Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for 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.

In 2019, UN Women is committed to support the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) to operationalise Section 9 of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission’s Act, which obligates the Commission to mainstream gender in its operations. In response to women’s exclusion as we well as the impact of violence on women and girls, Section 9 of the NPRC Act, calls on the Commission through a gender unit to investigate the use of sexual crimes as a weapon during and after conflicts and reaching out to and identifying victims of gender based violations and provide such victims an opportunity, in private or public, to relate their own accounts of the violations or harm  they have suffered and to set out their needs. The NPRC 2018-2022 Strategy also seeks to mainstream issues of “Women, Peace and Security” in its programmatic priority. The strategy identifies a significant role for women in developing peaceful solutions to violent disputes. There is therefore an opportunity for women’s active participation in the national peace and reconciliation efforts. 

The NPRC General Regulations SI 90 of 2018 in section 4 also mandates the Commission to establish external and internal committees as well as units. One the key Committees that has been set up is Victim Support, Diversity and Gender Committee which will play a key role to ensure that the work of the Commission is victim centred and takes the needs of women into consideration. This Committee and various other initiatives that have been put in place to implement the NPRC strategic document are providing an opportunity to strengthen the NPRC’s engagement with women as important sector and to facilitate their meaningfully participation in peacebuilding, social cohesion and national development. It is considering all these efforts that the NPRC with support from UN Women are seeking to contract the services of a Gender Technical advisor to support this work.

This support is part of a project titled, ‘Building Trust in the Zimbabwe Transition Project’ which seeks to contribute to the creation of an environment conducive to peaceful co-existence, trust and citizen participation in development processes. This project is funded through the Secretary Generals’ United Nations Peace Building Fund.  

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Specifically, the Technical Advisor will undertake the following;

  • Support the development of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Gender Strategy for operationalization of Section 9 of the Commission’s Act
  • Support the design and implementation of gender sensitive programmes by the Commission through ensuring gender mainstreaming within the work plans, budgets, monitoring and evaluation frameworks;
  • Support capacity development of Commissioners on key gender and development issues to enhance their understanding and abilities to effectively discharge their responsibilities;
  • Build strategic partnerships with key stakeholders including CSOs, Parliament, Government Ministries and other Commissions;
  • Advise on and develop strategic initiatives to advance the Commission’s gender mainstreaming objectives;
  • Undertake other duties as assigned.

Expected Outputs

  • Growth in the breadth and depth of the Commission’s work on gender with respect to Section 9 of its founding Act.
  • Growth in the Commission’s reputation and visibility to women and gender advocates as the key institution tasked with oversight, monitoring and holding accountability for national, regional and international peace commitments.
  • Strengthened relationships between the Commission and its advocacy and alliance partners such as the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.

Deliverables

  • Monthly narrative reports of work done to support gender equality within the work of the NPRC in keeping with Section 9 of the NPRC Act
  •  NPRC Gender Strategy

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • Masters’ Degree or its equivalent in any of the following Social Sciences disciplines; Law, Sociology, Transitional Justice, Gender Studies, Anthropology or other social science fields.

Experience

  • Knowledge of the work of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.
  • At least 7 years of experience in programming on gender equality and peacebuilding at a national level or regional level
  • Experience in formulating gender responsive policy and developing and implementing gender strategies.
  • Ability to communicate and interact with officials at all levels of government and to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community.
  • Experience in research/analytical work in peacebuilding or transitional justice
  • Knowledge on women’s rights including sub-regional, regional and international instruments on women’s rights.
  • Previous experience in providing technical support to high level government institutions.

Language

  • Proficiency in the English language. Proficiency in Shona and Ndebele will be an advantage