Antecedentes

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.

2015 is a pivotal year in terms of Gender Equality in Africa, as it was named the African Union’s Year of Women’s Empowerment.  In support of this declaration by the AU, UN Women identified some key initiatives and activities that it will carry out in solidarity with the AU’s declaration in the areas of Peace and Security, Early Child Marriage, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Advocacy.  These activities will be carried out at Regional and Country Office levels and will be overseen and coordinated by the RD’s office who will report to HQ on progress.  Additionally, the post-2015 Agenda will be finalized this year along with the Financing for Development Conference and the RO will play an active role in terms of Gender Equality in both of these processes- the responsibility for coordinating UN Women’s involvement in these processes in ESAR falls on the RD’s office – to act as an interface between the COs and HQ, coordinating efforts towards ensuring gender equality is adequately addressed in both processes at national and Global level.  Other initiatives that the RD’s office will be coordinating in 2015 include participation in key conferences being held – World Economic Forum, the FfD, the AU Summit and the African Girl’s Summit.  This has resulted in an increased workload on the RD’s office, increased frequency of interaction with HQ and an increase in programmatic initiatives for the RD’s office to follow-up on with country offices and Advisors.  The proposed consultancy will support the RDs office with duties related to planning and coordinating the programmatic aspects of the identified new initiatives, supporting the RD’s commitments and interactions with HQ, COs and Advisors.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Consultant to support the Regional Director on the following Strategic Global and Regional Projects and Developments:

  • Support the development of the Sustainable Development Goals proposal for the Region;
  • Support the preparations for the World Economic Forum;
  • Support preparations of the African Union Summit being organized In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;
  • Support UN Women’s role in FfD Conference;
  • Project Management of African Union Year of Women including liaison with Country offices, Regional Advisors and WCARO on initiatives;
  • Support in Resource Mobilization and Partnership Development initiatives;
  • Preparations and follow-up for Strategic discussions with Cos;
  • Tracking commitments and follow-up from RD’s missions;
  • Tracking and follow up of HQ deadlines for RD;
  • Support RO and COs on FGE and VAW Trust funds.

Expected Deliverables:

  • Agenda, Briefing notes and key messages compiled and submitted to HQ for WEF, FfD and AU Summit;
  • Follow-up on ESARO actions arising from WEF, FfD and AU summit planning;
  • Participate in WEF, FfD and AU Summit planning meetings;
  • Follow-up of implementation of AU Year of Women’s Empowerment and updating of tracker and participating in meetings;
  • Prepare briefing notes for RD as required;
  • Follow up RD’s office’s commitments from missions and meetings with advisors and COs.

Competencias

Core values/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 Compentencies:

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:

  • Proven ability to deal with multiple tasks in a demanding working condition that often has short deadlines;
  • Excellent presentation skills in English;
  • Ability towards analytical and creative thinking for rapid solution(s);
  • Articulate, good communicator with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills to deal with persons of different cultural and educational backgrounds;
  • Has high ethical and professional standards;
  • Is an outgoing personality and a team player.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in development studies, Economics, Strategic Planning or other relevant field;

Experience:

  • Minimum of three years’ work experience in planning or UN programming;
  • Previous work on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in UN or International Organization will be an advantage.

Language:

  • Excellent spoken and written English.