Background

The Ministry of Gender, Child Development and Community Development has requested support from UN Women to support its efforts to mainstream gender in emergency/disaster preparedness, planning and humanitarian response in Malawi across clusters.  The Ministry of Gender, Child Development and Community Development has proposed the recruitment of Gender in Humanitarian Action/ Disaster Risk Reduction Consultant to support the government efforts to promote gender equality and empowerment of women in humanitarian action and across the preparedness - humanitarian – relief – development nexus. 

The Consultant will provide technical support on gender mainstreaming and women empowerment across all clusters under the Inter-cluster Coordination Committee of the Ministry of Disaster Management Affairs and Public Events comprising membership of government ministries, departments, and agencies, the UN, local and international humanitarian organizations.

The position will be based in the Department of Disaster Management Affairs offices in Lilongwe. The Consultant will work across the Department of Risk Reduction and Department of Response and Recovery.  She/He will report to the Director of Response and Recovery.  She/he will work under the guidance of the Director of Gender Affairs in the Ministry of Gender, Child Development and Community Development and UN Women Representative.

The Gender in Humanitarian Action/ Disaster Risk Reduction Consultant (GIHA / DRR) will lead the work on Gender in Humanitarian Action / Disaster Risk Reduction by facilitating the design and formulation of   Gender responsive Humanitarian/ DRR programming. She / He will support the implementation and management of programmes, provide capacity building to partners, establish and strengthen partnerships, support resource mobilization, support inter-agency coordination and manage advocacy, communication and knowledge management relating to gender.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Design and develop programme strategies on Gender in Humanitarian Action/Disaster Risk Reduction 

  • Design and formulate concept notes, programme/project proposals and initiatives on Gender in Humanitarian Action / DRR and humanitarian – relief – development nexus programming;
  • Draft inputs to strategy documents, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to Humanitarian Action / DRR and humanitarian – relief – development nexus programming;
  • Provide technical inputs to concept notes and programme proposals on humanitarian response, ensuring gender is mainstreamed;
  • Facilitate gender assessments, gender analysis, and ensuring gender is mainstreamed in humanitarian and emergency plans and activities across all clusters
  • Review documents such as the Standards Operating Procedures, plans, monitoring and evaluation plans etc to ensure gender issues are fully addressed

2. Manage the implementation and management of the gender humanitarian/DRR program activities

  • Develop annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
  •  Support gender mainstreaming across all clusters and across the project management cycle
  • Support monitoring and reporting of the programme to ensure gender disaggregated data and analysis

3. Provide capacity building support to government especially DoDMA, Ministry of Gender, Child Development and Community Development, and UN teams and partners

  • Provide technical and policy support to government, country office teams in developing and strengthening gender issues in projects/ programmes;
  • Implement and monitor capacity building initiatives;
  • Provide technical support to partners on integration of gender in humanitarian action and DRR.
  • Support partners to incorporate PSEA related issues in capacity building of DODMA and across inter-cluster Gender mainstreaming in COVID 19 and other responses

4. Support partnerships with government, stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners

  •  Maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of gender in humanitarian action/DRR;
  • Contribute inputs to updates and briefs on country development situation to be used by government, stakeholders, UN Women Country Office and HQ;

5. Support the resource mobilization strategy for humanitarian action in the Country Office

  • Participate in the implementation, monitoring and periodic updating of the gender sensitive resource mobilization strategy on humanitarian action;
  • Provide technical support to the country office in mobilizing resources for the implementation of engendered humanitarian action;
  • Research and analyze information on donors and their respective interests.

6. Manage the advocacy of humanitarian action/DRR through inter-agency coordination

  • Provide technical support to the Director of Gender Affairs, DoDMA Director and UN Women Representative on inter-agency coordination on humanitarian action including through the Humanitarian Country Team;
  • Work closely with, and provide advice to DoDMA, Inter-cluster Committee, national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to humanitarian action/DRR;
  • Coordinate specific efforts in mainstreaming gender interagency clusters of disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts
  • Foster the engagement and participation of gender focused local organizations and civil society networks in humanitarian coordination mechanisms.

7. Manage advocacy and communication efforts of humanitarian action

  • During emergency response, develop and implement communication and advocacy messages and contribute inputs to strategies on key gender and protection concerns;
  • Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to humanitarian action and DRR as necessary;
  • In collaboration with the relevant Communications focal points develop information, education and communication (IEC) materials, press releases, situation reports, alerts and contribute to documents prepared by DoDMA and other stakeholders

8. Manage knowledge building and sharing for humanitarian action

  • Develop and review background documents, briefs and presentations in humanitarian action and DRR and ensure gender is mainstreamed;
  • Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning that incorporate gender;
  • Develop knowledge management strategies, products and methodologies on gender in humanitarian action/DRR.

Key Performance Indicators

  • Technical support provided to DoDMA to mainstream Gender into Disaster preparedness, response, and recovery plans namely:  National COVID-19 Action plan; National Emergency preparedness and response plans; Cluster level plans and District level plans as applicable
  • Technical support provided to DoDMA and the Ministry of Gender on stakeholder review of Rapid Gender Analysis, gender assessments and other relevant data collection tools
  • Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner
  • Timely and quality knowledge products and IEC materials
  • Effective collaboration and communication between relevant stakeholders- DoDMA, Ministry of Gender, UN Women and other stakeholders

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

Required Skills and Experience

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights, gender, international relations, international development, international law, or other social science fields is required.
  • 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 (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.
  • At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in designing and managing humanitarian programmes, with a particular focus on gender and protection in emergencies;
  • Technical experience in inter-agency coordination, preferably protection cluster coordination, and/or ProCap/GenCap in a natural disaster setting;
  • At least 5 years of civil service experience is preferred
  • Experience in project management, policy analysis and strategic planning;
  • Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
  • Experience working with the UN is an asset