UN WOMEN Jobs - 52613- Project Coordinator - Gender in Society Perception

Project Coordinator - Gender in Society Perceptions Study (GSPS) - (Open to Kyrgyzstan Nationals Only)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

16-Feb-2015

Application Deadline :

25-Jan-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SC-8

Duration of Initial Contract :

12 months

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Contract renewable subject to funds availability and performance.

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 was established by GA resolution 64/289 of 2 July 2010 on system-wide coherence, with a mandate to assist Member States and the UN system to progress more effectively and efficiently towards the goal of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. Since 2001 UN Women (previously as UNIFEM) in Kyrgyzstan has implemented catalytic initiatives on promoting women’s economic, political and social rights. In 2012 a full Country Office was established.

The position is in support of the UN Women Kyrgyzstan Country Office’s Women, Peace and Security Cluster which coordinates a joint project by UN Women, IOM and UNFPA that is funded by the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO). The project is aligned with the Peacebuilding Priority Plan confirmed by Government of the Kyrgyz Republic which resulted in funding in 2013 under the United Nations Peace and Recovery Facility, PRF, and has now resulted in funding under the PBSO’s Immediate Response Facility, IRF for the Gender in Society Perceptions Study (GSPS) / KAP study that the incumbent will coordinate.

GSPS will engage a broad range of local actors, including governmental, academic, and NGI who support the project aims, in order to carry out a nationwide study encompassing both quantitative and qualitative indicators of gender equality, women’s engagement with community institutions and justice actors, and risk factors for threats to women and girls’ human rights, including economic instability and migration. Through the research process, the capacity of government institutions, students, and NGO affiliated researchers from every province of the country will be increased through specialized training in gender-sensitive research methods and Do-No-Harm principles. The final outcomes of the GSPS will be widely distributed among a broad range of actors and findings will be integrated into national and regional policy and programming through a series of workshops designed to link the gender-relevant data to practicable interventions.

GSPS will identify critical threats to gender equality and potential conflict triggers in order to establish a credible, reliable evidence base for informed, targeted policymaking and programming for equitable gender outcomes. The project will be led by UN Women which will coordinate closely with partners UNFPA and IOM. Implementing partner is the National Statistics Committee (under UNFPA supervision). State entities including state research institution, as well as state and private universities and NGO will be project partners that need to be coordinated effectively in order to make the project a success.

Rationale for the GSPS:

Economic instability and disenfranchisement among youth, along with related migration trends, represent some of the greatest threats to gender equality and inclusive peacebuilding in the Kyrgyz Republic today. As substantial portions of the country’s young population, particularly women and men from rural areas, leave their communities to work abroad, family and neighborhood support structures decay, allowing root causes of conflict to fester, including frustration with lack of economic and social opportunities and inadequate government services for cohesive communal living. The lack of perspective flowing from declining state and social support systems exacerbates the symptoms of gender inequality, such as discrimination, violence, and exploitation of women and girls. Traditional institutions for preserving community peace, such as local self-government and elders’ courts, are rapidly losing moral status as the younger generation observes their inability to solve the pervasive problems of poverty and corruption.

Primary Project Outcome:

Policy making and programming pursued by state institutions, the UNCT, development partners and civil society ensures gender equality promotion and inclusive peacebuilding.

By generating a substantial, reliable evidence base on the forms of gender discrimination and community-level trends that pose risks to women’s empowerment and prevent women’s full and meaningful participation in conflict resolution, the GSPS will create the conditions for significantly more effective and targeted interventions by government, UN agencies and other international organizations participating in ongoing peacebuilding efforts, NGOs, and other civil society representatives. This study would provide concrete, quantitative indicators on a range of gender equality indicators, for example, proportion of women who have experienced gender discrimination in specific government and non-governmental institutions, and the number of women who exercise decision-making power in the home. The GSPS would also provide contextual attitudinal and knowledge data relating to available data, for example, individual experience of gender-based violence as defined by core statistical indicators on violence against women. Through creating a clear and highly public understanding of where the most compelling threats to gender equality lie, the findings of the GSPS will simultaneously explain the modalities of these potential conflict triggers, exert pressure on government and civil society to effectively address these problem areas, and allow for informed, evidence-based policymaking. They will also enable the UNCT, including the implementing RUNOs, to assess the effectiveness of their ongoing peacebuilding projects and make adjustments in future strategic planning and project design in order to directly address the threats and risks identified by the GSPS for lasting peace and gender equality. The results of this study will inform the development of the upcoming UNDAF for the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as the Country Program Action Plans for UNFPA, UNDP, and others.

