UN WOMEN Jobs - 81377- Programme Associate (Open to Sri Lankan Nationals

Programme Associate (Open to Sri Lankan Nationals Only)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Colombo, SRI LANKA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

01-Nov-2018

Application Deadline :

20-Oct-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

Eight Months (Renewable subject to availability of Project Funds)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Eight Months (Renewable subject to availability of Project Funds)

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 is the UN’s global entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment. It is an inter-governmental body that provides financial and technical assistance to innovative approaches aimed at fostering women's empowerment and gender equality at global, national, regional and sub-national levels. The UN Women Multi Country Office (MCO) works for countries including India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Context of the programme:

UN Women Sri Lanka provides technical support to the Government of Sri Lanka in implementing and reviewing global policies and standards that Sri Lanka has signed. UN Women also provides support to the UN in Sri Lanka in mainstreaming gender in UN programmes, and to civil society organisations in terms of assistance with policy, advocacy and lobbying initiatives.

UN Women is currently engaged in promoting women’s political participation and creating a substantive body of knowledge to inform measures including policy advocacy, capacity and coalition building, lobbying for mainstreaming gender in the governance structure of Sri Lanka, and improving gender responsive governance.

To ensure women and men become equal partners in development, UN Women supports the Government of Sri Lanka on the following thematic areas: improving economic outcomes and access to livelihood assistance for women who are most vulnerable (rural female-headed households); increasing the female labour force participation; building capacities of current and future elected Local Government officials to promote greater women’s political participation; providing technical assistance to the Government on inter-governmental processes such as CEDAW and implementing its Concluding Observations; providing technical assistance in the preparation and implementation of the Sri Lanka Peacebuilding Priority Plan; and strengthening gender-responsive planning and budgeting (GRB) at national and local levels.

With regard to GRB, UN Women has closely collaborated with the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs in building the capacities of government officials at the national, provincial and local levels on GRB and its application, thereby enabling effective implementation towards a Cabinet Memorandum in March 2016. The Cabinet Memorandum directs specific Ministries and local governments to allocate 25% of all investment in rural economic development projects to benefit women.

In this context, with assistance from the Republic of Korea, UN Women will work on strengthening gender-responsiveness of employment sector policies and programmes, with a focus on women with disabilities. The objective of the project is to support the Sri Lankan government in formulating and implementing gender-responsive laws, policies and programmes in employment that address the specific vulnerabilities of women with disabilities.

Scope and Objective of the Program:

Given the multiple forms of marginalisation faced by women with disabilities particularly in the post-conflict situation, the proposed activities of the program shall facilitate the government’s ongoing effort in addressing the persisting challenges faced by women with disabilities, who constitute the most vulnerable. There are three objectives to the programme:

• To establish and disseminate evidence on the gender responsiveness in formulation and implementation of the Sri Lankan government’s laws policies and programmes and budgets in the employment sector from the lens of women with disabilities;

• To support the Sri Lankan government in formulating and implementing gender-responsive laws, policies and programmes in employment that address the specific vulnerabilities of women with disabilities; and

• To strengthen accountability by working with the collectives of women with disabilities for enabling their individual and collective access to employment.

Organizational Context:

Under the overall guidance of the Representative (UN WOMEN MCO) and direct supervision of the Programme Analyst, UN WOMEN in Sri Lanka, the Programme Associate provides programme management support services ensuring high quality, accuracy and consistency of work. The Programme Associate works with and provides support to the members of the Programme Team in the development and implementation of effective programmes consistent with UN Women rules and regulations. S/he contributes to financial management, and programme implementation including providing necessary operational, administrative and programmatic support. The Programme Associate works in close collaboration with the Programme Analyst, UN Women Sri Lanka, the Multi-Country Office and UN Women HQ as required for resolving complex finance-related issues and exchange of information.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Support in the formulation of Programme Strategies;
Programme Management Support;
Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit;
Facilitation of Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing.

Support in the formulation of Programme Strategies:

Collect and present background information for the preparation of effective application of RBM tools.
Provide programme and administrative support in the preparation of programme work plans, budgets, and proposals on programme implementation arrangements.
Assemble briefing materials and prepare power-point and other presentations for the programme unit.
Identify sources, and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers.

Programme Management Support:

Support the Programme Analyst based in Sri Lanka in the implementation of the control mechanisms for development projects through monitoring of budget preparation and modifications.
Create projects in Atlas, prepare required budget revisions, revision of project award and project status, determination of unutilized funds, operational and financial close of a project.
Support the Programme Analyst in the financial management of Programmes.
Provide guidance to the executing agencies on routine implementation of projects, tracking use of financial resources.
Provide necessary information for the audit of programmes/projects and support implementation of audit recommendations.
Organize, compile and process information from donors, Regional Office, and programme team, as inputs to various databases and documents.
Support the Programme team in the tracking and reporting on mobilized resources.

Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit:

Assist in generation and review of Atlas Financial Reports and ensure accuracy of captured data; Provide timely feedback to MCO on adjustments / corrections;
Ensure maintenance of the internal expenditures control system by ensuring that financial/admin/HR requests are in accordance with the approved budgets;
Create requisitions in Atlas for development projects and record goods receipt in Atlas and do budget check for requisitions;
Assist in preparation of cost sharing, and trust fund agreements, follow up on contributions within the MCO resource mobilization efforts for Sri Lanka;
Assist in drafting of TORs for recruitment of consultants and managing their payment schedule in accordance with the contract and deliverables;
Assist in drawing up the specifications and evaluation criteria for procurement requests to MCO;
Review CSA budget and expenditure reports;
Liaise with MCO staff and ensure compliance with UN Women’s financial rules and regulations

Facilitation of Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing:

Support synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices related to programme management.
Support synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in programme finance.
Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
Support organization of training for the office staff and partners on programme and operations related issues.

Any other duties assigned by the Supervisor.

Impact of Resuts:

The key results have an impact on the efficiency of the Programme Unit and success in implementation of programme strategies. Accurate analysis, data entry and presentation of information ensure proper programme implementation.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:

Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.
Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative.
Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.
Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities aimed at effective and efficient functioning of the Sri Lanka Programme including logistical support.
Ability to provide input to business process re-engineering, elaboration and implementation of new data management systems.
Creates, edits and presents information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality.
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities.
Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints.
Ability to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client's perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.
Ability to administer and execute financial processes and transactions.
Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Completion of secondary education required. University degree or equivalent in Business, Accounting or Public Administration or a related field is an asset.

Experience:

A minimum of 6 years of administrative experience preferably in a large or international corporation or organization.
Experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages. Working knowledge of ATLAS will be an advantage.

Language:

Fluency in English and a local language is required;
Knowledge of other UN working languages is an asset.

Application Information: Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
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;
UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

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.