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 Spotlight Initiative is a global initiative of the United Nations which has received generous support from the European Union. Its aim is to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls (hereinafter - EVAWG). The Initiative represents an unprecedented global effort to invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment as a precondition and driver for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan is fostering legal reforms, strengthening capacities of the respective institutions and women’s movements, promoting gender-equitable attitudes, and enhancing systems for collecting data on violence against women and girls. The Spotlight Regional Programme partners with a broad range of actors, including civil society, donors, practitioners, academia, and media, to facilitate the elimination of harmful practices and advocate further gender transformation in the region.

Find out more on www.spotlightinitiative.org

As the first generation of Spotlight programmes comes close to an end in 2023, opportunities arise to connect a broad base of stakeholders committed to EVAWG as part of the Generation Equality Forum and materialize commitments for the next generation of Spotlight programmes. The Generation Equality Forum’s Action Coalitions reflect the objective to achieve tangible results on gender equality during the UN Decade of Action (2020-2030) to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Action Coalition on gender-based violence (hereinafter - GBV) has drawn over 600 financial, policy, programmatic, and advocacy commitments. The government of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have made important commitments to the GBV Action Coalition.

At the country level, the Generation Equality Action Coalitions have already provided an important space to ensure the sustainability of the interventions from the Spotlight Initiative and create long-term government ownership.

Within the framework of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan, a Central Asian Alliance on ending sexual and gender-based violence (hereinafter - SGBV) and harmful practices (hereinafter the Alliance) is due to be established in 2023, with a view to gathering on one open platform both state and non-state parties from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to bring about transformative change in the lives of women and girls in the region. As a participatory endeavour where civil society organizations join forces with state institutions, it aims at addressing gaps in ending SGBV while, at the same time, devising regional cooperation. Overall, the Alliance is meant to foster the implementation of national and international commitments to respond to SGBV, with a particular focus on ongoing member states’ commitments within the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women  (hereinafter- CEDAW), Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and other human rights treaties and new ones under the Generation Equality Forums’ Action Coalition on GBV.

The objectives of the Alliance include: 1.  Advocate for gender equality and prevention of SGBV in the Central Asian region; 2. Mobilize the Civil Society Movement in the region to address SGBV; 3. Foster inclusive policy dialogue on SGBV; 4. Raise awareness of all concerned stakeholders on their roles in ending SGBV; 5. Strengthen capacities of government, legislative bodies, judiciary, and oversight to step up actions to prevent and address SGBV and HP in the region; 6. Enhance knowledge management, data, and experience sharing between countries and with other regions; 7. Connect regional initiatives to global agendas including the Generation Equality Forum and increase the visibility of achievements from each country in Central Asia.

Hybrid format meetings with the participation of all members possibly held twice a year at a pre-agreed venue and with the option to join online. The Alliance modus operandi is based on commitments made by States and by Civil Society on actions aimed at ending SGBV. An accountability mechanism embedded in the Alliance envisages state parties (including governments as well as members of the judiciary, the Ombudspersons and members of Parliaments) sharing their progress together with the civil society organizations from the region as well as with representatives of state institutions from the other Central Asia countries on a yearly basis.

The Alliance will convene two meetings; one at the beginning of the year, entailing the scope of engagement (commitments and initiatives to be recorded in an action plan), and one at the end of the year, in the format of a forum, where all members will take stock of annual activities and endeavour joint cooperation initiatives; discuss the state of affairs of SGBV in their respective contexts, outlining national efforts, lessons learned/challenges (both state authorities and CSOs); report on the implementation of Annual Regional Action Plan outcomes.

In order to ensure the smooth and coordinated functioning of the Alliance, the establishment of a Secretariat is deemed necessary.

The Alliance Secretariat will function as a coordination and liaison body with the members of the Alliance, relevant UN entities, development, and other partners. It will consist of three (3) permanent staff members (Coordinator, Communications Specialist, and Admin/Finance Associate), supported by auxiliary ad hoc staff (e.g. technical experts, interns, volunteers etc) and will be in charge of supporting and coordinating the implementation of the Alliance annual work plan, achieving tangible results and facilitating all the operations of the Alliance throughout the calendar year.

The Secretariat will carry out functions of coordinating body by supporting communication within the Alliance and its thematic groups by harmonizing relevant efforts, convening meetings, following up conclusions, suggestions, recommendations and supporting programmatically all arrangements for joint activities.

