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 center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

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.

The Policy Division staff is organized in Thematic Clusters, bringing together technical experts who: undertake issues-based research; analyze data on country, regional or global trends; build a knowledge base on policy commitments and their implementation; propose evidence-based options for global policy, norms and standards and for UN Women global programme strategies; and contribute substantive inputs to policy advocacy and technical cooperation programmes.

Under the supervision of the Policy Advisor (Human Rights), the Policy Specialist is responsible for undertaking human rights analsyis and research onpriority areas and assuming substantive and administrative aspects of priority themses.  S/He has a particular focus on issues relating to human rights mechanisms, such as the CEDAW Committee, and the human rights based approach. S/He provides support to intergovernmental processes dealing with human rights development issues, including  preparation of  reports  under the guidance and oversight of the supervisor.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

• Technical and programme support;
• Research and analysis support;
• Support to inter-governmental processes and policy development;
• Knowledge management.

Technical and programme support:

• Support the Policy Advisor in providing technical support to regional and thematic programmes, country strategies and knowledge management;
• Support the Policy Advisor in developing and implementing a workplan for the section (identify key deliverables, develop implementation time line, etc.);
• Provide programmatic and operational support for the development and implementation of global programmes and related thematic initiatives.

Research and analysis support:

• Support the Policy Advisor in conducting research and analysis of global, regional and national trends;
• Source and carry out research  on articles, books, case studies etc. to produce useful data and material for advisor on request as assistance in producing papers, speeches, or related products;
• Contribute to the development of flagship publications related to Human Rights;
• Prepare select written contributions and knowledge products for various purposes, i.e. case studies, short topical papers, briefings to leadership, speeches, and related products for wider dissemination;
• Establish and nurture relationship with academia, research institutes, civil society and experts  to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking in UN Womenomen work.

Support to intergovernmental processes and policy development:

• Contribute to the preparation of position papers and reports for presentation to intergovernmental bodies such as Commission on the Status of Women, Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and other policy-making organs, as appropriate and prepare analytical summaries of debates, supporting negotiations and analyzing/compiling outcomes;
• Support the Policy Advisor in coordinating the development of analytical reports to contribute to the Secretary-General’s mandated reporting to intergovernmental forums;
• Liaise with UN Women colleagues and others, as relevant, to ensure coordination with intergovernmental initiatives;
• Participate in and/or represent the Section in internal and external committees, inter-governmental, inter-agency task forces, and international tecncial and advocacy, as required.

Knowledge generation:

• Facilitate the effective planning and exchange of materials and knowledge products related the thematic area;
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of a roster of gender experts  who can develop/ provide technical support to UN Women offices,national partners, UNCT’s or other UN system entities in the related thematic area;
• Contribute to the production of knowledge products that meet UN Women needs and standards of quality;
• Establish and nurture relationship with academia, research institutes, civil society and experts in Human Rights to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking in UN Women work.

The Policy Specialist must have the necessary skills to support the review and development of global policies in Human Rights to enhance understanding of gender issues and dimensions to meet UN Women mandate.

Impact of Results

The key results expected will have positive impact on the overall effectiveness of UN Women’s work related to human rights,  through contributing directly to achievement of the relevant Goals in UN Women’s Strategic Plan.

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 and human rights;
• Good knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of Human Rights;
• Good knowledge on issues relating to human rights mechanisms and the human rights based approach;
• Good knowledge of intergovernmental processes and bodies;
• 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 possibly under time constraints;
• Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly;
• 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, human rights, public policy/administration, or related social science.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in gender programming, policy research and gender analysis and at international level, at least two of which should be directly related to the focus area.

Languages:

• Written (excellent drafting skills) and oral proficiency in English is required;
• Knowledge of another UN working language is desirable.

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.

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. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.