UN WOMEN Jobs - 66958- UN Women: Policy Specialist

UN Women: Policy Specialist - Gender and Conflict Prevention

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

01-Jul-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

Expected Duration of Assignment :

10 months

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 programme 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 leading the policy development on substantive issues and 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.

Following the three peace and security reviews of 2015, the UN system has re-committed to an agenda of conflict prevention. With humanitarian and peacekeeping demands increasing exponentially, Member States have called for the UN to increase focus on preventing the outbreak of conflict and on political solutions to conflicts and disputes. Women’s participation is a key asset for conflict prevention that must be properly understood, supported and utilized. The General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on the Peacebuilding Architecture further underscore the importance of women’s leadership and participation in conflict prevention. While UN Women’s work at global, regional and national levels contributes to conflict prevention by addressing the root cause of gender inequality, insufficient policy guidance, analytical frameworks and programming tools exist.

Under the supervision of the Chief, Peace and Security, the Policy Specialist will support the concrete operationalization of these priorities, and with both programmatic and policy expertise will define, expand and deepend UN Women’s approach to conflict prevention.

Duties and Responsibilities

Policy Development:

Enhance the focus of gender in the UN’s conflict prevention efforts to ensure they reflect good practices; and are informed by the engagement of women’s groups and adopt a gendered approach;
Develop a strategy to guide UN Women’s approach and comparative advantage in the field of conflict prevention, in partnership with other UN entities, civil society and Member States;
Provide technical support to the Peace and Security section of UN Women in documenting results and good practices of the implementation of gender responsive conflict prevention, including preparation of briefs, managing production of knowledge products, and participation in appropriate global knowledge events;
Represent UN Women in global policy forums related to conflict prevention;
Coordinate UN Women’s interagency work on small arms and light weapons, engaging partners and informing policy debates with gender analysis and women’s issues;
Develop and roll out a practice note on gender and conflict prevention and ensure UN Women’s positioning in global policy debates, in close collaboration with partners.

Technical Assistance:

Provide technical support to partners in the integration of gender in conflict analysis, conflict prevention planning and programming;
Participate in and provide assistance to inter-agency joint assessments and technical support missions to fragile and conflict affected settings;
Provide policy support and guidance to UN Women’s Country offices to adopt a conflict-sensitive approach to their programming.

Partnership development:

Establish and maintain partnerships with relevant civil society, UN and Member State actors, identify and build upon the key comparative advantages of various actors;
Strengthen UN Women’s internal network and partnership with inter alia Country Offices, thematic sections, programme division and intergovernmental support division to capture and utilize internal capacity to engage in preventive efforts;
Coordinate and lead UN Women’s inputs to system-wide strategic decision-making in conflict prevention.

Knowledge management and capacity building:

Facilitate the knowledge capture and knowledge management of good practices and lessons learned through learning meetings, documentation of results, engagement with communities of practice, etc;
Identify and map key capacities and capacities gaps for implementing conflict-sensitive and gender-responsive prevention;
Advise on capacity building requirements of women’s organizations working in the field of conflict prevention;
Keep relevant staff and sections in UN Women aware and up to date on ongoing work and its implications for other initiatives, policies and programmes;
Establish linkages with academia, research institutions and think tanks to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, and incorporate cutting-edge thinking into UN work on gender and conflict prevention;
Contribute to capacity building for UN Women Country Offices, UNCT and other partners in the field of conflict analysis and conflict prevention.

Impact of Results:

UN Women’s efforts on conflict prevention result in an increase in women’s levels of participation and influence in contemporary prevention forums. UN Women demonstrates global leadership on conflict prevention and improves the responsiveness of the UN’s preventive efforts to engage women and respond to their needs. High quality technical assistance on gender and conflict prevention is made available via knowledge products and hands-on advice to UN Women COs/MCOs/ROs as well as UNCT and civil society partners. The incumbent contributes to the smooth and successful development and implementation of conflict prevention interventions that support the SG’s 7 Point Action Plan. In addition, policy support will contribute to the increasing positioning of gender-responsive conflict prevention on the political agenda and in the work of the peacebuilding architecture and peace and security apparatuses.

Timely and quality technical advice and support;
Quality reports and other strategic documents delivered in a timely manner;
Timely and quality knowledge products;
Strong relationships with various partners, stakeholders and experts;
UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise.

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:

Excellent knowledge of gender related issues including in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and sustaining peace;
Ability to undertake policy research and capture knowledge;
Ability to provide policy advice and support to partners;
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
Ability to handle a large volume of work under time constraints;
Ability to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective;
Ability to draft policy papers, speeches, briefings;
Excellent communication skills;
Strong diplomatic skills.

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 7 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in gender-responsive conflict prevention, gender/conflict analysis, programme management, policy research and with substantial field experience. Experience working on gender equality programming in Peace and Security contexts.

Languages:

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

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.