UN WOMEN Jobs - 54399- Project Officer

Project Officer – Safe Cities

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Port Moresby, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jun-2015

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

SB-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

12 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

12 months with possibility of extension

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.

Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, the 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.

Rooted in UN Women’s mandate on ending violence against women, and in line with its strategic plan 2011 – 2017, UN Women is implementing a Global Programme “Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls” (SC GP). The programme builds on the experiences to date of leading women’s and international organizations and local level initiatives across various parts of the world.

The Global Programme aims to produce a global model, tested and proven through a comparative impact evaluation in the cities of Kigali, Quito, Delhi, Port Moresby and Cairo, which can be widely disseminated to policy-makers, mayor’s offices, donors, and civil society for adaptation and up-scaling. UN Women office in PNG joined the SC GP with its pilot Project: Port Moresby: A Safe City for Women and Girls” in 2011.

The Port Moresby Safe City Programme supports the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) to make public market places safe for women and girls. UN Women conducted a scoping study with local partners in the city to understand the nature and extent of violence against women and girls, including sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence in six marketplaces. It found that 55 per cent of women experienced some form of sexual violence in market spaces in the previous year. Port Moresby’s market vendors are, by and large, women – around 80 per cent. Many of them are extremely poor, depend on the selling of their vegetables for daily substance and have experienced multiple forms of violence in public and private spaces, including sexual violence. Single mothers and widows face particular risks, as they are often stigmatized, and lack economic and social opportunities to reach their potential.

Three years later, a lot has changed in one of the Port Moresby’s main markets, as a result of the strong participation of women vendors through vendors’ associations and innovative initiatives undertaken as part of a comprehensive approach to build safe markets with, and for, women and girls. The Gerehu market has upgraded its infrastructure, including bathrooms and showers, renovated market stalls and shaded areas and portable running water is now available. Moreover, new innovative cashless methods for collection of fees are being implemented to prevent extortion and theft, a market vendors association has been established, and a referral system for survivors of family and sexual violence in the markets is currently being piloted. The programme is now working in Gordons market, the largest market in the South Pacific, and plans are underway to expand the programme to several other markets around Papua New Guinea.

The Papua New Guinea Office has opened as opportunity for a Project officer to support the Safe City- Port Moresby Programme in PNG.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Safe Cities Programme Specialist, the Project Officer is responsible for the following :

Partnership Building and Coordination:

Effective coordination and enhancement of partnership of the Safe Cities Programme stakeholders including but not limited to: grassroots groups, market vendors associations, NCDC, police, supporting NGOs, donors, etc.;
Ensure continuous communication between implementing partners and UN Women;
Coordinate and organize Steering Committee meetings on a quarterly basis, and prepare all necessary documentation, presentations and reports required;
Identify new partners or possible collaboration initiatives with other UN agencies, NGOs, church groups, etc;
Oversight the mobile banking system being piloted, and coordinate the implementation of the programme and assist in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the roll out of the programme;
Act as a focal point for the mobile bill pay system trouble shooting and communications between NCDC and partners;
Coordinate the implementation of the Safer Cities community engagement programmes and report on progress in accordance with the programme design and log frame.

Management and Capacity Building:

Develop capacity assessments of all identified partners and stakeholders of the Safe City Programme with the support of technical advisors;
Develop and implement trainings for gender equality and the empowerment of women including HIV & AIDS with key government agencies and UN programme staff to ensure accountability to progress Gender equality through the implementation of the Programme;
Work with NCDC’s relevant divisions to develop workplace policies on gender and HIV & AIDS;
Incorporate HIV & AIDS mainstreaming into key outputs of the project including adequate provision of a service referral mechanism in the intervention sites;
Provide management and oversight to the supporting NGOs for the project and ensure timely delivery of progress reports, adequate implementation of project activities and sharing of experiences between global safe cities initiatives and implementing partners on the ground.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

Support in the planning and implementation of the baseline research and impact evaluation. Including carrying out all necessary preparatory research required for meetings, workshops, baseline studies, etc.;
Provide inputs as requested to project documents, reports, impact evaluation framework, etc.;
Support the Programme Specialist in the development of reports, proposals, case studies and other relevant documentation;
Work with the media officer and UN Communications Group to ensure results and success stories from the programme are captured and widely shared.

Procurement and Resource Mobilization:

Assist and coordinate the contracting of supporting NGOs, consultants, and other stakeholders of the project;
Stay informed of and monitoring relevant developments concerning the areas intervention or events impacting them.

Any other tasks as requested by the Safe Cities Programme Specialist and UN Women’s Country Representative or Deputy Representative including but not limited to attendance on key coordination and discussion meetings on HIV&AIDS and EVAW.

The PO works in close collaboration with the operations team, other programme staff within UN Women PNG, SRO and HQ, technical advisors, government officials, technical experts, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and civil society. The PO also contributes to the assigned task teams where Safe Cities work is situated.

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 lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery;
Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change;
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;
Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
Lead teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Focuses on impact and result for the partners and responds positively to feedback;
A demonstrated, deep understanding of the critical aspects of human rights, gender, and, specifically, gender power relations within the PNG cultural context;
Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships with clients, focusing on impact and result for the client and ability to respond positively to feedback;
Ability and willingness to travel within PNG and to make overseas trips when and if required;
Excellent communication, interpersonal and liaison skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences or related field.

Experience:

2 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in providing management advisory services, hands-on experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management systems;
At least 3 years of progressively responsible experience on cross-cutting issues, including field experience on gender equality, HIV & AIDS and women’s rights issues;
Experience working in the UN is preferred.

Language:

Fluency in the UN and national language of the duty station;
A high standard of spoken and written English and Tok Pisin is an advantage.