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.

As part of its normative mandate to shape, preserve and promote international standards and commitments on gender equality, UN Women in Sri Lanka supports the development of national policies and standards, as well as Sri Lanka’s commitments to monitor and report against these international standards, towards sustained global progress.

In Sri Lanka, UN Women has extensive experience and leads on implementing the WPS Agenda in Sri Lanka by building capacities of government officials to implement policies in relation to women’s rights, with a broader aim of adopting and implementing Sri Lanka’s first ever National Action Plan on WPS. UN Women has been implementing a number of programmes and projects on conflict prevention, the promotion of social cohesion, and the prevention of violent extremism in Sri Lanka.

To ensure that women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems, UN Women’s programmes on leadership and participation are designed to train women leaders to help build their capacities and promote women's leadership at all levels of decision-making. It advocate for legislative, policy, budgetary, and constitutional reforms to end discriminatory laws that prevent women from meaningfully participating in all spheres of life. To ensure that women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, UN Women promotes women’s ability to secure decent jobs, accumulate assets, and influence institutions and public policies determining growth and development. To ensure that women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence, UN Women focuses on women's economic empowerment, early education, respectful relationships, and working with men and boys, recognizing that prevention is still the most cost-effective, long-term way to stop violence.

UN Women in Sri Lanka coordinates eff­orts within the wider UN system to advance gender equality. The office coordinates advocacy eff­orts, generate knowledge, build networks, and monitor system-wide action and progress to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals in Sri Lanka, and a more inclusive world.

Under the supervision of the Head of Office/Country Focal Point, Sri Lanka, the Programme Management Specialist/Programme Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of programmes for the CO, including providing technical support to the implementation of the Country Office programmes, managing the monitoring and reporting for the Country Office, supporting the Head of Office/Country Focal Point on budget management for the programme team, support the building of partnerships and providing support in developing resource mobilization strategies, and managing knowledge building efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.  Coordinate the programmatic development for the Country Office, based on the Strategic Note

  • Provide overall programme advisory support to the Office Management;
  • Guide the development of the CO programme, and provide technical support to the design and formulation of programme/ project initiatives;
  • Review and provide feedback to project/ programme strategies and documents, workplans, case studies and related knowledge products and publications, as needed;
  • Provide technical advice on the development of systems, processes and mechanisms to support programme planning, implementation, monitoring and progress reporting;
  • Review and evaluate proposals and oversee the preparation of donor proposals and reports;
  • Draft policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/ materials for the use in the development and presentation of policy and programmatic positions.

2.  Provide technical support to the implementation of the Country Office programme

  • Review programme annual work plans to assure compliance with UN Women programme goals and results-based indicators;
  • Analyze and ensure alignment of project budgets with logical framework matrices and work plans;
  • Draft reports on activities, outputs and outcomes; and compile information in preparations of country office donor and UN Women reports;
  • Analyze and ensure alignment of project budgets with logical framework matrices and work plans;
  • Manage programme quality control and identification of potential challenges;
  • Align programme activities with operations team in close liaison with Operations Managers;
  • Liaise with the Programme Board, national counterparts, donors, UN Women and partners, as necessary, to ensure the Programme results are achieved and resources are managed.

3.  Manage the monitoring and reporting for the Country Office

  • Recommend and establish programme monitoring standards, criteria, and other indicators for measuring and assessing progress/results;
  • Manage the monitoring of mutually agreed results frameworks and performance indicators;
  • Coordinate the process of gathering information and preparing progress reports on programme implementation; prepare technical reports;
  • Prepare programme team for audits and monitor implementation of audit recommendations.  

4.  Support the Head of Office/CFP in budget management for the programme team

  • Support in monitoring and analyzing the financial situation of the portfolios and programmes to ensure adherence to delivery rates and utilization of resources to meet agreed upon targets and results;
  • Assist in effective information flow, communication and coordination across the office, between programmes, projects and operations, and with other UN Women offices and units.

5.  Build partnerships and provide support in developing resource mobilization strategies

  • Assist in developing and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
  • Analyze and research information on donors, develop substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for resource mobilization and cost sharing;
  • Provide inputs on programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and support the development of relevant partnerships.

6.  Coordinate knowledge building efforts

  • Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the programme and contribute to their global dissemination.

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Programme team workplans and budgets are developed and implemented in line with Strategic Note and Country Office work plans
  • Programme team adhere to UN Women’s Rules, Regulations, policies and procedures, using a results based management approach
  • Programmes are implemented according to workplan and budget
  • Regular monitoring of programmes, issues/deviations are raised in a timely manner
  • Timely and quality reporting and regular dissemination and sharing of information, including best practices/ lessons learned

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

  • Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
  • Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them
  • Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
  • Strong analytical skills
  • Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
  • Good knowledge of UN programme management systems

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, Gender or related fields is required.
  • A first-level university 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.

Experience:

  • At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in programme management, including programme design, programme coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting;
  • Experience in working in gender equality and women’s empowerment is required;
  • Experience in setting priorities, budgets, work plans, participating in programme development and programme writing is required;
  • Familiarity with the United Nations system and its coordination mechanism is an advantage;
  • Experience in leading teams effectively is an asset.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in English is required
  • Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset
  • Working knowledge of Sinhala/Tamil is an asset

Application:

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.

Inclusion Statement:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, 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.)