Theory of change:

If key state and non-state actors command firstly: an informed understanding of risk factors to gender equality and conflict affecting women and girls; secondly: the capacity to understand shifting societal perceptions of gender relations; and thirdly the increasing tension between the latter and Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, then they will be able to design and implement effective interventions for ensuring Constitutional rights for women and men, because effective policy making requires a sound evidence base which will be provided by the KAP.

Division of responsibilities:

In implementing the GSPS, each of the three partner agencies will exercise primary responsibility for one of three overarching spheres of activity, with support from the other two agencies as necessary and detailed below. UN Women, as the lead agency, will oversee the qualitative research component, particularly the identification, training, and supervision of the qualitative research design team; the training and supervision of qualitative research teams across the country as they collect data; and the supervision of the qualitative data analysis. UN Women is also responsible for the integration of the qualitative and quantitative data into the final study results to be presented to the public. UNFPA will manage and monitor the quantitative research component, including the design and administration of the KAP survey, implemented by NSC, and the quantitative data input, cleaning, and analysis. IOM will provide substantive expertise for the training of research teams on victim-sensitive interviewing techniques, confidentiality, and secure data storage and management.

Output 1:

In the context of threats to gender equality and peace, opportunities and strategies for equal participation of women and girls in community level processes are clearly identified by a KAP study that provides evidence for more gender responsive policy and programming.

Overview:

Through the implementation and dissemination of the Gender in Society Perceptions Study, state agencies, national NGOs, international organizations, including the UNCT, and civil society will gain vital, quantified understanding of the mechanisms underlying urgent gender inequality issues, including violence against women and girls, trafficking of women abroad, and exploitation of women in labor migration, and their interrelatedness with societal trends such as the breakdown of the traditional family structure, financial distress at a household level, and the rise of fringe social and religious groups. Furthermore, the study’s qualitative component, designed and facilitated by university partners in the Kyrgyz Republic with proven research faculties, will provide context and depth to the quantitative indicators in order to more fully explain the identified risks for gender discrimination and the methodologies through which these risks can be mitigated. Together, this combined strategy for elucidating current challenges to inclusive conflict resolution efforts will create an evidence base for the government and other organizations to create more effective, gender-mainstreamed policies and programming for gender equality and lasting peace in Kyrgyzstan.

Activities:

UN Women, UNFPA, and IOM consult government and non-governmental partners, including other international agencies, to develop appropriate research questions for basis of GSPS; quantitative and qualitative research is carried out (see below Outputs 2 and 3), UN Women integrates quantitative and qualitative findings into final report; UN Women writes policy briefers based on GSPS findings dealing with specific policy topics for wide dissemination; UN Women translates final report and policy briefers into Russian and Kyrgyz; UN Women facilitates in public GSPS presentation event with wide participation from government, international agencies, civil society, and academia; UN Women, UNFPA, and IOM integrate findings into strategic planning and programming from 2016; UN Women, UNFPA, and IOM meet with UNCT and discuss how GSPS findings shall be integrated into the next UNDAF for the Kyrgyz Republic; UN Women organizes a series of workshops for state actors and international organizations aimed at integrating the GSPS findings into future policies, including the NAP1325 (currently under consideration for extension), the 2016-2018 Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Gender Equality, and ongoing legislative review relating to gender-based violence and gender equality.

