UN WOMEN Jobs - 68868- Gender Adviser, Office of the Special Adviser to t

Gender Adviser, Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Bujumbura, BURUNDI

Type of Contract :

Other

Starting Date :

31-Oct-2016

Application Deadline :

18-Oct-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Other

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 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

Burundi has experienced an escalating crisis over the past year leading to growing patterns of human rights violations, civil unrest, and the displacement of some 350,000 Burundians. Human rights reports continue to document cases of harassment, enforced disappearances and murder, attacks on independent media, as well as patterns of gender-based crimes, including in areas viewed as opposition strongholds. In response to the crisis, the United Nations Secretary-General appointed a Special Adviser to work with the government of Burundi and other concerned stakeholders, as well as sub-regional, regional and other international partners, in support of an inclusive inter-Burundian dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflict, and of national efforts to build and sustain peace. Further, UN Security Council resolutions 2248 (2015) and 2279 (2016) invited the Secretary-General to deploy a team to work with the Government of Burundi, the African Union and other partners to assess the situation and develop options to address political and security concerns.

Burundian women have played instrumental roles in building peace, both at their country’s national level where they successfully advocated during the Arusha Agreements for peace and reconciliation, and at the local level where they have been essential to reconciliation efforts and contribute to conflict prevention and resolution through the increasingly recognized Network of Women Mediators. With the aim to bridge this strong potential with ongoing regional and international peace initiatives, and to ensure that women’s meaningful participation is promoted in all decision-making forums on the country’s future, the gender advisor will support initiatives of the office of the Special Adviser in relation to the resolution of the crisis and enhance women’s direct representation in the inter-Burundian dialogue and peaceful resolution of the crisis, and in national efforts to build and sustain peace. The gender advisor will provide technical inputs and advice on gendered elements of the process and women’s participation to the Special Adviser and his team, and under the supervision of the Head of Office will liaise with all relevant actors and institutions, including the African Union (AU) and the East African Community (EAC), the UN system and Country Team, Burundi’s international partners and civil society actors to strengthen women’s voice and contribution to conflict resolution.

Duties and Responsibilities

Technical assistance and strategic partnerships

Provide systematic guidance and support to the Office of the Special Adviser on commitments to promoting women’s representation and addressing women’s needs in conflict resolution and prevention efforts, and how these may be implemented within the mandate of the Office and advise on the strategic links with the work being done under international frameworks on women, peace and security;
Strengthen and enhance the partnership and coordination of the Special Adviser and his team with women and gender advocates including UN entities, national, regional and international civil society actors, including UN Women, the Office of the AU Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, as well as Burundian women's organizations, to ensure women’s engagement in efforts to build and sustain peace in Burundi;
Identify relevant actors/forums, and liaise with key international, national, regional, and local stakeholders from Government and civil society, and possibly including in the diaspora, to build up and strengthen strategic partnerships to facilitate and increase access of women peace advocates to the dialogue process and to key stakeholders.

Policy dialogue and analysis

Carry out a systematic gender analysis of key agreements and processes in connection with the relevant commitments of the United Nations (SCR 1325 (2000); SCR 1820 (2008); SCR 1888 (2009); SCR 1960 (2010); SCR 2106 (2013), SCR 2122 (2013), and SCR 2242 (2015));
Within the framework of the workplan of the Office of the Special Adviser, consult with all relevant stakeholders to support the work of the Office of the Special Adviser related to gender activities in Burundi, including support to Burundian women’s direct participation and representation in the dialogue process, strengthening women’s capacity and solidarity to engage meaningfully in the national dialogue, strategies to mainstream gender and women’s rights in the peace process, as well as inclusive public consultations;
Ensure appropriate information flow with relevant stakeholders to promote women’s leadership in peacemaking and peacebuilding, including through the development of joint statements and press releases, working with the Public Information Officer.

Deliverables and Reporting

Deliverables

A work plan will be prepared by the Gender Advisor, indicating proposed activities and expected results, indicators, outcomes, timeframe or proportion of time to be devoted to each. The work plan will be reviewed every three months and adjusted as necessary. In consultation with the Special Adviser’s team and UN Women, the work plan will detail the needed budget for activities for UN Women to advise on availability of funds. UN Women could undertake direct implementation through its country office and regional office on agreed activities.

Reporting

Two-monthly monitoring report on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the dialogue process covering all progress and results in integrating a gender equality perspective. The report will summarize lessons related to achieving gender equality results and recommendations for future action.
Written analysis related to the inter-Burundian dialogue process and contributions to other outputs from the Office of the Special Adviser as requested.
Reports on activities and accomplishments (monthly report on achievements; two-monthly accomplishment report on progress, issues and recommendations including adjustment to the work plan; end-of-contract report that adds to the two-monthly report a summary of lessons learned and recommendations related to the advisory function (e.g. lessons and recommendations related to ways of working, priorities, mechanisms).

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Ethics and values: Promoting ethics and integrity / creating organizational precedents;
Organizational awareness: building support and political acumen;
Working in teams and furthering interagency collaboration and partnerships: Building and promoting effective teams and partnerships;
Communicating information and ideas: Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
Self-management and emotional intelligence: Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
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:

Deep knowledge of the situation in Burundi and the engagement of the United Nations and other organisations in the region;
Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the areas of peacebuilding, conflict resolution, justice, security and development from a gender perspective;
Proven ability to analyze and identify key issues, put together options, draw conclusions and produce effective recommendations, particularly in relation to furthering progress on women’s participation and representation in peace processes;
Sound diplomatic and political advocacy experience;
Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships;
Ability to communicate effectively and produce clearly articulated analyses and/or policy papers;
Proven experience in identifying, mobilizing and promoting women’s organizations;
Demonstrated People Management Skills;
Ability to remain composed and professional while working in stressful situations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in the fields of gender and international affairs, political science, development, law and/or security studies.

Experience:

At least 7 years of management and supervisory experience in programming in the areas of international peace building and development or related areas. Experience should be geared to support women's empowerment and rights, with particular experience in complex and multi-component programmes on gender responsive governance, peace and security and particularly mediation and peace negotiations;
Familiarity with peacekeeping and special political missions, good offices, work of special envoys, etc., desirable;
Familiarity with political analysis and peace talks process issues (planning, design of table and agenda, engaging excluded groups);
Experience in developing advocacy strategies and public speaking highly desirable;
Experience in building partnerships and engaging with civil society groups and/or women’s organizations;
Prior experience in the Great Lakes Africa Region highly desirable;
International peace building experience and multi-cultural exposure

Language Requirements:

Fluency in written and oral English and French.