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.

The scope of work of the Programme Officer requires experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality and violence against women and girls, to translate UN Women's strategic plans into effective programmes and results.

The UN Women Pacific Multi-Country Office (MCO) is based in Suva, Fiji and works alongside the 19 other UN agencies in the region and in 14 countries: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Under its Strategic Note 2018-2022, UN Women Fiji MCO focuses on delivering on four interlinked programme areas underpinned by support for intergovernmental and normative processes:

• Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership
• Women’s Economic Empowerment
• Ending Violence against Women
• Gender and Protection in Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction

Ending Violence Against Women and Girls / EVAWG In the Pacific

The Pacific has some of the world’s highest reported rates of violence against women, with studies showing that up to 68% of women are affected.  To respond to the rates of violence in the Pacific, UN Women has developed a comprehensive EVAWG programme which takes a transformative approach to prevent violence against women and girls at multiple levels (regional, national and community), and to ensure survivors have access to quality response services.

UN Women’s EVAWG programme is implemented under the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (hereafter referred to as ‘Pacific Partnership’), which brings together governments, civil society organizations, communities and other partners to change the social norms that allow violence against women and girls to continue; to ensure survivors have access to quality response services; and to support national and regional institutions to meet their commitments to gender equality and prevention of violence against women and girls.

The Pacific Partnership is funded primarily by the European Union (EU) with targeted support from the Australian Government and UN Women and is directly supporting UN Women’s programmatic interventions under the programme. Kiribati is one of the five priority countries in the Pacific Partnership Programme.

There is a high level of attention and political will to address violence against women and girls and the Kingdom of Tonga has long recognized the importance of promoting gender equality to achieve sustainable development outcomes. The Government of Tonga is contributing towards progressing gender equality through the implementation of the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality Tonga (WEGET) National Policy and Strategic Plan of Action 2019 – 2025 which provides a significant platform to improve the lives of all women and men, boys and girls through a raft of strategic objectives and associated interventions which represents the Government’s key activities across all sectors of government and society. Further, the passing of the Family Protection Act (FPA) in 2013 has become a critical vehicle for protection, security and justice for most victims/survivors of domestic violence.

The National Programme Coordinator – Team Leader position is expected to play a lead role in Tonga in coordinating actions on ending VAWG in Tonga. This position has an important role to play in ensuring that activities  captured under the UN Women EVAWG programme, including the Pacific Partnership, are implemented in a timely manner and continue to enjoy full ownership and buy- in by all Government, UN and CSO partners.  Key responsibilities including supporting planning and coordination; supporting implementation of activities; capacity building and monitoring and evaluation.  This position reports to the Technical Specialist, Primary Prevention, and will work closely with key partners in Tonga, across civil society, government, donor and development partners.

Under the overall supervision of the Technical Specialist, Primary Prevention at the UN Women Pacific Multi-Country Office (MCO) in Suva, Fiji, the National Programme Coordinator - Team Leader is expected to engage proactively with local, national and regional women leaders, partners, civil society organizations, service providers and UN Entities and support overall work on gender equality in Tonga, with a specific and substantive focus on prevention and response to violence against women and girls.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Lead the planning, coordinating and implementing of the UN Women Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Programme in Tonga, largely under the Pacific Partnership programme:

• Lead and maintain working level coordination mechanisms, including at the government level and civil society partners for successful implementation of EVAWG activities;
• Coordinate closely with all stakeholders are across, the various Pacific Partnership programme activities and other relevant actions to address VAWG in Tonga;
• Ensure clear, consistent and transparent communication among all partners and stakeholders and support establishment of participatory governance and decision-making practice at national level;
• Organize and lead partner meetings, in close collaboration with government and other partners;
• Facilitate and support partners in the preparation of work plans, budgets  and results frameworks that align with Global and Regional EVAWG Guidelines and national EVAWG priorities;
• Facilitate the delivery of the programme outcomes by leading & promoting a coordinated approach to primary prevention and service delivery, including generating and maintaining synergies between different outcomes;
• Support partners and facilitate emergency preparedness and response efforts to address violence against women and girls;
• Support the process of managing financial resources for achieving results in line with the outputs and activities outlined in the joint programme document;
• Manage delivery of results by using best practice and know-how and accordingly plan delivery of resources;
• Lead by practice an enabling environment for high level performance of all partners in meeting the benchmarks established in the Pacific Partnership Programme;
• Provide partners with direct technical assistance, training and capacity development initiatives as needed in coordination with the Technical Hub based in Suva, Fiji;
• Facilitate in -country logistics for trainings and workshops;
• Facilitate resolution of disputes among partners and troubleshoot obstacles to timely implementation.