Output 2: National institutional capacity in gender-sensitive data collection and analysis is strengthened.

Overview:

By training and empowering National Statistical Committee (NSC) staff and supervisors for administering the KAP survey component of the GSPS, as well as involving the Department on Ethnic and Religious Policies under the President (Department) in the research design, the project will both benefit from the NSCs national credibility as well as build institutional capacity to render these bodies more effective in addressing gender inequality and violence through expanded understanding of, and experience in, gender-sensitive research methods and analysis. Through participation in the project, the NSC will be poised to design and execute gender-sensitive and statistically valid research plans for understanding critically important shifts in societal perceptions regarding gender inequality and community institutions. This future data collection and dissemination will inform ongoing responsive, effective, and gender-mainstreamed policymaking and programming by the Department, other state institutions, international agencies, and national NGOs for equality, peace, and security.

Activities:

UNFPA, with input from UN Women, IOM, National Statistical Committee, and the Department develops sound, inclusive Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice (KAP) questionnaire, which is validated by national and international experts; UNFPA designs sample and KAP implementation plan; UN Women and IOM review draft KAP questionnaire and implementation plan for compliance with gender mainstreaming principles and ethical concerns relating to victim sensitivity and confidentiality; UNFPA, with facilitation and support from IOM, develops training module for NSC staff to carry out the KAP survey; UNFPA trains NSC staff administering the KAP survey in practical interviewing techniques on sensitive topics, as well as gender-aware interviewing, victim confidentiality, and Do-No-Harm principles; UNFPA tests practical and theoretical knowledge of trained KAP survey teams for quality assurance; NSC, supervised by UNFPA, field tests KAP survey; NSC makes revisions to survey and research plan as necessary; NSC, supervised by UNFPA, carries out KAP research in each region of the country; NSC, supervised and facilitated by UNFPA, inputs and analyzes KAP data, which is then passed to UN Women for integration into the larger GSPS; UNFPA, NSC, and the Department participate in presentation of GSPS findings and final report to public audience.

Output 3: Capacity for gender-sensitive conflict research and analysis in several committed state research institutions (including universities) in the Kyrgyz Republic is strengthened.

A Research Working Group (RWG) comprising professors and students from local universities and analysts from state research institutions with a track record of high-level qualitative research, will be capacitated to help design and oversee the implementation of the GSPS’ qualitative aspects, thus building capacity for similar future efforts. University researchers represent an important, but so far neglected, actor in local peacebuilding efforts that should be engaged to consolidate national capacity on data collection and analysis. Members of the RWG, who will be carefully selected based on experience and commitment level, will receive extensive and substantive theoretical and practical training in research methods for gender-mainstreamed and confidential data collection and Do-No-Harm principles. Representatives of the four potential partner universities have already been consulted and expressed strong support and enthusiasm for participating in the research. By designing the research plan and methodology and analyzing the data collected by trained qualitative researchers in each region, the members of the RWG will gain hands-on experience in gender-sensitive qualitative study design and implementation. The benefit of this approach is that these students and professors will be well positioned to further disseminate knowledge and adopt a gender-mainstreamed approach to future research efforts. Students are likely to assume important positions in society as they build their careers subsequent to graduation. Furthermore, through their ownership over and full integration into the research design and validation process, institutional knowledge in these educational centers will be bolstered and passed on to future students. Similarly, analytical skills and commitment to academic integrity will be built. However, as the RWG cannot be expected to field a sufficiently large number of individuals meeting the criteria, the group will be complemented by select individuals with the required background, some of whom are drawn from the civil society networks of UN Women, UNFPA and IOM.

