Background

I. Organizational Context

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.

In Türkiye, in line with its global Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and Country Strategic Note (2022-2025), and the overall UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Turkey (UNSDCF) (2021-2025), UN Women works towards the overarching goal of “Women and girls including those at greatest risk of being left behind fully exercise their human rights, enjoy a life free from violence and discrimination, and lead, influence and benefit from sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development towards the advancement of gender equality in Turkey”.

UN Women works in four thematic areas: (i) governance and participation in public life; (ii) women’s economic empowerment; (iii) ending violence against women and girls; and (iv) women, peace and security, humanitarian action, and disaster risk reduction. In that framework, UN Women in Türkiye contributes to three outcomes of the UNSDCF:

1. Women and girls have improved and equal access to resources, opportunities, and rights, and enjoy a life without violence and discrimination.
2. By 2025, Persons under the Law on Foreigners and International Protection are supported towards self-reliance.
3. By 2025, governance systems are more transparent, accountable, inclusive, and rights-based with the participation of civil society, and quality of judicial services is improved.

Towards these goals, UN Women implements programmes and projects that aim to advance gender equality, improve women’s access to opportunities, rights, and services in political, social, and economic life, and combat gender stereotypes, discrimination, and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments. UN Women collaborates with numerous partners – central and local level government authorities, civil society organizations, including women’s organizations and platforms, academia, private sector companies, and other UN agencies. It commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle, by supporting targeted actions to remove the obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women face in accessing their rights and to promote them as agents of change.

In the area of ending violence against women and girls (VAWG) and other harmful practices, UN Women supports enhancing services on VAWG prevention and protection through strengthened capacities of institutions, improved data management, better coordination, and empowerment of women and girls who are at risk of and/or are survivors of violence. Furthermore, to address the underlying root causes of VAWG and harmful practices, UN Women Türkiye works towards favorable social norms, attitudes, and behaviors at the individual, community, and institutional levels that advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. The ending VAWG portfolio includes several ongoing projects including “UN Joint Programme for the Elimination of Child Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM)” implemented with UNICEF and UNFPA and “Strengthening Women’s Access to Justice” pilot project, as well as pipeline projects with government partners aimed to support the implementation of the Fourth National Action Plan on Combating Violence against Women (2022-2025).

The Second Phase of the “UN Joint Programme for the Elimination of Child Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM)” (the Joint Programme) is implemented by UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women, with consultative support from IOM and UNHCR over a three-year period starting from September 2021, with the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The Joint Programme draws on the experience and lessons learned during the implementation of the First Phase to continue to address the complex issue of CEFM in selected target provinces with high prevalence. The Programme focuses on advocacy and support for the implementation of the international and national normative framework, data generation and analysis, technical support to national and provincial coordination mechanisms and action plans on CEFM, and community mobilization with a focus on girls’ empowerment and the engagement of men and boys.

Against this background, under the ending VAWG portfolio and the Joint Programme on Elimination of CEFM, UN Women Türkiye office intends to contract a Project Associate to support the team in the implementation of the project in line with UN Women rules and regulations. Project Associate, in addition to contributing to the implementation of activities, is expected to support the Project Coordinator in financial, operational, and administrative management of the portfolio and/or the Project.  

Reporting to the Project Coordinator, Project Associate will be working in close collaboration with the operations, programme, and projects’ staff in the Türkiye Office and UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office as required for resolving complex finance-related issues and exchanging of information.

Duties and Responsibilities

II. Functions

1. Provide administrative and operational support to the EVAWG portfolio and the UN Joint Programme on the Elimination of CEFM in compliance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and strategies

• Provide support to develop work plans, budgets, and proposals for programme implementation;
• Assist the preparation of draft job descriptions, vacancy announcements, requests for recruitments, interview minutes, and requests for contract and support all procurement processes;
• Support the periodic planning and reporting processes;
• Support the programmatic processes (attending meetings, capacity-building activities with partners and stakeholders, representing the team of the Joint Programme etc.);
• Support the monitoring of the activities of the implementing partners;
• Support logistical, administrative, and financial arrangements for the organization of meetings, workshops, events, and missions and assist when needed; 
• Work in coordination with the HR and operation teams for the procurement and finance procedures for the programme according to the UN Women rules and regulation if needed.
• Provide guidance and in-service training to Project Assistants as needed.?

