is in recognition of the fact that research in this area strongly points to the linkages between gender inequalities and HIV and the importance of developing approaches that will address systematic gender inequalities which perpetuate behaviors that put women at risk of HIV. UN Women is looking to address the needs and strengthen the voice of women and more so those living with HIV and AIDS. It is also important to strengthen institutional responses through developing gender sensitive multi -sectoral approaches to addressing HIV and AIDS. UN Women will therefore be focusing on strengthening gender responsive prevention strategies and addressing systematic gender inequalities.

The Programme Specialist will be responsible for overseeing the effective implementation of UN Women’s cross regional HIV and AIDS programmes and activities under its global policy efforts in the area of gender equality dimensions of HIV and AIDS. The Programme Specialist (HIV and AIDS) is responsible for programme management including oversight, trouble shooting, monitoring and evaluation, reporting and financial and human resources management; programme communications and knowledge management; and partnership development.

The HIV/Aids Specialist reports directly to the Regional Director, ESARO in close collaboration with the Regional Director, WCARO. The incumbent will have a matrixed reporting line with the Representative in South Africa for day-to-day operational supervision and guidance.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Technical and Advisory Support to Country Offices through the monitoring and analysis of key trends, emerging challenges and opportunities;
Programme development and management, and technical support to the regional and country offices;
Establishment and strengthening of strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners;
Knowledge management and reporting.

Description of Functions:

Technical and Advisory Support to Country Offices through the monitoring and analysis of key trends, emerging challenges and opportunities:

To provide technical support and advisory services to UN Women, aimed at strengthening institutional approaches and strategies as they relate to the linkages between gender inequalities and efforts to address HIV and AIDS;
Carry out an audit of the existing HIV and AIDS programmes in both the regions as well as countries, looking at the linkages between HIV and AIDS and gender inequalities in all the countries (in both conflict and non-conflict zones). Based on the audit, establish programmatic priorities for both the regions in addressing the linkages between gender inequalities and HIV and AIDS, keeping in view the countries’ openness to this agenda;
Monitor trends, emerging challenges and opportunities related to gender inequalities and HIV and AIDS and support the development of strategic responses to opportunities and challenges;
Conduct background research and analysis with regard to strategic entry points for new initiatives or strengthening existing work on gender equalities and HIV and AIDS;
Prepare analytical reports, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, talking points and others as required by senior management;
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of regional developments and events aimed at linking the drive to address gender inequalities and HIV and AIDS, and integrate information and analysis in support of policy development, analysis, outreach and advocacy;
Contribute to the development of new cross-thematic initiatives in the area of gender equalities and HIV and AIDS;
Represent UN Women at inter-governmental and regional meetings on HIV and AIDS issues in the region, as requested by the Regional Director.

Programme development and management and technical support to the regional and country offices:

Provide feedback and technical backstopping on UN Women’s portfolio of HIV and AIDS programmes through formulation, implementation and evaluation stages;
Provide policy recommendations, strategic advice and proposed courses of action to the Regional Director and Country Representatives incl. identification of opportunities for strategic engagement and leadership on matters of gender inequalities and HIV and AIDS;
Prepare technical guidance notes and briefing papers on programming to address the gender dimensions of HIV and AIDS;
Programme management of the existing MCO HIV and AIDS initiatives and other countries in the region as needed;
Provide oversight, close guidance and direction to ensure strategic focus, result orientation and effectiveness and efficiency of the overall HIV programming;
Programme development and management of regional programmes as they emerge;
Ensure coherence and effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of cross regional programmes on gender equality and HIV and AIDS;
Mobilize resources for the HIV and AIDS programmes regionally and support country level resource mobilization efforts;
Oversee budget management including tracking budget performance and monitoring in close collaboration with the finance and geographic teams, including developing a budget monitoring system to regularly update and inform programme delivery;
Coordinate timely delivery of high quality programme and financial reporting to donors, inter-governmental processes and other stakeholders;
Support the capacity development for staff and partners on gender dimensions of HIV and AIDS;
Represent the HIV and AIDS team in internal corporate programme/policy development including Programme Appraisal Committee and any others as relevant.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners:

Establish and maintain close working contacts with key national, regional and local stakeholders from Government, Civil Society, Regional Organizations and other relevant international actors to build up and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships on HIV and AIDS issues and more so initiatives which focus on addressing gender inequalities;
Liaising on inter-agency related work, particularly in relation to UNAIDS;
Facilitate building/strengthening networks of institutions, practitioners and experts in the area of gender equalities and HIV AND AIDS;
Ensure ongoing communication and exchange between UN Women (headquarters, regional and country offices) with key programme partners, including the national partners, UN agencies, multilateral organizations, networks of Persons Living With HIV and AIDS, women’s and men’s networks, and others involved in gender equalities and HIV and AIDS;
Coordinate global and regional workshops and other global events relevant to gender and HIV AND AIDS;
Represent UN Women at key global and regional venues where experiences related gender dimensions of HIV can be highlighted and influential.

Knowledge Management and Reporting:

Support the effective implementation of programme communications strategies developed for the cross-regional programmes;
Ensure that best practices and lessons emerging from the programmes are shared across regions and with other relevant partners;
Create and facilitate communities of practice for programmes in order to ensure cross-regional communication and learning;
Document lessons learned and case studies related to gender equalities and HIV and AIDS;
Ensure adequate knowledge sharing through the UN Women Gender and HIV and AIDS Web Portal and UN Women website in close collaboration with the Communications teams.

Impact of Results:

The HIV/AIDS Specialist will impact on the success of efforts to formulate and implement UN Women’s cross regional HIV and AIDS programmes and activities under its global policy efforts in the area of the gender dimensions of HIV and AIDS in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region.

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 knowledge and understanding of the inter-linkages between women’s empowerment, gender inequalities, and responses to HIV and AIDS in Africa- at national and regional levels, with an emphasis on the provision of coordinated support and management of strategic programmes to advance gender equalities;
Substantive knowledge and experience in management of Human Rights Based Approaches to programming;
Ability to carry out research and analytical work to contribute to the formulation of policies, procedures and guidelines;
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 good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

Promotes knowledge management in UN Women and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
Ability to conduct advocacy, and to support the development of programme communications strategies for sharing good practices and successful strategies;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to lead the formulation and monitoring of management projects;
Solid knowledge of financial and human resources management, contract, asset and procurement, information and communication technology, general administration;
Ability to lead business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems (business side), and positively affect staff behavioral/attitudinal change.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's Degree or equivalent in Social Sciences (International Development studies, Gender/Women's studies, Sociology) and/or Public Health.

Experience:

Minimum of seven years of relevant experience in development work and particularly on issues of women's empowerment and gender equalities, with a particular focus on HIV AND AIDS in Africa;
Experience in programme development, management/coordination, monitoring and evaluation, as well as knowledge management.

Languages:

Fluency in written and oral English; and
French would be 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.