The population of South Sudan is estimated as 11 million people that continue to reel from the cumulative effects of years of conflict, violence, destroyed livelihoods and infrastructures and inadequate basic services. More than 2.1 million South Sudanese refugees are in neighbouring countries in addition to 1.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), while 175,000 IDPs are in Protection of Civilians (PoCs) sites. South Sudan was ranked 186th out of 189 countries in the 2019 Human Development Index. Life expectancy for women is just 60 years and maternal mortality rate was estimated at 800 death per 100,000 births in 2019. Eighty one percent of people in South Sudan do not have access to an improved sanitation facility whilst around 60 % have limited or no access to improved water services. Women’s literacy rate (above 15 years old) was 28.86% and less literate than men in 2018, which is among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Women and girls are seen as a resource to families in need of wealth that can be obtained through dowry and men who require a family to ensure their status as viable members of their communities. The view of women and girls as a resource means that their education is not given priority thus women are more likely to be illiterate and drop out of school.

Existing gender inequalities coupled with the humanitarian impact on the displaced women and girls contribute to increased burden of reproductive and unpaid care activities; greater food insecurity as women tend to hold the burden of managing water, food and energy at the household level. Compounded with cultural norms and practices such as feeding the family especially the male members before themselves means subtle social practices such as self-care last means women and girls receive less of any available resources including humanitarian assistance in the form of food security. In addition, coping strategies such as early or forced marriage to increase personal security for young women and girls within a crisis setting is common, vulnerability to sexual exploitation and GBV which is already prevalent increases especially as much needed basic resources become scarce; sex work is increasingly used as coping strategies despite the increase in risk to health and personal safety. (41% of respondents in a 2009 survey had experienced SGBV within the last year. 45% of South Sudanese girls get married before 18 years and 7% before the age of 15 years. Maternity mortality is one of the highest in the world.) There is always fear of forced recruitment preventing girls and boys from attending school. The lack of access to appropriate health care especially reproductive health, as well as a lack of redress and access to justice for survivors of violence means potential lifelong impacts of the current humanitarian situation.

Understanding gender differences, inequalities, capacities as well as responding to different needs will contribute to improving the effectiveness of humanitarian actions and increase the level of accountability to affected populations.  Provision of humanitarian support while being universal requires it to be gender inclusive and specific. The needs of women and girls should be pronounced and articulated better in order for responses from both a policy and lifesaving approach are impactful in the immediate but also within the processes of recovery and building resilience for further sustained development post the conflict period. Therefore, a focus on the humanitarian / development nexus is essential at this time.  

Against this background, UN Women South Sudan’s approach will focus on leveraging UN Women’s coordination mandate to promote the mainstreaming of gender in humanitarian action by international and national partners in South Sudan. Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Deputy Country Representative, the gender advisor will be providing strategic technical support to facilitate and strengthen capacity and leadership of humanitarian partners to undertake and promote gender-sensitive humanitarian programming to ensure the distinct needs of women, girls, boys and men of all ages, are taken into account in humanitarian action at the country level, including in camp and non-camp settings. The GIHA advisor will also support efforts to build strong partnership with key stakeholders while enhancing knowledge management and capacity development.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Information and Analysis:

• Work with other humanitarian actors to enable the HCT, clusters/sectors, and other humanitarian actors to use gender analysis in order to ensure that all aspects of humanitarian action take into account the different needs of women, girls, boys and men of all ages and backgrounds;
• Supporting the collection and analysis of sex- and age-disaggregated data (quantitative, qualitative and anecdotal) by facilitating the inclusion of gender and diversity dimensions into needs assessment frameworks, including rapid assessments;
• Assisting relevant the different clusters/sectors and inter-agency coordination for a in analysing the gender-age and diversity-diversity responsiveness sensitivity of their current programmes/activities, vulnerability assessments and surveys; to identify gaps and challenges; and use this information in collaboration with partners to develop strategies for addressing sectorial gaps; 
• Conducting consultations with women organizations and women refugees to ensure their meaningful participation in all phases of the planning, coordination and response cycles;
• Prepare substantive inputs into key strategic UN documents, thoroughly analysing and researching the political, social and economic situation in South Sudan from a gender perspective.

2. Program and monitoring support:

• Participate in and support relevant Humanitarian Clusters and Sub-Clusters meetings as a Gender in Humanitarian Action Advisor.
• Assist clusters/sectors in strengthening the gender-sensitivity of their monitoring mechanisms, including indicator development and mentoring, monitoring of staff;
• Conduct and/or participate in field monitoring missions to assess if projects implementation takes into account the needs and capacities of women, girls, boys and men of all ages. Findings and lessons learned from such monitoring missions should be shared with project designers, clusters/sectors and organizations concerned, in an effort to strengthen projects designers’ capacity on gender and age;
• Promote the use of tools including the GAM, checklists and guidelines from the IASC Gender Handbook and other resources in the planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects.

