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.

As the UN agency with the mandate to work on gender equality, UN Women is responsible for leading and coordinating United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world and at the country level. UN Women is also expected to provide strong and coherent leadership in support of countries’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society, the nodal government agency, private sector and other relevant actors.

In times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, women and girls face higher risk of violence.  Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in India remains a highly prevalent and protracted problem which not only affects the human rights many women, girls and other vulnerable group, but remains a major public health and development challenge. COVID-19 outbreak has uncovered the existing inequalities in families and society in India and exacerbated the structural factors that contribute to SGBV in its different forms including domestic violence, intimate partier violence, violence against children, sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, and at different sites- private pubic, work and online. The UN Secretary General made an appeal to the leaders of the Members States to put ‘Women and Girls Safety first’ and center- stage gender responsive measures in their plans to address the challenge of COVID-19, to build back better and equal world. India was among 140 countries to endorse the Call.

In response to this urgent concern, UN Women, along with three other UN agencies – UNICEF, WHO and UNHCR, initiated a joint programme under the Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF). The programme has been envisioned to enhance the protection of women and girls from SGBV in the times of COVID-19, to be implemented in 3 States, focusing on the most vulnerable groups, and with the following specific objectives:

• Ensure availability of and accessibility to gender responsive and age sensitive protection
• Improved access to gender-sensitive justice systems for women and girls at risk or of survivors
• Increase women and girl’s awareness of risks of SGBV and harmful practices, and empowerment and engagement in decision making
• Reduce women and girl’s economic vulnerability and increase access to livelihood and income generation programs, which can increase women autonomy and capacity to negotiate violence-free relationships

Theory of Change (TOC): IF:

• gender responsive, age sensitive, quality, multi-sectoral coordinated essential services are made continuously available and accessible for women and girls at risk of and/or survivors of SGBV;
• capacity of the justice systems is enhanced for improved access of women and girls at risk of and/or survivors of SGBV;
• women and are aware of the risks of SGBV and other harmful practices, are empowered and increasingly engaged in decision making processes related to issues of their concerns within the overall COVID19 response and recovery plan; and
• vulnerable families of women and girls at risk of and/or survivors of SGBV reduce their economic vulnerability and increase access to social protection and livelihood programmes.

THEN:

• women and girls have access to basic essential services and justice system, thus better protected;
• women and girl survivors of SGBV overcome the barriers of social stigma and discrimination to act and actively seek help from available SGBV specialized services including case management, legal aid, MHPSS at the early stage, thus protecting themselves and their peers from potential perpetrators;
• women and girls who are at risk and/or survivors of SGBV are empowered by having their life skills improved and receiving opportunities for access to education, and income generation to secure their essential livelihood and help them reach their full potential and become active contributor to the country’s economic recovery phase;
• women and girls who are at risk and/or survivors of SGBV in the times of COVID-19 have their resilience strengthened against the socio-economic shocks and have better understanding of their rights and execute these rights to protect themselves from potential risks of SGBV or its reoccurrence.

THEREFORE, there will be a substantial reduction of SGBV among women and girls since that is prevented before it happens or re-occurs, and those experienced SGBV will be empowered to recover and rebuild their lives with gender responsive and continuous provision of essential socio-economic services.

The programme will be implemented leveraging the complementarities of the mandates and technical expertise among UN agencies – UNICEF, UN WOMEN, WHO and UNHCR – while taking stock of the full knowledge on sustainable and resilient development of the entire United Nations System through the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in India. The joint programme is based on fundamental rights and principles of women and girls, addressing urgent needs of women and girls being at risk and/or experiencing SGBV, while at the same time ensure the linkages with long-term perspective of building back better and equal for women and girls in the economic recovery phase.

The proposed joint programme under MPTF will initiate targeted, gender responsive interventions to address the existing gaps in protecting women and girls from all forms of SGBV, either online or offline, through a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach in addressing the multiple factors driving SGBV in the times of COVID-19. It brings in the UN support where service provision is considered as lifesaving and urgent/immediate response while continue the support at macro level and linking with the overall systems strengthening strategy.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Programme Specialist Lead– Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW Specialist) and Girls and Programme Analyst – Intergovernmental Processes and UN Inter-agency Coordination (IGP-UNC Analyst), the Programme Coordinator is responsible for leading the select thematic/sectoral areas assigned to UN Women within the Multiple Partnership Programme. The Programme Coordinator will support formulation, management and evaluation of programme activities within his/her portfolio and provide policy advice services on the sectoral themes.

