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 UN Women Liaison Office to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) engages with the AU and its various organs, the United Nations system particularly ECA, regional CSOs and international NGO, as well as the diplomatic community and in particular, delegations to the African Union. Through the office, UN Women provides technical support to member states, the AU and ECA in the adoption, implementation and monitoring of commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) at the regional level, and in accordance with its mandate.

UN Women through its Liaison Office to the AU and ECA aims at providing technical assistance to the African Union Commission through the Women, Gender and Youth Directorate (WGYD) to effectively mainstream gender issues in AU’s programs and policy processes. UN Women also collaborates with relevant departments of the AUC for gender responsive development and implementation of regional initiatives. In addition, the Liaison Office continues to establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with relevant UN agencies, INGOs and CSOs to implement catalytic initiatives in supporting the continental GEWE agenda.

In 2022, with the establishment of the Liaison portfolio as a full-fledged presence, UN Women Liaison Office set out to develop a Strategic Note to define its key development results and management/operational results for the next four years. The Strategic Note will be aligned with the global UN Women Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the AU GEWE Strategy (2018-2028), Agenda 2063 and other key GEWE, peace and development frameworks of Africa as well as global normative frameworks.

To support this process and ongoing collaborations with AU and other regional stakeholders, the Liaison Office proposes to engage a National Junior Consultant- Coordination Assistant to support the program implementation, advocacy and visibility efforts of the office.

Duties and Responsibilities

With guidance and overall supervision of the Special Representative to AU and UNECA and under direct supervision from the Liaison Specialist, the Consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks;

1.   Provide planning and reporting support

  •  Provide technical contribution towards the formulation of concept notes for UN Women Liaison
  • Office interventions;
  •  Assist the coordination of consultations related to the development of UN Women Liaison Office
  • Strategic Note 2022-2025;
  • Provide support to the development of the Liaison Office biannual work plan;
  • Provide coordination assistance for the development of UN Women Liaison Office quarterly, annual and project reports.

2.   Provide coordination and advocacy support

  • Contribute to the documentation of lessons learnt and best practices related to the African
  • Women Leadership Network (AWLN);
  • Provide coordination support to the operationalization of AWLN National Chapters.
  •  Provide technical support to the coordination of the Africa Pre-Commission on Status of Women consultations.
  • Provide support with mapping continental GEWE stakeholders for Liaison Office's strategic partnership
  • Prepare background research, briefing notes and talking points to inform UN Women Liaison Office engagement in advocacy platforms and initiatives.
  • Participate in UN inter-agency coordination meetings, meetings with AU partners and prepare the notes for files and minutes
  • Participate and contribute to relevant regional policy processes and technical working groups

3.    Provide effective communication and information management support

  • Coordinate the flow of information and communication between the different teams within UN Women AU Liaison Office and with other offices at regional and HQ levels;
  • Support the development of a Respond to and/or direct inquiries to appropriate units for timely action/response;
  • Prepare a calendar of events of the UN Women Liaison Office and track its use;
  • Maintain and organize up to date electronic files for easy access and retrieval.

Key Performance Indicators

  • Timely, efficient and quality support by coordinating flow of information and providing overview of all activities across all MPAS Teams and overall deliverables;
  •  Efficient, timely and quality support to delivery and implementation of UN Women Liaison office
  • Work Plan and budget;
  • Effective coordination support provided to processes related to the UN Women Liaison Office Strategic Note development, organization of continental consultative platforms and advocacy activities;
  • Submissions, clearances, and timely approvals of the items in the online clearance system;
  • High quality Talking points/Briefings;
  • Quality presentation of information;
  •  Timely coordination of inputs to reports

Competencies

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.

 

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • University degree in one of the following disciplines is required: Communication, Gender Studies, Political Science, International Relations or other relevant Social Science fields

 Professional experience

  • At least one year of experience working on advocacy around GEWE
  • Strong analytical and writing skills
  • Advanced working knowledge of MS Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Publisher).
  • Good interpersonal, networking and communication skills
  • Candidate should have with basic design and layout skills and adept in using Adobe Photoshop, In Design and other publishing software
  • Demonstrated and extensive social media experience is an added advantage
  • Experience  working  with  intergovernmental  and/or  regional  organizations  including  the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) is an added advantage

Language

  • Excellent knowledge of written and oral communication in English is required.
  • Knowledge of French language is an asset.

Application:

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.)