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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that the commitments to gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action in humanitarian response plans. The UN Women Sudan Country Office is contributing to the United Nations processes to support the efforts of UN Agencies on the humanitarian response to the protracted crisis and its impact on the host communities in Sudan. The Sudan CO provides technical gender expertise and policy advice to cluster working groups and their members on gender in humanitarian action.

Since Saturday 15 April, intense fighting has been taking place in Sudan between the Sudan Army Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). After a bitter disagreement between the two most powerful generals on the integration of the RSF into the regular army of the respective armed forces, heavy fighting and street battles have broken out, especially in Sudan's capital Khartoum, Marawi in the Northern State, North, South and East Central Darfur, Blue Nile  Region and Blue Kordofan, and  Eastern Sudan, and the Blue Nile. While some states remain relatively calm such as Red Sea State, armed Conflict continues in Khartoum, Marawi, Darfur Region and is expected to continue.  To date, the conflict has created massive displacement at a larger scale than the previous 2003 Darfur crisis with over 6.1 million people forced to leave their homes in search of safety elsewhere. Of this, 1.3 million crossed the border to neighbouring countries, while 4.85 million were internally displaced (54 per cent women) – the majority of whom were originally from Khartoum areas, and over half were children (under 18 years of age. In addition to the 3.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs ) resulting from past internal conflict, Sudan currently faces the largest internal displacement crisis in the world, and also the most significant child displacement crisis, with 3 million children displaced inside and outside the country.  These distressing trends highlight the breakdown of the rule of law and institutions to protect the civilian population, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country. The protection of civilians remains a significant concern, with reports of escalating use of sexual and gender-based violence, targeted attacks on - or harm against – civilians, based on ethnicity, grave violations of children's rights, family separations, theft, abduction of girls, and extortion in all regions affected by the hostilities as fighting rages on.   

Access to vulnerable people is difficult and many humanitarian activities have been suspended due to insecurity. This results in a vicious circle: violence drives up the need for humanitarian services, while at the same time, insecurity reduces the number of organizations that can continue their work and affected people face many more obstacles in accessing services. Even before the fighting broke out, humanitarian needs in Sudan were at an all-time high, with a third of the population - approximately 16 million people - in need of humanitarian assistance majority women and girls. At present, there are already more than 3.7 million internally displaced persons in the country, some of them multiple times. It is expected that these numbers will rise as fighting spreads and intensifies. 

The conflict, combined with the effects of drought, floods and disease, threaten to push Sudan from a humanitarian emergency to a humanitarian crisis of major magnitude. The renewed fighting has aggravated an already fragile situation and negatively affecting delivery of humanitarian aid. The impact of the ongoing fighting on the lives of women and girls is particularly damaging, as they are disproportionately affected by violence, especially when they are forced to flee their homes and communities.

Reports of conflict-related sexual violence are widespread, more so in specific regions such as South and Central Darfur, White Nile, and Khartoum. Women have been attacked while fleeing and while sourcing food and water. Women and girls, particularly in Khartoum and East Darfur, fear being raped or kidnapped while traveling to the market or any location outside of their homes. The breakdown of families due to separation, and lack of kinship support, forced women to spend long hours outside their homes, increasing their vulnerability to opportunistic attacks and assaults. Men, on the other hand, face a greater risk of intentional killings, injury or detention.  The Darfur conflict between 2003 and 2008 displaced around 2.7 million civilians.

 Based on IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix, the internal displacement was massive in the immediate aftermath of the conflict in April, with almost 40,000 people estimated to be on the move daily during the first few weeks. The trend has recently seen a decrease in September and October, with around 18,000 people displaced a day.

  UN Women, Initial Rapid Gender Assessment - Geographical coverage: White Nile, Blue Nile, Darfur, Red Sea, Khartoum States, September 2023.

