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. UN Women provides financial and technical assistance to innovative approaches aimed at fostering women's empowerment and gender equality at global, national, regional and sub-national levels.

In Mozambique, UN Women’s work encompasses interventions in the areas of women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women and girl’s women and young women economic empowerment, gender responsive governance, planning and budgeting, and women’s participation and women peace and security. The work takes place at central, provincial and district level.

The work of the CO on ending violence against women and girls focuses on tackling its root cause, prevention and response. Initiatives range from working to contribute to strengthen of legal, policy and institutional frameworks as well as planning in line with CEDAW and other relevant international standards related to gender equality and women’s empowerment.  Efforts are multiplied through advocacy campaigns such as the UNiTE and HeforShe to fast track the transformation of socio cultural norms which are behind the gender-based discrimination against women and girls and to promote a society of fairness and justice for all.

Through technical assistance, capacity building and advocacy, UN Women assists a wide range of national partners and other development stakeholders including the Government, Civil Society Organizations, development partners and UN agencies to contributed to translate the global commitments in into effective context-specific programmes to achieve tangible and long-lasting results as part of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.  The Programme Officer will play a key role towards this objective.
Under the overall guidance of the Country Representative and direct supervision of the Programme Specialist, the Programme Officer will lead the implementation of interventions in the area ending violence against women and girls, HIV&AIDS and young women’s empowerment
 

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

  • Effective implementation of programme strategies and management of assigned portfolio
  • Programme management in accordance with UN Women’s Programme and Operation Manual;
  • Strategic partnerships with the government, donor and civil society organizations in the areas of assignment;
  • Technical advisory services to the CO and partners, knowledge building and management.
  • Advocacy and Resource mobilization 
  • Inter-agency Coordination Support
  • Any other business as required by the office

Effective implementation of programme strategies and management of assigned portfolio

  • Contribute to the development of the programme in the areas of the assigned portfolio  
  •  Prepare detailed annual and quarterly work-plans and ensure timely implementation of the programme activities in accordance with the work plan
  • Ensure implementation of programmes/project under the assigned portfolio;
  •  Contributes to develop research, monitoring and evaluation (MER) plans and facilitate in effective application of RBM tools, and regular monitoring and tracking of programme results;
  • Identifies programme risks and update the status of these risks developing contingency plans as necessary;
  • Organize and lead monitoring of portfolio related activities and ensure implementation of resulting follow up actions
  • Prepare and submit in a timely manner progress reports to the donor   in line with UN Women Corporate Guidelines
  • Identification of areas for support and interventions within the assigned areas;
  • Provide advice to the CO within the thematic area/portfolio assigned.
  • Provision of technical inputs, review and analysis of reports and other relevant materials on ending violence against women, HIV&AIDS and young women’s empowerment to UN Women HQ and/or Regional Office, governments and donors

Programme management in accordance with UN Women’s Programme and Operation Manual.

  • Ensure effective, timely and quality implementation of all activities under the assigned portfolio in line with the CO strategic and Annual Work Plan;
  • Manage   financial, administrative and human resources in accordance with   UN Women’s corporate procedures;
  • Perform substantive and financial monitoring of assigned projects, identifying issues, proposing and implementing agreed upon mitigating strategies
  • Lead evaluation of projects under the assigned portfolio

Strategic partnerships with the government, donor and civil society organizations:

  • Contribute to the development of appropriate working relations with key stakeholders on relevant aspects of the programme;
  • Coordinate with the respective partners for programme linkages, leverage and synergy;
  • Supports strategic partnerships and resource mobilization efforts by researching relevant documentation, and participating in donor meetings and public information events;
  • Ensure effective information flow, communication and coordination with and between UN Women office and implementing partners and stakeholders of the assigned projects;
  • Participates in and contributed to UNDAF processes on issues related to the area of responsibility 

Technical advisory services to the CO and partners and facilitation of knowledge building and management:

  • Identify CO and partners technical needs provides or facilitates access to the necessary technical advice
  • Systematic documentation and drafting of inputs for management products on project activities  
  • Identify sources of information related to policy-driven issues, and synthesize best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to programme policy goals to guide programme improvements and future strategic development planning;
  • Participate in and provide sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice
  • Support partners and stakeholders in capacity development activities to enhance knowledge and skills in results-based management, results-based reporting and budgeting, and systematic quality assurance.

Communications, Advocacy and Resource mobilization

  • Leads development and systematic implementation of the communication strategy related to the assigned portfolio

  • Proactively and substantively support and implement relevant, high-impact advocacy activities with key partners
  • Leads development and implementation of advocacy approaches at national level on issues related to international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment related to the assigned thematic areas;
  • Design programme proposals within the area of responsibility for resource mobilization and contributes to CO overall related efforts

Inter-Agency Coordination Support:

  • Participate in and provide support to the CO on inter-agency coordination related activities;
  • Prepare substantive inputs to UNDAF related processes in the areas of responsibility
  • Prepare analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s’ program experiences in support of UN Women inter-agency coordination role

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women
  • Displays sensitivity and fairness in regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and disability
  • Treats all people fairly without favouritism

Knowledge Management and Learning:

  • Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office
  • Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more thematic areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

  • Ability to apply conceptual models in support of formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources
  • Strong IT skills
  • Ability to lead implementation of new systems (business side) and affect staff behavioural/attitudinal change.

Management and Leadership:

  • Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
  • Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
  • Remains calm and in control even under pressure
  • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in development studies, international relations, Gender and Human Rights related disciplines, Social Sciences, or related field

Experience:

  • Minimum 7 years of relevant experience at the national and/or international level managing development programmes and projects
  • Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience working on development issues, preferably related to gender equality, violence against women or women’s   empowerment
  • Experience of working with Multiple partners – Government, Civil society organizations, donors, UN Agencies
  • Knowledge of national policy, legal and institutional frameworks related to gender equality and women’s empowerment
  • Knowledge and solid experience with results-based management

Language Requirements:

  • English and Portuguese (written and spoken) is required