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 UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific addresses gender equality and women’s empowerment challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, including deeply embedded discriminatory social norms and practices that perpetuate inequalities based on gender and other intersectional identities (e.g. ethnicity, class, region, age, disability, migratory status, and sexual orientation and gender identity, among others). The Regional Office works across the following areas: Governance and Inter-governmental support (including on Gender Statistics); Women’s Economic Empowerment (including Migration, Ending Violence Against Women; Women, Peace and Security; Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction and Humanitarian Action. Covering 42 countries within Asia and the Pacific, it exercises its triple mandate and functions at a regional level and in support of UN Women’s offices and UN Country Teams in 24 countries across the region. The UN Women Asia Pacific Regional Office also oversees and manages programming in programme presences.

Under the supervision of the Strategic Planning and Coordination Specialist, the Programme Specialist will be responsible for supporting regional and country level strategic planning processes, for the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of programmes under his/her portfolio and providing technical support to their implementation, for building partnerships with governments, inter-governmental bodies, UN, civil society, private sector, multi and bi-lateral donors and supporting the office’s engagement in intergovernmental processes. Additionally, he/she will provide technical and capacity development support to UN Women Multi/Country offices/programme presences in UNDAF formulation and implementation processes, including supporting joint programme development, and UN interagency coordination to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. He/she will also support the office’s resource mobilization in consultation with the UN Women Regional Strategic Partnerships Advisor, and knowledge-building efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide high-quality technical and policy advisory support

  • Provision of technical and policy advisory support to Regional Office management within the thematic areas/portfolio assigned to him/her;
  • Draft policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/ materials for the use in the development and presentation of policy and programmatic positions;
  • Identification of areas for support and interventions within the thematic/sectorial areas assigned;
  • Provide technical support and/or provide quality control and identification of potential challenges for regional and country level interventions;
  • Review and provide feedback to project/ programme strategies and documents, workplans, as needed.

 

2. Support programme/project planning and implementation processes for UN Women Multi-/Country Offices/Programme Presences and the Asia-Pacific Regional Office, based on the Strategic Notes and Annual Work Plans

  • Provide analytical and research support on the political, social and economic situation (country level and/or regionally) and on thematic/sectorial areas assigned to him/her, and prepare substantive inputs to UN Women regional and/or country level strategic planning and programme development;
  • Provide technical guidance in the development of the Strategic Notes and Annual Work Plans of UN Women Multi-/Country Offices/Programme Presences and of the Asia-Pacific Regional Office, and provide technical support to the design and formulation of programme/ project initiatives in compliance with UN Women corporate strategic goals, corporate guidance on annual work planning and results-based management standards;
  • Provide technical guidance on the development of systems, processes and mechanisms to support programme planning, implementation, monitoring and progress reporting.

 

3. Inter-Agency Coordination Support

  • Provide substantive support to Regional Office management and UN Women Multi-/Country Offices/Programme Presences on UN inter-agency coordination related activities;
  • Provide substantive inputs to CCA/ UNDAF and other documents analyzing and researching the political, social and economic situation in the country/region, and similar exercises related to the Resident Coordinator system, ensuring that gender equality and women’s empowerment concerns are clearly captured to support their mainstreaming in these processes;
  • Support the preparation of analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s experiences in support of its inter-agency coordination role.

 

4.  Support strategic programme development and partnerships, including for joint programming  

  • Provide targeted programme /project development support to facilitate the implementation of the UN Women Asia-Pacific Regional Office’s partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
  • Support the design and formulation of programme and project initiatives within his/her area of responsibility, translating UN Women’s priorities at regional and/or country levels in line with the strategic goals of UN Women regionally and at country-level, and donor priorities;
  • Prepare substantive programme briefs on possible areas of cooperation with key partners, in support of UN Women resource mobilization efforts, and in close coordination with the UN Women Regional Strategic Partnerships Advisor;
  • Support and coordinate partnerships with relevant UN Agencies, government institutions, inter-governmental bodies, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society etc. to support successful development and implementation of UN Women programmatic activities at regional and country levels.

 

5.  Manage knowledge-building efforts

  • Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked programme planning and/or inter-agency coordination and contribute to their global dissemination;
  • Review and provide feedback to project/ programme related knowledge products and publications, as needed.

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

Functional Competencies

  • Ability to support strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
  • Ability to support formulation, implementation, monitoring and reporting of development programmes and projects.
  • Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery
  • Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
  • Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change
  • Ability to build strong relationships with development stakeholders focussed on impact and results for target beneficiaries
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
  • Ability to lead teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills.
  • Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree (or equivalent) in International Development, Gender, Human Rights, Applied Anthropology, or in other related Social Sciences
  • A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
  • A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

Work Experience:

  • 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
  • Experience in setting priorities, budgets, work plans, participating in programme development and programme writing;
  • Technical experience in the field of gender and/or human rights of women is preferred;
  • Prior experience in the UN System and working on UN System coordination is also desirable;
  • Experience in partnership building with development stakeholders including national governments, international organizations and other UN entities;
  • Experience in leading teams effectively is an asset.

Language Requirement:

  • Fluency in English is required.

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.

Remark: This position is open to Thai national only.