Background

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.

Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action globally. UN Women uses its convening power to bring together different stakeholders and partners to address a wide range of dimensions of women’s empowerment in a holistic, coherent, and coordinated manner drawing on its own triple mandate which include normative, coordination and operation.

UN Women’s regional representation for East and Southern Africa (ESA) is comprised of 12 Country Offices (COs), one programme presence (Somalia), and support to 11 UN Country Teams (UNCTs) where UN Women is a non-resident agency (NRA). All are coordinated and supported by the Regional Office (RO) in Kenya. ESA is a complex and diverse region comprised of sub-regions ranging from countries with weak governance prone to crises that cross borders, while other sub-regions represent middle-income countries that are relatively stable for the moment. The region includes the poorest countries on the continent (Burundi and Somalia), but also five of the wealthiest (Seychelles, Mauritius, Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini).  ESA region is home to over 700 million people, population growth continues at a high rate and nearly half of the population across the region is under the age of 18 years. The region hosts 67 percent of the continent’s refugees and has approximately 10 million IDPs reflecting a significant number of people on the move

Under the supervision of the Regional Director, the Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Specialist will provide technical support to the development and management of UN Women’s strategic partnerships and relationships, and resource mobilization strategy, as well as enhance resource mobilization capacity in the Regional Office (RO) and the region’s Country Offices (CO) and Multi-Country Office (MCO). 

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions:

Develop and manage UN Women’s strategic partnerships in the East and Southern Africa region:

• Manage and coordinate relationships with key partners; provide technical inputs to senior management’s efforts at the country level to develop new and innovative partnerships;
• Set and monitor annual priorities, goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for regional partnerships;
• Provide strategic advice to the Regional Office and Country Offices on building and maintaining partnerships and positioning with potential donors, including country Civil Society Advisory Groups (CSAG); coordinate of the work of the regional CSAG;
• Advise RO and Country Offices on the design and implementation of effective advocacy strategies and methods for proactive and strategic targeting of partners and donors.

Manage, and facilitate the implementation of, regional resource mobilization strategies and initiatives:

• Manage the development and implementation of differentiated, donor fund-raising strategies, aligned and coordinated with country-level activities initiatives and outreach activities;
• Develop targeted products and initiatives to mobilize programmatic resources and attract additional donors’ funding;
• Gather information on project/programmes pipelines and corresponding resource needs through close collaboration with country-based counterparts;
• Provide technical support to the development of project proposals in line with the UN Women’s strategy and the interest of donors;
• Undertake ad-hoc donor studies, research, and other activities to identify funding opportunities; update the resources mobilization strategy as needs emerge.

Build trust and maintain effective relationships with donors:

• Provide technical support to the Regional Director and other senior managers in the preparation of missions, meetings and other consultations with donors, including the preparation of notes, briefs and other materials;
• Act as a direct entry point for donors, building institutional relationships;
• Provide regular updates on donor profiles, databases (e.g. contacts management) and donor intelligence;
• Identify opportunities to secure additional non-core resources;
• Provide technical support the drafting and review of partner-specific Framework Arrangements and Cost Sharing Agreements; and the preparation of brief funding proposals and concept notes, where appropriate.

Coordinate the submission of high quality and timely reports to Donors:

• Maintain systems to promote compliance with the terms of grants and agreements, across the region;
• Provide technical support to programme managers for the preparation of high quality and timely donor reports;
• Coordinate with the Monitoring and Reporting Specialist for the collection of information and preparation of results-based reports for external constituencies.

Provide advice and support to strengthen internal resource mobilization capacity:

• Advise and support UN Women Regional Office and field offices on resource mobilization procedures and guidelines as well as funding modalities;
• Facilitate partnership and resource mobilization training to program staff and managers based in Country Offices including the development of tools and products, as needed;
• Advise on the creation of UN Women regional communication products, packages and positions.

Participate in knowledge building and sharing and advocacy efforts:

• Contribute to the development of knowledge products and mechanisms to effectively position UN Women in the region wherever possible;
• Share knowledge and enhance organizational learning among UN Women regional and field offices through the development and use of on-line tools, templates, tips, mechanisms and guidelines;
• Monitor emerging issues that could affect partnerships and resource contributions at the national or regional levels (risk management.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely attention and response to UN Women’s partners and donors;
• Quality inputs to resource mobilization strategy and timely support to Country Offices and the Regional Office;
• Timely targeting of funding opportunities and timely tracking of donor intelligence;
• Quality communication and advocacy products which result in increased resources and a strong investment case for UN Women;
• Quality monitoring and reporting mechanism to ensure quality of data and limit redundancy in efforts.

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.

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

Functional Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues;
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with government representatives of Member States (donor and programme);
• Proven networking skills, and ability to mobilize support on behalf of UN Women;
• Demonstrated ability to research and in-depth analysis, producing clear reports with strategic recommendations;
• Strong negotiating skills;
• Knowledge and understanding of UN system and familiarity with inter-governmental processes;
• Strong IT skills, including databases, extranet and office software packages;
• Strong analytical and interpersonal skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, business management, social sciences, public administration, international relations, communications, women's studies, or a related field 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.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in resource mobilization, communications/ advocacy, and/or business development;
• Experience in gender equality and women's empowerment;
• Experience working with civil society organizations, international institutions and donors especially for fragile states is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN system is an asset;
• Knowledge of the East and Southern Africa typology and funding landscape is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Please note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

UN Women Personal History form (P-11) can be downloaded fromhttps://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc

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.

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.