UN WOMEN Jobs - 54367- UN Women: Programme Specialist

UN Women: Programme Specialist

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Sarajevo, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

16-Mar-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

364 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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 (UNW), 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 centre of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality translate into action. UN Women supports improved UN coordination and accountability mechanisms, and up-scaling of the quality of support provided to Member States in addressing national gender equality priorities

In order to respond to the demands of national partners, UN Women established its presence in 2008 in Sarajevo. The office currently provides technical assistance in the following key areas of UN Women’s Strategic Plan (2014-2017): ending violence against women, supporting the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda, especially through the implementation of UN SCR 1325 and gender responsive and budgeting and planning, with plans to extend the programme portfolio to include women’s economic empowerment in future.

The UN Country Team (UNCT) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has recently finalized the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2015-2019 in consultation with partners. The One UN Programme 2015-2019 calls for the establishment of Results Groups, each covering one focus area within UNDAF, to lead and guide the UNDAF implementation through respective Joint Work Plans. To ensure the effective implementation of the One UN Programme in BiH, four Results Groups (Rule of Law/Human Security, Sustainable and Equitable Development and Employment, Social Inclusion, Empowerment of Women) and three supporting groups (Communications, OMT, M&E) are established.

Guided by the UN Development Group (UNDG)’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Countries Adopting the Delivering as one (DaO) Approach, each Results Group is chaired by a Head of Agency on behalf of the UNCT. The Chairs are empowered by the UNCT to take appropriate decisions and lead the Results Groups in the implementation of the Joint Work Plan(s).

The Results Group Chair will be responsible for facilitation of the achievement of agreed results and accountable to the RC for coordination and functioning of the Results Group in a manner consistent with the One UN Programme 2015-2019, including timely preparation, monitoring and reporting of the Joint Work Plans. Chairs of Results Groups will ensure necessary coordination with all participating UN entities and other stakeholders (as applicable) as well as with other Results Groups for necessary programmatic alignment and synergy. The UN entity chairing a Results Group will be also responsible for providing necessary secretariat support and service.

For the Results Group on Empowerment of Women (RGEW), UN Women is the chair to lead the gender work under the DaO modality. Through this Results Group, UN Women also needs to coordinate with other Results Groups to ensure gender mainstreaming in other thematic areas, as well as in communication, M&E and operations-related work of the UN in BiH.

In this context, UN Women BiH Country Office needs to ensure the necessary in-house capacity to support the Country Representative/Head of Office of UN Women to chair and lead the Results Group on Women’s Empowerment and to coordinate with other Results Groups to ensure gender integration throughout the work of UNCT BiH under the DaO modality.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Functions:

The Programme Specialist works in close collaboration with the Programme Specialist and primarily reports to the UN Women Country Representative in BiH Country Office and will also have the Coordination and Planning Specialist in UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office in Istanbul as their secondary supervisor. Under the supervision and guidance of the Representative, as well as in close consultation with the UN agencies and the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), the Programme Specialist will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities:

Provide coordination support and act as the secretariat to the Results Group on Empowerment of Women;
Provide expert technical advice and support to gender mainstreaming in the work of the UNCT and Results Groups;
Provide coordination support and technical advice to UN gender equality and women’s empowerment joint programmes; and
Ensure effective knowledge management, sharing and exchanging best practices and lessons learned at country level with the UN Women Regional Office and Country Offices in the ECA Region and UN Women HQ.

Provide coordination and secretariat support to the Results Group on Empowerment of Women (RGEW):

Support the UN Women Representative in her/his role as Chair of the RGEW;
Coordinate RGEW meetings and correspondence;
Provide secretariat support to the RGEW, including preparation and sharing of meeting agendas and minutes in a timely manner;
Liaise with UN agencies and the RCO to ensure effective functioning of the RGEW, and timely implementation of UNCT guidance and DaO SOPs;
Coordinate joint work planning, monitoring and annual reporting processes of RGEW, including timely preparation of the rolling Biennial Joint Work Plan(s) of the Results Group with outputs that are measurable through indicators, baselines, targets, means of verification, and assumptions and risks as well as with an annual Common Budgetary Framework;
Coordinate annual review process of the Joint Work Plan(s);
Coordinate the preparation, consolidation and submission of Results Group’s contributions to the UNDAF Annual Review/Report.

