UN WOMEN Jobs - 114871- UN Women: Policy Specialist, Protection and Trans

UN Women: Policy Specialist, Protection and Transitional Justice

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

15-Dec-23 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Three months

UNDP 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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The duration of the assignment is for three months. Whereas an external candidate will be offered a temporary appointment; subject to release agreements, staff members in UN Women may be administered as a temporary assignment and staff members in the UN Common system may be administered under a loan arrangement.

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 throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. In the area of protection, UN Women contributes to building peaceful and inclusive societies by supporting protective environments and mechanisms and support civil society to advocate for access to justice and reparations for survivors.

UN Women provides technical expertise to support gender mainstreaming across protection processes; and enables knowledge generation through documenting good practices, research and policy development. UN Women is often uniquely positioned to provide a space to facilitate women’s civil society access to decision-makers.

The Peace, Security and Resilience Section leads UN Women’s work to fulfill its mandate in the area of peace, security and disaster risk reduction, as well as UN system efforts towards improved implementation, and monitoring and reporting of global commitments on women and peace and security, including as set out in the Beijing Platform for Action and in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019) and 2493 (2019); relevant Statements by the President of the Security Council, and related accountability frameworks established by the UN system. UN Women is a founding member of the UN Action network Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, and a member of the UN Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law.

Under the supervision of the Policy Specialist, Rule of Law and Transitional Justice, the Policy Specialist, Protection will reinforce the development of work within the area of gender-sensitive protection, including policy development and coordination, capacity building interventions and strategic partnerships, learning and knowledge production and management, and technical assistance to UN Women Country offices and Partners. The Policy Specialist will act as an important channel between country and regional offices, and global policy-related work in the areas of protection and gender-based violence in emergencies, including in relation to access to justice for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, and protection challenges faced by women human rights defenders. The Policy Specialist will also contribute to the broader work of the Peace, Security and Resilience Section.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Contribute to UN Women’s policy development, implementation and quality assurance on initiatives related to conflict-related sexual violence, protection of civilians and women human rights defenders, to rule of law and transitional justice

Provide research and analytical support on protection-related issues to the Section.
Liaise with the EVAW and Humanitarian sections to support the development and roll-out of a corporate strategy to address gender-based violence along the humanitarian-peace-development nexus;
Organize expert preparatory meetings, panels and other interactive events on conflict-related sexual violence, protection of civilians, sexual exploitation and abuse, women human rights defenders, rule of law, and other related topics; and
Provide technical assistance and ensure an effective information flow between field-(including UN missions) and HQ on lessons learned, promising approaches, and good practice on protection-related areas, including through organizing webinars with UN Women’s community of practice on women, peace and security; and
Support the organization of online and hybrid high-level events jointly with relevant stakeholders to raise awareness about protection issues in conflict and crisis settings and advocate for survivor-centered approaches.

2. Provide technical guidance and support to inter-agency and international coordination mechanisms:

Provide technical guidance regarding UN Women’s engagement in other inter-agency and international coordination mechanisms relevant to protection, such as UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law, CASA and PoC Working Group;
Represent UN Women in relevant interagency coordination processes addressing to protection challenges, including GBV and challenges faced by women human rights defenders;
In collaboration with UN Women’s Civil Society Division and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, lead the work of the Section on endorsement and implementation of UN system-wide commitments relating to women human rights defenders;
Identify cross-regional needs and strategic entry points for coordinated and coherent efforts to enhance the UN’s response to conflict-related sexual violence and other protection issues, under the auspices of UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict;
Provide input into the drafting of the Secretary-General’s report on sexual violence in conflict, and other related reports as requested by the supervisor.

3. Provide technical assistance and programme support in the area of Transitional Justice:

Provide technical assistance to UN Women Country Offices and their partners to implement activities related to protection and rule of law, including through regular technical support missions; and
Provide programme support to UN Women’s global programmes on rule of law and transitional justice, including the Gender Justice Platform and the SGBV Justice Expert Deployment Programme.

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 related issues including in the area of protection, human rights and rule of law;
Ability to undertake policy research and prepare quantitative studies, utilizing statistical methodologies, knowledge of database applications for statistical analysis;
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
Ability to handle a large volume of work under time constraints;
Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective;
Ability to draft policy papers, speeches, briefings, etc.;
Ability to develop and maintain roster of experts, and a databank of research institutes, academics, civil society experts, etc. of direct relevance to protection and GBV prevention.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

Master's degree (or equivalent) in development related disciplines, gender issues, economics, political science, human rights, law or other social science fields, of direct relevance to rule of law, protection, security sector reform;
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:

A minimum of 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in gender, protection and rule of law, policy research and gender analysis.
Strong knowledge of women, peace and security and particularly as it relates to protection and rule of law is required;
Knowledge of United Nations and intergovernmental organizations mechanisms on protection and the rule of law, including, but not limited to CEDAW Committee, human rights mechanisms and special procedures, the Global Focal Point on Rule of Law, and transitional justice processes and frameworks is required;
Experience conceptualizing and executing research projects in the area of women, peace and security and protection, in particular is required;
Familiarity with the UN system’s rules and procedures is desirable;
Experience and knowledge of UN system is desirable.

Languages:

Written (excellent drafting skills) and oral proficiency in English;
Proficiency in another UN language is highly desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

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.)