2. Oversee the coordination and delivery of results-based monitoring and evaluation for EVAWG programming:

• Ensure implementation of the EVAWG monitoring and evaluation plan with Programme Partners inclusive of  roles and responsibilities for the monitoring and evaluation of activities;
• Ensure transparency of the M&E process by disseminating information to partners and relevant stakeholders;
• Ensure together with the UN Women EVAWG team in Fiji MCO that activities comply with all donor  requirements;
• Ensure systems are in place that promote both downward and upward accountability;
• Provide inputs to substantive technical reports, such as narrative progress reports and other programme documents required;
• Attend field missions and write reports on monitoring missions;
• Monitor, analyze and evaluate substantive and financial reports from partners, providing regular substantive and management support to resolve any challenges and ensure timely and quality delivery.

3. Facilitation and dissemination and generation of knowledge on efforts to prevent and respond to VAWG in Tonga:

• Support the programme partners in identifying good practices and lessons learned and documenting this knowledge;
• Lead and/or support analytical development work of the team and ensure high quality knowledge products;
• Promote the substantive quality of all knowledge products, reports and services, and ensures effective integration and compatibility with other practice areas;
• Contribute to the production of reports and publications, and serve as peer reviewer;
• Forge links with other initiatives including joint programmes to identify good practices and share lessons.

4. Facilitate inter-agency Coordination Support for Gender Equality efforts in Tonga:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key inter-agency and partner stakeholders at national levels;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors and NGOs to ensure that UN Women activities are harmonized and coordinated with other in-country efforts;
• Represent UN Women in national working groups and coordination meetings in alignment with UN Women’s programmatic priorities and Strategy Plan;
• Identify national priorities and UN Women’s strategic advantage/role to forward gender equality objectives;
• Take part in country level Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA)/UNDAF processes and similar exercises related to the Resident Coordinator system ensuring that gender concerns are clearly reflected and mainstreamed in process;
• Prepare substantive inputs to CCA/ UNDAF and other documents thoroughly analyzing and researching the political, social and economic situation in the country;
• Prepare analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s program experiences in support of UN women inter-agency coordination role.

5. Support UN Women’s programming priorities in Tonga:

• Facilitate UN Women’s programming and role in key areas including Gender in Humanitarian Action, Women’s Political Leadership and Women’s Economic Empowerment;
• Focal point and liaison with key stakeholders including government and civil society partners for gender equality efforts;
• Coordinate with Fiji MCO programme teams to implement programming in the aforementioned areas that are high quality, to standard and technically rigorous;
• Represent UN Women and gender equality considerations in disaster management, emergency preparedness and response efforts, including ensuring gender is integrated into all levels of response.

6. Strategic partnerships building and resource mobilization Support

• Support to UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office to implement the Office partnerships and resources mobilization strategies to achieve programme outcomes within the country;
• Create and coordinate partnerships with the relevant UN Agencies, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society etc;
• Determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities;
• Analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost-sharing;
• Follow up on resource on mobilization activities for fund raising for new projects in coordination with the UN Women Representative.

Competencies

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality implementation of Programme/Portfolio activities against set workplans, timelines and budgets, in line with the Strategic Note;
• Quality and timely reporting;
• Strong relations with partners and stakeholders;
• Regular and timely monitoring of activities;
• Timely and quality implementation of advocacy events in line with work plan;
• Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated.

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

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

Functional Competencies:

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Strong budget and finance skills;
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in development related discipline/s including gender issues, public policy, social work or other related social science fields is highly required.
• A first-level University Degree (Bachelors’ Degree) in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years (with Master’s Degree), or minimum of seven (7) years (with Bachelors’ Degree) of progressively responsible at the national or international level in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions with national partners, preferably related to thematic area;
• Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects;
• Previous experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Added Requirements:

• Strong knowledge of the issue of violence against women, women’s empowerment and gender;
• At least minimum of 5 years with direct experience addressing violence against women through service delivery, advocacy, policy development, research or a combination of these;
• Excellent communication skills- including written and oral, interpersonal and liaison skills;
• Excellent training and facilitation skills;
• Resourceful, ability to problem solve on complex issues;
• Organized, able to oversee a complex programme / project;
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team when the task requires;
• Familiarity with Pacific countries and cultures, especially Tonga.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset; 
• Knowledge and fluency in the local language(s) of the duty station (Tonga) is an asset.

For General Notetaking:

UN Women Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

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).