2. Provide support to prepare and administer project budgets in full compliance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems

• Perform duties in full compliance with UN Women financial regulations and rules, policies, and standard operating procedures, including internal controls;
• Review financial transactions, activities, and documentation; taking corrective actions as needed and reporting any unusual activities;
• Monitor financial exceptions reports for unusual activities or transactions, investigate anomalies, and report to the supervisor for conclusions and/or recommendations for actions/decisions;
• Draft reports on financial status, procedures, exchange rates, costs, and expenditures;
• Follow-up on audit recommendations to monitor implementation of corrective actions;
• Collect, verify and present information and data for use in the planning of financial resources and the formulation of the Country Office (CO) programme work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements, and execution modalities;
• Provide assistance in annual work plan entries in the Results Management System (RMS) as required.
• Monitor the proper functioning of the financial resources management system for the budgets and resources of the office and programmes;
• Formulate the budget, control allotments, monitor expenditures, and prepare revisions according to the needs of the CO;
• Track the appropriate and timely use of financial resources; 
• Prepare cost recovery documents or bills for the services provided by UN Women to other programmes or organizations;
• Create projects in Atlas, prepare budget revisions, revise project awards and status; and determine unutilized funds;
• Implement and maintain control mechanisms for the development of projects through monitoring budgets preparation and modifications and budgetary status;
• Maintain the internal expenditure control system;
• Undertake corrective actions on un-posted vouchers, including vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, and unapproved vouchers. Respond to the requests of the Regional Office (RO) and/or Headquarters (HQ) to resolve financial data issues.

3.Provide finance support to the Programme and Operations Teams

• Review financial reports, prepare PO and non-PO vouchers for development projects;
• Create requisitions in Atlas, travel claims, MPOs, and other entitlements;
• Monitor the setup of budgets in ATLAS to ensure accordance with budgets agreed with donors and enter into ATLAS at detailed Activity ID level;
• Monitor each month’s over-expenditure of budgets and follow up with the Budget Owner;
• Monitor regular transactions posted to projects ensuring that the actual expenditure has been recorded against the correct budget category and activity, and take timely corrective actions as required;
• Monitor proper follow-up of advances to implementing partners, and review their financial reports together with project managers;
• Monitor the financial status and implement control mechanisms for management/development projects under the guidance of the Operations Analyst;
• Monitor and properly follow up all the financial items in the month-end and year-end closure instructions status and take corrective actions under the guidance of the Operations Analyst as required;
• Keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely actions/decisions and review status reports for quality control;
• Provide informational inputs to financial reports for RO, HQ Finance, and stakeholders;
• Associate revenue and expenditure in commitment control for non-core projects;
• Provide inputs and take necessary actions to facilitate timely financial project closure;
• Support financial donor reporting by providing timely information and taking necessary actions as required by UN Women Virtual Global Service Centre for financial donor reporting.

4. Provide administrative support to resource mobilization

• Prepare cost-sharing and other agreements and follow up on contributions within the Türkiye Office`s resource mobilization efforts;
• Organize, compile, and process information from donors, Türkiye CO, and the programme team, as inputs to various databases, reports, and documents.

5. Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Collect and compile lessons learned and best practices related to programme management and finance and disseminate to clients and stakeholders as needed to build capacity and knowledge;
• Contribute to financial operational practices and management innovations;
• Contribute to the development of briefing materials and prepare presentations as needed.

III. Key Performance Indicator

• Timely and accurate support to events, workshops, and missions;
• Full compliance with administrative activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and procedures;
• Timely recording of overall programme unit finances;
• Timely and accurate tracking of data for CO management and donor management purposes;
• Quality maintenance of internal systems.

Competencies

IV. 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

Functional Competencies

• Good knowledge of programme management
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence, and reports information and workflow
• Strong financial and budgeting skills
• Strong IT skills

Required Skills and Experience

V. Recruitment Qualifications

The application package for this position should consist of:

• Duly filled in Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded from Application and recruitment process | About us: Careers at UN Women | UN Women
• CV
• Motivation Letter.

How to Submit the Application:

• Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- Application and recruitment process | About us: Careers at UN Women | UN Women
• Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), CV and Motivation Letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement).
• Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above).
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

• UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
• Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.  

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.)