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 project on economically empowering and addressing violence against Syrian refugees in the MENA region.

The project, funded by the Japanese government seeks to:

• Empower women economically 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 regional project will be implemented in a number of countries, including Lebanon. In this respect, the Field coordinator (FC), to be based in Beirut, will be responsible, under the direct supervision of the Regional Programme Manager based in Cairo for project implementation and achievement of project results. More specifically, the FC will have the following responsibilities:

• Exercise overall responsibility for planning, implementation, management, monitoring and coordination aspects of the project operations and personnel;
• Assist the Regional Programme Manager in programme development and resource mobilization in specific thematic areas.

Duties and Responsibilities

Implementation of project activities:

Technical

• Exercise overall responsibility for planning, implementation, management, monitoring and coordination aspects of the project operations and personnel;
• Take necessary steps for initiating an assessment  survey  to collect information about the  existing UN Centres  in  the target areas  and/ or  the need to establish a new UN Women  Centre;
•  Support in conducting costing estimates for  both options (joining other UN centers  or  establishing new one)  within established timeframe, and based on a detailed work plan;          
• Conduct mapping of existing partners  NGOs , CBOs  at the local level who can collaborate with UN Women  as implementing partner  and conduct the capacity assessment;
• Ensure that all contractual procedures   with the selected implementing partner are in place including M&E and reporting mechanisms;
• Enhance national ownership of the project through holding regular meetings with national counterpart and   local authorities to present project objectives, keep them updated and obtain their support in achieving the anticipated impact in improving the livelihood of target communities;
• Conduct awareness meetings with stakeholders, NGOs, private sector and other players at the local level to share UN Women intervention areas and the added-value in enhancing economic empowerment of women in communities targeting both refugees and Lebanese women;
• Enhance social cohesion through arranging meetings with local communities to share information about the cultures / traditions of hosting communities and   refugees as a step to reduce tensions;
• Support the establishment of   female-led association at the local level and encourage its participation in the awareness campaigns related to Violence Against Women as violation of human rights;
• Mobilize girls, women, boys and men along other active actors in the hosting community to develop innovative means of implementing communication plan such as music, video clips, newsletter etc.

Management:

• Manage the recruitment of project associate, local consultants, as well as, identify short-term international experts;
• Coordinate and supervise the activities of the project staff, experts and consultants working as part of the technical assistance team;
• Be responsible for the timely preparation and quality control of all substantive technical reports, briefs and required documents.
• Ensure timely production and submission of all partial and/or progress reports to the Programme Manager at the Regional Office in Cairo;
• Ensures effective application of RBM tools and monitoring achievement of results;
• 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;
• 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 UN Women RO. Identification of areas for support and interventions within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned;
• 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 UNDAF/UNCT programme policy goals;
• Support to development of policies and institutions that will address the country   problems and needs in collaboration with the Government and other strategic partners;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
• Organization of trainings for the operations/ projects staff on programme issues.

Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilization initiatives:

• Development of partnerships with the UN Agencies, IFI’s, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society in the specific thematic areas based on strategic goals of UN Women , country needs and donors’ priorities;
• Analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for initiation of new projects, active contribution to the overall office effort in resource mobilization.

The key results have an impact on the corporate image of the country office and the success of project initiatives. In particular, they will have an impact on the design, operation and programming of activities, creation of strategic partnerships with the EU and other donors as well as reaching resource mobilization targets.

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:

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda:

Preparing information for advocacy

• Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating UNW’s mandate.

Results-Based Programme Development and Management:

Contributes into results through primary research and analysis

• Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work;
• Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration;
• Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
• Analyzes country situation to identify opportunities for project development;
• Participates in the formulation of project proposals and ensures substantive rigor in the design and application of proven successful approaches and drafts proposals accordingly.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

Maintaining a network of contacts

• Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues;
• Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches:

Enhancing processes or products

• Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches.

Resource Mobilization:

Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategies

• Analyzes information/databases on potential and actual donors;
• Develops a database of project profiles.  Identifies opportunities for project proposals for presentation to donors.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Basic research and analysis

• Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

Fundamental knowledge of own discipline

• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
• Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks;
• Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning;
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
• Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Client Orientation:

Establishing effective client relationships

• Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion;
• Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines;
• Anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

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

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in the area of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, local economic development and social 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 an asset;
• Familiarity with the various donor project cycles is an added bonus.

Language:

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