UN Women: Programme Monitoring and Reporting Specialist


Location : Bangkok, THAILAND
Application Deadline :28-Mar-13 (Midnight New York, USA)
Type of Contract :TA International
Post Level :P-3
Languages Required :
Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)		08-May-2013
Expected Duration of Assignment :5 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
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.
 
The Fund for Gender Equality provides direct multi-year grants of up to USD $3 million to women’s organizations and governmental agencies to advance women’s political and economic empowerment. Applications are reviewed by independent experts in the field. Grants are ratified by a Steering Committee composed of government, civil society and UN representatives.
 
Founded in 2009 with a contribution of US$65 Million from Spain, followed by contributions from Norway, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland the Fund’s total income is $75.6 million dollars.
 
In its initial grantmaking cycle (Cycle 1) the Fund invested USD $43 million in support of 55 grantee partners in 40 countries.  Out of the USD 43 million granted, USD 26 million funded political empowerment programmes. From Mexico to Nigeria over 1,700 women are been introduced into electoral politics. From Bosnia-Hezegovina to the Pacific Islands, grantees are working with over 13.6 million women to strengthen their leadership skills and have catalized 24 legislative and policy changes that benefit women and girls in 12 countries. 
 
USD 17 million funded economic empowerment programmes to increase women’s access to and control over resources and assets – including land, water, technology, and viable employment. From Rwanda to Morocco, thousands of rural and indigenous women are implementing engendered sustainable development initiatives. From Egypt to Zimbabwe, grantees are helping over 4 million women getting financial skills, securing decent jobs, and gaining social protections for themselves and their families.
 
In 2011, in response to the on-going transformations in the Arab States, the Fund launched the first phase of its second grantmaking cycle (Cycle 2) for Arab States only, and awarded USD 4.85 million in grants for strategies ranging from advancing women’s political participation in Egypt, Libya and Yemen to fostering sustainable development in Algeria and the Occupied Palestinian territories.
 
The second phase of the call was launched in March 2012 for Africa, Central and South America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Additional US $12.5 million were awarded to 39 programmes from these four regions. New grantees were announced in 30 November 2012. Implementation has started in 2013.

The Fund for Gender Equality is managed by UN Women and is guided by a Steering Committee composed of donors, UN and other multilateral agencies and civil society organizations' representatives. A Technical Committee, composed of experts in women's economic and political empowerment from every region of the world, reviews proposals and makes recommendations for funding to the Steering Committee.

The knowledge management, communication, monitoring and evaluation aspects of the Fund are central to its operations.

The Programme Monitoring and Reporting Specialist will be part of a cohort of four specialists based in four developing regions. S/he will support the UN Women Asia-Pacific Region to facilitate better monitoring and reporting by grant recipients.

The Programme Monitoring and Reporting Specialist will be responsible for the management of a grants portfolio of approximately 15 grants that are being implemented from the Asia Pacific Region. The 15 programmes are implemented by civil society organizations in countries from Afghanistan to the Philippines. Programmes are at different stages of implementation, with some in the starting/design stage and others nearing finalization and the evaluation and closing stage.

The Programme Monitoring and Reporting Specialist will be under the supervision and guidance of the Deputy Manager of the Fund for Gender Equality and the UN Women Regional Director of the Asia-Pacific Regional Office.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:
  • Monitoring & Evaluation Services
  • Capacity development
  • Reporting and Knowledge Management Services
Monitoring & Evaluation Services
  • Provide ongoing technical accompaniment for Fund for Gender Equality (FGE) grantees, including:
  • Provide technical assistance to 12 new grantees in the region in the design of grantees' Performance Monitoring Frameworks (PMFs), work plans, budgets and narratives. For example, assist them in strengthening as needed their results chains and PMF’s (indicators, targets, etc), data collection, activities and budgets.
  • Provide technical assistance to the current 3 grantees from the First Grantmaking Cycle (Cambodia, China and India).
  • Review and validate quarterly financial reports and 6 month narrative reports for the 15 grantees in close cooperation with FGE/UNW Focal Points in the different country offices where programmes are currently implemented, and provide technical feedback to grantees. 
  • Provide lead technical and managerial assistance for the Midterm evaluation in China and India and the final evaluation of Cambodia. 
  • Liaise and work closely with the 4 other FGE Regional Monitoring and Reporting Specialists as needed.
  • Serve as liaison between UN Women Regional Office in Bangkok, Asia Pacific Country offices where the programmes are being implemented, and Fund for Gender Equality Secretariat at HQ.
  • Work in close cooperation with the UN Women Country Office Focal Points in each country and with the finance and operations staff and management of field offices as needed.