The Secretariat will also be in charge of producing reports on the work of the Alliance, including but not limited to: meetings’ deliberations and decisions, recommendations and proposals put forth during meetings, conclusions adopted. The Secretariat would circulate reports with the respective members and collect and incorporate their feedback.

It will also be tasked with the design and support of the implementation of a communication strategy and will operate digital platforms (website and social media) to ensure high visibility of the Alliance and its results achieved and virtual engagement of the wider audiences.

Finally, the Secretariat will be invested in fundraising functions.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Coordinator will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women Representative in Kazakhstan and in close coordination with the UN Women Programme Specialist and with key stakeholders of the Alliance.

The Coordinator will also ensure close collaboration and coordination with UN Women and other UN Gender Theme Group chairs in the region.  The Coordinator will lead the day to day work of the Secretariat, ensuring overall coordination of the Alliance and all its members, namely national state institutions and civil society in the five central Asian countries. The Coordinator will be responsible for the effective coordination of the implementation of planned initiatives, Secretariat’s human resources, and budget management.

 The Coordinator will serve as a focal point in the organization of the Alliance meetings (in person, online, and hybrid) and support the follow-up actions related to their implementation, including on policy aspects as well as communication and interactions with all stakeholders throughout the year.

In discharging these functions, the Coordinator will engage with partners at the national, sub-regional, regional, and global levels to ensure coordination and collaboration in delivery on results across all workstreams.

The Coordinator will work closely with UN Women Country Office Kazakhstan, other relevant UN Women offices and UN entities in the region, Ministries of Foreign Affairs of five central Asian countries, National Women Machineries, Members of Parliament, Ombudspersons, Law Enforcement, Civil Society Organisations, and all other relevant stakeholders part of the Alliance.

• Lead and support to the daily work of the Alliance through coordination with the representatives of Alliance members and international partners, reaching a consensus on the operationalization of the objectives;
• Organize yearly and ad-hoc meetings of the Alliance by engaging all key stakeholders and partners;
• Provide support to and promote the implementation of Alliance-related cross-border and regional initiatives on ending SGBV and harmful practices (e.g. study visits, bilateral/regional experience exchanges, etc.);
• Keep regular contacts with the Alliance members to decide on yearly priorities and develop, in close consultation with t UN Women, an Action Plan to be deliberated upon by the members.
• Monitor best practices at the national, regional, and international level levels, related to policy-making, legal review, capacity building, awareness raising and data gathering on SGBV and HPs, with a view to channeling them to the rotating chair and the Alliance members; Ensure access to the technical experts for inputs to policy documents on various approaches to SGBV to be used by the thematic working groups;
• Attend and keep a record of meetings drafting reports and circulating them with all members, supporting with follow up, including with UN entities, as necessary;
• Support high-level advocacy related to the Alliance in coordination with UN Women Country Office Kazakhstan; 
• Prepare analytical reports, talking points, briefing notes in relation of work of the Alliance;
• Provide inputs to the communication and visibility strategy of the Alliance, supporting its implementation (including by tracking media activity related to the Alliance and supervising the Communications specialist);
• Ensure that interventions are aligned with UN Women’s Global Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and the broader mission and work of UN Women;
• Support the alignment of the Alliance work with GEF Action Coalitions through regular exchange of information, meetings and reporting;
• Pro-actively reach out to potential new members in close coordinating with the Alliance members and UN Women;
• Represent the Alliance (in coordination with UN Women) at different fora, where relevant;
• Lead the development and implementation of a sustainable financing strategy, including through resource mobilization, for the Alliance and consult with all relevant stakeholders;
• Oversee procurement related to the Alliance operations;
• Oversee the work of an Administrative/Finance Associate and of a Communications Specialist, ensuring timely and high-quality outputs (e.g. organisation of events, meetings, written documents, etc)
• Ensure efficient budget maintenance of the Secretariat;
• Guide supervisees and ensure they effectively achieve their key performance indicators.

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

• Excellent knowledge of women’s leadership, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment context on the national, regional and global levels.
• Excellent knowledge of SGBV and HPs, their incidence and patterns in the region
• Excellent networking skills 
• Ability to interact with high level governmental officials, donors, the United Nations system, international organisations, civil society, diplomatic community, private sector
• Iidentify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising  
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice  
• Excellent representational and analytical skills 
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings

Required Skills and Experience

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.)