UN WOMEN Jobs - 68867- Policy Specialist

Policy Specialist - Conflict Resolution

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, USA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Other

Starting Date :

31-Oct-2016

Application Deadline :

18-Oct-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Other

Duration of Initial Contract :

2 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

4 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 Policy Division develops and implements the UN Women program of work on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to the intergovernmental process, the UN system, and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It identifies emerging issues and trends, and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving the agreed goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice. It also designs and oversees the training and capacity development programs of UN Women, working closely with the UN Women training facility in Santa Domingo.

Based on UN legislative mandates and UN Women Strategic Programme Plan, it undertakes or coordinates global or sectoral research and data analysis; advises on norms, policies and strategies for achieving the internationally agreed goals related to gender equality and women’s empowerment issues. It acts as a knowledge hub, collecting evidence on progress and emerging issues, identifying trends in implementation of global commitments; and sharing knowledge on innovative approaches and lessons learned in implementation. It designs tools for inter-regional capabilities building and institutional development programmes and fosters strategic substantive partnerships with academia and other UN partners, in close collaboration with the Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnership Bureau, the Programme division and UN Women Training Center (Santa Domingo).

The Peace and Security Section of the Policy Division supports UN Women to fulfill its coordination mandate in the area of peace and security and UN system efforts to promote improved implementation, and monitoring and reporting of global commitments on women and peace and security, including as set out in Beijing Platform for Action and in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015), relevant Statements by the President of the Security Council, as well as related accountability frameworks established by the UN system. In particular, the Peace and Security Section works to strengthen the capacity of actors engaged in inclusive peacemaking, conflict resolution and national dialogue processes to enhance women’s participation and influence, and to secure gender-responsive outcomes.

The Policy Specialist (Conflict Resolution) will reinforce the development of work within the area of gender and mediation, including policy development and coordination, capacity building interventions and strategic partnerships, and learning and knowledge production and management. She or He will act as an important channel between country and regional offices, and global policy-related work in the areas of gender, conflict resolution and mediation. The Policy Specialist will also contribute to the broader work of the Peace and Security Section.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Section Chief and the Deputy Chief, the Policy Specialist (P3) will support and backstop a range of functions, including:

Policy development and coordination:

Substantively support the Peace and Security Section in leading the global-level coordination, monitoring, and catalytic programming efforts to advance the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda with regard to gender and peace processes;
Produce studies, reports, background papers on the gender and mediation programme in accordance with mandates provided by relevant intergovernmental bodies, highlighting progress and challenges in critical areas and emerging issues as well as preparing options and recommendations for action;
Provide inputs to intergovernmental processes and other international fora to help shape the development of global and regional policies, norms and standards and implementation strategies to facilitate and increase women’s participation in, and influence of, mediation and peace processes;
Conceptualize and execute action-oriented policy research on national planning and implementation of UNSC resolution 1325 with a focus on gender and peace processes;
Assess implementation bottlenecks and gaps in advancing the women, peace and security agenda and take appropriate responses whether in terms of policy development and negotiation with relevant stakeholders, or pilot programming interventions;
Ensure information flow between field and HQ on lessons learned, promising approaches, and good practices.

Capacity building and strategic partnerships

Organize expert meetings, panels and other interactive events on gender issues for intergovernmental processes;
Support UN Women Country Offices, civil society and governmental partners to move forward the participation pillar of the women, peace and security agenda, including through technical assistance, action planning, advocacy and research;
Identify relevant actors/forums, and liaise with key international, national, regional, and local civil society and governmental stakeholders to strengthen women’s capacity and solidarity and to facilitate and increase their access, participation and representation to peace processes and to key stakeholders;
Develop and solidify partnerships with key stakeholders, including academic institutions, governments and civil society organizations.

Learning and knowledge production and management

Contribute to the development of policy and knowledge, as appropriate and under the guidance of the Chief and Deputy Chief;
Provide substantive guidance and technical inputs to ensure the quality of knowledge products and capacity development tools commissioned under the Section’s gender and mediation programme;
Provide feedback to UN-Women offices on case studies and other related knowledge products and publications as requested and needed;
Contribute to the systematic collation of good practices and lessons learned;
Produce relevant knowledge products to meet UN-Women needs and standards of quality.

Contribute to the broader work of the Peace and Security Section:

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, including SCRs 1325 (2000) , 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009),1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015);
Support the development and monitoring of the implementation of National Action Plans on women, peace and security, including through technical support to the development of action plans upon request;
Support inter-agency work and processes pertaining to gender, conflict prevention and peace building within the UN system, when requested;
Provide technical inputs to Security Council Experts on women, peace and security; disseminate outcomes of Security Council meetings to UN Women Country and Regional Offices;
Support the development of peace and security related programme and project proposals, and related donor reporting;
Contribute to mandated reports and publications as requested;

Represent the Peace and Security Section at internal and external meetings.

Competencies

Core values / Guiding principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity / Valuing diversity:

Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

Self-development, initiative-taking.

Working in Teams:

Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

Managing conflict.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization;
Strong communication skills, both written and oral;
Excellent analytical and drafting skills;
Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all level of the organization;
Demonstrate sensitivity, tact and diplomacy, comfortable with handling external relationships at all level;
Work in a highly pressured environment; and

Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master degree (or equivalent) in development related disciplines, gender issues, economics, public policy, law or other social science fields. (Education in Peace and Security is an advantage).

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of progressively varied experience in development, law, policy analysis, sociology/gender equality or related areas, preferably with work experience from international organizations and the United Nations sytem.
Substantial experience of working on policy and advocay work on women's human rights and gender equality, with filed experience in peace and security contexts an advantage, and excellent understanign of women, peace and security isssues;
Outstanding writing skills and experience in planning and coordinating events and activities;
Management and representation experience, including public speaking skills.

Language Requirements:

Written and oral proficiency in English is required