UN WOMEN Jobs - 56962- UN Women: Policy Specialist (Surge Support Gender

UN Women: Policy Specialist (Surge Support Gender and Peacebuilding)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

364 days

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 Policy Division develops and implements the UN Women program of work on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to the intergovernmental process, the UN system, and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It identifies emerging issues and trends, and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving the agreed goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice. It also designs and oversees the training and capacity development programs of UN Women, working closely with the UN Women training facility in Santo Domingo.

UN Women's Peace and Security Section is responsible for providing technical support to UN Women Country Offices in a number of areas, including: conflict prevention and peacebuilding, justice sector and security reform, transitional justice, promoting women's political participation and mainstreaming gender issues into governance reforms. It has global components but is grounded in country-level activities. To further this work UN Women has entered into a joint partnership with the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) to support the implementation of the Secretary-General’s Report on Women’s Participation in Peacebuilding and the Women, Peace and Security agenda more broadly. This partnership has also resulted in concrete funding commitments to eighteen UN Women’s Country Offices through the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), both in the framework of the Gender Promotion Initiative and the PBF’s regular funding windows (Immediate Response Facility, Peacebuilding and Recovery Facility).

In addition, in view of the different reviews being undertaking in 2015, in particular, the Peacebuilding Architecture Review and the Global Review of UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), increased emphasis is placed on the partnership priorities for UN Women and PBSO. These include (i) sustained advocacy for increasing accountability to the Secretary General’s Seven Point Action Plan for Gender-Responsive Peacebuilding, including the 15 per cent target of earmarked funding towards gender equality in UN-supported peacebuilding efforts; (ii) provision of joint expertise on gender and peacebuilding for countries already engaged in the peacebuilding fund portfolio; (iii) strengthening technical expertise and staff capacity at country and regional level, following from the global pilot training on gender and peacebuilding co-organized by UN Women and PBSO in 2013; (iv) supporting new priority countries to mainstream gender from the onset in peacebuilding priority plans;

To support the concrete operationalization of these priorities, UN Women is recruiting a Policy Specialist with both programmatic and policy expertise to provide surge support UN country teams working on peacebuilding.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

Advisory services and technical support;
Learning development and capacity building;
Policy development and support.

Advisory services and technical support:

The Specialist will work closely with the Peacebuilding Support Officce (PBSO) and PBF Secretariats in-country (both remotely and short term targeted technical missions) to support the integration of gender in conflict analysis, peacebuilding priority plans and peacebuilding project design and implementation;
Participate in inter-agency joint assessment and technical support missions prior to the development of peacebuilding priority plans;
Provide substantive support to UN Women’s Country Offices engaged with the PBSO gender promotion intiative in project design, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation and support their gender mainstreaming role within the United Nations Country Teams;
Support UN Women’s technical input into the Peacebuilding Architecture Review and support the inclusion of peacebuilding priorities into the review of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325;
Conduct joint monitoring with the PBSO and contribute to mid-term and final reviews and evaluations of peacebuilding priority plans and PBF projects.

Learning development and capacity building:

Contribute to capacity building for UN Women Country Offices engaged with the PBF as well as staff members of Peacebuilding Fund Secretariats in-country;
In partnership with PBSO, contribute to the substantive preparation and organization of two follow-up trainings at regional level based on the global pilot training on gender and peacebuilding co-organized by UN Women and PBSO in 2013.

Policy development:

In partnership with PBSO, support the implementation of gender related recommendations of the Peacebuilding Architecture Review related to gender responsive peacebuilding through technical support to further the Peacebuilding Commission’s gender mandate, including strengthening the PBC’s agenda on gender responsive peacebuilding, its frameworks of cooperation and working methods;
Support Peace and Security section of UN Women in tracking allocations towards GE/WE in the countries covered by the surge support and contribute to the recommendations for scaling up of the 15% target of earmarked funding towards gender equality in UN-supported peacebuilding efforts;
Support Peace and Security section of UN Women in documenting results and good practices of the implementation of gender responsive peacebuilding in the countries covered by the surge support and pilots of the Secretary-General’s Seven Point Action Plan, including preparation of briefs, managing production of knowledge products, participation in appropriate global knowledge events;
Produce a snap shot report analyzing the successes and challenges of the twelve countries nominated as pilots of the Secretary-General’s Seven Point Action Plan on Gender-responsive Peacebuilding;
Support Peace and Security section of UN Women in providing inputs to the Secretary-General’s reports on Peacebuilding in the Aftermath of Conflict and the the Peacebuilding Fund.

Impact of Results

UN Women demonstrates global leadership on gender-responsive peacebuilding and women’s participation in transitions and improves the responsiveness of the UN’s peacebuilding efforts to engage women and respond to their needs. High quality technical assistance on gender and peacebuilding is made available via knowledge products and hands-on advice to UN Women COs/MCOs/ROs as well as PBF secretariats. The incumbent contributes to the smooth and successful development and implementation of peacebuilding priority interventions that support the SG’s 7 Point Action Plan. In addition, policy support will contribute to the increasing positioning of gender and peacebuilding on the political agenda and in the work of the peacebuilding architecture.

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 promote ethics and integrity by creating organizational precedents.

Organizational Awareness:

Build support for the organization and ensure political acumen.

Development and Innovation:

Support staff competence development, and contribute to an environment of creativity and innovation.

Work in teams:

Build and promote effective 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.

Communication and Information Sharing:

Create and promote an environment for open and 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:

Share knowledge across the organization and build a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Ensure fair and transparent decision making processes and manage risk.

Functional Competencies:

Good knowledge of gender related issues including in peacebuilding, statebuilding and transitions;
Ability to undertake policy research and prepare quantitative studies, utilizing statistical methodologies, knowledge of database applications for statistical analysis;
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
Ability to handle a large volume of work under time constraints;
Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective;
Ability to draft policy papers, speeches, briefings, etc.;
Ability to develop and maintain roster of experts, and a databank of research institutes, academics, civil society experts, etc. of direct relevance to the Focus Area.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in development related disciplines, gender issues, economics, political science, human rights, law or other social science fields, of direct relevance to women peace and security.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in gender and peacebuilding/statebuilding, programme management, policy research and gender/conflict analysis with substantial field experience. Experience working on gender equality programming in the framework of the Peacebuilding Support Office/Peacebuilding Fund is highly desirable.

Languages:

Fluency in French and English is required;
Working knowledge of another UN official language is an asset.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

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.