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.

Malawi Country Office

UN Women is expected to deliver expeditiously on its mandate by leveraging resources and partnerships to generate greater action for the set thematic areas. Malawi is falling behind on several of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, with an emphasis on SDG 5: Gender Equality. UN Women looks at how women are affected in each of the seventeen proposed goals as well as how women and girls can be the key to achieving these goals.

Gender inequality is prevalent in Malawi and it is entrenched in the patriarchal nature of society and gender stereotypes, where women and girls are considered as a second-class citizen. In Malawi, the high level of prevalence of violence against women and girls and child marriages shows the several challenges and discrimination faced by women and girls.   Among them also includes HIV and AIDS and more so among the youth. Particularly worrying and strictly linked to the failure in achieving the aforementioned SDGs is the condition of the girl child, the development, empowerment and protection of whom would positively affect issues of education, maternal mortality and overall gender equality and on the long term, economic growth. The girl child represents the future of every nation, especially in Malawi, whereby youth represent most of the population.

UN Women is active in several other advocacy activities and campaigns on gender equality, such as the Generation Equality campaign, UNiTE-Say No Campaign to End Violence Against Women and Girls, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, as well as ending child marriages campaigns.

In addition, UN Women is implementing a variety of projects through (1) PROMOTING GIRLS ACCESS TO EDUCATION THROUGH THE HEFORSHE CAMPAIGN which sets to promote access to education and to address GBV, through the engagement of men and boys in the advancement of girls and boy’s education through the We Learn Virtual Skills School Pilot Project, Women Economic Empowerment Project (WEP) and the Eliminating Child Marriages in Malawi and Zambia pilot project (IBSA), (2) Multi Donor Trust Fund: Advancing the rights of persons with disabilities in order to increase protection and enhance prevention of violence against persons living with Albinism, (3) Spotlight Initiative  aimed at targeting the most at risk groups and will accelerate efforts towards elimination of violence against women and girls including sexual gender-based violence and harmful practices(4) HIV and AIDS interventions through the UBRAF funding which aims to ensure that advocacy on negative social norms and harmful cultural practices that render women and young people vulnerable to HIV and AIDS are addressed. Hence the CO interventions will build on positive efforts under the National Strategic Plan 2015-2020, the Gender, HIV and AIDS Implementation Plan 2016 -2020, the Gender Based Violence Plan of Action 2016 – 2021 and the positive efforts made to address the rights of women and girls as they relate to their vulnerabilities to HIV and AIDS, and harmful cultural practices, in collaboration with traditional and faith leaders

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the National Programs Officer, the Programme Assistant 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.  The Programme Assistant provides programme, administrative, and logistical assistance to the team for the smooth programme implementation.

 1.      Provide administrative and logistical support to the formulation and management of HIV and EVAW programme 

  • Provide administrative support in the preparation of HIV and EVAW Programs  work plans, budgets and proposals on programmme implemenation, including tracking the delivery of fund;
  • Provide assistance to Implementing partners on delivery and reporting of Programme;
  • Support EVAW section in conducting activities with traditional authorities, district teams and government in partnership with civil society, women’s organizations, youth organizations and HIV and AIDS networks;
  • Prepare documents, speeches and position papers/activity concepts as part of program implemenation in the areas of HIV and EVAW focusing on the linkages  

 2.      Provide administrative support to the financial management of the programme Unit

  •  Support in project budgeting (including preparation of FACE forms), monitoring and reporting for EVAW and HIV/AIDS projects
  • Provide administrative support in the development of IP PCAs and MOUs towards Programme implementation
  • Create projects in Atlas, prepare budget revisions and keep track on program/project delivery
  • Process payment for consultants as delegated 

3.      Provide administrative support to the program Unit 

  • Support management of Implementing Partners including PGAMs set up and Partner Agreement generation, on boarding processes and orientations, monitoring and evaluation of  field implementation and results
  • Support team participation in  in the UNDAF cluster on HIV and AIDS and reporting, National Trafficking in Persons taskforce committee, Inter-Agency related Youth Technical Working Group forum, National Protection Cluster forum and participate in cross border collaboration forums on migration management;
  • Provide programmatic/administrative support  in meetings and draft minutes, circulate to partners/stakeholders and ensure follow up actions;
  • Organize and coordinate filing of HIV and EVAW program documents

 4.      Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing

  • Support coordination of EVAW program advocacy campaigns and communications activities
  • Support the dissemination documents as well as IEC materials
  • Provide assistance to joint UN advocacy and awareness raising campaigns on EVAW and HIV and AIDS;
  • Facilitate the development of communication materials, including briefing materials, knowledge products, video documentaries and press releases on HIV and EVAW

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

Required Skills and Experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in social science, gender and development, communications, development, media relations, journalism, or related field;
  • At least 3 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in programme implementation and management, and/or public relations, communications, policy and advocacy;
  • Experience in project/program development
  • Experience in conceptualizing and managing the production of printed materials, including detailed reports, brochures, video, radio programmes and photographic materials and social mobilization;
  • Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing communication and/or media outreach plans in support of overall corporate goals;
  • Experience on planning and managing global, national campaigns and community events,
  • Experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages;
  • Experience in the use of ATLAS is an asset;
  • Fluency in English and Chichewa is required