The Programme Coordinator will coordinate activities with the three UN agencies that are a part of the Joint Programme under MPTF and with relevant team members at UN Women. The Coordinator will work in close collaboration with the operations team, programme staff in other UN Agencies, UN WOMEN staff and Government officials, technical advisors and experts, multilateral and bilateral donors and civil society ensuring successful implementation of specific components of the programme.

Summary of Key Functions:

• Implementation of programme strategies under the Joint MPTF Programme (UN Women Component);
• Management of the Joint MPTF Programme;
• Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilization strategy for the MPTF programme activities and the EVAW programmes;
• Provision of advisory services to the Government and facilitation of knowledge building and management;
• Any other duties assigned by the supervisor.

Support the management and provide technical support:

• Provide technical support in the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for the delivery of technical assistance, policy advocacy and programme support. The strategy should reflect the response and recovery of COVID-19;
• Delivery and monitoring of activities aligned to the MPTF Framework;
• Draft annual workplans and  progress and financial reports under the MPTF Framework and as per internal UN Women processes;
• Facilitate outreach and media campaigns on SGBV for women and girls and also men and boys;
• Review project implementation and expenditure using ATLAS;
• Document good practices and updates from the programme, for website and quarterly reporting;
• Regular coordination with the Programme Lead – (EVAWG), Programme Analyst – IGP-UNC, and the trainings and logistics coordinator;
• Lead other related tasks .

Implementing of processes and documentation:

• Document and track innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches;
• Ensure the implementation of the programme aligned to the programme strategy;
• Review and adopt  new approaches as applicable;
• Lead scoping studies to analyse gender responsive budgeting and planning including steps to address SGBV at the State and National level.

Coordination and maintaining database of partners:

• Coordinate with UN agencies under the joint programme and other team members of UN Women;
• Expand and maintain a database of partners including law enforcement agents and agencies, government functionaries and nodal Ministries. addressing the heterogenous women’s group (disability, age, ethnicity, etc.)
• Build and facilitate strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders and expand its scope to school-level safety  and health programmes;
• Ensure effective communication and coordination with partners;
• Draft and work in accordance with the resource mobilization strategy;
• Track and report on mobilized resources.

Basic research and analysis:

• Research best practices and pose new, more effective ways of doing things;
• Build and support the development of knowledge resources on SGBV: prevention and response including but not limited to resource kits/tool kits, information booklets; technology enabled interactive audio-visual tools and posts on social media for a multi-stakeholder audience;
• Build collective evidence on existing policies and legal frameworks (such as POCSO), programmes (such as MNREGA), official data records (NCRB, NFHS, NCPCR) along with data from civil society (such as CHILDLINE). This will facilitate meaningful conversation on addressing gaps and formulating recommendations;
• Maintain a record of meetings and official communication.

Support the preparation of information for advocacy:

• Identify relevant information for advocacy with multiple and varied stakeholders and partners;
• Provide policy advice and technical support to Government functionaries, law enforcement agencies and individual stakeholders;
• Build an online repository of knowledge resources and meeting records.

Any other task assigned by the Programme Lead and Representative /Deputy Representative with regard to overall programmatic functions.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and accurate support to events, workshops, and missions;
• Full compliance of administrative activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures;
• Timely recording of overall programme unit finances;
• Timely and accurate tracking of data for CO management and donor purposes;
• Quality maintenance of internal systems.

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

• Good knowledge of programme management;
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Strong financial and budgeting skills;
• Strong IT skills.

Education:

• Masters degree in social sciences, women’s human rights, international studies, law or any other related discipline.

Experience:

• 5 years of professional experience with programming, especially project design, implementation, management and evaluation;
• Programming experience on human rights and violence against women would be an asset;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and advance knowledge of spread sheet and database packages;
• Experience in handling of web-based management systems.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Hindi is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Application Information: Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
• 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;
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

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.