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. In Nigeria, UN Women’s work is guided by its three-pronged mandate: 1) Normative support to the Nigerian government, including Federal and State Ministries of Women Affairs, in championing initiatives and implementing policies, systems and practices that advance women’s rights; 2) Programmatic interventions across four priority areas: Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action (WPSHA), Economic Empowerment and Resilience, Leadership and Political Participation, and Ending Violence Against Women; 3) Coordination of gender-focused networks and platforms within the UN system and development community to promote and advance gender equality in line with the development and humanitarian objectives. Over the years, Nigeria has been contending with incessant violent conflicts across the six geopolitical zones. These include attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East, farmer-herder conflict, resource-based conflict in the Niger Delta region, as well as a general increase in incidences of armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom. The humanitarian crisis in North-East Nigeria remains one of the world's largest and most complex humanitarian crises. Though women constitute about 50% of the country's population and contribute in many informal ways to conflict resolution, they continue to be poorly represented in formal peace and security processes. The security sector institutions are major actors engaged by the government to prevent and respond to the security issues in Nigeria. These institutions include the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). However, there is a huge gender gaps in the policies and operational procedures of the institutions, at all levels. The advancement of gender balance in security sector institutions has been increasingly identified as a key strategy for enhancing gender-responsive security sector response, which is supported by global normative frameworks, including the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) and UNSCR 1820 (2008), among others. Ensuring women’s meaningful representation in the security sector is critical to building an inclusive, responsive, and accountable security sector that reflects the diversity of the community it serves and better responds to their needs.

In view of the above, UN Women facilitated several strategic initiatives to enhance gender-responsive security sector operations in Nigeria. One of these is the Enhancing Gender-Responsive Security Operations and Community Dialogue Project (2020-2021), supported by the Government of Germany. The project successfully enhanced the integration of gender-sensitive and human-centric security responses into the security sector at the federal level and target areas in Borno and Yobe states. The development and adoption of gender policies by the AFN, NSCDC and review of gender policy of the NPF. Moreover, the development of a standard training manual on gender for security institutions, and the adoption of a training manual and SOP on SGBV by the police, supported by the project creates opportunities for further engagements and consolidation of achievements for sustainable impact. These initiatives will therefore be further supported under Phase II of the project.

The project “Enhancing Gender-Responsive Security Operations and Community Dialogue in Nigeria - Phase II (2023 – 2024)  is designed to consolidate on the successes recorded by achieving the following outcome results: (i) Security sector legislation, policies, and institutions are reformed to promote gender equality, and women’s participation and rights.; (ii) Women in their diversity, especially those in conflict-affected grassroots communities are empowered to voice and assert their rights to protection and have enhanced collaboration with security institutions to address community security needs in an inclusive and gender-responsive manner, and (iii) Coordination mechanisms among key security sector institutions in Nigeria is improved to address the security needs of individuals and communities in a gender-responsive and inclusive manner. The Governments of the target states (Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa) will also be supported to review the State Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security in their respective states, in line with emerging issues, including strengthening mechanisms to enhance the implementation of the policy documents. The entry points will include continuous engagements with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs at the national level and other MDAs, Legislators at the National Assembly, and Security Institutions (including AFN, NPF, and NSCDC). At the state level, the State Ministry of Women Affairs and other key MDAs, Traditional and Religious Leaders, CSOs, Community Security Platforms (CSPs), Mixed Observers Teams (MOTs), and Women-Led Organizations (WLOs), among others, will serve as the entry points.

Reporting to the Programme Specialist/Coordinator, the Programme Analyst contributes to the effective management of UN Women programmes on “Enhancing Gender-Responsive Security Operations and Community Dialogue in Nigeria - Phase II and broadly the Women, Peace and Security thematic area by providing substantive inputs to programme design, formulation, implementation, and evaluation.  The Programme Analyst guides and facilitates the delivery of UN Women programmes by monitoring results achieved during implementation and ensuring the appropriate application of systems and procedures and develops enhancements if necessary. The Programme Analyst works in close collaboration with the M&E Specialist,  programme and operations team, UN Women HQ personnel, Government officials, multi and bilateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.     

Duties and Responsibilities

Contribute technically to the development of programme strategies in the area of Women, Peace and Security

  • Provide substantive inputs to the design and formulation of programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
  • Identify areas for support and intervention related to the programme.

Provide substantive technical support to the implementation and management of the Women, Peace and Security programme

  • Provide technical inputs to the annual workplan and budget;
  • Lead the implementation of programme activities;
  • Lead the coordination of the call/request for proposals, including the organization of technical review committees, and capacity assessment of partners;
  • Review, coordinate and monitor the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
  • Train partners on Results Based Management and monitor implementation.

Provide technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners

  • Coordinate and provide technical support in the implementation of programme activities; Develop technical knowledge products
  • Maintain relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the Women, Peace and Security programme;
  • Identify opportunities for capacity building of partners and facilitate technical/ programming support and trainings to partners, as needed.

Provide technical inputs to the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project

  • Monitor progress of implementation of activities and finances using results-based management tools;
  • Draft reports on monitoring missions, programme results s, outputs, and outcomes;
  • Provide substantive inputs to the preparation of donor and UN Women reports.

Provide substantive technical inputs to the management of people and finances of the Women, Peace and Security programme

  • Monitor budget implementation and make budget re-alignments/ revisions, as necessary;
  • Provide substantive inputs to financial reports;

Provide substantive inputs to building partnerships and resource mobilization strategies

  • Provide substantive inputs to resource mobilization strategies; analyze and maintain information and databases;
  • Prepare relevant documentation such as project summaries, conference papers, briefing notes, speeches, and donor profiles;
  • Participate in donor meetings and public information events, as delegated.

Provide technical support to inter-agency coordination on Women, Peace and Security to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners in the country

  • Provide substantive technical support to the Representative and Deputy Representative on inter-agency coordination related activities by drafting background reports and briefs.

Provide substantive inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

  • Develop background documents, briefs and presentations related to Women, Peace and Security;
  • Coordinate and organize advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products;
  • Coordinate the development of knowledge management methodologies, and products on Women, Peace and Security.

Key Performance Indicators

  • Timely and quality inputs to programme development
  • Timely and quality implementation of Programme/Portfolio/ activities against set workplans, timelines, and budgets, in line with the Strategic Note
  • Timely and quality technical assistance
  • Quality and timely  inputs to reporting
  • Strong relations with partners and stakeholders
  • Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated

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 programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
  • Good knowledge of Results Based Management
  • Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations
  • Good analytical skills
  • Good knowledge of Project Management (RBM), M&E and Reporting
  • Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising

Required Skills and Experience

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 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 would be an added advantage

Experience:

  • At least 2 years of progressively responsible work experience in development; programme/project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting, and capacity building;
  • Experience in  Women, Peace and Security is an asset;
  • Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset.

Language Requirements:

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

Notes:

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.)