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. 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 support to Member States’ efforts and priorities in meeting their gender equality goals and for building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In line with UN Women Global Strategic Plan (2018-2021), and its Country Strategic Note (2019-2022) in Turkey, UN Women works towards three overarching goals: 1) Women lead, participate in, and benefit equally from governance systems; 2) All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence; 3) Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. Towards these goals, UN Women implements programmes and projects that aim to advance gender equality, improve women’s access to opportunities, rights and services in political, social and economic life and combat gender stereotypes, discrimination and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments.

The conflict in Syria has caused the largest humanitarian displacement crisis in the world, which has resulted in Turkey becoming the world’s largest host of refugees, with over 3.6 million registered Syrians of which 46% are women and girls. Despite the efforts by the Government of Turkey, civil society, and the international community in support of refugees, Syrian women and girls under temporary protection in Turkey continue to face numerous barriers in meeting their basic needs and in effectively participating in social, economic and public life. Existing risks, vulnerabilities and inequalities faced by women and girls have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under its Refugee Response Programme portfolio, UN Women in Turkey has been collaborating with the central government, local authorities, civil society organizations and other UN agencies to empower Syrian women and girls under temporary protection as well as other refugee women and vulnerable women from the host communities, and to improve their access to opportunities, rights and services, as required by international treaties and national legislation. The Refugee Response Programme (RRP) consists of several projects that have been implemented over the past years with funding from the European Union, Government of Japan and Government of Iceland. It prioritizes the most-at-risk women, focusing on their immediate needs and long-term resilience in selected host municipalities. The programme interventions have focused on women’s agency and leadership, and the various dimensions of women’s needs, through an integrated approach that combines a broad range of services, social cohesion and empowerment activities. In addition to programmatic interventions, as part of its coordination mandate, UN Women Turkey provides technical support to the inter-agency coordination mechanism of the Turkey Refugee and Resilience Plan in Response to the Syria Crisis (3RP) to ensure a stronger gender perspective in the response, based on the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Gender Policy.

In 2021, building on the achievements and lessons learnt, UN Women will initiate a project ‘Strengthening the Socio-Economic Stabilization of Refugee and Host Community Women and Girls through Women’s Leadership in Gaziantep, Istanbul and Izmir.’ Implemented with funding from the Government of Japan, the project aims to increase and expand the role that women play and better serve them in humanitarian response and recovery efforts, adjusted to the emerging and urgent needs in COVID-19 context. The project will support refugee women and girls to have improved access to referral, psycho-social support, and counseling mechanisms as well as livelihoods opportunities. It will also support women’s leadership and organizations to enhance stability, resilience, and peaceful co-existence in their communities. UN Women will collaborate with diverse partners, including local authorities in Gaziantep, Istanbul and Izmir, civil society organizations, and women-led organizations for the implementation of this project and for ensuring the sustainability and replicability of the women-specific service delivery model through further capacity development.

Reporting to the Programme Management Specialist (NOD), the Project Coordinator exercises overall responsibility for the implementation of the Refugee Response Programme, including the project ‘Strengthening the Socio-Economic Stabilization of Refugee and Host Community Women and Girls through Women’s Leadership in Gaziantep, Istanbul and Izmir’ and its programmatic and financial delivery. S/he is responsible for developing and overseeing the implementation of annual plans, managing the project team, ensuring the production of quality progress and final reports, and managing risks and initiating corrective actions where necessary. The Project Coordinator works in close collaboration with the Operations and Programme teams of the Turkey Country Office, UN Women Regional Office and HQ staff as needed, the donor and all relevant national partners towards ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Manage the implementation of the project “Strengthening the Socio-Economic Stabilization of Refugee and Host Community Women and Girls through Women’s Leadership in Gaziantep, Istanbul and Izmir’ and coordinate the Refugee Response Programme

  • Coordinate the Programme work plan development and implementation according to the UN Women Turkey Strategic Note and the Programme documents, and in line with the overall UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Turkey (2021-2025);
  • Liaise with the national and local counterparts, donors, UN Women and partners to ensure the Programme results are achieved and resources are managed;
  • Prepare and present work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to UN Women, donors, partners and inter-agency coordination mechanisms as required;
  • Establish systems for project planning, implementation and monitoring, in collaboration with partners;
  • Record and maintain documents on relevant Programme activities, issues, and risks.

2. Guide coordination with national partners and other stakeholders

  • Coordinate relationships with national and local partners to support implementation and expansion of the Refugee Response Programme, raise potential problems and provide solutions;
  • Provide guidance to partners on establishment of performance indicators, and monitoring achievement of results;
  • Identify capacity building needs and support partners through technical assistance, mentoring, training, cross-partner learning, and capacity development initiatives.
  • Participate in and provide substantive inputs to the inter-agency coordination mechanism of the Turkey Refugee and Resilience Plan in Response to the Syria Crisis (3RP).

3. Coordinate the monitoring and reporting on the Refugee Response Programme

  • Gather and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting on programmes and projects from the planning to the evaluation stages;
  • Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds by partners; conduct regular monitoring visits;
  • Write annual and quarterly reports; review and coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
  • Provide inputs from the Programme activities and results to various internal and external reporting requirements of the UN Women Country Office.

4. Manage financial resources and supervise personnel.

  • Supervise and manage a team of professional and administrative personnel, review performance and mentor/ coach personnel;
  • Coordinate development and preparation of financial resources of the Programme including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting;
  • Oversee and monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to participating partners.

5. Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

  • Provide technical support to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
  • Identify potential programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships.

6. Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication

  • Ensure documentation of the programme implementation process and products produced are in accordance with UN Women guidelines;
  • Contribute to the exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally of the programme;
  • Organize major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products.

Key Performance Indicators

  • Timely and quality implementation of Programme activities against set workplans, timelines and budgets, in line with the Strategic Note
  • Quality and timely reporting
  • Strong relations with partners and stakeholders
  • Regular and timely monitoring of activities 
  • Timely and quality implementation of advocacy events in line with work plan
  • Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated

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

Functional Competencies

  • Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
  • Strong budget and finance skills
  • Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
  • Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports in order to inform management and strategic decision-making
  • Strong analytical skills
  • Good knowledge of UN programme management systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:                                                                                                                         
  • Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences or other related areas 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.
Experience:                                
  • At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions, including program design, implementation, and monitoring, with governmental and non-governmental partners.
  • At least 1 year of experience in the field of gender equality and/or women’s empowerment is an asset.
  • At least 1 year of experience in the field of humanitarian/refugee response is an asset.
  • Previous experience working in the UN system is an asset.
Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in English and Turkish is required.
  • Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

The application package for the Project Coordinator - Refugee Response  position should consist of:

How to Submit the Application:

  • Download and complete the UN Women Personal History Form (P11)- https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558
  • Merge your UN Women Personal History Form (P11), CV and Motivation Letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.
  • Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement).
  • Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
  • Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above).
  • You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Notes:

  • UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
  • Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.  

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.