Background

UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of 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.

UN Women’s Policy, Programme, and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) provides intellectual and strategic leadership on normative support and the delivery of integrated policy and program advice, including through policy analysis and gender mainstreaming. The Division leverages innovation, knowledge management and cutting-edge technical expertise to support UN Women programs and to build the capacity of partners to deliver results on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action Section (PS&HA) is responsible for providing technical support to UN Women Country Offices in several key areas including conflict prevention and peacebuilding, justice, and security sector reform, promoting women's political participation and mainstreaming gender issues into governance reforms.

The Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations (EIF) (https://elsiefund.org/), is hosted by UN Women – PS&R, New York. The EIF aims to support and incentivize efforts to increase the meaningful participation of uniformed women in United Nations peace operations through the provision of financial assistance or financial incentives to Troop and Police Contributing Countries (T/PCCs), and financial support to projects submitted by United Nations organizations.

The EIF seeks to accelerate progress towards achieving the United Nations Security Council’s declared mandate to double the rate of women’s participation within police and military contingents by 2020 compared to 2015, as well as supporting targets to increase the proportion of women serving as military observers, staff officers and individual police officers as per the United Nations Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy 2018-2028.

The EIF Secretariat provides technical and administrative support to the Steering Committee and manages all aspects of the EIF’s funding allocations and programming rounds, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management, reporting and Stakeholder Engagement.

Reporting to the EIF Manager, and in close coordination with the EIF Programme Specialist – Projects, the incumbent will be responsible for supporting, coordinating, and providing analytical support to the overall management and operation of the EIF and programming cycle.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.     Provide technical and coordination support to the Elsie Initiative Fund (EIF)’s management and programming requirements:

  • Provide technical support to the EIF’s programme management activities including the analysis of budgets and work plans;
  • Provide coordination support on the EIF’s programming rounds to stakeholders including Troop and Police Contributing Countries (T/PCCs) and Participating United Nations Organizations (PUNOs);
  • Organize, facilitate and document the outcomes of stakeholder meetings;
  • Coordinate the conduct of Technical and Steering Committee consultations;
  • Provide inputs to reporting in accordance with the EIF Secretariat’s Annual Workplan;
  • Provide coordination support on project approvals, decisions, and meeting outcomes to EIF stakeholders;
  • Collaborate with EIF stakeholders and partners in the provision of information to support the EIF’s program cycle;
  • Provide coordination support on communications between the Secretariat, Technical and Steering Committees and implementing partners, to enable ongoing effective project implementation.

2.     Provide technical and coordination support to the review of T/PCC and PUNO project documentation and submissions

  • Provide technical support for the programmatic requirements of the EIF including review and analysis of Letters of Interest and Project proposals;
  • Coordinate the provision of technical advice on individual projects to T/PCCs and PUNOs;
  • Record, maintain and archive project documentation for all EIF implementing partner projects and activities;
  • Identify, monitor and track follow-up EIF reporting actions and requirements;
  • Coordinate administrative and liaison tasks for submissions to the Secretariat.

3.     Provide technical and research support on the EIF Programme Cycle

  • Provide technical assistance in the development of quarterly, annual, and other reporting requirements of the EIF, the Multi Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) office, UN Women, and Donors;
  • Conduct research on selected thematic areas to support the EIF programmatic activities and advocacy efforts, including collecting, analyzing, and presenting statistical data and other information gathered from the Department of Peace Operations (DPO) data portal and other gender, security sector and peacekeeping resources;
  • Provide technical support to the drafting of the EIF’s annual narrative, and final narrative reports including collation of reporting from implementing partners;
  • Provide coordination support and technical inputs to the preparation of EIF and PS&R written outputs;
  • Identify problems and issues to be addressed, recommend corrective actions, liaise with relevant stakeholders, and identify and track follow-up actions.

4.     Provide coordination and technical support to the EIF’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting requirements

  • Provide coordination support in the monitoring, reporting and evaluation functions and processes within the Secretariat;
  • Provide capacity building and technical support to Implementing Partners’ project reporting and M&E requirements;
  • Draft inputs to reports, and provide monitoring support to project development, implementation, and follow-up.

5.     Provide knowledge-building and information management support

  • Provide technical support to the development of data collection methodologies and tools, and data management and analysis;
  • Provide technical and coordination support to the exchange of information and provide inputs to the development of knowledge products internally and externally of the programme;
  • Provide technical support to the EIF’s knowledge management, record-keeping and dissemination processes;
  • Provide coordination support to EIF communications with all EIF Stakeholders including the United Nations Department of Peace Operations, Technical and Steering Committees, and implementing partners, to facilitate effective project implementation, monitoring and reporting.

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/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Technical / Functional Competencies:

  • Demonstrated ability to work in a diverse environment;
  • Knowledge of gender issues within the Security Sector;
  • Good research and analytical skills;
  • Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings and recommendations;
  • Good programme implementation, monitoring, and evaluation skills;
  • Knowledge of United Nations programme management systems;
  • Team player;
  • Excellent analytic and computer skills, including MS Office Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in Gender, Peace & Security Studies, Public Administration, law, human rights, management, social sciences, or other related areas 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 (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

  • At least 2 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in supporting the management of complex and multi-component programme interventions with national partners, preferably related to international development and with security sector knowledge.
  • Experience in coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating development programmes and projects is an asset.
  • Experience in the United Nations system, civil society, or related area, in gender, peace, security or humanitarian issues is an asset.
  • Experience working in an international peace operation, in either a military, police or civil capacity, is desirable.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in speaking, writing, and reading English is required.
  • Fluency in speaking, writing, and reading Spanish or French is highly desirable.
  • Working knowledge of another official United Nations language is an asset.

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.