UN WOMEN Jobs - 63834- UN Women: Policy Specialist

UN Women: Policy Specialist - Peace and Security

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

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, 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 Division provides the substantive underpinning for UN Women's normative, operational and coordination work. It provides this substantive input through research and analysis; technical guidance; knowledge management; training and capacity building; partnerships and global programmes; UN system coordination and collaboration; normative and intergovernmental work; and corporate positioning. The Policy Division is organized into four thematic sections that address UN Women’s Strategic Plan, including Economic Empowerment, and two functional sections, Research and Data and the UN Women Training Centre.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Chief, Peace and Security, the Policy Specialist, Peace and Security is responsible for UN Women’s engagement with the Security Council in the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda. In this regard the Policy Specialist will act as an important channel between country and regional offices and global policy-related work to support engagement with the Security Council, in particular to follow-up on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015) by coordinating information and support in relation to the Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), a body established by the Security Council to strengthen the Security Council to strengthen the flows of quality information and analysis on women, peace and security to the Security Council for action and outcomes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide substantive technical support to intergovernmental processes and policy development:

Engage with the Security Council to monitor the ongoing programme of work, track debates and outcomes, provide technical support, and provide linkages for information sharing between Council experts and UN Women country and regional offices;
Provide substantive support to the Security Council, prepare analytical summaries of debates, support negotiations and analyze/compile outcomes;
Link Security Council outcomes, deliberations and programme of work to country office programming and inputs;
Provide support in the establishment of the new Informal Expert Group on WPS, including coordinating information flows to the Group, identifying gaps in analysis and information;
Under supervision of the Deputy Chief and in collaboration with the section team and partners, contribute to the identification of sources and types of actionable information for the Informal Expert Group;
Provide policy advice and technical support to Country Offices/Regional Offices;
Provide technical inputs into programme documents, country strategies and knowledge products.

Engage in capacity building and knowledge management:

Coordinate the development and roll out of new tools for training and knowledge production to address gender conflict analysis gaps;
Build the capacity of UN Women offices and local partners to identify, access and conduit relevant information for influencing global level processes;
Advise, support, guide and provide substantive inputs to ensure the formulation of high quality gender and conflict analysis from UN Women in conflict affected countries on the Security council’s agenda and the linking of this analysis to UN Women programme and policy responses;
Secure a flow of information between the Country Offices, the Regional Offices and UN Women headquarters by putting in place mechanisms to ensure the region and Country Offices know about relevant developments, how to influence intergovernmental outcomes and forums for programming support;
Engage in existing thematic networks to better connect UN Women and partner work and promote learning and innovation;
Contribute to the development of policy and knowledge, as appropriate;
Recruit, monitor and assess performance of consultants and other service providers hired to develop knowledge products and trainings related to the programme;
Contribute to the systematic collation of good practices and lessons learned.

Represent and advocate for UN Women:

Represent UN Women in international fora to encourage greater commitment to and collaboration on the implementation of gender equality policies (in Peace and Security);
Strengthen partnerships with other UN entities and international policy making forums to highlight and reinforce accountability mechanisms for the implementation of global policy commitments on women, peace and security;
Provide technical support to inter-agency work and processes pertaining to gender, conflict prevention and peace and security within the UN system, when requested;
Contribute to the development of strategic approaches to policy dialogue, resource mobilization, partnerships, advocacy and outreach;
Establish and nurture relationships with academia, research institutes, civil society and experts on women, peace and security to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking in UN work on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Key Performance Indicators:

The Policy Specialist, Peace and Security, impacts on the success of efforts to strengthen consistent Security Council implementation of the women, peace and security agenda:

Timely and quality technical support to the Informal Expert Group;
Establish strong channels of communication between the Security Council and UN Women;
Quality training and knowledge products;
Quality reports;
Strong partnerships with policy making forums and other UN entities.

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;
Demonstrating 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:

Possesses in-depth knowledge of the issues of women's rights and gender equality;
Programme/project design and management skills;
Analytical thinking and research skills;
Effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners;
Demonstrated ability to work in an independent manner; ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks;
Excellent communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in one of the following, or related, fields, law, conflict resolution, gender studies, development studies, political science or international relations or other related discipline.

Experience:

At least 7 years relevant work experience with the UN, and/or other international development organization in women, peace and security, national planning for gender equality, conflict prevention, or peace-building;
Experience and knowledge of women, peace and security programming and policy implementation;
Diverse organizational work experience is an asset;
Familiarity with the UN system, in particular with UN-Women and its mandate;
Experience in UN-inter-agency cooperation is an asset.

Language:

Written and oral proficiency in English is required;
Knowledge of another UN working language is desirable.

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. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.