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.

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.

The measurement of women’s representation and documentation of women’s experiences in local-level politics is vital to obtain a holistic perspective on women’s political participation; however, no global baseline on the share of women in local government exists. The 2013 UN Secretary-General’s Report on women’s political participation identified this lack of data as a major knowledge gap that hinders the possibility for further qualitative research on, and recognition of, the contributions of women local leaders to societies worldwide.

Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” One of the Targets under this Goal is to “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life” (SDG Target 5.5). Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 5.5.1b, “proportion of seats held by women in local governments,” which will monitor progress towards this Target.

To support member states in implementing the 2030 Agenda, UN Women is developing a methodology to measure women’s representation in local government in partnership with global, regional and national partners. The data collected using this methodology will help establish a global baseline of women in local government.

Under the supervision of the Policy Advisor (Political Participation), the Policy Specialist (Local Government) is responsible for advancing and coordinating the Entity’s research and methodological work on women’s representation in local government specifically through: overseeing UN Women’s research, data compilation and methodological work on women’s representation in local government; providing direct assistance and capacity development to country offices and national partners;  maintaining partnerships with the Regional Economic Statistical Commissions on data production; and overseeing UN Women’s contribution to the different methodological forums and processes on political participation and local government including SDG monitoring and the Praia Group.

Duties and Responsibilities

Oversee UN Women’s research, data compilation and methodological work on women’s representation in local government:

• Oversee the data compilation of women’s representation in local government, including direct follow up with producers of data at country level (national statistical offices, electoral management bodies, line ministries etc) to obtain country-level data and quality control the data and establish baseline measurement;
• Manage partnerships with the Regional Economic Statistical Commissions on data production in all regions;
• Prepare relevant documents, data and storylines required for SDG monitoring and liaise with UNSD;
• Oversee the research and quality assurance of profiles on local government organization, including managing consultants and interns providing research;
• Conduct background research, literature reviews, provide technical input for publications, and draft knowledge products as needed on women’s representation in local government;
• Produce internal and external technical guidance and provide regular briefings on local government composition, statistics and issues for colleagues across the organization.

Provide direct technical assistance and capacity development to country offices and national partners on the issue of measuring women’s representation in local government:

• Provide direct technical assistance to relevant data collection agencies in countries to produce and report data on women’s representation in local government;
• Organize and/or participate in capacity-building and awareness raising workshops (e.g. national statistics offices, EMBs) in collaboration with regional commissions, country offices and other partners.

Oversee UN Women’s work on the methodology to measure the proportion of seats held by women in local governments (SDG Indicator 5.5.1b):

• Provide technical support in preparing all necessary documentation for upgrading the methodology of SDG Indicator 5.5.1b to tier 1, including those requested by the Inter-Agency Expert Group (IAEA) on SDGs;
• Manage the presentation, visualization and communication strategy for SDG Indicator 5.5.1b data and statistics in reports and knowledge products;
• Keep well-informed of updates, activities and directives of the IAEG on SDGs and brief colleagues in the Leadership and Governance section;
• Participate in and/or represent the Unit as needed in internal and external meetings related to the advancement of the SDGs;
• Liaise regularly with UN Women colleagues responsible for monitoring SDGs and IAEG developments.

Oversee UN Women’s contribution to other statistical development processes on political participation:

• Work collaboratively within the UN System and UN Women to identify synergies and linkages in relation to other statistical and methodological processes on political participation;
• Represent UN Women as needed in inter-agency working groups and fora on related issues, for example, SDGs, IAEG, Praia Group, gender statistics, local government and data on women’s political participation.
• Contribute to the development of new data collection methodologies on women’s political participation, including, for example, women’s share of ministerial positions and voter turnout by sex.

Provide knowledge management support:

• Identify and disseminate lessons learned and good practices with UN Women;
• Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared with UN Women colleagues and stakeholders as required;
• Participate and share information in Communities of Practice.

Provide any other support as requested by the supervisor.

Key Performance Indicators:

The key results expected will have positive impact on the overall effectiveness of UN Women’s work related to Political Participation, through contributing directly to achievement of the relevant Goals in UN Women’s Strategic Plan and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

• Quality research methods and data collection and analysis which lead to UN Women’s ability to measure women’s representation in local government;
• Establishment of the first global baseline measurement of women’s representation in local government;
• Quality and timely inputs to briefings, knowledge products, publications and other documents;
• Quality assistance to agencies and national partners which lead to enhanced data collection;
• Quality technical support to ensure SDG Indicator 5.5.1b is measured and results shared.

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:

• Advanced knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods and statistical analysis  particularly in relation to gender and/or local government;
• Ability to develop and maintain partnerships with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills;
• Strong strategic planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills;
• Ability to undertake policy research and prepare quantitative studies, utilizing statistical methodologies, knowledge of database applications for statistical analysis;
• Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
• Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in sociology and/or development related disciplines, gender issues, health, public policy/administration, human rights, or political science is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in carrying out research and analysis in a development policy and/or research context, particularly on gender equality;
• Significant record of experience in data analysis, research and writing, including on gender statistics;
• Experience in statistical analysis including on gender equality.

Languages:

• Written (excellent drafting skills) and oral proficiency in English is required;
• Knowledge of another UN working language is desirable.

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.