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. In Nigeria, UN Women works to support the Government’s national development agenda, which prioritizes the empowerment of women and girls and their contribution to all areas of economic, political, and social development.

In Nigeria, UN Women supports the strengthening of women’s voice, agency, and leadership across sectors to advance their rights, provide space for their meaningful participation, and contribute to tangible differences in their lives. Under the overarching SN 2022-2027, UN Women’s work in Nigeria focuses on four programmatic areas, including, governance and leadership, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, and women, peace and security and humanitarian action, and disaster risk reduction.

Despite a US$397 billion economy and an annual growth rate of 3.6% (2021), about 40.09 percent of Nigerians are poor. One of the reasons is gender inequalities. Poverty in Nigeria is gendered. Women constitute 49.3% of the population,lead 19% of households. Some studies have noted that women in Nigeria were twice as likely as men to live below the poverty line. This feminization of poverty is largely due to structural limitations to land, finance, information/knowledge, technology, and markets. This inequality has had an impact on how women participate in politics, health, and socio-economic development. Further, violence against women and girls (VAWG) is another major concern. 30 percent of girls and women aged between 15 and 49 are reported to have experienced sexual abuse. One of the major causes of inequalities and VAWG is rigid social and gender norms often interpreted as cultural and traditional practices at household and community levels.

Despite these challenges, there are multiple opportunities to address gender inequality in Nigeria. The existence of legal frameworks and national coalitions to promote and protect women’s rights are important opportunities that can be leveraged in designing interventions to promote gender equality and women empowerment in Nigeria. In addition, there are varieties of women non-government organizations (NGOs) advocating the need to put a stop to a range of is­sues including FGM, child marriages, domestic violence, etc. Also, efforts to increase women’s political participation include the development of the National Gender Policy, the formation of the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (2011), and the ‘100 Women Lobby Group. There is also a relevant institutional framework for gender mainstreaming including the Ministry of Women’s Affairs at the federal and state level.

Reporting to the Deputy Country Representative, the Gender and Policy Expert will provide advice on gender-responsive policies and strategies. Further, the Gender and Policy Expert will provide technical support to UN Women Country Office, relevant government agencies and UN Women implementing partners in programming for women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide advice on gender-responsive policies and strategies to UN Women Country Office, regional teams, relevant government agencies and UN Women implementing partners on women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls.

  • Lead the development of tools and guidelines on women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls for use by UN Women, government counterparts, the UN system, and other entities;
  • Identify and catalyze work in new/cutting edge areas in the area of women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls.
  • Provide technical support, including through technical inputs and support to intergovernmental processes, to the development of new global normative and intergovernmental standards
  • Provide technical guidance and advice on programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products;
  • Provide thematic inputs and guidance to corporate strategic planning and positioning;
  • Provide policy advice and technical support to UN Women field offices

Provide capacity building support to country office in close collaboration with regional teams and external partners

  • Provide capacity building and technical advice to the Country Office in developing and strengthening policies, strategies and programmes on women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights  and prevention of violence against women and girls, with impact indicators and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in place;
  • Manage the identification of knowledge and implementation gaps and possible solutions;
  • Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives;
  • Identify spaces for mutual learning and sharing across offices, regions and divisions.
  • Identify capacity building needs and support partners through technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives, as needed.

Research, analyze and manage knowledge on women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls:

  • Establish global communities of practice that promote collaboration, innovation and exchange of good practices;
  • Conduct on-going research and analysis of global, regional and national trends and promising strategies related to prevention to support the development of policies and innovative programming;
  • Maintain, update and oversees the women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls Knowledge Platform
  • Lead and coordinate the design and dissemination of the quarterly briefs and status reports on women’s empowerment, women’s rights and violence against women and girls.
  • Engage in global research and multi-sectoral networks to strengthen and communicate the linkages between research findings on evidence-based programming on women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls within and outside UN Women.
  • Provide inputs to annual and quarterly reports; coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
  • Provide inputs from thematic area programme activities and results to Nigeria Country Office reporting.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, national, regional/ international actors in the area of women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls:

  • Build and strengthen strategic partnerships for the advancement of innovative strategies and programming;
  • Engage actively in existing thematic and gender equality networks including the global civil society reference group as well as the women’s political empowerment working group and cultivate new partnerships with other relevant interdisciplinary networks (e.g., academia, private sector, information, communication, technologies/innovation);
  • Identify strategic opportunities to link and strengthen women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls programming with other CO initiatives, thematic areas/priorities of UN Women and UN wide priorities (including but not limited to: Generation Equality Action Coalitions, the Spotlight Initiative, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, SDGs, etc.);
  • Build and strengthen close relationships with relevant donors and other actors, including the private sector, supporting efforts towards women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women and girls.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

  • Provide inputs to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies.

Deliverables (Monthly)

  • Support bi-monthly convening of women rights organizations and stakeholder networks including the Women’s Political Empowerment Working Group as well as community dialogues with Traditional and Religious Leaders 
  • Oversee knowledge management and support communications initiatives on women’s empowerment, promotion of women’s rights  and prevention of violence against women and girls, including but not limited to external relations and correspondence from the Office of the Country Representative, identifying opportunities to showcase best practices and participate in communities of practice 
  • Mentoring via bilateral meetings with implementing partners on women’s empowerment, women’s rights  and violence against women and girls space.
  • Support development of RM strategies and concept notes with the Country 

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:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Functional Competencies

  • Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
  • Good budget and finance skills
  • Good knowledge of Results Based Management
  • Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings and recommendations
  • Good analytical skills
  • Knowledge of UN programme management systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences or other related areas is required.
  • A first-level university degree in combination with five additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
  • A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage

Experience

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in English is required.
  • Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Application

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. 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.

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided based on qualifications, competence, integrity, and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)