UN WOMEN Jobs - 91395- UN Women: Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist

UN Women: Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist – UN System-Wide Accountability Frameworks

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

21-May-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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 will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The UN Women’s UN System Coordination Division (UNSCD) leads the operationalization of the intergovernmental mandate to “lead, coordinate and promote the accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women” at the corporate, regional and country team levels. The UNSCD is responsible for implementing system-wide accountability frameworks on gender mainstreaming: the UN-SWAP at corporate level and the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard at country team level. The Division seeks to contribute to enhancing coherence in the work of the UN system on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist is a member of the UN System Coordination Division’s team which is part of the Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships Bureau of UN Women.

Under the guidance of the UN Coordination Advisor, the Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist will contribute to and support gender mainstreaming in the UN system, including through providing technical contributions and substantive support to the implementation of the UN System-Wide Action Plan and Accountability Framework on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP) and the synergies and complementarities with the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard; providing substantive support to the implementation of system-wide financial tracking mechanisms and targets and the inclusion of gender mainstreaming criteria in pooled funding and system-wide innovative financing mechanisms; providing substantially contributions to monitoring and reporting individual and aggregate results in the UN system to intergovernmental processes and high-level UN global coordination mechanisms and evaluating the effectiveness of UN Women in coordinating the UN system for gender equality results; providing substantive support to the preparation of communication materials, implementation of capacity building initiatives, knowledge management and outreach efforts; and providing other support as requested.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide technical contributions and substantive support to the implementation of the UN System-Wide Action Plan and Accountability Framework on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP) and the synergies and complementarities with the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard:

Provide coordination and technical support and guidance to the implementation of the UN-SWAP, collaborating closely with other UN entities, funds and programmes and UN coordinating bodies;
Coordinate and provide technical support to the UN-SWAP Help Desk Support service, including providing guidance, training and expert advice;
Identify and deploy expert advisors, as necessary;
Develop relevant guidance plans and other initiatives to support gender equality policies, strategies and mechanisms for managerial accountability;
Provide substantive and organizational support to the UN-SWAP inter-agency workshops and meetings, including drafting work plans, developing meeting agendas, overseeing logistical arrangements for meetings, and issuing regular communications to the UN-SWAP Focal Point Network;
Review the design, technical notes and overall adequacy and implementation of the UN system-wide accountability frameworks for gender mainstreaming in light of feedback from entities and recommendations from other coordination bodies and input from Member States and provide suggestions for improvement;
Provide technical support to UN-SWAP focal points to promote the use of data generated through the process of implementation of the accountability frameworks, gender focused evaluations, gender audits, gender responsive evaluations and similar tools.

Provide substantive support to the implementation of system-wide financial tracking mechanisms and targets and the inclusion of gender mainstreaming criteria in pooled funding and system-wide innovative financing mechanisms:

Provide technical contributions to the development of policy on financial tracking mechanisms for gender equality and the empowerment of women (gender markers);
Contribute to harmonized reporting on financing for gender equality in individual entities and aggregate, system-wide reporting;
Provide quality assurance for the implementation of the gender markers;
Contribute to consolidated reporting of data on financing for gender equality in the UN system;
Provide technical support to pooled funds secretariats to integrate criteria for gender equality and the empowerment of women in the design, selection of proposals, implementation and monitoring of trust funds and other financing mechanisms, including those established for the UN response to the health and development crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;
Monitor and report on the mapping and costing of the UN system gender architecture.

Provide substantive support to monitoring and reporting individual and aggregate results on the implementation of the gender mainstreaming strategy in the UN system to intergovernmental processes and high-level UN global coordination mechanisms and evaluating the contributions of UN Women to UN Coordination and a stronger UN system in their work on gender equality and the empowerment of women:

Conduct quantitative and qualitative monitoring of policy, practice and progress made by the organizations of the UN System for enhanced gender mainstreaming and analysis of annual UN-SWAP reporting results;
Provide substantive support to the production of entity level reports on annual UN-SWAP reporting results and provide technical contributions to the quality assurance of self-reporting by UN entities;
Draft inputs for the annual report of the Secretary General on “Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system;
Provide substantive input in the preparation of position papers and reports for policy-making organs, as requested;
Contribute to the design and implementation of evaluative mechanisms to assess the extent to which UN Women’s UN Coordination mandate is effective and perceived as contributing to a more effective UN system to deliver on gender equality and the empowerment of women through a variety of mandates; headquarters and field levels; and geographical areas.

