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 Nigeria, UN Women works to support the Government’s national development agenda, which prioritizes the empowerment of women and girls and their contribution to all areas of economic, political, and social development. The objective of building and sustaining peace and security across the country is critical for Nigeria, which faces several security challenges including the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast, the Farmers/Herders conflict in the Middle Belt, and conflicts over natural resources in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. Ongoing efforts to address these conflicts often overlook women’s role and contributions. Women are often seen only as victims of conflicts that need to be protected rather than agents of change for peace. This leaves untapped, the potential and capacities of women whose contributions can be harnessed to promote transformative change and sustainable peace. 

Through the previous phase of the Programme on Women Peace and Security (WPS) in Nigeria, UN Women enhanced the effective participation of women in conflict prevention and peacebuilding and improved the public perception on the role of women in peace and security at the national level and in the target states of Bauchi and Benue. The Programme registered significant achievements against its set results framework, including developing State Actions Plans and Women Mediators Networks in the target States, the development of a Legislative Guide on Women, Peace, and Security and capacity enhancement of legislators in the State Houses of Assembly, among others. The Programme has also created the conditions for related WPS programming on the security sector, Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP) implementation, and women's mediation capacities and utilization.

The second phase of the Programme (2022 – 2024) is designed to expand the scope of intervention and consolidate the gains under phase I and other related WPS Programmes implemented over the years by UN Women in Nigeria. Specifically, the Programme focus on the following broad areas:

• Support to the development of Nigeria's 3rd National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security, including mechanisms to enhance coordination in implementation, monitoring and reporting;
• Enhance legislative engagement and actions on Women, Peace, and Security;
• Support to women mediation capacities, networks, and actions for conflict prevention and peacebuilding;
• Enable secured environment for women’s leadership and participation in politics

UN Women seeks to recruit a National Programme Officer to support the field implementation of the next phase of the WPS Programme in Nigeria in the target areas (Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, Kaduna and Plateau states). Under the strategic guidance of the Country Representative, overall supervision of the Deputy Representative and day to reporting, to the WPS Team Lead  and humanitarian Team Lead in Abuja and the Maiduguri sub-office, respectively, the Programme Officer exercises overall responsibilities for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under the WPS thematic area in target areas.  She/he works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society to ensure the sound coordination of activities’ implementation at the field level, facilitate the smooth and effective implementation of the Programme in the target states, and provide continuous supervisory and coaching support to implementing partners and WPS structures established in the target states.  

The National Programme Officer (Field Implementation) will also support other team members, especially the Maiduguri field office in the implementation of other WPS and Humanitarian projects in north-east Nigeria, particularly in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. In consultations with WPS and humanitarian action team leads,  She/he will contribute in the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the projects, at all levels.

In collaboration of the overall WPS National Programme Officer/Team Lead, the field-level National Programme Officer will perform the following specific tasks:

Implementation Support:

• Ensure timely and effective field implementation of the WPS Programme;
• Ensure that all partners work together to deliver concrete results in compliance with the work plan and the Results Framework;
• Facilitate the delivery of the project by leading and promoting a coordinated approach to delivery across different outcomes/outputs;
• Support all partners in the implementation of the project through direct assistance and technical/operational advice;
• Assist in the systematic monitoring and reporting on project implementation and results;
• Participate in the project mid-term review and evaluation in collaboration with relevant stakeholders;
• Assist in managing financial resources for achieving results in line with the outputs and activities outlined in the project document and the Annual Work Plan (AWP);
• Support the delivery of results and ensure efficient and effective use of resources;
• Prepare annual and quarterly progress reports and organize technical meetings for the project;
• Actively participate at the regular Technical Working Group (TWG) meetings and assist in organizing meetings of the TWG of the project;
• Support the preparation of inputs for different fora, as required;
• Identify and support partners engaged in governance and democratization with a view to increase the participation and leadership of women;
• Assist in the provision of support to the beneficiaries of the Programme and help them build their capacities;
• Share lessons learned from different Country Offices (COs) of UN Women on WPS, UNSCR and women’s involvement in peace and mediation processes;
• Identify and support entities that promote women’s participation in peace building, conflict resolution and mediation processes;
• Provide support to gender equality advocates that make calls for different actors to advance the WPS agenda;
• Encourage young men and women to engage in advocacy around making gender equality measures central to public policy making;
• Support advocacy efforts and undertake initiatives for legislative reforms to ensure women’s fair access to decision-making in the context of WPS;
• Collaborate and liaise with other UN Country teams and CSOs in undertaking tasks related to WPS;
• Support the project team in facilitating knowledge building and information sharing under the different outcome areas of the project.

Reporting:

• Maintain the quality of reports, particularly ensuring that progress reports are based on RBM principle;
• Promote the substantive quality of all knowledge products, reports and services, and ensure effective integration and compatibility with other result areas;
• Contribute to the production of reports and publications, and serve as peer reviewer;
• Forge links with other initiatives to identify good practices and share lessons;
• Provide technical support and guidance to implementing partners on timely and quality narrative and financial reporting.

Monitoring and follow-up in collaboration with the WPS team and the M&E Specialist:

• Prepare results frameworks for each output and establish performance and impact assessment indicators and systems;
• Draft the project monitoring plan with detailed activities and ensure implementation in conformity with the plan;
• Ensure the implementation of the monitoring and evaluation plan is carried out in a participatory manner;
• Support partners in preparing contributions to, and compiling narrative and financial reports for UN Women and submit to the TWG for inputs, before submission;
• Play the lead role in the preparation of project reviews and monitoring visits;
• Ensure that the activities are implemented in conformity with UN Women and donor requirements, and that support and advice from partners are fully utilized;
• Support the Communications Officer in identifying good practices and lessons learned and documenting this knowledge;
• Promote the substantive quality of all knowledge products, reports and services, and ensures effective integration and compatibility with other results areas;
• Contribute to the production of reports and publications, and serve as peer reviewer;
• Forge links with other initiatives to identify good practices and share lessons;
• Follow up and provide technical support to ensure quality service provision to identified target groups;
• Support the WPS team and partners in ensuring the delivery of the expected results of the project and ensure cascading of the standard accountability tools developed over the years by different Implementing partners.

Provide support to the implementation of other WPS projects in the Northeast in collaboration with WPS team and UN Women sub-office in Maiduguri, the National Programme Officer will provide substantive support in the implementation of the security sector project (Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states), especially on:

• Routine field implementation of the Security Sector project
• Capacity building and technical support to implementing partners and established structures
• Field monitoring
• Reporting
• Collection of lessons learned and documentation
• Field-level coordination of interventions and partnerships
• Any other duties that may be assigned to the Security Sector project

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality programme design and inputs to Strategic Note;
• Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget and work plans, and in line with all UN Women operational rules and regulations, including security;
• Timely and quality monitoring and evaluation of programmes; 
• Relations with partners and stakeholders;
• Quality reports and timely submission;
• Regular communication with other agencies and partners.

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 knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Strong knowledge of WPS; 
• Strong analytical skills;
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies.

Education and certification

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required;
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.

Experience

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of development projects; 
• Technical experience in WPS
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset;
• Experience in leading/managing a team is an asset.
• Awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues
• Strong IT Skills. Experience in the use of computers applications and software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.)

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset;
• Knowledge of a Nigeria Language (Hausa) is an asset.