UN WOMEN Jobs - 77577- UN Women: Legal Specialist

UN Women: Legal Specialist - Sexual Gender-Based Crime

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Geneva, SWITZERLAND

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

13-Mar-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 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.

Peace and Security is a key area of UN Women's work. At headquarters, the Peace and Security Section leads on UN system-wide coordination on Women, Peace and Security, provides technical and financial support to the peace and security work of UN Women field offices, and implements a number of global initiatives that range from training women on mediation, peacekeepers on preventing and responding to sexual violence, and experts on investigation and documentation of international crimes, to rapidly deploying gender advisors to commissions of inquiry, peace talks, and post-conflict planning and financing processes, supporting gender-responsive public service delivery, and linking women in the community and grassroots organizations to police and other actors to ensure better protection.

A key area of UN-Women’s work is ensuring access to justice for women and the equal application of the rule of law. Effective judicial and legal systems not only ensure the protection and advancement of women’s rights, but can provide an enabling environment to address discriminatory practices which impede development. From a women’s human rights and rule of law perspective, at no time is legal protection more necessary, or more fragile, than during and in the immediate aftermath of conflicts when women’s experiences of insecurity and violations often continue unabated. Securing accountability and ending impunity for sexual and gender-based crime (SGBC) and asserting women’s access to the full range of rights are some of the most challenging yet fundamental conditions for the restoration of the rule of law post-conflict.

Under the supervision of the Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women, and in close coordination with the relevant accountability mechanism, the Gender Specialist-SGBV Investigator will contribute to implementation of UN Women’s mandate on promoting women’s access to justice and the rule of law through providing technical support to international, regional and national accountability mechanisms in investigation, documentation and training of SGBC and women’s human rights violations.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide legal advice to the work of accountability bodies supported by UN Women on complex cases:

Provide legal advice on investigation, preparation of files and on sharing material with investigative and prosecuting authorities with a focus on sexual and gender-based crimes, using the relevant legal framework(s);
Assess whether the evidence collected proves the elements of the offences considered, and meets other legal requirements, such as reliability and potential admissibility;
Assess the need for supplementary investigations and conducting interviews of witnesses and suspects.

Perform research and analysis support on sexual and gender-based crimes:

Perform extensive legal research and analysis;
Prepare legal opinions, briefs, reports, correspondence, and other documents, in particular relating to sexual and gender-based crimes;
Prepare documents for files, duly and systematically considering information and evidence pertaining to sexual and gender-based crimes, reflecting a gender perspective and gender-sensitive language and ensuring that the establishment of facts and qualification of crimes reflect gender dimensions, including when addressing sexual and gender-based violence.

Lead the provision of technical advice and knowledge on Sexual Gender-Based Crime:

Advise and raise awareness among members of the team on sexual and gender-based crimes, ensuring that cultural and contextual gender considerations are considered and recommending gender-sensitive security arrangements;
Prepare a report for UN Women at the conclusion of the deployment.

Liaise with the accountability body and UN Women.

Perform any other duties, as required by the Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women in coordination with the accountability body.

Key Performance Indicators:

The appropriate investigation procedures of all international accountability mechanisms UN Women supports will reflect :

Accurate and timely legal advice;
Timely legal research and analysis;
Good practice in the investigation of SGBV cases, and the documentation of the full extent of violations of women’s rights under international law;
gender-sensitive approaches that advance women’s access to justice;
Timely sharing of technical knowledge; and
Quality and timeliness of reports.

Competencies

Core Values:

Respect for Diversity;
Integrity;
Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
Accountability;
Creative Problem Solving;
Effective Communication;
Inclusive Collaboration;
Stakeholder Engagement;
Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf.

Functional Competencies:

Excellent Knowledge of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, and the gender dimensions of these legal frameworks.
Proven ability to work on complex legal cases, including expertise in prosecuting SGBV.
Excellent legal analytical capacity;
Knowledge of witness and victim protection and data protection;
Ability to speak and write in a clear and gender-sensitive language; and
Familiarity with the UN system and knowledge of UN Women.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) preferably in law, political science, or international relations.
A first-level university degree in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the Master’s degree.

Experience:

At least 7 years of experience in law, human rights or closely related field, particularly in the area of sexual and gender-based violence.

Languages:

Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of a second UN language is 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.