Activities:

UN Women establishes formal RWG, comprised of qualified and committed professors specializing in qualitative research and some students with basic research background; UN Women trains researchers in gender-sensitive research methods, victim confidentiality, and Do-No-Harm principles; UN Women leads consultations with UNFPA, IOM, and other government and non-governmental actors to develop preliminary research questions on threats to gender equality and participation including exploitation and violence against women and girls, gender roles and their relationship to factors such as migration and economic dependence, and women’s participation in community institutions and local self-government; UN Women passes initial research questions to RWG, which conducts initial research on these topics and develops core qualitative research plan for the GSPS; UN Women, with assistance from IOM, facilitates five bi-weekly research sessions in which RWG presents findings and discusses qualitative research methodology for the GSPS; UN Women, with participation and input from partner NGOs and RWG, identifies and establishes research teams to collect qualitative data in each region; UN Women, with input from IOM, develops training module for qualitative research teams; UN Women trains qualitative research teams in interviewing techniques, gender-sensitive research methods, victim confidentiality, and Do-No-Harm principles; Qualitative research teams, supervised and facilitated by UN Women, carry out research in each province; RWG monitors qualitative data collection, aggregates and analyzes data from field qualitative research teams on a rolling basis; RWG finalizes qualitative data analysis and passes to UN Women; UN Women integrates final qualitative findings with quantitative KAP data into final GSPS report and summary policy briefers; UN Women facilitates RWG participation in final public presentation and dissemination of GSPS findings.

Geographic scope:

The GSPS will cover every province of Kyrgyzstan. Trainings of qualitative and quantitative researcher teams will take place in Bishkek (teams covering Bishkek, Chui, Issyk-Kul, and Talas) and Osh (teams covering Batken, Jalal-Abad, Naryn, Osh province, and Osh city); the NSC will carry out survey administration in each administrative region of the country through its field offices; the qualitative research team will carry out research in each administrative region with support and assistance from partner NGOs; GSPS findings will be widely distributed at a presentation event in Bishkek and through partner NGOs in other provinces.

The incumbent will report to the UN Women International Programme Specialist on Gender and Mediation who heads the Women, Peace and Security section of the UN Women Kyrgyzstan Country Office. S/he will closely interact with the UN Women Representative as well as personnel from UN Women, IOM and UNFPA.

The incumbent will be fully dedicated to the mandate and the values of UN Women, particularly to promoting Gender Equality as a strategy to reduce conflict, improve livelihoods and ensure fairness and justice; to Women Empowerment underpinning Gender Equality promotion efforts; to inter-ethnic tolerance and concord; and to respect for diversity. S/he will be fully conversant with the Constitutional requirements for the state to protect women and girls specifically against violence and youth in general against human rights abuse.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under direct supervision and guidance of the International UN Women Programme Specialist on Gender and Mediation in Kyrgyzstan, the Project Coordinator will managerially lead, coordinate, support and help realize the implementation the IRF project and the GSPS.

The Project Coordinator will:

