Background

UN Women is 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.

The Policy Division works on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to the intergovernmental processes, the UN system, and to UN Women country and regional offices on issues of gender equality, women’s empowerment and violence against women and girls. It identifies emerging issues and trends, and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice.

The Policy Division brings together technical experts who: undertake issues-based research; analyze data on country, regional and global trends; build a knowledge base on policy commitments and their implementation; propose evidence-based options for global policy, norms and standards and for UN Women global programme strategies; and contribute substantive inputs to policy advocacy and technical cooperation programmes. The work of UN Women's Ending Violence against Women (EVAW) Section is broadly focused on a comprehensive approach to ending violence against women that addresses legislation and policies, prevention, services for survivors, research and data.

The Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) Section is responsible for a number of functions including supporting the normative work on EVAW at the global level, developing and managing global level programmes and providing policy and technical advice to regional and country offices on EVAW.

The EVAW Section is supporting various UN Women country and regional programmes on EVAW, which aim at addressing all forms of violence against women and girls. These programmes aim to support transformative change on the ground to end violence against women and girls, in numerous countries globally. The EVAW Section works to ensure coherence, alignment, and strong technical quality of these large programmes, in line with regional/country context.

Under the supervision of the Chief of the Section, the Policy Specialist is responsible for contributing to the development and implementation of the organization policies and strategies on EVAW, in order to achieve gender equality and advancement of women. He/she provides technical advice on EVAW at country and regional levels, through strategy development and implementation, thematic reviews, tools for capacity building and channels for knowledge sharing; prepares documentation for UN normative intergovernmental processes; prepares studies, reports and content for policy advocacy; and establishes and strengthens partnerships.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide policy advice and technical support to country office/multi-country office teams and partners in the area of ending violence against women including harmful practices.

  • Provide technical advice to support and strengthen inter-agency partnerships, planning, monitoring and reporting on UN Women programmes on EVAW;
  • Organize expert meetings, advocacy events, panels and other interactive events on EVAW, particularly as regards UNW programmes on EVAW.
  • Provide technical support to  the development of new global normative and intergovernmental standards;
  • Provide technical guidance and advice on programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products;
  • Provide thematic inputs and guidance to corporate strategic planning and implementation;
  • Provide policy advice and technical support to UN Women field offices.

Provide capacity development support to country office/multi-country office teams and partners

  • Conduct trainings and participate in programming workshops and medium term technical support missions;
  • Provide technical inputs into capacity development initiatives, within and beyond UN Women, to develop the body of expertise on findings from global programmes on EVAW, and to support the scale-up and replication of good practices;
  • Lead the development of tools, guidelines and manuals on EVAW for use by UN Women field offices, the UN system, and other partners;

Provide technical and operational support to implementation of Joint programmes 

  • Provide technical advice and operational support related to the implementation of innovative evidence-based approaches and programmes including those related to harmful practices.
  • Develop technical inputs to strengthen the UN and other partners’ institutional capacities.
  • Provide technical advice to EVAW resource mobilization initiatives as relevant.

Research, analysis and knowledge management on ending violence against women:

  • Conduct on-going research and analysis of global, regional and national trends related to the development and implementation of EVAW legislation, policies and programmes to identify gaps and challenges and develop recommendations for improvement with an emphasis on harmful practices.
  • Develop flagship publications on key emerging issues related to EVAW legislation, policies and programmes, including recommendations to address these;
  • Establish global communities of practice that promote collaboration, peer support, consultation and surface innovation, good practices, lessons and needs and opportunities;
  • Ensure the internal flow of information throughout the organization on policy and technical issues related to EVAW;
  • Engage in existing thematic and gender equality networks to better connect UN Women and partner work and promote learning and innovation

Provide substantive support to intergovernmental processes and policy development in the area of ending violence against women:

  • Coordinate and provide substantive inputs, as appropriate, to the preparation of position papers and reports for presentation to intergovernmental bodies such as the Commission on the Status of Women, Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and other policy-making organs, and prepare analytical summaries of debates, supporting negotiations and analyzing/compiling outcomes;
  • Coordinate and prepare substantive inputs, as appropriate, to the development of analytical reports to contribute to the Secretary-General's mandated reporting to intergovernmental forums;
  • Provide technical support to the implementation of resolutions, decisions, and other directives in relevant areas of focus, including through support to expert bodies created by intergovernmental forums;
  • Participate in international fora to help shape development of global and regional policies, norms and standards and implementation strategies.

Represent UN Women as needed:

  • Represent UN Women at policy making inter-agency, intergovernmental and international technical and advocacy fora;
  • Organize and participate, as appropriate, in international, regional or national meetings and provide programmatic/substantive expertise on an issue, or hold programmatic/substantive and organizational discussions with representatives of other institutions;
  • Establish and nurture relationships with academia, research institutes, civil society, UN agencies and experts in Human Rights to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, and incorporate cutting-edge thinking in UN Women's work; 

Perform any other duties as requested by the supervisor.

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Timely and quality technical advice and support to country offices
  • Leadership in the area of EVAW, specifically related to harmful practices;
  • Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner;
  • Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders;
  • UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to EVAW;
  • Contributions to resource mobilization;
  • Timely and quality knowledge products.

 

 

Competencies

Core values:

  • Integrity;
  • Professionalism;
  • Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

  • Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
  • Accountability;
  • Creative Problem Solving;
  • Effective Communication;
  • Inclusive Collaboration;
  • Stakeholder Engagement;
  • Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women's Core Values and Competencies:? http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

  • Excellent and proven knowledge of gender issues and violence against women and girls;
  • Excellent networking skills;
  • Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyse trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising;
  • Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
  • Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
  • Excellent analytical skills;
  • Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
  • Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results based management and reporting.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master's degree (or equivalent) in international development, social sciences, gender/women's studies, public policy, human rights or other related social science field;
  • A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

  • At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and doing policy research and advocacy for the elimination of violence against women, ideally with some experience in developing countries;
  • Experience working with and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
  • Experience working with the UN is an asset.

Languages:

  • Written and oral proficiency in English is required;
  • Knowledge of another UN working language is an asset.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from?https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 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.

GS fixed-term appointment (FTA) and temporary appointment (TA) positions located in New York are open to candidates who are either US Permanent Residents, US Citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York.

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.

 

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided?on the basis of?qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.? 

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.? 

UN Women?has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.? All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)?