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.

Since becoming operational in 2007, the Peace-Building Fund (PBF) has strengthened its efforts to support peacebuilding projects that promote gender equality as part of their strategy to prevent relapse into conflict. As an overall principle, the PBF works to make sure that its entire portfolio is gender mainstreamed. Additionally, the PBF underscores the conclusion of the ‘Secretary-General’s report on Women’s Participation in Peacebuilding’ that, in post-conflict settings, targeted interventions are required to break patterns of violence and to capitalize on the leadership roles women may assume during conflicts. In order to fulfill these commitments, the PBF has strengthened its responsiveness to gender equality concerns in 2011, most notably through the launch of its Gender Promotion Initiative.

In this context Guinea-Bissau obtained funding of 1 million USD for a Joint Programme (JP) to promote “Women’s Economic Empowerment and the improvement of their working conditions”, working towards the global PBF outcome “revitalizing the economy”, and the Bissau-Guinean’s Peacebuilding Priority Plan outcome “Women have increased access to decent employment and self-employment opportunities and to micro-credit services for viable micro-enterprises development in selected sectors”.

The JP aims at improving women’s economic security and rights, contributing directly to initiatives ensuring their economic, social and legal empowerment, through investment, promoting and protecting their rights and building organizational capacity of 2 umbrella Civil Society Organizations, with a direct impact on 10 000+ women and contributing to an enabling environment for attaining decent work for women. Initiatives for the elaboration of a national employment strategy as well as to macroeconomic growth include women and young women as target groups for formal employment and credits. However, tackling women’s disadvantaged position in the country and taking into account the fact that they already do much of the work and without decent work conditions, entails that the creation of formal employment will benefit a minor number of women and not necessarily empower the most vulnerable; and consequently there is a potential risk of further discriminating women excluded from existing economic and employment strategies and programmes. Bissau-Guinean women work mainly in the informal low scale agricultural sector, e.g. in horticulture, and hence do not benefit for example from the export of cashew, Guinea-Bissau’s main produce. In order for UNWOMEN to continue enhancing its relevance within the UN family in Guinea Bissau, it is essential to ensure a sustained physical presence in the Country. The excellent work and support provided to the UN and to national stakeholders would not be possible without the daily collaboration of a professional and qualified Joint Programme Coordinator. The Joint Programme Coordinator will work closely with the Deputy Director.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

• Analysis and monitoring of trends, opportunities and challenges;
• Programme management and technical support;
• Strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional and international actors, and development partners;
• Knowledge Management and Reporting.

Description of Key Functions:

Analysis and monitoring of trends, opportunities and challenges: 

• Provide policy recommendations, strategic advice and proposed courses of action to the RC / UNCT and UN Women RO;
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of regional and national peace and security developments and events and integrate information and analysis in support of policy development, analysis, outreach and advocacy;
• Prepare analytical reports, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, talking points and others as required by Resident Coordinator and UN Women;
• Establish and maintain close working contacts with key national and local stakeholders from Government, Civil Society, Organizations and other relevant international and regional actors to build, strengthen and maintain strategic alliances and partnerships on women, peace and security issues and initiatives;
• Contribute to identify good practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities for addressing women’s empowerment and gender issues in the area of peace and security in Guinea Bissau;
• Contribute to national normative discussions dealing with conflict and security.

Programme management and technical support: 

• Provide day to day oversight and management to ongoing joint programme in the area of women peace and security;
• Promote coordination and participation in joint activities with various stakeholders to work collaboratively in the area of peace and security in the region such as: UN agencies, relevant government stakeholders, civil society, Inter-governmental organizations and women's networks;
• in collaboration with  UN agencies provide programme guidance and support to programmes implementation in the area of peace and security, including conflict prevention, mediation, transitional justice, security sector, peacekeeping, conflict-related sexual violence national action plans on 1325 and related fields Support the UN to provide technical assistance to the Government on key Women and Peace and Security issues, including for the development and implementation of National Action Plans on women and peace and security, as requested by the Resident Coordinator;
• Provide specific support to women peace and security programmes in Guinea Bissau with a focus on the peace process, and transitional justice process.
  

Strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional and international actors, and development partners: 

• Represent UN Women or Resident Coordinator at inter-governmental and regional meetings on women peace and security issues in the country, as requested by the Resident Coordinator;
• Support in building of strategic alliances and partnerships to develop regional strategies and initiatives on the area of women and peace and security;
• Maintain close liaison with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts on women and peace and security in the region;
• Support resource mobilization efforts at regional and country levels for the implementation of women and peace and security initiatives;
• Collaborate with other UN Entities, in accelerating the implementation of the SG’s Action Plan on Women’s Participation in Peace building;
• Liaise with relevant organizations engaged in peace and security issues, such as peacekeeping institutions, networks and academic institutions;
• Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women HQ and RO.
  

Knowledge management and reporting: 

• Collect information to input UNWOMEN to annual report on Women Peace and Security, as well as other relevant thematic reports;
• Gather and provide information for  senior management briefings;
• Provide inputs regarding the implementation of the SG’s Action Plan on Women’s Participation in Peace building
•  ensure timely and accurate report on lessons learned in the field of women, peace and security issues and contribute to UN Women's knowledge management products in this regard;
• Facilitate cross-regional exchange of best practices and lessons learned with Regional Peace and Security advisers and Peace and Security Section in Policy Division;
• Contribute to the development of regional knowledge on women, peace and security and propose plans to enrich its evidence base in the region.

Impact of Results:

The strategic and technical advice provided to the implementation of programmes and projects at the regional and country level enhances overall efficiency, timeliness and effectiveness of developed strategic plans on the subject. Coordination by this role will ensure stronger and smoother liaison with other offices considering their experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality and peace and security issues. This enhances the impact of UN Women’s initiatives in its focus areas to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.  

Competencies

Core values / 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: 

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity. 

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment. 

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative. 

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds. 

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others .

• 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; 

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies: 

•  Familiarity with the West & Central Region, women's rights organizations and networks in the region and globally;
• Good knowledge of the UN Women and UN system;
• Proven ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources.
  

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in social sciences, international development or related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in the area on women, peace and security. Field based experience working with multi-cultural teams is required;
• Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the area of women and peace and security.

Languages:

• Fluency in French and English. Good knowledge of Portuguese will be an asset. 

• 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.

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.