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

UN Women works to support women’s engagement in peace and security to promote improved implementation, and monitoring and reporting of global commitments on women and peace and security, including as set out in Beijing Platform for Action and in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015), relevant Statements by the President of the Security Council, as well as related accountability frameworks established by the UN system. In conflict resolution, the UN Women works to strengthen the capacity of actors engaged in inclusive peacemaking, conflict resolution, and national dialogue processes to enhance women’s participation and influence and to secure gender-equality outcomes.  

At the regional level, UN Women works to drive forward the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda in the Arab States. This includes support to regional bodies and civil society organizations, collaboration with UN agencies – in particular the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, and support to UN Women’s country offices. Regional work includes support to the implementation of regional and National Action Plans on Women, Peace, and Security, regional dialogue work on gender and preventing violent extremism and work on inclusive peace and mediation processes.

Reporting to the Regional Director, the Policy Advisor, Women, Peace, and Security, will oversee the development and implementation of WPS programmes, provide capacity building to country offices and programme presences, establish and strengthen partnerships, and develop relevant knowledge products on WPS. The advisor will also support in further defining UN Women’s support in the humanitarian – peace - development nexus and work closely with the humanitarian and other teams in RO for programmatic complementarity and coherence.

Manage the development of programmes on WPS across the region

• Manage the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for the delivery of technical assistance, policy advocacy and programme support in the region;
• Manage the development of regional programme documents on WPS;
• Oversee the contextualization/ localization of programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products, and ensure proper monitoring and reporting in WPS;
• Oversee the implementation of UN Women WPS regional initiatives, ensuring interventions are delivered on scope, time and budget;
• Manage the WPS and Syria team.

Lead the provision of capacity building support to regional and country office teams and partners

• Lead country office and regional office programme teams in developing and strengthening policies, projects/ programmes and modalities to support the implementation of global norms and standards; and ensuring proper monitoring;
• Manage the identification of knowledge and implementation gaps and possible solutions;
• Develop, implement and monitor capacity-building initiatives;
• Lead the provision of technical policy advice to programme/ project managers/ specialists in the country offices.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships for the advancement of WPS;
• Build and strengthen close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards WPS;
• Produce periodic updates and briefs on regional/country development situation to be used by stakeholders, CO and HQ;
• Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women HQ.

 Manage the resource mobilization strategy for WPS in the region

• Participate in the implementation, monitoring and periodic updating of the resource mobilization strategy on WPS in the region;
• Provide technical support to field-based presences in the region in mobilizing resources for the implementation of WPS programmes;
• Research and analyze information on donors; prepare substantive briefs and project document on possible areas of cooperation.

 Lead the design of WPS in the region and the development of relevant knowledge products

• Lead the provision of policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on WPS;
• Lead and provide advice to regional/ national bodies; represent UN Women in interagency groups that influence national policies related to WPS;
• Contribute substantively and lead existing thematic and gender equality networks to better connect UN Women and partners;
• Contribute to defining UN Women’s support in the humanitarian – peace - development nexus in the MENA region;
• Lead the research, development, and presentation of analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, correspondence on WPS;
• Identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities.

Manage knowledge building and sharing for WPS

• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with country offices;
• Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among country offices;
• Manage and monitor the regional knowledge platform and innovative approaches in WPS.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality technical advice and support;
• Leadership in the area of expertise in the region;
• Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner;
• Regular communication and information flow with other UN Women Advisors Quality strategic documents delivered in a timely manner;
• Timely and quality knowledge products;
• Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders;
• UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise;
• Increase in resources mobilized.

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.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: 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:

• Excellent knowledge of WPS;
• Strong knowledge of the Arab States region;
• Excellent networking skills;
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities, and threats to fundraising;
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Excellent knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management, and reporting.

Education and certification:

• A Master’s degree or equivalent to WPS, human rights, international relations, or other social science fields is required.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of  progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for WPS, with experience in developing countries;
• Experience in programme, 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 system is an asset;
• Experience working in the Arab region is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required
• Working Knowledge of Arabic and /or French 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 P11 form. 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.