Antecedentes

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.

From 2005-2015, disasters caused US$1.4 trillion, killed 0.7 million and affected 1.7 billion people.  In 2017 alone, 318 disasters killed over 9,500, affected 96 million and displaced 18.8 million internally, causing US$314 billion in economic damage.

Natural hazards and climate change severely affect the ability of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean to achieve sustainable development. The Caribbean SIDS are located in some of the most disaster-prone regions in the world, while several of them are among the 25 most vulnerable nations in terms of disasters per capita or land area. Since 1950, 324 disasters hit the Caribbean, killed 250,000 people and affected more than 24 million people. The economic loss caused by these disasters for the Caribbean exceeds $22 billion between 1950 and 2016. Economic damage incurred goes beyond the GDP of certain countries: it is estimated that Hurricane Maria caused 225 percent of Dominica’s GDP in economic loss to the island, and the economic damage caused by the hurricane for Grenada in 2004 was 200 percent of its GDP. This seriously hampers the region’s sustainable development pathway, especially given the heavily indebted status of Caribbean SIDS.

Disasters affect women, girls, boys and men differently. Research shows that women and girls are disproportionally affected by disasters, are more likely to die in disasters, and have different and uneven levels of resilience and capacity to recover (see figure 1). In addition, other groups of vulnerable population in the region, particularly young unattached men without employment, face difficulty to recover from the effect of disasters which can contribute to increased citizen insecurity due to high crime rates amongst this particular population group.

Gender inequality heightens exposure to risk, increases vulnerability and restrains capacity. It shapes the uneven capacity of impoverished and marginalized populations, such as women, girls and unemployed youth to anticipate, adapt, and recover from disasters and to contribute effectively to resilience building. Gender-specific barriers in prevention, preparedness and response prevent vulnerable groups from acquiring and accessing the means and capacities needed for resilience, which causes their higher loss of lives and livelihoods in disasters and often results in a gendered downward spiral of vulnerability and poverty following disasters. This leaves women, girls and unemployed, unattached young men disproportionately vulnerable to future natural hazards. In addition, these vulnerable groups remain largely ignored and their potential and capacities unleveraged in conventional resilience building processes. To build the resilience of vulnerable groups, a comprehensive approach is needed that specifically targets the resilience of women, girls and unemployed, unattached young men while ensuring in parallel a gender-responsive systems approach across the prevention, preparedness and response spectrum.

Resilience is “the ability of individuals, households, communities, cities, institutions, systems and societies to prevent, resist, absorb, adapt, respond and recover positively, efficiently and effectively when faced with a wide range of risks, while maintaining an acceptable level of functioning and without compromising long-term prospects for sustainable development, peace and security, human rights and well-being for all”. UN Women’s focus on strengthening gender-responsive disaster resilience across the prevention, preparedness and response spectrum stems from the recognition that natural hazards will continue to turn into disasters for vulnerable populations, including women, as long as the resilience of these populations is not sufficiently built. Since resilience is a structural issue, which is closely linked to governance, gender equality, and inclusiveness, resilience cannot be resolved solely through targeted action to build resilience of the impoverished and marginalized but requires in parallel a transition to gender-responsiveness of prevention, preparedness and response tools, systems and plans.

While an increasingly stronger focus on gender-responsive prevention is a programmatic key objective and an evident business case in terms of return on investment, preparedness and response efforts need to be rendered gender-responsive so that vulnerable groups’ resilience to disasters can be strengthened in a comprehensive manner before, during and after disasters. This will reverse the downward spiral of disaster vulnerability and exposure into an upward spiral of resilience, which will protect the lives and livelihoods of women, marginalized youth, their families and their communities.

The UN Women programme on Strengthening Gender-responsive Disaster Resilience in the Caribbean proposes a comprehensive package for gender-responsive resilience that focuses on rendering prevention, preparedness and response systems, plans and tools gender-responsive and provides targeted action enabling women, girls and unemployed, unattached young men to withstand natural hazards, recover fully from disasters and increase their resilience to future natural hazards.

