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.

2020 is a milestone year for gender equality. It marks the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) (Beijing+25), the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security, and the 5th anniversary of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Generation Equality Forum is a civil society-centered , global gathering for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France. This global gathering, planned for the spring of 2021 (Mexico City in March 2021 and Paris in June 2021), has two objectives: firstly, it will bring actors together, especially young people, to chart forward a fresh and bold agenda to foster intergenerational, intersectional and multi-stakeholder movement for gender equality. Secondly, it will launch the Action Coalitions:  set of innovative multi-stakeholder programmes to achieve tangible results on gender equality across six key thematic areas, to support the UN Decade of Action (2020-2030) and accelerate results towards delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. Generation Equality seeks to advance an extraordinary agenda, both in approach and level of ambition, to accelerate progress on gender equality across the world.

Under the supervision of the Action Coalition Co-Leads, the Chief Technical Specialist will oversee the Action Coalition team as a whole and ensure delivery of results across all workstreams:  (1) development and delivery of technically-robust Action Coalition blueprints; (b) a robust Action Coalition Engagement Strategy is crafted and implemented with key stakeholders and delivers clear commitments; (c) a clear and feminist-defined Action Coalition Operational Framework, including the governance, operational & financial models.  The selected staff will coordinate alignment across UN Women with a particular focus to harness synergies with the Generation Equality Forum Secretariat and its various workstreams. In addition, the Advisor will lead the setting of strategic priorities for the team, ensure the development and implementation of effective accountability mechanisms and risk management strategies.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Functions:

  • Provide management and political guidance on the engagement of the Action Coalitions.
  • Coordinate and facilitate the engagement of the Action Coalitions with UN Women’s governing mechanisms, including senior management (ELT, SMT) and the UN Women Executive Board, including by leading political discussions on the Action Coalitions processes and composition, in coordination and alignment with the GEF Secretariat:
  • Coordinate and plan the engagement and positioning of the Action Coalitions with the Generation Equality Forum’s governance mechanisms:  Generation Equality Core Group, Civil Society Advisory Group, Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee, Beijing+25 Youth Task Force

Provide  guidance to the effective development and implementation of the Action Coalition blueprints and delivery:

  • Oversee and provide advice on the technical development and implementation of the Action Coalitions by ensuring successful completion of the blueprints and workplans for each of the six Coalitions as well as for the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action.
  • Provide technical input into the development and implementation of Action Coalition blueprints, in areas of unique background and expertise. 
  • Provide strategic guidance to the methodological approach for finalizing the Action Coalition blueprints, including to ensure effective strategic engagement of both the leadership and membership structures
  • Working with UN Women’s Research and Data section, design the measurement, learning and research strategy for the Action Coalitions implementation period (2021-2026). 
  • Facilitate effective coordination and cross-fertilization of expertise across UN Women’s units and divisions, including UN Women‘s Research and Data section as well as thematic and functional teams across the organization, as well as UN Women regional and country offices
  • Monitor to ensure that the Actions Coalitions are inclusive, intergenerational and intersectional by providing advice on and oversee the engagement of youth and adolescent girls, as well as by ensuring that all activities and communications products on the Actions Coalitions are accessible to a broad audience.
  • Provide technical guidance and input into shaping how the Action Coalitions are structured within UN Women’s Next Strategic Plan (2022-2026).  This may include direct work with the Strategic Plan ‘Program Impact and Results’ Task Team. 

Coordinate the Action Coalition stakeholder engagement strategy and commitments

  • Provide technical inputs Action Coalition co-leads on the development of a stakeholder engagement strategy, ensuring broad-based support for the Action Coalitions and the co-creation process that will lead to the launch of the AC implementation agenda and related commitments in July 2021, in coordination and alignment with the GEF Secretariat & Communications/Engagement Consultant:
  • Provide advice and oversee the design and implementation of an internal and external communication and knowledge management strategy for the Actions Coalitions

Support the design and development of the Action Coalition operational model:

  • Working with the public and private sector coordination leads, provide technical and coordination support to the Action Coalitions and the Women Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action Compact Manager in finalizing the leadership and membership structures for the Action Coalitions
  • Working with the programmatic and operations management team, ensure clarity on the final design of the Action Coalition Operational Framework, including finalization of the Action Coalition Membership model and clarity on the role of UN Women as Secretariat for the coming 5 years. 
  • Leverage internal and external resources to design the financial model: financial commitment rules, financial flows, financial approval and control process
  • Develop the implementation plan: stakeholders involved in the implementation, role sharing, expected milestones

Facilitate and ensure effective collaboration among the AC Secretariat and with the GEF Secretariat:

  • Coordinate and facilitate the AC Secretariat on effective collaboration and engagement with key stakeholder groups including:
    • GEF governance structure bodies (Core Group, MSSC, CSAG)
    • UN Women field offices
    • UN System Agencies, Funds and Programmes
    • Other external partners including Member States, private sector, civil society partners that are current or prospective Action Coalition leaders or members
  • Working with the Senior Advisor, Communications, provide technical and coordination support to the planning during the lead up to the Forum in 2021, including through collaborating closely with the GEF Secretariat on key stakeholder engagement activities, such as the Public Conversations Platform, the Curated Discussions and other communication and stakeholder engagement activities as needed, ensuring effective inclusion and engagement of the Action Coalitions leaders and members in all stakeholder engagement initiatives
  • Ensure effective internal and external engagement of different stakeholders by ensuring that information is communicated in a clear, consistent manner, and that risks are mitigated and addressed timely and effectively.

Manage finances and personnel and administration:

  • Supervise and manage a team of professional and administrative personnel, review performance as well as mentor and coach personnel
  • Oversee all resource management of the Action Coalitions including human and financial resources such as:
    • Personnel recruitment and temporary measures while recruitments are underway;
    • Oversee the implantation and update of the AC budget, including expenditures, and the allocation and disbursement of funds;
    • Oversee all procurement processes necessary for the successful execution of the AC work plan

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Timely coordination and facilitation of Action Coalitions launch at Paris Forum in June 2021.
  • AC leaders and members express satisfaction at the engagement and development of the ACs.
  • Internal engagement and support of the ACs is strong and helps strengthen the development of ACs.
  • Efficient coordination and collaboration between the AC and GEF Secretariats, meeting all key milestones and deadlines.
  • The 6 Actions Coalitions, as well as the WPSHA Compact, are inclusive, intergenerational and intersectional in nature, center-staging the voices of youth and adolescent girls.

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 gender equality, women's rights and international development cooperation.
  • Strong networking and partnership building skills.
  • Strong organizational skills, ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
  • Strong project management skills.
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Strong leadership skills.
  • Ability to convey a mission and vision.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:             

  • Master’s Degree or equivalent in social sciences, gender studies, political science, international relations, business administration or management, public administration, or other related fields;
  • 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 7 years of relevant experience at the national and international levels, including in roles that pertain to project management and team leadership.
  • Previous experience in organizing multi-stakeholder high level initiatives or partnership development.
  • Strong technical programmatic experience on gender equality and at least two of the thematic areas pertinent to the Action Coalitions.
  • Experience coordinating or managing a multi-cultural team.
  • Experience working with key stakeholder groups including UN Member States, private sector and civil society is an asset.

Language Requirements:  

  • Fluency in English is required.
  • Fluency in French and/or Spanish would be considered 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.