UN WOMEN Jobs - 40624- UN Women: Policy Adviser, Governance and Security

UN Women: Policy Adviser, Governance and Security - Regional Office (Re-advertisement)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Bangkok, THAILAND

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-Oct-13 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-5

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women 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, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations (UN) System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The scope of work of the Governance and Security Adviser in the UN Women Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific requires experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality, women’s political participation, democratization and peace and security issues, to translate UN Women's strategic plans in the area of Governance/Political Participation and Peace and Security into effective programmes and results. It also requires developing mutually reinforcing partnerships with relevant Government counterparts, UN organizations, and CSOs.

Under the supervision of the Regional Director, the Governance and Security Adviser based at the Regional Center in Bangkok is expected to engage proactively with local and regional women leaders and UN Entities (including relevant Divisions, Sections, and Country Offices within UN Women) to ensure gender issues are addressed on efforts related to political participation processes, peace-making, peacekeeping and peace building, such as formal mediation processes with UN’s involvement, transitional justice mechanisms set at the country level, security sector reform processes, among others relevant in the region.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Regional Director, and in consultation and ongoing dialogue with relevant Divisions and Sections in UN Women HQ and Country Representatives in the Region, the Adviser is responsible for the following key functions:

Analysis and monitoring of trends, opportunities and challenges:

Provide policy recommendations, strategic advice and proposed courses of action to the Regional Director and Country Representatives;
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of regional developments in political participation, governance and peace and security and events and integrate information and analysis in support of policy development, analysis, outreach and advocacy;
Prepare analytical reports, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, talking points and others as required by senior management;
Establish and maintain close working contacts with key national, regional and local stakeholders from Government, Civil Society, Regional Organizations and other relevant international actors to build up and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships on women, peace and security issues and initiatives;
Represent UN Women at inter-governmental and regional meetings on political participation, governance and peace and security issues in the region, as requested by the Regional Director;
Work closely with colleagues of UN Women's Peace and Security and Leadership and Governance Sections and the Policy Division to identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities for addressing women’s empowerment and gender issues in the area of peace and security;
Engage in regional post-2015 discussions dealing with governance, conflict and personal security.

Programme Development and Technical Support:

Promote coordination and participation in joint activities with various stakeholders to work collaboratively in the area of political participation, governance and peace and security in the region such as: UN agencies, relevant government stakeholders, civil society, Inter-governmental organizations and regional women's networks;
Work closely with UN Women country offices in the region and provide programme guidance and support to develop and implement programmes at the local and national level on the area of governance, peace and security, including conflict prevention, mediation, transitional justice, security sector, peacekeeping, conflict-related sexual violence, national action plans on SCR 1325, among others;
Support country offices to provide technical assistance to the Government on key governance/political participation and Women, Peace and Security issues, including for the development and implementation of National Action Plans on women, peace and security, as requested by the Regional Director and in collaboration with the Peace and Security section;
Specific support to women and peace and security issues relevant to the drawdown of ISAF in Afghanistan, the transition in Myanmar, the upcoming small arms control initiatives and other country level programming initiatives as requested by the Regional Director and in collaboration with the Peace and Security section;
Analyze women’s political participation and peace and security trends in the region, such as the transition in Myanmar, the drawdown of ISAF in Afghanistan, upcoming small arms control initiatives, etc., to assess entry points for the participation of women and UN Women engagement;
Assist country offices in developing and strengthening policies to scale up efforts to increase women’s participation as candidates and voters;
Work closely with UN Women country offices in the Asia and Pacific region and provide programme support to develop and implement programmes at the local and national level to enhance women’s political influence;
Learn from Country Offices in order to ensure that technical support and programme advice provided is relevant to the national and cultural context.

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

Support the building of strategic alliances and partnerships to develop regional strategies and initiatives on the area of governance, women, peace and security;
Maintain close liaison with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts on governance/political participation and women, peace and security in the region;
Support the country offices in mobilizing resources for the implementation of governance/political participation and women, peace and security initiatives in the region;
Collaborate with UN Entities at the regional level, and support country offices, on accelerating the implementation of the SG’s Action Plan on Women’s Participation in Peace building;
Liaise with relevant regional organizations engaged in peace and security issues, such as peacekeeping institutions, regional networks and academic institutions;
Support the building of strategic alliances and partnerships for women political participation related strategies and initiatives;
Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women HQ.

Knowledge Management and Reporting:

Manage the process of compiling reports and lessons learned on Women’s political participation and contribute to UN Women's knowledge management efforts;
Collect information at the regional level to input to the annual SG report on Women and Peace and Security (usually due by May of each year), as well as other relevant thematic SG reports such as Peace building;
Provide strategic information to input into briefings by UN Women’s Executive Direction to the Security Council, as requested;
Provide inputs regarding the implementation of the SG’s Action Plan on Women’s Participation in Peace building.
In close consultation with Country Offices manage the process of compiling reports and lessons learned on women, peace and security issues in the region and contribute to UN Women's knowledge management efforts;
Facilitate cross-regional exchange of best practices and lessons learned with Regional Peace and Security advisers and Policy Division Peace and Security Division;
Contribute to the development of the regional knowledge hub and propose plans to enrich its evidence base on women, peace and security in the region.

Impact of Results:

This post should be able to help ensure that gender issues are addressed within the Asia Pacific Region which relate to the participation of women in political decision making, and that gender is integral to peace-making, peacekeeping and peace building. An effective incumbent should help UN Women to translate their strategic plans in the area of Governance/Political Participation and Peace and Security into effective programmes and results within the AP Region. The overarching impact would be to help ensure the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, and a future where women and girls would enjoy identical human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security as men.

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff; Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Promoting Ethics and Integrity / Creating Organizational Precedents.

Organizational Awareness:

Building support and political acumen;
Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation.

Working in Teams:

Building and promoting effective teams.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

Creating an emotionally intelligent organization.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Functional Competencies:

Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the area of women, peace and security.
Demonstrated People Management Skills;
Familiarity with the Asia Pacific Region and women’s rights organizations and networks in the Region an advantage;
Good knowledge of UN Women and the UN system;
Proven ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
Ability to lead strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's degree (or equivalent) in social sciences, international development or related field.

Experience:

A minimum of 10 years progressively responsible experience in the area of women, peace and security, preferably with 5 years field experience in the Asia Pacific region. Experience working in large multicultural development agencies a distinct advantage.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in written and oral English is essential.

Application:

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. 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.