UN WOMEN Jobs - 71230- UN Women: Policy Specialist (Local Government)

UN Women: Policy Specialist (Local Government)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

29-Mar-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

9 months

UNDP 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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.

The Policy Division develops and implements the UN Women program of work on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to the intergovernmental process, the UN system, and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It identifies emerging issues and trends, and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving the agreed goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice.

The measurement of women’s representation and documentation of women’s experiences in local-level politics is vital to obtain a holistic perspective on women’s political participation; however, no global baseline on the share of women in local government exists. The 2013 UN Secretary-General’s Report on women’s political participation identified this lack of data as a major knowledge gap that hinders the possibility for further qualitative research on, and recognition of, the contributions of women local leaders to societies worldwide.

Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” One of the Targets under this Goal is to “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life” (SDG Target 5.5). Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 5.5.1b, “proportion of seats held by women in local governments,” which will monitor progress towards this Target.

To support member states in implementing the 2030 Agenda, UN Women is developing a methodology to measure women’s representation in local government in partnership with global, regional and national partners. The data collected using this methodology will help establish a global baseline of women in local government.

Under the supervision of the Policy Advisor (Political Participation), the Policy Specialist (Local Government) is responsible for advancing and coordinating the Entity’s research and methodological work on women’s representation in local government specifically through: overseeing UN Women’s research, data compilation and methodological work on women’s representation in local government; providing direct assistance to and maintain partnerships with relevant partner organizations on the issue of measuring women’s representation in local government; and overseeing the development of a methodology to measure the proportion of seats held by women in local governments.

Duties and Responsibilities

Oversee UN Women’s research, data compilation and methodological work on women’s representation in local government:

Oversee the development of proposals for standards and methodologies for measuring women’s representation in local governments;
Coordinate piloting of data collection and compilation methodology in select countries and/or regions, in collaboration with international, regional and national partners, including through national or regional workshops;
Provide support and quality assurance for research on local government profiles;
Conduct background research, literature reviews, provide technical input for publications, and draft knowledge products as needed on women’s representation in local government;
Produce internal and external technical guidance and provide regular briefings on relevant local government composition statistics and issues for colleagues across the organization.

Provide direct assistance to and maintain partnerships with relevant organizations on the issue of measuring women’s representation in local government:

Work collaboratively within the UN System, to identify synergies and linkages in relations to research and data on women in local political decision-making;
Coordinate outreach and communication on measuring women’s represention in local governments with UN Regional Economic and Social Commissions, relevant UN Women policy sections, and UN Women Country, Multi-Country and Regional Offices;
Provide direct technical assistance to relevant data collection agencies in countries through capacity-building workshops (e.g. national statistics offices) in collaboration with regional commissions and country offices;
Strengthen UN Women’s engagement with civil society society organizations that are collecting and compiling broader data on women’s political participation;
Represent the Political Participation Unit as needed in inter-agency working groups and fora on related to, for example, SDGs, SDG Tier III indicators, gender statistics, local government and data on women’s political participation.

Coodinate the development of a methodology to measure the proportion of seats held by women in local governments (SDG Indicator 5.5.1b):

Provide technical support to the Unit in preparing all necessary documentation for advancing the methodology of SDG Indicator 5.5.1b, including those requested by the Inter-Agency Expert Group (IAEA) on SDGs, to galvanize UN Women’s analytical capacity to respond;
Manage the presentation, visualization and communication strategy for SDG Indicator 5.5.1b data and statistics in reports and knowledge products;
Keep well-informed of updates, activities and directives of the IAEG on SDGs;
Participate in and/or represent the Unit as needed in internal and external meetings related to the advancement of the SDGs, Tier III Indicators and the IAEG on SDGs;
Liaise regularly with UN Women colleagues responsible for monitoring SDGs and IAEG developments.

Key Performance Indicators:

The key results expected will have positive impact on the overall effectiveness of UN Women’s work related to Political Participation, through contributing directly to achievement of the relevant Goals in UN Women’s Strategic Plan and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Quality research methods and data collection and analysis which lead to UN Women’s ability to measure women’s representation in local government;
Quality and timely inputs to briefings, knowledge products, publications and other documents;
Quality assistance to agencies and civil society organizations which lead to enhanced data collection;
Quality technical support to ensure SDG Indicator 5.5.1b is measured and results shared.

Competencies

Core Values:

Integrity:

Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Respect for Diversity:

Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

emonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

Strong knowledge of women’s political participation, particularly at local level, and women’s rights in general;
Advanced knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods, particularly in relation to gender and local government;
Strong capacity in statistical analysis and econometric techniques with a particular focus on gender;
Ability to develop and maintain partnerships with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners;
Excellent written and oral communication skills;
Analytical and problem solving skills;
Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance;
Excellent strategic planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills;
Strong, proven commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment;
Ability to evaluate international political issues from a gender perspective;
Ability to undertake policy research and prepare quantitative studies, utilizing statistical methodologies, knowledge of database applications for statistical analysis;
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
Ability to draft research papers, briefings and talking points.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in sociology and/or development related disciplines, gender issues, health, public policy/administration, human rights, or political science is required.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in carrying out research and analysis in a development policy and/or research context, particularly on gender equality;
Significant record of experience in data analysis, research and writing, including on gender statistics;
Substantial background in statistical analysis and econometrics.

Languages:

Written (excellent drafting skills) and oral proficiency in English is required;
Knowledge of another UN working language is desirable.

Application Information:

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;
UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

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.