UNDP Jobs - 56917- Women, Peace and Security Coordinator

Women, Peace and Security Coordinator

Location :

Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

05-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-5

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

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.

The UN Women Multi-Country Office (UN Women MCO) has a number of programmes that contribute to the above organizational programmatic goals. With effect from 2015, UN Women is implementing a project that seeks to contribute towards promoting the role of women in peace and security. The project is supported by the Government of Norway and will be implemented in partnership with the Government of the Republic of South Africa and in collaboration with relevant Civil Society Organizations. At international level, South Africa plays an important role in promoting women, peace and security globally and in the region through deployment of troupes to the UN Peacekeeping operations, training of women as peace mediators, promotion of women in leadership, peace and governance. Within the country, South Africa has created space for women to access leadership positions in different government structures and developed legislations to require the same from other players in the economy.

However, although South Africa has an advanced legal and policy framework with a fair and liberal judiciary and a progressive Constitution, challenges still persist. Crime and gender-based violence are major social problems in the country. According to Statistics South Africa, around three million crimes took place in the country in 2013 and according to the South African Police Service statistics; there were 95 rape cases per 10,000 in 2011-12. Incidences of community protests are also common.

There are a range of initiatives that aim to address to address the above problems within government and also through CSOs. However, effort by different stakeholders could yield higher results if there were coordinated coherently. The project aims to contribute to government’s efforts and create platforms and mechanisms enhance the coordination of various stakeholders.

There is already a proposal and agreed plan of work between UN Women and the Funding partner. In the proposal are a range of activities planned in 2015 spanning from project activation, engagement of stakeholders and baseline studies. UN Women seeks to recruit a Service Contract t to support the implementation of the project.

The objective of the appointment is to support UN Women MCO to coordinate the implementation of the project under the overall guidance of the Representative/Deputy Representative and with inputs from Programme Specialists/team in UN Women MCO. The Consultant will review and support the implementation of the proposed activities as agreed between UN Women and the Government of Norway.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Duties:

On appointment and initial introduction to the project, review the project agreement, work plan and proposal to understand the project and draw insights to inform the development of individual work plan;
Develop an individual work plan that responds to the project needs, discuss the work plan with supervisor and have it approved;
Organize consultation meetings between UN Women and the government; and subsequently UN Women and civil society to present the project and secure buy in and support of key ministries and stakeholders. The ultimate goal of these consultations is to create a shared vision on the project and a clear understanding and consensus on the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders as well as secure their commitment to the same;
Undertake a desk review of the civil society organizations working on peace and security. This is a preliminary review meant to map out CSOs and give an indication of the focus of their work and their reported results. This exercise will result in a database of CSOs indicating their focus areas and other relevant information so that project builds on what exists in the context of implementation. This review will be presented per project;
Facilitate the recruitment of an expert/consultant to provide administrative and organizational support to the consultant to undertake a research on government’s current efforts on peace and security. The purpose of this research is to set a baseline. The assumption is that there is a lot of effort in different departments on peace and security but the efforts may be fragmented and uncoordinated at national level. One of the objectives of the project is to support coordination through development of a National Action Plan;
Organize workshops and provide technical support including preparing for presentations on the progress and other relevant matters;
In consultation with the Representative plan, participate and make relevant contributions in meetings with the funding partner-The Government of Norway.

Expected Outputs:

The overall expected output of this assignment is effective coordination of the project as per the agreement, work plan and in accordance with UN Women principles and values. High levels of professionalism and integrity should be applied in all occasions whether internal or external to UN Women.

The specific outputs required of the assignment are as follows:

Individual work plan that is aligned with project needs and includes relevant linkages and outputs of the UN Women MCO’s 2015 Work plan;
Well organized consultative meetings with government and Civil Society as per project proposal and guidance from UN Women management including documentation of the same;
Timely report of desk review of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on peace and security and a database of the same;
Expert/ consultant recruited and supported to undertake an empirical assessment of South Africa’s efforts in peace and security as well as gaps in relation to International good practices. The support includes linking the consultant with relevant stakeholders where applicable by facilitating formal introductions by the UN Women Representative; support in convening a roundtable to workshop findings of the research;
Effective project workshops and meetings in accordance with the project requirements/needs. These should be documented and follow up actions taken timely;
Participation in and documentation of all meetings, events and workshops pertaining to the project;
Contribution into the relevant outputs in Programmatic goal on ending violence against women as will be discussed during individual work planning;
Contributing to office work plan, monitoring and reporting on project work and results.

Competencies

Core values /Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Promoting Ethics and Integrity / Creating Organizational Precedents.

Organizational Awareness:

Building support and political acumen.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation.

Working in Teams:

Building and promoting effective teams.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

Creating an emotionally intelligent organization.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Functional Competencies:

Demonstrate an understanding of South Africa’s development context in general and in particular gender/ peace and security/Gender Based Violence;
An understanding of results based management and some experience in application of the same;
Demonstrable competency/track record in organizational skills including planning and administering workshops;
Demonstrable experience working with or in the interface between government and its strategic partners particularly international organizations;
Excellent communication skills both oral and written;
Knowledge of basic computer packages in particular MS Word and Ms PowerPoint;
An understanding of UN System in General, UN Women in particular, would be an added advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or Equivalent in social sciences/ public management, administration or policy/project management or related field. Foreign qualifications must be evaluated by SAQA (South Africa Qualifications Authority). Proof of the evaluation must be submitted with the application.

Experience:

At least five years’ experience in project coordination/management;
Experience in managing multi -stakeholder projects with demonstrable success is desirable.

Language:

Fluency in English is a requirement.