Provide expert technical advice and support to gender mainstreaming in the work of the UNCT and Results Groups:

Support finalization of a gender mainstreaming work plan;
Coordinate implementation of activities in the gender mainstreaming work plan including awareness raising and capacity building activities;
Provide technical advice and support to other Results Groups for gender mainstreaming in planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting;
With RGEW members, monitor gender mainstreaming in other Results Groups;
With RCO, ensure gender mainstreaming results are reported in UNDAF Annual Review/Report;
In consultation with the RGEW, analyze and report on progress in gender mainstreaming on an annual basis to the RC and UNCT;
Participate in other Results Groups and coordination mechanisms to support gender mainstreaming as required;
Contribute to the preparation of TORs, data collection and consultative process for the mandatory One Programme Evaluation;
Contribute to the development common UNCT advocacy messages and/or other joint UNCT publications and/ or other communication products;
Contribute to the systematic documentation of lessons learned and/or sharing of good practices and their dissemination across Results Groups;
Coordinate with all participating UN entities and other stakeholders (as applicable) as well as with other Results Groups at the technical level for necessary programmatic alignment and synergy;
Advice UNCT on any other issues related to gender.

Provide technical advice to UN gender equality and women’s empowerment joint programmes:

Support the Women Representative, Programme Specialist and UN Women colleagues in providing technical advice to existing joint programmes on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
Identify opportunities for and support and coordinate the formulation, finalization and implementation of Joint Programme(s), ensuring that each Joint Programme is strategically aligned with One Programme priorities, and is developed in accordance with UNDG guidelines ensuring normative-operational linkages while addressing national needs and priorities;
Support resource mobilization for joint programmes as required.

Ensure effective knowledge capture, sharing and exchange of best practices and lessons learned at country level with the UN Women Regional Office and Country Offices in the ECA Region and UN Women HQ:

Document examples of good practices, experience and lessons learned in country-level coordination;
Ensure regular knowledge sharing and exchange on good practices and lessons learned, with the UN Women Regional Office, other country offices in the region, and UN Women HQ;
Act as a resource person for coordination on gender in UNDAF implementation in the context of the DaO approach.

Impact of Results:

The support provided by the incumbent to the UN Results Group on Empowerment of Women, and to effective coordination on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the UNCT in BiH will increase the impact of UN Women’s coordination role, and thereby contribute to improved impact and results of the UNCT’s work on gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment.

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:

Ability to work effectively together in reaching results;
Demonstrated analytical and technical skills in managing development projects/programmes particularly those that are pertinent to UN Women strategic priorities on gender issues and women’s rights;
Demonstrated political acumen and technical capacity in representing the organization effectively in national and international fora to advocate and to promote organizational priorities, initiatives and a better understanding of the organizational strategic agenda;
Ability to establish and maintain broad strategic networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies;
Ability to go beyond established procedures and practices, introduce new approaches and strategic innovations;
Good knowledge of Results Based Management principles and approaches;
Substantive experience in the area of development and gender equality and women's empowerment issues;
Knowledge of UN system and understanding of inter-agency coordination processes;
Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, and mobilize resources;
Strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills;
Ability to build strong relationships with partners, focusing on impact and results;
Demonstrated skills in organizing inter-agency/inter organization meetings, preparing reports, keeping records, follow-up etc.;
Demonstrated skills in the use of Knowledge Management (KM) strategies and practices.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in international development, public administration, public policy or other relevant social science fields. Specialized studies in gender a distinct asset.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience that combines in development programmes with a strong focus in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment at the international level, preferably in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programmes;
Field based experience working with multi-cultural teams an asset;
Knowledge/experience in UN Coordination and/or Europe, particularly the Western Balkans, an asset.

Language Requirements:

Proficiency in written and spoken English;
Knowledge of another UN working language an asset.

Application:

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.

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.