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 centre of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
 
Through establishment of its office in Sudan in 2005 and the activities that have been undertaken to date, UN Women has managed to build strong partnership with government institutions in general, the national machinery and women's movement in North and South Sudan.  In continuation of its program and its efforts to ensure gender equality and protection of women's rights in conflict and post-conflict Sudan, UN Women will try and capitalize on these partnerships. The main thrust of the new program is support for the implementation of national, regional and international commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment in North and South Sudan.  To this end, in 2008 - 2011 the Sudan Program will concentrate on support to women's political participation and leadership in governance and protection of women's human rights.
 
In this context, UN Women seeks to recruit a Country Programme Manager for North and South Sudan. The Country Programme Manager will be the first line of contact between UN Women and its partners and will represent UN Women in Key events and meetings in North and South Sudan. S/he will be responsible for ensuring effective execution of UN Women's mandate with respect to the advancement of women's human rights in North and South Sudan.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Regional Program Director, East and Horn of Africa, the Country Program Manager will have the following functions:
  • Technical Leadership and Coordination at the country level
  • Strategic Policy Coordination, Partnerships and Representation
  • Donor Relations and Resource Mobilization
  • Programme Management , Communications and Knowledge Management
  • Financial and Human Resources Management
The Country Program Manager works in close collaboration with the UN Women Nairobi team in operations and program, UN Women HQ units and sections. The Country Program Manager will also work with the UN Country Team for North and South Sudan, as required to exchange information and support program delivery.

Provides technical leadership and coordination at the country level:
  • Provide technical input into policy dialogue to increase gender equality issues in relevant discussions
  • Carry out advocacy to maximize UN support towards the realization of policies on gender equality in line with international and national commitments
  • Prepare technical background documents and briefs within the context of UN Women's work in North and South Sudan
  • Lead the discussion with UN Women's sub-regional office for East and Horn of Africa on strategic opportunities for partnerships and new programmes in North and South Sudan in line with the mandate of UN Women
Ensure Strategic Policy coordination, partnerships and representation:
  • Monitor trends and issues affecting women in North and South Sudan and develop strategic responses to opportunities and challenges including formulation of projects, implementation strategies and activities in line with UN Women strategic plan 2008-2011
  • Participate in heads of agency meetings and represent UN Women in various UN coordination mechanisms and activities as related to the sectors covered. Ensure integration of women's empowerment and gender equality, as well as, the coordination and harmonization of programmes
  • Maintain and develop strong partnerships with a wide range of constituencies, including donors, government agencies and NGOs and the women's movement
  • Provide leadership and quality oversight of efforts to strengthen Government's institutions, especially the Ministry of Gender to effectively implement national development strategies
  • Support knowledge building and knowledge sharing at the country and regional level focusing on achievements, lessons learned and methodologies utilized in project implementation. Participate in the training sessions of knowledge networks and communities of practice
Donor Relations and Resource Mobilization:
  • Identify and follow-up on strategic opportunities for resource mobilization
  • Develop effective and innovative strategies for resource mobilization
  • Support the Regional Program Director in strategic opportunities at global, regional and country level for resource mobilization and advocacy
  • Build partnership and mobilize resources for programme implementation, including new programme development in North and South Sudan
Program Management, Communications and Knowledge Management:
  • Provide guidance and direction to result orientation and effectiveness and efficiency in all aspects of UN Women's operations and program in North and South Sudan activities in the following assigned sectors
  • Manage the Country Programme
  • Work closely with the government and national partners to ensure ownership and delivery of the programs
  • Monitor the development of ongoing projects both substantively and financially to ensure efficient and timely delivery of results
  • Manage and coordinate periodic internal reports, donor reports and contribute to UN Women's annual reports in consultation with relevant program officers. Ensure that reports are in accordance with specific requirements of donors and or UN Women
  • Monitor and evaluate ongoing programs/projects for delivery and impact; Respond to political situations and adapt programming appropriately
  • Lead the process of team building and internal communication to maximize synergy between programme areas
Financial and Human Resources Management:
  • Ensure effective management of resources for achieving result using appropriate financial information system and procedures to track project budgets and expenditures
  • Provide oversight to the preparation of annual budgets and work plans for approval by the Regional Programme Director
  • Review budgets and work plans, and bring any proposed changes to the attention of Regional Program Director
  • Prepare project budget revisions to ensure the efficient and timely delivery of inputs and realization of targeted expenditures
  • Ensure delivery of program resources in line with UN Women regulations and procedures to track project budgets and expenditures
  • Identify human resource needs, in line with the requirements of the program. Take appropriate action for recruitment of staff, in line with UN Women regulations
  • Provide the strategic guidance and development to staff members

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women and the UN
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism
Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning
  • Promotes knowledge management in UN Women and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example
  • Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
Development and Operational Effectiveness
  • Ability to conduct strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
  • Ability to lead formulation and monitoring of management projects
  • Solid knowledge in financial resources and human resources management, contract, asset and procurement, information and communication technology, general administration
  • Ability to lead business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems (business side), and affect staff behavioral/attitudinal change
Management and Leadership
  • Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
  • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
  • Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills
  • Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Advanced University degree in Political Science, International Development Studies, or related fields
Experience: 
  • Gender analysis and mainstreaming in programming and implementation, knowledge of legal and policy framework on women's rights/roles and analytical skills particularly in post-conflict  and peace building environments
  • Substantive knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of women's rights, gender equality programming, and mainstreaming gender in governance, economic management and capacity development nexus
  • Proven experience in advocating for women's empowerment and rights along with gender equality programming in developing countries, including in-depth knowledge of regional organizations and women's organizations working on gender, governance and human rights
  • Knowledge of UN policies and procedures
  • Strong communication skills, with proven expertise in writing cogent and convincing policy and programme documents for development practitioners
  • Minimum of 10 years of work experience in any of the following fields: women's rights and gender equality programming in developing countries with specialized experience in Gender and Development and Program Management
  • Minimum of 5 years of working experience internationally on women's human rights in Africa
  • International experience in managing an organization in the relevant field is an advantage
  • Working experience with UN joint programming frameworks and result-based management systems is desirable
Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in English and Arabic (written and oral) required
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.