The overall object of this assignment will be to support the inter-cluster coordination group and other humanitarian coordination mechanisms in Sudan as part of the country's humanitarian response effort through the provision of timely and accessible gender data. This includes supporting UN Women to integrate gender priorities across the work of the Assessment and Analysis Cell, managing gender data, conducting gender analysis on relevant datasets to inform sector response, implementing assessments that fill clear information gender gaps, as well as providing technical oversight on monitoring and evaluation to ensure accountability to affected populations. The Specialist will also contribute to UN Women’s Rapid Gender Analysis.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of deployment and expected output

Expected outputs include:

  • Availability of gender data to inform response planning efforts.
  • Coordinated assessment efforts including sex and age disaggregation.
  • Analysis of assessments and data collection methods are gender sensitive.
  • Gender data integrated into monitoring platforms. 

Main duties and responsibilities

The Specialist will work closely with the relevant staff of the UN including Programme Staff, Operational Staff, the Monitoring and Evaluation Staff, consultants, and surge staff.

Integrate gender focus in upcoming data collection and analysis (both humanitarian and recovery as needed)

  • Provide inputs to assessment and analysis planning to ensure that data collection efforts are gender responsive and will capture the gendered impacts of the war.
  • Produce gender data to influence response plans.
  • Participate and contribute inputs to the humanitarian data and information management bodies (such as the Information Management Working Group and the Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA) Working Group).

Improve accessibility of gender data for sector leads

  • Develop data collection and analysis systems in coordination with the Assessment and Analysis Cell and develop strategies that optimize statistical efficiency and quality of humanitarian-affected areas.
  • Conduct data collection and analysis, and support UN Women in producing rapid gender alert infographics and dashboards as needed.
  • Provide technical support to inter-agency coordination groups to ensure gender mainstreaming on assessments and data presentation and utilization.
  • Provide analysis and advice to the UN Women Country Representative to adequately brief the UNCT and other coordination mechanisms on the gender dynamics and opportunities to support inclusive engagement of women and marginalized groups in the development assistance provided by the UNCT.
  • Participate in and provide support to joint inter-agency UN planning processes and similar exercises
  • Identify and disseminate lessons learned and good practices in collaboration with the Country and Regional offices and the humanitarian team of UN Women.

Provide gender data collection, management, and analysis capacity-building support to inter-agency coordination groups, country office teams, and partners

  • Provide technical and policy support to the country office teams in developing and strengthening gender analysis efforts and project M&E on humanitarian action
  • Provide technical support to partners on humanitarian analysis and M&E.
  • Produce   information products such as reports, charts, and infographics by turning data into graphical products to convey messages and  storylines on women and girls;
  • Develop advocacy materials including posters, presentations, and other visual materials that amplify the issues of women and girls.
  • Support UN Women in offering gender technical assistance to OCHA’s information management unit.

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 information management, analytical and research skills.
  • Strong understanding of and commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment and its policy implications.
  • Excellent writing skills.
  • Excellent organizational skills.
  • Excellent knowledge and experience of gender-related humanitarian issues in the country.
  • Strong knowledge and use of computer office tools and statistical software.
  • Demonstrated ability to work in a team and in a cooperative and productive fashion both with internal and external colleagues.
  • Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, and ability to work in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environments.
  • Ability to work under pressure on multiple projects whilst maintaining high-quality and timeliness.
  • Self-management.
  • Continuous awareness of political and gender sensitivity

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in information management, international relations, international development, women studies or other social science 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 would be an added advantage

Experience: 

  • At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in managing gender data, gender analysis, and reporting processes, with a particular focus on gender and protection in emergencies;
  • Technical experience in inter-agency coordination, preferably information management cluster coordination
  • Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning;
  • Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors, and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
  • Experience working with the UN is an asset; and
  • Experience working in the region is an asset

Language Requirements:

  •   Fluent oral and written English is mandatory
  •   Knowledge of the Arabic  language is an asset

Technical Requirements

  • Command of relevant information management and analysis tools such as R, SPSSS, STATA, ArcGIS and SQL, GIS,

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 from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment .

UNWOMEN is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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, colour, 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.)