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, peace and security. 

Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, and in line with the ongoing UN Reform, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts in Uganda to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Uganda’s priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. 

Under the supervision of UN Women Representative and the matrix oversight of the Head of the Resident Coordinator’s Office, the Gender Specialist will be responsible for providing on behalf of UN Women, strategic and technical advice to the Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team (UNCT), to strengthen the work of the United Nations in Uganda on gender equality across the result areas of the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), within the context of the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Gender Specialist will also have an oversight on the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative and the implementation of the UNCT Strategy on Prevention against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA).

As a UN Women staff, the Gender Specialist will also provide technical support and content expertise on mainstreaming gender into key elements of the UNCT's planning and programming. She/he will work in close collaboration with UN Women programme team and the relevant UN Coordination architecture, including but not limited to: the Gender and Human Rights Outcome Result Group of the UNDAF, The Gender and Human Rights Advisory Group of the UNDAF, the Programme Reference Group and the UN Communication Group to produce knowledge products, mobilize tools and expertise required to strengthen Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment throughout the interventions of UN system in Uganda, and in line with the SDGs. She/he will provide technical advice and support to the Resident Coordinator to align the work of the UNCT with the UN Secretary General’s vision on gender parity and equality in the UN. She/ he will provide technical advice and support to strengthen the RCO’s ability to support UN Uganda to develop and sustain strategic partnerships at country, regional and global level to improve the UN system’s work on gender equality and empowerment of women.  

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide substantive Knowledge Management support:

  • Provide substantive support to the UN system in the development and implementation of programmes in support of international and national commitments on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as outlined in the SDGs, NDP and UNDAF 2016-2020,
  • Provide technical advice to the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) as required, in emerging technical and development assistance to the Government of Uganda, ensuring development support responds to women’s needs and national and international gender equality commitments including SDGs;
  • Contribute technically to mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment into all programs related to the UNDAF implementation in a coherent manner, through close consultation with the UN Outcome Result Group on Gender and Human Rights, the Gender and Human Rights Advisory Group (GHRAG), all UN agencies and the Chair/co-chairs of the UNDAF Pillar Groups and Outcome Result Groups;
  • Provide coordination support in capacity building efforts on gender mainstreaming at all stages of the UNDAF implementation (bi-annual work planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation) as well as other processes related to fulfilling the Delivering as One agenda in close consultation with UN Women and other UN agencies;
  •  Build and promote internal capabilities and collaboration in mainstreaming gender within UNDAF, in the context of the NDP and SDGs, with the support of the Gender Focal Points of the GHRAG,
  • Act as resource person in capacity building, knowledge sharing events and other relevant activities on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the SDGs and in the UN System;
  • Coordinate gender equality and women’s empowerment activities of the RCO in close consultation with other advisors (peace and development, human rights, monitoring and evaluation);
  •  Ensure knowledge sharing, documentation and dissemination of good practices on gender equality, women’s empowerment and rights within the UNCT and the broader UN system and within the context of the NDP and SDGs
  •  Support in close consultation with UN Women and the UN Communications Group, the communication of gender equality and women’s empowerment results to external audiences.

Provide strategic advice to the UN RC and UNCT in promoting women’s rights and gender equality in line with the SDGs:

  • Provide analysis and strategic advice to the UNCT on current gender issues and opportunities to support inclusive engagement of women in the development and humanitarian response UN in Uganda in line with the SDGs and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) in close consultation with the head of the UN Women Country Office as well as other colleagues
  • Identify and advise on entry points for new initiatives for the UN to strengthen national and local capacities for gender equality and the advancement of women in close consultation with UN Women and other UN coordination mechanisms
  • Ensure the UNCT utilizes key accountability tools and processes (e.g. the Gender Score Card, Gender Marker) to ensure that the UN in Uganda tracks and is accountable for gender equality and women’s empowerment during the UNDAF, NDP and SDG implementation and reporting
  • Advise and support the UNCT in forging strategic partnerships at the national and local level to promote gender equality, women’s advancement and women’s representation.
  • Advise and provide support to the Resident Coordinator and the UNCT on how to address both parity in the workforce and equality in UN services in line with the SG’s vision on parity in the UN system;
  • Provide guidance and oversee the implementation of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative.
  • Guide the implementation of the UNCT Strategy on the Prevention against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA).

Provide Representation and Partnership Building support:

  • Support UN Women on inter-agency coordination on gender, including support to the work of the UN Human Rights and Gender Outcome Result Group in close consultation with the Chair and Co-Chairs
  • Represent the UN at inter-agency, intergovernmental, international, regional and national conferences and meetings and advocate the UN’s positions on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
  • Represent the UN system on gender equality and women’s empowerment at conferences and meetings to present UN system efforts for the advancement of gender equality in Uganda, in line with the SDGs, at the request of the Resident Coordinator;
  • Maintain active relationship/partnerships with National Government Counterparts, UN System, international community, inter-government and non-governmental organizations, institutes and academia on gender equality to enhance collaboration, strategic partnership-building and resource mobilization

Key Performance Indicators

  • Timely and quality contribution and leadership to the UNCT and UNDAF Pillars, Outcome Result Groups and SDG coordination forums;
  • Functional system in place to monitor parity in the UN system;
  • Quality support to the UNDAF management structures on integration of gender equality in UN programmes and operations, in line with NDP and SDGs;
  • Quality advice to RC, UNCT, and UN Women Senior Management;
  • Quality gender equality advice provided to UN joint programmes;
  • Increased awareness of UN Women’s work;
  • Increase in UN Women’s leadership in gender equality space.

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

 

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

 

Functional Competencies

  • Proven ability to advocate and provide policy advice in gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment;
  • Knowledge of UN System and understanding of inter-agency coordination processes
  • Ability to lead strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting;
  • Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships;
  • Knowledge of methodologies and best practices for promoting gender equality, equity and women empowerment in general and in the Africa region in particular;
  • High degree of political acumen and sensitivity and demonstrated ability to achieve results in politically and operationally complex environments.
  • Outstanding communication and presentation skills
  • Strong public speaking skills 
  • Good knowledge of the UN system.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s degree or equivalent in gender, women’s studies, social sciences, law, international development, international relations or other development-related fields.

Experience

  • A minimum of 7  years of progressively responsible experience in development, focused on providing policy advice, technical assistance and/or programming around gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights issues; part of which should include previous field experience with the UN or an international development organization;
  • Experience writing analytical documents and reports;
  • Experience in coordination and advocacy
  • Substantive experience in gender equality and women's empowerment at policy and programming level;
  • Representational experience is an asset
  • Knowledge of and experience in Uganda desirable;
  • Experience with implementing gender mainstreaming agendas across a variety of sectors, including experience gender mainstreaming in governmental bodies is an asset;
  • Experience working with the UN in development and humanitarian contexts is an asset;
  • Experience working with women’s movements, and civil society and familiarity with women's rights organizations and networks in the region and globally is an asset.

Languages:

  • Fluency in English is required;
  • Knowledge of the other UN official working language 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 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.