Background

Women’s political participation is critical to fulfilling the potential of democracy. Women make essential contributions to achieving and maintaining peaceful and secure communities, the full realization of human rights, the eradication of disease, hunger and poverty, and the promotion of sustainable development.
The overall goal of the Global Initiative is toincrease women’s leadership and participation in public decision-making, promoting the participation and representation of women in political decision-making - from the national to the local level - as well as women’s representation, leadership and influence in other areas of civic engagement. This goal is aligned with both the Millennium Development Goals and intergovernmental resolutions that have emerged from relevant intergovernmental processes that promote greater representation of women.
Albania’s progress in recent years in respecting and promoting gender equality is highlighted in a series of international commitments as well as domestic legal and policy development and implementation.
The earlier ONE UN Programme 2007-2011 focused on promoting more transparent and accountable governance; greater participation in public policy and decision-making; increased and moreequitable access to quality basic services; regional development and reduced disparities; and environmentally sustainable development.
The Programme of Cooperation 2012-2016 will continue to promote and support the work of public oversight bodies to make them more accessible, especially to the marginalized. The programme will also support ministries in the introduction of relevant secondary legislation. The Government will be assisted to improve public oversight and the regulatory framework for engagement with civil society (including
the media), and to strengthen mechanisms through which civil society helps to ensure government accountability and transparency. Civil society, including women’s groups, will be supported to engage citizens and raise awareness on and advocate for human rights, including women’s rights, and access to
justice. This will include the engagement of civil society in monitoring the status of human rights and access to justice and reporting to treaty bodies.
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 center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
UN Women is providing technical and financial support to national partners in Albania in the context of UN Delivering as One, and within the framework of the Government of Albania’s UN Programme of Cooperation 2012-2016 (PoC). UN Women serves as the lead UN entity on mainstreaming gender in the PoC’s outcomes and outputs. Key UN Women thematic interventions and support to partners that are in line with UN Women’s mandate and national priorities include support to gender responsive planning and budgeting, women’s economic empowerment, participation in decision making and ending violence against women. UN Women is also providing targeted, demand driven technical assistance to the government of Albania related to the country’s obligations and membership in the UN (CEDAW) and the Council of Europe (Istanbul Convention), as well to Albania’s EU accession process.
To support Albania’s international commitments to the implementation of international human rights standards, gender equality, environmental sustainability, and development of national capacities the Government of Albania and the United Nations signed in 2011 the Programme of Cooperation 2012-2016. While UN agencies will be required to mainstream gender in all their activities and projects, the Programme also envisages interventions focused entirely or considerably on gender equality issues, organized in the following outputs:
  • Output 1.1.1. Public oversight bodies including the Parliament, Ombudsman, and the anti-discrimination commissioner have the capacity to implement appropriate policy frameworks that ensure transparency and accountability of government
  • Output 1.1.2. Civil Society and media facilitate a public demand for human rights, gender equality and access to justice including the compliance with international legal instruments and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
  • Output 1.13.National and local networks of civil society organizations participate in public policy analyses negotiation, monitoring, lobbying and decision making
  • Output 1.2.1. National Government has the technical and financial capacity to mainstream gender, social inclusion, population issues, children and Millennium Development Goals in policy development and implementation, as well as coordinate transparently the external resources
  • Output 4.1.5 Action taken at national and local level to implement improved legislative and policy framework on combating gender-based violence,
UN Women intents to implement activities and deliver assistance between others, under the outputs mentioned above, building on the results, lessons learned and challenges of the previous UN assistance to GoA’s efforts in addressing gender inequalities, discrimination and violence, in implementation of its international commitments in the area and the National Strategy on Gender Equality and against Gender-Based and Domestic Violence (2012-2016). These activities will be organized and translated into five UN Women projects in the framework of a comprehensive two-year Gender Equality Programme, that UN WOMEN will implement in coordination with other UN specialized agencies. To this end, UN WOMEN will hire a National Project Manager to guide and carry out the overall implementation of these Programme Outputs.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Develop Annual Work Plans, and respective budgets for the implementation of one project.
  • Participate in the output working groups as per the programme portfolio.
  • Guide the overall organization and execution of project activities as specified in the signed Annual Work Plans, such as training sessions, advocacy campaigns, studies and analysis, round tables, development of legislation and policy papers, etc. as well as provide technical input to these.
  • Prepare relevant technical documents related to the recruitment and/or procurement processes, in cooperation with Project’s and Administrative Assistant (s) and Programme/Finance Associate as needed.
  • Prepare inputs in/ drafts of narrative periodic and other reports as requested, highlighting the process, major outcomes and lessons learned from the interventions undertaken with the reported period
  • Provide technical guidance and resources to contracted consultants and/or organizations as well as monitor their activities with a view to assure quality deliverables.
  • Participate actively in the Participation and Gender Working Group meetings and other and contribute with efforts and ideas for advancement of women’s rights in the country, gender equality and promote greater representation of women.
  • Conduct monitoring missions related to the implementation of project activities
  • Guide and manage staff of the Project
  • Advise UN WOMEN Albania Representative and programmestaff with a view to ensure that gender is properly mainstreamed in programming and delivering results through UN WOMEN assistance
  • Offer technical expertise in internal events to present participation requirements to UN WOMEN staff.
  • Contribute in the identification of entry points and development of new programme and project proposals to assist Albania in meeting its international commitments and national priorities in guaranteeing human rights, gender equality and non-discrimination.
  • Prepare inputs in/ drafts of policy and position papers on participation to share internally within the UN and with counterparts on specific civic engagement and leadership and political participation issues.
  • Contribute with good practices and lessons learned from implementation of participation projects in Albania to global knowledge-sharing networks and events.
TIMEFRAME AND REMUNERATION:
Service contract starts from 1 August 2013. Initial contract duration by 6 months, August 1st until January 31st, 2014 with possibility of extension, subject of available funds and satisfactory performance.Remuneration will be based on UN Women standard rates and will be commensurate with experience and qualifications of the candidate.
 