Draft the project annual work plan and budget (AWP) and enter it into ATLAS, acting as Project Manager this including the drafting of project documents, work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements and reports required for the purposes of annual work planning, resource mobilization, collaboration with partners, reporting to donors, as well as drafting official letters;
Draft own annual work plan based on the AWP and monitor and report on same;
Ensure timely and quality implementation of activities under the relevant AWP, monitor budget utilization/implementation in lieu of AWP and project log-frame, enter project into Atlas, prepare for required budget revisions;
Timely preparation of all requisite substantive and financial reporting under the project; obtain the necessary inputs from UNFPA and IOM, as well as Responsible Parties of UN Women;
Ensure that all inputs under the project are available on time and in full compliance with the respective UN Women rules and regulations;
Substantively help build capacity of stakeholders and beneficiaries and where possible provide technical backstopping and support to researchers and other partners;
Ensure that all partners and stakeholders (UN, state and non-state) are kept informed of project progress; build ownership of all stakeholders of the project;
Identify, source and arrange for partnerships under the Responsible Party modality or contractual modalities for those activities under the responsibility of UN Women;
Liaise on a daily basis with UNFPA and IOM towards effective coordination and project progress;
Monitor all project activities and identify bottlenecks and constraints as well as problems, detailing remedial strategies and solutions, advising UN Women management and relevant stakeholders early;
Maintain internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transaction are correctly recorded and posted in Atlas; maintain shadow budget;
Help align project interventions with those of state and non-state actors as well as donors;
Liaise with government stakeholders, civil society and private sector partners to ensure proper coordination and partnership in common development efforts, present information on project activities, as well as ensure dissemination to broader public;
Ensure maintenance of a filing system, reports or other documentation related to the project and administrative matters of the project in hard and electronic formats;
Provide logistics support to programme needs; provide assistance in organizing and holding seminars, conferences, trainings, and meetings;
Provide other assistance on financial and administrative matters to the project;
Arrange travel and hotel reservations, preparation of travel authorizations, processing requests for visas, identity cards and other documents;
Draft ToR and contracts for review by colleagues;
Participate in recruitment of (Inter)national Experts/Consultants and assists with procurements for goods and services in line with UN Women rules and regulations;
Oversee and coordinate working plans and travel schedules, and quality of reports (Inter)national personnel. Provide logistical support and programmatic guidance to (Inter)national personnel as required;
Ensure facilitation of knowledge building and sharing through synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices under the project supported; sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice; assistance in maintenance of a calendar of the most relevant regional/national fora related to the project activities and assistance to facilitate access to that information by partners and relevant UN Women staff; keeping abreast of technical development in Women, Peace and Security;
Conduct regular field missions during the enumeration phase to ensure that research parameters, methodologies and the agreements between the parties are implemented correctly and taken the necessary action in case problems are identified;
Provide analysis and document same as lessons learned, best practices piloted, etc;
Organise workshops, trainings and events;
Identify suitable researchers and other partners, both individuals and institutions, after first developing transparent assessment tools;
Accept deliverables and work performed and prepare for payment or cash replenishment;
Participate in review committees and take minutes;
Provide visibility to the United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security Agenda;
Engage in reciprocal support and backstopping with team colleagues;
Any other relevant tasks assigned by the supervisor.

Competencies

Corporate:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standard;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional:

Knowledge Management and Learning

Shares knowledge and experience;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills;
Ability to analyse complex situations from a position of impartiality;
Ability to concisely and to the point document information and findings, targeting a specific audience.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to Results Management, including support to design, planning and implementation of the projects, managing data , reporting;
Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new system including new IT based systems;
Good knowledge of Results Management Guide and Toolkit.

Leadership and Self-Management

Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure, uses skills of diplomacy;
Ability to prioritize and manage competing priorities, grasping the situation quickly;
Ability to conduct advocacy on sensitive issues, not avoiding but processing conflict.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s (postgraduate) degree in the social sciences, in economics, in politics or a related discipline.

Experience:

Minimum of two years of relevant experience in Kyrgyzstan;
The minimum years of work experience must be for managing projects (‘project manager’); and coordinating projects and programmes (between several partners), with a focus on either/or gender equality promotion; peace-building; social development; or women empowerment;
Must have worked on or done research in relation to EVAWG;
Must have a practical understanding of KAP and of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies;
Work experience must include field experience in Kyrgyzstan and interaction with communities as well as local self-government, or informal local structures such as aksakal courts or religious institutions
Demonstrated substantive knowledge in the thematic area of gender equality and/or women’s social, political or economic empowerment, and of conflict prevention and peace-building methodologies;
Proven experience in writing project documents or project reports; strong analytical skills;
Must have skills as a trainer on issues of gender, women empowerment, or human rights in Kyrgyz;
Good numerical skills;
Competent in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.);
Experience with ERP or certification such as PRINCE or equivalent an advantage.

Language:

Fluency in Kyrgyz and Russian;
Working knowledge of English. All languages levels both orally and in writing.

Note:

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women, UNDP or UN Personal History form (P11) in English. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment which must be the P11. Applications without the completed P-11 form are incomplete and will not be considered.

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.