Capacity development

  • Organize and ensure the successful implementation of a regional convening of FGE grantees. The convening will be a 5 day workshop, to take place in Bangkok in July or September 2013. It will bring together representatives from each grantee in Asia Pacific as well as the UNW Focal Points. The workshop’s objectives will include: (1) increasing the capacity of grantees in FGE programme management, including monitoring, reporting on the basis of RBM framework and; (2) increasing the knowledge and sharing of experiences between grantees on advancing the economic and political empowerment of women in the Asia Pacific Region.
  • Continue to provide support as needed to grantees that closed their programmes in 2012 but may be finalizing activities or implementing sustainability strategies (in close cooperation with UN Women Country Office Focal Points)

Reporting and Knowledge Management Services

  • Prepare substantive reports and written contributions for various purposes, including inputs for the FGE donor and annual reports, speeches and newsletters, fund raising efforts and other reporting needs.
  • Support the FGE Secretariat in capturing and disseminating programme results and relevant developments, as well as extracting critical lessons learned and good practices from monitoring and evaluation processes.
  • Liaise closely with the UN Women FGE Secretariat and regional focal points to identify and provide select written contributions and knowledge products.
  • Liaise and collaborate with UNW regional staff working on governance and economic empowerment programming to contribute to continue learning between FGE programmes and other UN Women initiatives.
  • Contribution to develop FGE templates and tools to ensure capturing of results and successful management tools in place, including supporting the development of the FGE Grantmaking and Knowledge Management Tracking database.
Impact of Results:
  • Increased frequency and quality of technical assistance and monitoring support to UN Women FGE grantees in Asia Pacific.
  • Increased quality of grantee narrative and financial reporting.
  • Improved quality and use of FGE evaluations.
  • Increased number and quality of knowledge products produced and disseminated.
  • Improved quality of coordination in UN Women Organization as a whole.

Competencies

Core values and Guiding principles:

  • Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
  • Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
    Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:     Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.
Core Competencies::
Ethics and Values:
  • Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
Organizational Awareness:
  • Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
Development and Innovation:
  • Take charge of self-development and take initiative
Work in teams:
  • Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
Communicating and Information Sharing:
  • Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication
Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:
  • Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others
Conflict Management:
  • Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:
  • Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:
  • Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making
Functional Competencies:
  • Experience as a trainer and facilitator on monitoring issues, and in developing user-friendly practical guidance and tools conducive to learning
  • Ability to manage for results: translate strategy into achievable plans, with established priorities, monitor them, making periodic adjustments as required
  • Ability to effectively represent UN Women in, and contribute to United Nations inter-agency programming monitoring and reporting initiatives
  • Outstanding networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills
  • Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, civil society and women's groups
  • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
  • Ability to work under pressure and meet strict deadlines
  • Good interpersonal and diplomacy skills
  • Ability to use critical thinking, conceptualizes ideas, and articulate relevant subject matter in a clear and concise way
  • Ability to communicate effectively with and relate to people of different cultures, demonstrating an ability to see issues from other perspectives


Required Skills and Experience
Education:
  • Master’s degree or equivalent in Political Science, International Development Studies, Gender/Women's Studies, Economics or Sociology.
 Experience:
  • Minimum of 5 years of relevant national/international working experience in gender equality and women's empowerment issues and .monitoring and reporting.
  • Proven track-record in the successful design and implementation of comprehensive monitoring systems.
  • Strong knowledge of planning and monitoring and related development policy and programming issues, including knowledge of RBM, familiarity with log frames and understanding of baseline data collection and monitoring methodologies.
  • Experience working in the field of monitoring: developing plans, tracking results, reporting to different constituencies. Monitoring experience at UN Women and/or in FGE context highly desirable.
  • Experience in Result Based Management. Knowledge management and communications experience - supporting collection and dissemination of lessons learned/best practice.
  • Experience in the United Nations, a governmental, other multilateral or civil society organization in a developed or developing country highly desirable.
  • Experience in projects and programmes related to women's economic and/or political empowerment is desirable.
  • Experience with databases and data management a plus.
Language Requirement:
  • Fluency in English

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.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

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



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