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.

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

UN Women is committed to the achievement of equality between women, men, boys and girls as partners and beneficiaries of humanitarian action. In October 2012, UN Women established its Gender and Humanitarian Action Unit to consolidate its advocacy, coordination and capacity development role for the integration of gender equality across humanitarian action. This has now further developed to include a unit for disaster risk reduction with a focus on prevention, mitigation and preparedness, in Geneva, and a humanitarian unit in New York focusing on humanitarian norms and standards, coordination, and emergency management, and consolidated under the Humanitarian Action and Crises Response Office (HACRO).

In this context, emanating from the World Humanitarian Summit, the Grand Bargain[1] is an agreement between the biggest donors and aid providers, which aims to get more means into the hands of people in need. However, gender did not feature in the negotiations on the Grand Bargain.[2] UN Women has therefore led efforts to mainstream gender, including Gender Based Violence, in the Grand Bargain process.  In an attempt to address the lack of a gender perspective in the Grand Bargain, UN Women, together with other governmental, UN and INGO partners, formed an informal Friends of Gender Group (FoG) at the first meeting of the Grand Bargain signatories in Bonn in 2016.

To further advance the efforts to address GBV and promote Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls (GEEWG) through the Grand Bargain, UN Women will strengthen its engagement to improve leadership, coordination and policy coherence. UN Women will in particular focus on the following workstreams: Workstream 2: More support and funding for local and national responses,  Workstream 3: Increase the use and coordination of cash,  Workstream 5: Improve joint and impartial needs assessment and Workstream 6: A participation revolution. These workstreams have been deemed priority workstreams by the Friends of Gender Group on mainstreaming gender in the Grand Bargain. UN Women will implement a 12 month project for which UN Women will hire a Policy Specialist.

Under the guidance of the Chief of HARCO and the direct supervision of the UN Programme Specialist (P4) the  Policy Specialist is responsible for the coordination of the project implementation, providing technical guidance and input, establishing and strengthening strategic partnerships, providing inputs to knowledge management and developing knowledge products.

[1]Agenda for Humanity Website (2018) Initiative Grand Bargain, Available Online at: https://www.agendaforhumanity.org/initiatives/3861 [Accessed 4 June 2018].

[2] Independent draft Report on the Grand Bargain (2018)

Coordinate project implementation:

• Formulate the project workplan and provide technical and coordination support to the day-to-day implementation of the project.
• Organize any required meetings, workshops or any other events related to the project including the coordination and organization of five workshops.
• Develop preparatory and follow-up materials for all events.

Provide technical assistance and input on Grand Bargain workstreams:

• Provide technical support to stakeholders including members of the Friends of Gender Group, other Grand Bargain signatories and UN Women Regional and Country Offices.
• Provide technical inputs to the development of technical guidance documents for the priority workstreams (including workstream 2: More support and funding for local and national responses, Workstream 3: Increase the use and coordination of cash, Workstream 5: Improve joint and impartial needs assessment and Workstream 6: A participation revolution).

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders in the Grand Bargain workstreams:

• Build and manage relationships with co-conveners and representatives from each of the nine Grand Bargain workstreams, emphasizing the four priority workstreams.
• Maintain close contact with the members of the Friends of Gender Group, managing all communication exchanges.
• Follow-up on UN Women’s engagement in diverse relevant fora including the GBV Area of Responsibility, the Call for Action on GBV and as the co-chair of the IASC’s Gender Reference Group.

Coordinate reporting, monitoring and evaluation of the project:

• Carry out the monitoring and coordinate the evaluation of the project, measuring and assessing progress / results through any required means such as observation, surveys, etc.
• Write high-quality quarterly reports and final donor reports for review by supervisor, focusing on results and manage their timely submission.
• Generate lessons learned and good practices based on the project.
• Undertake financial monitoring.

Provide technical inputs to Knowledge Management:

• Provide technical inputs to the development and production of guidance documents and knowledge products related to the selected thematic areas on each priority workstream.
• Develop required content for the guidance documents, case studies and knowledge products related to the selected thematic areas on each priority workstream.
• Ensure that the documents and products meet the project’s needs and UN Women’s standards of quality.
• Establish and nurture a relationship with academia, research institutes, civil society and experts to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking into the project.
• Present the technical guidance documents and the knowledge products to the appropriate audience.

Develop knowledge products:

• Undertake research and analysis of specific case studies, trends and lessons learned related to GBV and GEEWG and the priority workstreams.
• Provide substantive inputs to the development of background documents, briefings and/or talking points, as well as to the guidance documents and knowledge products related to GBV and GEEWG and the priority workstreams created under this project.
• Prepare select written contributions and knowledge products for various purposes, i.e. case studies, short topical papers, briefings to leadership, speeches, and related products for wider dissemination.
• Engage with global research and knowledge forums to promote learning related to GBV and GEEWG in humanitarian action.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Regular, effective, and high-quality communication exchanges with the members of the Friends of Gender Group and other stakeholders;
• Strong relationships with other stakeholders, particularly the representatives of all 9 workstreams as well as academia, research institutes and other experts;
• Timely and high-quality technical advice and support;
• Timely and high-quality input for knowledge products;
• Quality reports and other documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner.

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:

• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical speciality relating to the position;
• Knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues;
• Strong research and communication skills;
• Strong organization, coordination and planning skills and high attention to detail;
• Ability to meet deadlines and respond positively to feedback;
• Ability to complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and oral and written skills.

Education:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women’s studies, international development, international humanitarian action or a related field is required.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in project design, coordination and implementation.
• Experience on issues related to women’s empowerment, women’s rights, and gender mainstreaming in humanitarian action.
• Expertise on gender-based violence in humanitarian action.
• Experience in knowledge management and communications.
• Experience in monitoring, reporting and evaluation.
• Experience in developing user-friendly practical guidance and tools.
• Experience in researching, processing and consolidating substantive amounts of information and drafting briefs, reports, and abstracts.
• Experience working in the UN system 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.