UN WOMEN Jobs - 68929- UN Women: Regional Policy Advisor

UN Women: Regional Policy Advisor

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Dakar, SENEGAL

Type of Contract :

Other

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

Other

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English French

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

The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) is an advocacy and grant making Foundation that forms part of the global Open Society Foundations Network. OSIWA is based in Dakar, Senegal and works to support the creation of open societies in West Africa marked by functioning democracy, good governance, and the rule of law, basic freedoms, and widespread civic participation. It has offices in Abuja, Monrovia, Freetown and Conakry.

It is a part of the Open Society Foundations, comprising a worldwide Network of foundations. Investor and philanthropist George Soros established the Open Society Foundations in 1984 to help countries make the transition from communism. Our activities have grown to encompass the United States and more than 70 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Each Foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve this mission, the Foundations seek to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, the Open Society Foundations implement a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, we build alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. The Foundations place a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities

The Open Society Foundations (OSF) is supporting UN Women’s flagship programme on “Women’s Access to Land and Productive Resources for Climate-Resilient Agriculture” and is seeking a qualified Regional Policy Advisor to lead the initiative in West and Central Africa, based in the UN Women Regional Office in Dakar, Senegal.

The flagship programme covers four priority outcome areas, which will require action from a coalition of partners to achieve:

Increase women’s land tenure security and rights;
Improve the productivity and reduce the time and labour burdens of women smallholder farmers by ensuring equal access to climate-resilient productive resources and information;
Remove financing barriers to allow women farmers to invest in climate-resilient agriculture;
Promote opportunities for women farmers to participate in green value chains and markets.

By addressing the gender gap in agriculture through informed, women-centered investments and interventions that remove structural barriers and promote equal access to land and other productive resources, the initiative will support women’s economic empowerment and overall sustainable development.

The Regional Policy Advisor will report to the UN Women Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Regional Policy Advisor will oversee the launch of the programme in 3 pilot countries in the region, beginning with Senegal. Each country will have a programme coordinator. The role of the Regional Policy Advisor is to support these coordinators. The Regional Policy Advisor is not responsible for country programme management. Rather, the Regional Policy Advisor will support programme development and knowledge management across the country programmes. The position involves high-level advocacy and partnership building, as well as policy and technical support and advisory functions. The Regional Policy Advisor will lead in developing strategies and methodologies towards programme outcomes; identify opportunities for engagement with partners and for resource mobilization; keep abreast of policy research and development practice in gender and climate-resilient agriculture; ensure knowledge, learning and innovation in programmatic areas, including through documentation and contributing to a community of practice on gender and climate-resilient agriculture; handle communications within the region and with the counterpart Regional Policy Advisor in the UN Women Regional Office in Nairobi and UN Women headquarters; and represent the programme externally.

Primary responsibilities will include the following:

Take the lead in the development of the flagship programme in the region. This will require intensive engagement with national and regional partners, including governments, development banks, UN agencies, OSF offices, civil society organizations, private sector, individual experts, and other stakeholders as appropriate;
Lead the formulation of the national project documents in the three pilot countries and other countries that join the initiative, including situation analyses/baseline assessments, strategy and partnerships, results and resources frameworks, implementation and management arrangements, and budgets;
Provide technical and policy assistance to the national project teams as needed;
Support mobilization of resources for the programmes in the three pilot countries;
Build partnership, including through advocacy, in support of the flagship programmes theory of change;
Identify and respond to capacity development needs, in conjunction with national programmes; convene meetings and seminars at national and regional levels on pertinent thematic areas of work for capacity development, knowledge sharing, and peer-to-peer learning;
Identify, develop, and manage relationships with an active roster of internal and external advisors, technical assistance providers, and consultants to support national and regional programme implementation;
Work with regional development banks and other stakeholders to promote gender responsive financing instruments;
Identify opportunities to promote intra-regional trade between women farmer cooperatives and producer organizations and private and public enterprises;
Support national monitoring and evaluation, including quality assurance; conduct monitoring visits to country programmes, and engage in programme-wide evaluation and learning;
Keep up-to-date with research, policy, and programmatic developments on land, climate-resilient agriculture, financing, etc. as related to gender equality and women’s empowerment; draft policy and programming notes that inform the wider team on important policy developments or advocacy opportunities and/or offer suggestions about strategic programme directions and approaches;
Manage knowledge, by collecting and disseminating good practices and successful approaches at national, regional, and international levels through a community of practice in conjunction with UN Women’s Policy and Communications Divisions, and empowerwomen.org.

Competencies

Core Values:

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.

Respect for 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:

Ability to work efficiently under pressure and on a wide range of tasks and to work both as a team member/supervisor and independently, with a high degree of self-motivation and ability to set and meet goals;
Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability;
Ability to listen and communicate clearly and effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds;
Appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
Excellent organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills, with attention to detail;
Excellent written and oral communication skills; excellent drafting and editing skills;
Willingness to undertake extensive international travel.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced degree in a relevant discipline, for example, international development, gender, or environmental studies; economics or agricultural economics; rural sociology, geography or anthropology; agronomy;

Experience:

Minimum of 10 years of professional policy and programming experience, with some time in the region;
Experience working on climate resilience agriculture and knowledge of its relation to gender equality;
Substantial experience in developing project documents including formulation of robust results/monitoring and evaluation frameworks;
Experience in knowledge management.

Languages:

Fluency in English and French is required;
Fluency in another language desirable.

Note: The selected candidate will be based in the UN Women Regioanl Office. He/She will enter into contract with the Open Society Foundations, hosted by UN Women.