UN WOMEN Jobs - 52721- Programme Associate

Programme Associate

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Colombo, SRI LANKA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

SB-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

One Year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

One year

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 is the UN’s global entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment. It is an inter-governmental body that provides financial and technical assistance to innovative approaches aimed at fostering women's empowerment and gender equality at global, national, regional and sub-national levels. The UN Women Multi Country Office (MCO) works for countries including India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Context of the program

Sri Lankan women have been enjoying the right to exercise the universal franchise from 1931 and 51.6% of the population is female. Sri Lanka also produced the first woman Prime Minister in the World in 1960. Further, women are the major contributors to the country’s foreign exchange earnings and Sri Lankan women’s literacy rate is higher than that for other South Asian countries. Despite all this, women are not adequately represented in political and public decision making bodies in Sri Lanka. Though the majority of women exercise their political rights as voters or campaigners during election periods, less than 5.8% of members in the parliament were females in 2010. The municipality and local governments’ level participation was 2 % in the period from 2008-11. The percentage of women in parliament since the 1930s has never exceeded 6%.

In comparison with other South Asian countries, there is no special quota for women or a special political academy for women to address their training needs for participation in politics in Sri Lanka. Further, the lack of opportunity for political training and skills development creates a vicious cycle, impeding women’s participation in politics. The paucity of female legislators means that the interests of women are not adequately represented in national, provincial or local government. Unless women gain leadership in governance, it will be difficult to transform or shape social, political and economic processes to work in favour of women and gender equality in the country.

In this context, UN Women is implementing a program titled ‘Promoting Women's Political Participation in Sri Lanka’. The program aims to promote women’s political leadership and gender responsive governance in Sri Lanka based on enhanced capacities of women including youth and men parliamentarians, and the media. The proposed program aims to create a substantive body of knowledge to inform measures including; policy advocacy, training and capacity building, coalition building and lobbying for mainstreaming gender in the governance structure of Sri Lanka.

Scope and Objective of the Program

The proposed activities of the program shall promote gender equality and women’s participation in decision-making processes addressing socio-economic development; post conflict reconstruction; social integration and strengthening of national and provincial women’s machinery. There are three main elements to the program:

Increase women’s (including youth) influence in national and local governance institutions by strengthening their voice and participation in political and institutional mechanism at national and local level through capacity development;
Advocate with parliamentarians for greater representation of women in Sri Lanka’s governance structures and institutions through a mandatory quota for women; and
Partner with the media in Sri Lanka to build awareness on the issue of under representation of women in national and local governance and advocate for women’s political participation

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Representative (UN WOMEN MCO) and direct supervision of the Programme Analyst, UN WOMEN in Sri Lanka, the Programme Associate provides programme management support services ensuring high quality, accuracy and consistency of work. The Programme Associate works with and provides support to the members of the Programme Team in the development and implementation of effective programmes consistent with UN Women rules and regulations. S/he contributes to financial management, and programme implementation including providing necessary operational, administrative and programmatic support. The Programme Associate works in close collaboration with the Programme Analyst, UN Women Sri Lanka, the Multi-Country Office and UN Women HQs as required for resolving complex finance-related issues and exchange of information.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Support in the formulation of Programme Strategies;
Programme Management Support;
Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit;
Facilitation of Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing.

Support in the formulation of Programme Strategies

Collect and present background information for the preparation of effective application of RBM tools;
Provide programme and administrative support in the preparation of programme work plans, budgets, and proposals on programme implementation arrangements;
Assemble briefing materials and prepare power-point and other presentations for the programme unit;
Identify sources, and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers.

Programme Management Support

Support the Programme Analyst based in Sri Lanka in the implementation of the control mechanisms for development projects through monitoring of budget preparation and modifications;
Create projects in Atlas, prepare required budget revisions, revision of project award and project status, determination of unutilized funds, operational and financial close of a project;
Support the Programme Analyst in the financial management of Programmes;
Provide guidance to the executing agencies on routine implementation of projects, tracking use of financial resources;
Provide necessary information for the audit of programmes/projects and support implementation of audit recommendations;
Organize, compile and process information from donors, Regional Office, and programme team, as inputs to various databases and documents;
Support the Programme team in the tracking and reporting on mobilized resources.

Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit

Assist in generation and review of Atlas Financial Reports and ensure accuracy of captured data; Provide timely feedback to MCO on adjustments / corrections;
Ensure maintenance of the internal expenditures control system by ensuring that financial/admin/HR requests are in accordance with the approved budgets;
Create requisitions in Atlas for development projects and record goods receipt in Atlas and do budget check for requisitions;
Assist in preparation of cost sharing, and trust fund agreements, follow up on contributions within the MCO resource mobilization efforts for Sri Lanka;
Assist in drafting of TORs for recruitment of consultants and managing their payment schedule in accordance with the contract and deliverables;
Assist in drawing up the specifications and evaluation criteria for procurement requests to MCO;
Review CSA budget and expenditure reports;
Liaise with MCO staff and ensure compliance with UN Women’s financial rules and regulations

Facilitation of Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing

Support synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices related to programme management;
Support synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in programme finance;
Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
Support organization of training for the office staff and partners on programme and operations related issues.

Any other duties assigned by the Supervisor.

Competencies

Core Values/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

Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities aimed at effective and efficient functioning of the Sri Lanka Programme including logistical support;
Ability to provide input to business process re-engineering, elaboration and implementation of new data management systems;
Creates, edits and presents information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality;
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
Ability to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client's perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly;
Ability to administer and execute financial processes and transactions;
Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Completion of secondary education required;
University degree or equivalent in Business, Accounting or Public Administration or a related field is an asset.

Experience:

A minimum of 6 years of administrative experience preferably in a large or international corporation or organization;
Experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages, experience in ATLAS an advantage.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English and local language is required;
Knowledge of the other UN working knowledge is an asset.