Historique

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.

The Policy Division staff is organized in Thematic sections, bringing together technical experts who: undertake issues-based research; analyze data on country, regional and global trends; build a knowledge-base on policy commitments and their implementation; propose evidence-based options for global policy, norms and standards and for UN Women global programme strategies; and contribute substantive inputs to policy advocacy and technical cooperation programmes.

Under the supervision of the Section Chief, the Policy Advisor undertakes and coordinates strategic planning, global and sectoral research and reporting, global programme implementation, and resource mobilization. S/he performs representative functions, and advises on norms, policies and strategies for achieving the internationally agreed commitments related to women, peace and security. 

Devoirs et responsabilités

Summary of key functions: 

• Technical Guidance and Programme Support;
• Substantive Support to Inter-Governmental Processes and Policy Development;
• Partnership Building, Advocacy and Representation;
• Knowledge Generation and Capacity Building.

Description of Functions:

Technical Guidance and Programme Support: 

• Serve as the policy lead and programme manager on conflict prevention and resolution, strengthening UN Women’s contribution to gender-responsive conflict prevention and resolution in order to amplify women’s voice in peace making and peace building forums, and in order to ensure a consistent supply of gender expertise to stakeholders in these processes;
• Advise the Section Chief on strategies and opportunities for building women’s participation and influence in conflict prevention, resolution, and mitigation;
• Under the oversight of the Chief Advisor, manage UN Women’s global activities on conflict prevention and resolution, including through developing new global programming and mobilizing resources. Supervise junior staff in this area as well as, where needed and appropriate, other staff managing thematic work streams such as fragile state governance, security sector reform areas, reporting, and   support for national planning and implementation of the UNSCrs on women peace and security;
• Engage strategic partnerships in contemporary conflict prevention and resolution processes including with civil society groups
• Support resource mobilization, deployment of targeted gender expertise to support specific situations, and training of UN stakeholders and partners including women leaders;
  
• Maintain an on-going analytical watching brief of developments in international conflict prevention, resolution and mediation, including in the workings of major relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental institutions, and in the politics of particular conflict-affected situations;
• Support country-level programming in conflict prevention and resolution through strategic discussions on programme design, oversight and evaluation to support implementation and capture best practices and lessons learned for policy development and adjustment. Rapid and frequent deployment on support missions will be required (approximately 30 - 50% travel time over a given year);
• Cultivate improved gender and mediation capacity amongst relevant stakeholders including through roster development and training so as to build availability of regionally-knowledgeable and rapidly deployable specialists in this area;
• Facilitate and/or advise ROs/MCOs/COs on strategic opportunities for women’s engagement in conflict resolution or political dialogue at national, regional and international levels;
• Advise on capacity development of women’s organizations in conflict prevention and resolution (including management of an existing database on women and civil society organizations working on conflict resolution), and collect and analyze good practices.

Substantive Support to Inter-Governmental Processes and Policy Development: 

• Coordinate with other UN departments and entities to advance women’s engagement in conflict prevention and resolution, as well as sectoral and planning processes on WPS, via existing system-wide mechanisms;
• Develop outreach and advocacy programmes and priorities for influencing intergovernmental forums, Member States, senior officials and staff in the UN System according to agreed priorities and approaches of the Peace and Security Cluster;
• Monitor the work of the Security Council, Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, Executive Committees on Humanitarian Affairs and on Peace and Security Affairs, Peace building Commission, and the work of regional organizations and identify new issues and trends in this field and keep the supervisor well informed on regular basis;
• Identify potential areas for policy and normative development to improve the inclusiveness of peace processes or the gender-responsiveness of conflict resolution efforts and accords;
• Provide inputs in international forums to help shape development of global and regional policies, norms and standards and implementation strategies, and provide inputs in international forums to help shape development of global and regional policies, norms and standards and implementation strategies;
• Coordinate and lead UN Women inputs to system-wide strategic decision-making in this area (for instance in Policy Committee submissions or Integrated Mission Planning processes and Task Forces);
• In carrying out the above functions keep relevant senior staff and Sections in UN Women, and the Section Chief of Peace and Security, aware and up to date on ongoing work and its implications for other initiatives, policies, and programmes.