The programme’s principles are localization and ownership. In line with these principles, governments, women’s organizations, youth groups and DRR and resilience stakeholders will be key partners in programme design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. The programme will benefit from UN Women’s global expertise on gender-responsive resilience building, women’s empowerment and leadership as well as its vast network of women’s organizations and youth groups.

The programme will contribute to key international and regional processes and frameworks, including Agenda 2030, the Sendai Framework for DRR, the WHS outcomes, and the Humanitarian-Development- Peace Nexus, SAMOA Pathway and Regional Action Plan for the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in the Americas.

Reporting to the Deputy Representative the Programme Officer is responsible for supporting the “Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER)” project, funded by Global Affairs Canada and UK Department for International Development and being implemented by UNDP in the Caribbean, which includes coordinating relationships with national and regional partners and stakeholders. The Programme Officer will work in the context of the UNDP-UN Women Contribution Agreement for the project, and under the guidance of the EnGenDER Project Manager at UNDP for seamless coordination of activities with national stakeholders and key partners including the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). The Programme Officer will also support the monitoring and reporting of the Humanitarian, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Resilience portfolio.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Coordinate Implementation of the Project:

• Coordinate implementation the overall EnGenDER project work plan development and implementation in alignment with the UN Women Strategic Note/programme document;
• Coordinate implementation in close collaboration with the UNDP Project Manager and programme team including the UNDP Gender Focal Point;
• Liaise with the Project Steering Committee, national counterparts, donors, UNDP, UN Women and partners to ensure the Programme results are achieved and resources are managed cost-effectively and according to applicable regulations to achieve high-quality results;
• Prepare and present work plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to the UNDP Project Manager and UN Women;
• Establish systems for project planning, implementation and monitoring, in collaboration with partners, where possible leveraging or improving existing mechanisms;
• Record and maintain documents on relevant Programme activities, issues, and risks, and identify and action agreed mitigation measures.

Collaborate with national partners and other stakeholders:

• Collaborate with national partners for implementation of the EnGenDER Project, highlight potential problems and provide solutions;
• Work with partners to monitor, and revise where relevant in consultation with the EnGenDER project team, project key performance indicators, and monitoring achievement of results;
• Identify needs and provide capacity building to partners through technical assistance, mentoring, training, cross-partner learning, and capacity development initiatives.

Coordinate the monitoring and reporting on the Project:

• Compile all monitoring information necessary for reporting on  the project including conducting monitoring visits;
• Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds by partners;
• Prepare annual and quarterly reports; review and coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports for submission to UNDP;
• Produce project reports for the Project Steering Committee, UNDP and contribute to broader UN Women

Build partnerships and support in developing sustainability:

• Provide technical support to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Identify potential programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships.

Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication:

• Ensure documentation of the project implementation process and products produced are in accordance with UN Women, UNDP and donor guidelines;
• Contribute to the exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally of the project in accordance with the protocols of the UNDP, UN Women and the donor;
• Organize advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products to achieve project results.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality implementation of Project activities against set work plans, timelines and budgets, in line with the overall project cycle, UNDP implementation and the UN Women Strategic Note
• Quality and timely reporting
• Strong relations with UN and other partners and stakeholders
• Regular and timely monitoring of activities
• Timely and quality implementation of advocacy events in line with work plan
• Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated

Competencias

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

Functional Competencies

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong budget and finance skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports in order to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong analytical skills
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree with at least 2 years' experience or a Bachelors with at least 4 years' experience, in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences or other related areas is required.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

 Experience:

• At least three (3) years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions with national partners, preferably related to climate change and disaster risk resilience, gender equality, and humanitarian response.
• At least one (1) year of experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects.
• Previous experience in a multi-country context is preferred.
• Previous experience in the Caribbean or SIDS is preferred.
• Previous 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.

Applications:

• This position is open to Nationals of Barbados and CARICOM Nationals who can legally work in Barbados;
• 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; Please group all documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows one document to be uploaded.

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.

UN Women 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.