REPORTING:
The project manager shall report to UN Women CO Representative, National Programme Officer.

Competencies

  • Integrity, advocacy, proactive, diplomatic, open-minded, public speaking and training skills 
  • Analytical skills, initiative, sound judgment, results-oriented and efficiency in a multi-tasking environment
  • Strong commitment to advancement of women’s rights, achievement of gender equality and eradication of gender-based violence
  • Good inter-personal and teamwork skills, networking attitude, ability to work in multi-cultural environment
  • Ability to work under pressure in complex situations
  • Ability to work independently, set priorities and organize the workflow efficiently
  • Willingness to learn new skills and undertake self-directed training and other courses.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Master’s or higher degree preferably in development-related disciplines (international development, gender issues, social studies, law, economics, public administration or any other social science related to development
Work experience/Qualifications:
  • At least 3 years of professional experience working in the field of social development, gender equality and violence against women, preferably in managing development programmes and projects
  • Knowledge and understanding of the principles of sustainable human development and human rights approaches
  • Good knowledge and understanding of United Nations System and particularly the role and mandate of UN Women is desired
Language requirement/Other skills:
  • Full working knowledge of English, including excellent drafting and presentation skills. Knowledge of other UN languages is considered an asset
  • Fluency in Albanian
  • Very good computer skills and ability to use information technology as a tool and resource.
 
APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via the UNDP Albania Jobs website: 
http://www.undp.org.al/index.php?page=bus_center/vacancies under vacancies from UNDP Online Application.
Applications should contain:
  • Cover letter stating your interest in and qualifications for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the online application.
  • Upload completed and signed Personal History Form (for Service Contracts and Individual Contracts) to be Downloaded here
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested documents.
Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.
 
Special consideration 
As this position is under Service Contract modality, only citizens of Albania and those holding valid working permit in Albania will be considered for the vacancy.