Partnership Building, Advocacy and Representation: 

• Under the guidance and supervision of the Section Chief, convene or represent UN Women in UN interagency working groups or international forums to enhance coordination and/or ensure increased attention to gender and conflict prevention and resolution issues;
• Build strategic partnerships with key stakeholders including the Department of Political Affairs, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, UNICEF, UNHCR, and core international mediation institutions;
• Develop and maintain networks with other experts in mediation including international mediators and envoys, and support inclusion of more women at these senior levels;
• Develop and maintain contacts with institutions promoting conflict prevention and resolution including grassroots women’s peace networks;
• Plan, organize and substantively service ad hoc expert group meetings, seminars, conferences, workshops, communities of practice and similar gatherings, including identification and determination of major issues for discussion and selection of participants, development of background documentation, preparation of reports and policy recommendations, and dissemination of results of such meetings and keep Chief Advisor well informed;
• Support UN Women’s senior management with messaging, briefing notes, speeches and talking points and strategic actions in this area of work.

Knowledge Generation and Capacity Building: 

• Develop practical guidelines on women peace and security issues;
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of global and regional knowledge networks, activities and practices;
• Establish and nurture relationship with academia, research institutes, civil society and experts on women peace and security matters to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking in UN work on gender equality;
• Produce analytical and data-rich knowledge products, including through commissioned studies, to meet UN Women`s needs and standards of quality;
• Develop briefing packages and visual materials on the policy rationale for various aspects of efforts to promote women’s engagement in conflict prevention, peace building, conflict resolution;
• Address current research gaps and strengths, and though wide contracts with partners and UN System, identifying the specific projects to support the integration of gender perspective into political dialogue, mediation, conflict prevention, early warning, and planning processes;
• Conduct and/or lead the analysis of data and provide evidence to build the case for policies and interventions on mediation, dialogue, early warning, conflict prevention etc.

Impact of Results:

UN Women’s efforts on conflict resolution and prevention result in an increase in women’s levels of participation and influence in contemporary forums for peace making. This improves the responsiveness of conflict resolution to women’s protection needs. The incumbent could increase UN Women’s effective implementation of partnerships and programmes on gender sensitive conflict resolution and mediation by proactively providing high quality technical assistance on gender and mediation including via knowledge products and hands-on advice to UN Women ROs/MCOs/Cos.

Compétences

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 promote ethics and integrity by creating organizational precedents.

Organizational Awareness:

• Build support for the organization and ensure political acumen;
• Development and Innovation: Support staff competence development, and contribute to an environment of creativity and innovation.

Work in teams:

• Build and promote effective 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.

Communication and Information Sharing:

• Create and promote an environment for open and 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:

• Share knowledge across the organization and build a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Ensure fair and transparent decision making processes and manage risk.

Functional Competencies:

• Substantive knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of mediation and negotiation, conflict prevention, early warning, civil society peace movements;
• Familiarity with UN and regional intergovernmental processes, with a focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment and knowledge of UN system gender architecture and strategic stakeholders/partners in the mediation field is required;
• Proven record of writing and/or publishing on policy and programmatic aspects of women peace and security issues including conducting and directing research, data collection and publication;
• Proven ability to organize and manage knowledge development processes and tools;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience;
• Strong communications skills, with proven expertise in writing cogent and convincing policy and programme documents for development practitioners, as well as technical skills in drafting legally viable peace agreements and other types of compacts;
• Diplomatic skills and capacity to negotiate common understandings in politically sensitive contexts.
• Proven analytical and problem solving skills;
• Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance;
• Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills.
• Effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners;
• Preparedness for a high component of travel to meet the high mobility requirements of the job (approximately 50% time on mission);
• Proven track record of excellent management and technical leadership skills and ability to delegate appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority.

Qualifications et expériences requises

• Master degree (or equivalent) in development or peace and security- related disciplines, gender issues, economics, political science, international relations, public policy, law or other social science fields.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in development, government, diplomacy, law, policy analysis, sociological/gender equality or related areas, and in managerial leadership;
• Experience living or on extended missions in conflict-affected environments is desirable;
• Experience in mediation, negotiation of peace or other types of agreements including constitutions are highly desirable.

Languages:

• Written and oral proficiency in English and at least one other UN language is required.