UN WOMEN Jobs - 61879- UN Women: Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

UN Women: Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Specialist

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Kathmandu, NEPAL

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

09-Dec-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

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

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.

Under the overall guidance of the Country Representative and direct supervision of the Deputy Country Representative and in close consultation with the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) and Peace and Security Unit Managers, the incumbent is responsible for leading UN Women’s engagement in disaster risk reduction and climate change initiatives in Nepal and contributing to humanitarian action related work. While working in close collaboration with other UN Women Nepal programme units and in consultation with the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor, the Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Specialist will be responsible for operationalizing UN Women’s mandate to promote a coordinated approach across the humanitarian and DRR continuum focusing on ensuring the mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the DRR, climate change, humanitarian efforts.

The specialist will provide technical guidance and capacity strengthening for preparedness and response; lead in advocating for a coordinated and coherent approach on gender equality integration in DRR initiatives, climate change, humanitarian action; and be responsible for ensuring that substantive technical and strategic support is available to the UN System, the relevant government structures and implementing partners; lead in establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships with multiple stakeholders, including government, inter-agency mechanisms, CSOs and women’s groups to continuously promote gender equality programming in DRR initiatives and ensure that specialized technical and strategic support is available to the IASC humanitarian sectors/clusters and other coordination mechanisms at both the national and local levels.

The scope of work requires substantive experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) issues in DRR and climate change, and field level expertise on coordinating gender equality interventions in a humanitarian and DRR continuum, to translate UN Women’s strategic plan into results. It also requires experiences in developing and nurturing mutually reinforcing partnerships with national entities, civil society, and the IASC humanitarian coordination mechanisms, including relevant UN entities such as UNOCHA, UNDP, UNEP and UNISDR, and donors to enhance awareness, commitment, accountability as well as visibility and resources to advance GEWE. The position also requires experiences in guiding and documenting pilot initiatives with a view to inform scaling up at different levels using lessons learnt.

Duties and Responsibilities

Within the Nepal Country Office and under the supervision of the Deputy Country Representative and in close collaboration with the WEE and Peace and Security Unit managers, the Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist will ensure effective guidance and oversight by carrying out the following functions:

Key Functions:

Analysis and monitoring of trends, opportunities and challenges;
Programme development and technical support;
Establish and strengthen interagency coordination and strategic partnerships with key stakeholders;
Knowledge management and reporting.

Analysis and monitoring of trends, opportunities and challenges:

Map the landscape on gender equality and DRR identifying strengths, gaps and areas that require further focus;
Explore strategic opportunities with key stakeholders to maximize synergies between gender, DRR, climate change, and SDG-related activities, including south-south cooperation schemes;
Liaise and coordinate with development partners and donors, building strategic alliances that deliver benefits to national priorities and commitments;
Participate in policy dialogues at the national level with key partners, including key line Ministries, donors, NGOs, private sector, and civil society, building on and ensuring consistency with relevant international policy guidance;
Provide policy support and information in the context of negotiations/discussions on gender and DRR;
Contribute to strategic thinking and policy decisions on mainstreaming gender into humanitarian response and influence agenda and priority setting in relevant UN system-wide inter-agency task forces and governmental coordination mechanisms.

Programme development and technical support:

Lead the development and implementation of the country programmatic approach to gender and DRR and climate change in line with the country office strategic note and annual work plan;
Review the national DRR policies (national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs), national adaptation plans (NAPs), and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) from a gender perspective;
Provide substantive inputs on gender-responsive climate-resilient development strategies and plans;
Support the development of strategic and thematic partnerships with governmental agencies, UN agencies and other important actors in DRR and climate change;
Identify strategic and innovative DRR and recovery programme areas that support the government;
Support the implementation of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) recommendations in collaboration with Government and other partners;
Lead the capacity development of the UN, government and women’s groups on the gender dimensions of disaster risk, particularly in terms of women’s vulnerabilities, capacity and exposure to hazards;
Develop a gender responsive monitoring framework and evidence based guidelines in line with the Sendai Framework;
Prepare technical guidelines, documents, briefs and other strategic papers and materials for use in the development and presentation of a coherent country level strategic plan;
Supervise the district gender coordinators;
Prepare substantive inputs to the interagency coordination mechanisms on humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction and to relevant strategic financing mechanisms;
Initiate and follow up on resource mobilization efforts in coordination with the Deputy Country Representative and Country Representative, including for the UN Women DRR Flagship Programme Initiative.

Establish and strengthen interagency coordination and strategic partnerships with key stakeholders:

Support the building of strategic alliances and partnerships for DRR and climate change related strategies and initiatives;
Provide technical leadership and inter agency coordination support to the UN Country Team and interagency coordination mechanisms;
Actively participate in interagency level programming processes, ensuring that UN Women is strategically placed within UN humanitarian and DRR coordination mechanisms;
Maintain close liaison with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts on gender and DRR and climate change;
Collaborate with UN partners on gender-responsive DDR and climate change initiatives and programmes;
Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women Regional Office and HQ;
Prepare analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s coordination and programmatic experiences in support of UN Women’s inter-agency coordination role.

Knowledge Management and Reporting:

Promote the use and improvement of knowledge management mechanisms to share information about gender, DRR, climate change and recovery programme related initiatives;
Prepare and share technical and strategic position papers, presentations, advisory and briefing notes, as needed;
Ensure lessons learnt are captured to further guide recommendations and formulation of future humanitarian and DRR programme planning;
Provide inputs to policy briefs/position papers in collaboration with other UN Women offices that address links between DRR and climate change and other development concerns such as governance, poverty alleviation, crisis prevention and recovery, and capacity development;
Provide advisory services to colleagues as needed;
Promote of awareness and understanding of the UN Women mandate, mission and purpose and focus on sustainable human development with special emphasis on gender and DRR and climate change;
Support exchange of best practices and lessons learnt;
Participate in communities of practice.

Impact of Results

The post has an impact on the overall effectiveness and success of UN Women interventions and activities in the assigned sectorial/thematic areas contributing to the effectiveness of UN Women programme in the CO. By helping ensure effective design, planning, implementation, and M&E of assigned sectorial/thematic areas, and building networks and helping mobilize resources for these areas, the incumbent enhances the organization’s capacity and credibility in implementation of highly effective programmes with strong impact.

Competencies

Core values and 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. Demonstrating 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:

Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the area of gender equality and DRR and climate change;
Demonstrated people management skills;
Familiarity with the Asia Pacific Region, women's rights organizations and networks in the region and globally;
Good knowledge of UN Women and the UN system;
Proven ability to advocate for gender equality and provide policy advice;
Ability to lead strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in climate sciences, environmental sciences, earth sciences, natural resource economics, political science, social science or any related subject.

Experience:

Minimum 5 years relevant experience working on gender equality and women’s empowerment related to climate risk, vulnerability reduction and capacity development;
Relevant experience at the national or international level in managing, designing, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
Strong background and results in partnership building;
Proven track record in policy analysis for DRR and climate change, humanitarian response and related issues;
Knowledge and understanding of the global debates on gender, DRR and climate change;
Past experience in working with government, donors, the UN, and UN Women in particular, would be an advantage.

Languages:

Fluency in written and oral English is required.

Application Information:

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;
UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

Note:

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.