Provide substantive support to the preparation of communication materials, capacity building initiatives, knowledge management and outreach efforts related to gender mainstreaming and system-wide accountability frameworks:

Provide technical contributions to the conceptualization and development of knowledge products to increase accountability for gender mainstreaming;
Lead the management of the UN-SWAP Knowledge Hub, an online repository of resources for each of the performance areas of the UN-SWAP, including policies, practices, training materials and lessons learned;
Manage the UN-SWAP online reporting site, including liaising with site developers and overseeing necessary updates and improvement of the reporting mechanisms and user experience;
Manage and update webpages related to promoting accountability on the UN Women global website;
Provide technical contributions for the development communication and information products such as newsletters, website updates, social media and other dissemination materials;
Collaborate with the UN Women Training Centre for UN system-wide capacity building initiatives on gender mainstreaming and accountability on gender mainstreaming and strengthening the focal point system, and coordinate, and/or contribute substantively to seminars, expert group meetings, panel discussions, etc. on emerging topics related to the UN-SWAP and system-wide accountability frameworks;
Develop and strengthen partnerships with a broad range of actors in the UN System and in the private and nongovernmental sectors working on accountability for gender mainstreaming
Support statistical analysis to identify lessons learned from individual entities and system-wide mechanisms;
Provide technical contributions in the replication of accountability frameworks to other sectoral areas;
Provide support for the implementation of stocktaking and lessons-learned exercises and maintain a database of good practices.

Provide programme support to UNSCD management priorities:

Assist in the administration of the work of the Division including the development and monitoring of annual workplans and budgets and preparation of inputs for results-based budgeting;
Assist in the selection, orientation and supervision of support staff and interns;
Provide support the mobilization of resources by developing proposals for member states, private sector, foundations, individuals and other potential donors on the coordination and implementation of accountability frameworks for gender mainstreaming;
Collaborate with other UN Women Divisions and Regional and Country offices in the dissemination of information and results from the implementation of the UN system-wide accountability frameworks on gender mainstreaming;
Contribute to corporate priorities, events and activities such as International Women’s Day, Beijing plus 25, CSW and other relevant inter-divisional and inter-agency task forces, as required;
Provide substantive support to policy papers, briefing notes and talking points as required;
Represent UN Women at briefings and meetings as required;

Provide any other support as requested by the supervisor and Division Director.

Key Performance Indicators:

The results of the work of the Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist impact the effectiveness of UN Women's support to the UN System in improving accountability and systemwide performance on gender mainstreaming at global, regional and country team level.

Quality and timely inputs to written reports and other documents;
Timely monitoring and reporting of individual and aggregate results on accountability for gender mainstreaming;
Quality and timely monitoring and reporting on financing for gender equality in the UN system;
Substantive and timely support to the individual entity and formal reporting mechanisms;
Timely and responsive support in the organization of professional UN-SWAP and gender equality network meetings;
Number of strong partnerships and collaborations and timely exchange of ideas.

Competencies

Core values:

Integrity;
Professionalism;
Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

Strong knowledge of Inter-agency processes related to gender equality and the work of the UN on gender equality issues;
Excellent drafting, editing and oral presentation skills and ability to write and advocate succinctly;
Strong planning and organizing skills;
Good supervisory skills;
Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
Demonstrated judgement in decision-making;
Demonstrated negotiating, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills;
Technological awareness and ability to leverage information technology for optimal performance;
Demonstrated skills in capacity building to diverse teams and individuals;
Demonstrated skills in organizing large inter-agency/inter organization meetings, preparing reports, keeping records, follow-up etc.;
Demonstrated skills in the use of Knowledge Management (KM) strategies and practices;
Strong skills in data research and statistical analysis, as well as demonstrated knowledge in qualitative and quantitative monitoring;
Familiarity with financial tracking mechanisms, pooled funding and gender budgeting tools.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's degree (or equivalent) in one or more of the following disciplines: gender issues, social sciences, economics, or other related fields. Qualifications/Training in data analysis, data research, and/or evaluation highly desirable.
A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

At least 5 years of experience focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, including at the international level;
Demonstrated experience supporting inter-agency bodies and UN Coordination mechanisms to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women required;
Demonstrated experience supporting capacity-building related to gender mainstreaming required;
Experience in the UN Common System required, ideally in a diversity of UN system locations;
Experience in financial tracking mechanisms, financial targeting or implementation of pooled funding across the UN system;
Demonstrated engagement with gender equality issues including research report writing, evaluative assessments and data compilation and analysis of relevance to broad accountability frameworks and its multiple dimensions.

Languages:

Fluency in English is required;
Working knowledge of French is an advantage;
Knowledge of the other UN official working 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 https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 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.