UN WOMEN Jobs - 100075- International Consultants (2) Technical Advisor on

International Consultants (2) Technical Advisor on Financial Resource Tracking and Allocations for Gender Equality in the UN system

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-Aug-21 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

4 months with a possibility of extension

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

The consultancy is expected to take a minimum of 10 working days per month

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.

The Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) was established in 2011 by resolution 64/289 of the UN General Assembly. In addition to the consolidated mandates and functions of the former four gender-specific entities (OSAGI, DAW, UNIFEM and INSTRAW), the General Assembly mandated to the new Entity the additional role of leading, coordinating and promoting the accountability of the UN system for its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEEW). Thus, UN Women was established as a composite entity serving three sets of mandates: intergovernmental normative; operational and interagency coordination mandates.

In 2006, the United Nations Chief Executives Board (CEB) endorsed a UN system-wide policy on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (CEB/2006/2). In response to this policy, the UN developed a coordinated approach to strengthening accountability for gender equality.

In 2012, the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) endorsed the System-Wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN-SWAP) for adoption across the UN system. For the purpose of accelerating gender mainstreaming in the UN system, two aligned dimensions of accountability for gender equality and the empowerment of women were developed and have been recently updated: the UN-SWAP to focus on corporate processes and institutional arrangements at the individual entity level and the United Nations Country Teams Performance Indicators for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard), introduced in August 2008 to focus on joint processes and institutional arrangements within the UNCT.

UN Women has been assigned a central role in the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As a result, the accountability frameworks introduced at corporate level (UN-SWAP) and at country level (the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard) have been updated and extended as of 2018 to cover development and normative results tied to the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In his 2009 report on peacebuilding, the Secretary-General called on all United Nations-managed funds to institute a “gender marker” to assist “in tracking the proportion of funds devoted to advancing gender equality.” In addition, the Secretary-General’s Policy Committee tasked the UNDG Task Team on Gender Equality to develop common principles to ensure the various UN gender marker systems are comparable. A subsequent Guidance Note set out common principles and standards for gender equality marker systems that track and report on allocations and expenditures for gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment. Two of the 17 UN-SWAP performance indicators within the United Nations System-wide Action Plan (UN-SWAP) and one in the UNCT-SWAP directly relate to gender equality markers (resource tracking and resource allocation). The performance of these two indicators remains weak in comparison with other areas of work.

High Level Task Force on Financing for Gender Equality

At its June meeting to discuss the Gender Architecture in 2017, the Executive Committee of the Secretary-General decided that the UN should consider establishing a light and time-bound Task Force on Financing for Gender Equality to review UN budgets/expenditures across the system and make recommendations on how to increase financing for gender equality,

The High-Level Task Force on Financing for Gender Equality met during 2018 and 2019 and its final recommendations were endorsed by the Secretary-General Executive Committee on 10 December 2019. Recommendations included the integration of gender equality objectives into costed strategic plans with financial resources allocated for its implementation; the establishment of financial baselines and common methodologies to refine and meet minimum financial targets; the development of a harmonized policy on financial tracking mechanisms for gender equality; harmonized and consolidated reporting of financial data on gender equality; harmonized and consolidated reporting of financial data on gender equality; and the integration of gender equality criteria, gender equality markers and financial targets into the design, selection, implementation and monitoring of pooled funds and standalone Joint Programmes.

Since that Decision in December 2019, and for the duration of 2020, the collective response to COVID-19 has evidenced a strong focus on gender equality. The system has been reasonably successful at ensuring that women and girls are at the center of the UN response throughout the socio-economic response framework, inter alia through a dedicated gender marker and financial target for gender equality in the COVID-19 MPTF (Multi-Partner Trust Fund).

Building on the lessons learned and based on consultations with the High-Level Task Force membership, a simple, measurable Implementation Plan for the recommendations emanating from the High-Level Task Force was endorsed by the Secretary-General Executive Committee in March 2021.

This Implementation Plan will guide the development of an effective and coherent approach for tracking resources that support gender equality results with agreed upon parameters and standards inside the UN system. This will allow for UN system-wide reporting with regard to funds contributing to promoting gender equality. The Implementation Plan will be supported by a Technical Support Team within UN Women and an Interagency Reference Group (IRG) composed of appointed UN staff at the technical level. The Interagency Reference Group will be divided in Working Groups addressing the implementation of the gender equality markers, financial targets and the integration of gender equality in strategic documents. These Working Groups will include entities managing multi-partner trust funds, individual UN entities and UN Country Teams.

UN Women is looking to recruit International Individual Consultants to support the development and completion of the Implementation Plan for the recommendations emanating from the High-Level Task Force on Financing for Gender equality.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will provide Technical Support for the successful implementation of the recommendations of the High-Level Task Force on Financing for Gender Equality. In particular, the consultant will guide and support UN entities and relevant UN interagency coordination mechanisms in the initiation or further advancement of the implementation of gender equality markers and the establishment of financial targets or benchmarks for gender equality and the empowerment of women. The purpose of this consultancy is to deliver on the activities included the Implementation Plan towards that end.

Support to the implementation of individual entity Work Plans and provision of technical assistance to guide UN system entities and interagency bodies on different aspects of financing for gender equality and tracking existing investments, including help-desk support and individual guidance to Focal Points towards a harmonized implementation of gender equality markers and financial targets, as well as on the integration of gender equality within UN strategic plans and documents.
Organization of Working Groups meetings and monitoring of progress in the implementation of harmonized Gender Equality Markers, including implementation of the Quality Assurance guidance note and Coding Definitions guidance note.
Analysis of existing implementation of gender markers and financial targets in interagency pooled funds managed by the MPTF Office (UNDP), UN OCHA and UN DCO. The analysis will serve the purpose to assess the gender responsiveness of inter-agency pooled funds, the specific allocation of funds to gender equality activities, and to include policy recommendations.
Assessment of current status of implementation of gender equality markers and recommendations for a harmonized implementation at the UN entity level and in UN Country Team. The consultant should identify existing modalities of implementation and advise on steps to follow for defining and implementing a harmonized model of gender equality markers.
Contribute to the development of strategic guidance to define financial targets as well as methods for incremental increases over time.
Develop strategic guidance on how to integrate gender analysis, performance indicators and gender mainstreaming criteria into the design, implementation, monitoring and reporting of new and existing pooled funds, funding proposals and innovating financing mechanisms.
Provide capacity building training to specific UN entities, including through the coordinated support of the CEB Finance and Budget Network (FBN) and Strategic Planning Network (SPN).
Contribute to the development of a reporting structure and a data collection methodology and analyse current investments on gender equality in the UN system to produce a comprehensive report on the status of Financing for Gender Equality in the UN system.
Report of progress and communicate results for different audiences and purposes.

Competencies

Core Values:

Respect for Diversity
Integrity
Professionalism

Core Competencies:

Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
Creative Problem Solving
Effective Communication
Inclusive Collaboration
Stakeholder Engagement

Required Skills and Experience

Master's Degree or equivalent in political science, economics, international development or related fields
At least 10 years of experience on gender equality and the empowerment of women
Knowledge of methodologies for gender responsive budgeting and expenditure in supranational or international organizations
Extensive knowledge of and experience in leading, designing and undertaking political, social and economic research with a focus on gender equality using quantitative and qualitative methodologies
Excellent report writing skills