3. Capacity Strengthening and Institutional Consolidation:

• Support Gender Focal Points by providing mentoring and guidance on gender-sensitive humanitarian and resilience programming, advocacy, and leadership;
• Facilitate and/or conduct training on gender in humanitarian action, Gender with Age marker and the use of gender-analysis tools through mentoring, training-of-trainers, webinars, training and one-on-one support.

4. Coordination and Policy Guidance:

• Provide technical support and advice to UN Women and coordination mechanisms on gender in humanitarian preparedness and response (incl. GBV prevention and PSEA, as necessary);
• Support the establishment/strengthening and sustainability of gender coordination mechanisms at the national, regional and local levels e.g. Women Peace and Security Working Group (WPS Group);
• Co-lead and strengthen UN Women’s leadership of the National Gender Focal Point Reference Group;
• Support and lead the development of Strategic Coordination Dialogues with UN agencies to strengthen/establish concrete partnerships with other UN agencies to further leverage the respective entities’ resources, expertise and mandates to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Build strategic alliances with other key actors internally and externally to advocate for gender-sensitive programming and ensure continuity of advocacy efforts;
• In coordination with the DCO and UN Women Regional Office, lead, promote and support the full implementation of UNCT SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard including alignment with UN system coordinated databases such as UNINFO to promote accountability for system-wide and interagency work on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

5. Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships Building:

• Build strategic alliances with other key actors internally and externally to advocate for gender programming and ensure continuity of advocacy efforts;
• Contribute to the streamlining and effectiveness of the UNCF Outcomes Groups to ensure gender priorities from the Humanitarian Response Plan and UN Women strategic note including annual work plan are aligned when possible;
• Support the development of strategic partnerships and alliances including government line ministries at the country level to promote gender equality and women's advancement in humanitarian response;
• Facilitate the gender-sensitivity of communication and advocacy efforts of UN Women and key clusters/sectors and agencies;
• Promote the need for and benefits of gender-sensitive programming to donors and decision makers;
• Identify opportunities to promote the issues, concerns, and ideas raised by affected women, girls, boys and men of all ages and background for both preparedness and response;
• Contribute to UN joint programming proposals for humanitarian funding such as CERF applications, women, peace and security and other funding opportunities for UN Women;
• Provide technical and organizational support to major campaigns and advocacy events such as 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence and Women’s Day.

6. Knowledge management:

• Undertake research and studies on gender and humanitarian action and contribute to the development and maintenance of knowledge networks and practices on mainstreaming gender into humanitarian response and recovery contexts;
• Collect and promote good practices and lessons learned, contributing to a collection of replicable good practices for gender-sensitive humanitarian and resilience programming;
• Elaborate and contribute to briefing notes, talking points and presentations;
• Contribute towards country strategy documents, programme/ project proposals, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to the humanitarian realm including gender-responsive governance and women, peace and security.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Documented timely and leadership support provided to UN Women humanitarian coordination efforts;
• Technical support on gender responsive humanitarian, peace and development nexus efforts and programs provided to humanitarian clusters including the HNO and HRP processes including Government line ministries;
• Approved Gender in Humanitarian Action annual work plan with clear indicators of success and results;
• Strong relationship with partners and stakeholders on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Quality of knowledge and advocacy products and donor reports.

Core values:

• Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
• Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work;
• Respect for Diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading. 

Education and certification: 

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required.

Experience: 

• At least 7 – 10 years of relevant, progressively responsible experience in gender coordination and management of humanitarian programming - preferably in conflict and post- conflict settings - and with a focus on promoting gender equality in the humanitarian coordination and programming context;
• Experience working with governments, donors, civil society organizations at the national and local levels and directly with communities;
• Professional project management, monitoring and evaluation experience;
• Familiarity and experience with humanitarian system coordination and results-based management would be an asset;
• Experience working within the UN and in inter-agency coordination would be also an asset;
•  Experience in working in emergency and crisis context is highly desirable;
• Prior experience in the UN System is an advantage;
• Prior experience in working at the country / regional level;
• Experience in leading a team.

Language Requirements: 

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

Application Information:

• Interested applicants can apply online; 
• 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, scan your documents into one single file. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment;

Qualified women candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

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.