Background

Organizational Context 

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 UN aims to address the root causes of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and harmful practices such as Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM) in many countries including in Turkey where some 28.2 percent of Turkish women had been married before the age 18. Together in Turkey UN agencies collectively engage in awareness raising and prevention of CEFM,  and respond directly to the needs of victims and survivors through the provision of multi-disciplinary services.

Since early 2018, five UN Agencies (UN Women, UNICEF, IOM, UNFPA and UNHCR) have begun implementing a three year joint program on the prevention of CEFM. Actions will include institutional strengthening, to ensure that relevant authorities have the necessary technical capacity to more effectively prevent and respond to CEFM; evidence generation to guide advocacy and programmatic actions; awareness-raising to inform communities on the harmful consequences of CEFM and constituency-building with local change-agents, such as civil society, religious leaders, men and women, and boys and girls at all levels to promote a culture of respect of children’s rights. The joint program has two main objectives:

To strengthen local institutional capacities to identify the drivers and impact of CEFM and establish effective identification, prevention, response and monitoring mechanisms

To promote favourable social norms and attitudes towards ending CEFM among duty bearers and right holders, including policy makers, service providers, girls, boys, women and men

To reach these objectives, the joint program aims to ensure that (1) An enabling environment to end CEFM by strengthening protection mechanisms is in place. And (2) Favourable social norms and attitudes towards ending CEFM are increased at national and community levels.

The programme will be implemented on three interrelated levels: 1) At the national level, through engagement of policymakers to close gaps in the policy and legal frameworks; support evidence-based advocacy and planning; support national coordination and leadership; the analysis of data and other evidence; the completion of studies on CEFM to increase understanding of the factors driving the phenomenon; and the establishment of a database to inform stakeholders’ programming; 2) Province-wide (across targeted provinces) through technical assistance to local policy makers and service providers and 3) Province/community-based (12 targeted provinces) through community-based interventions that will focus on raising awareness on CEFM among key duty bearers and rights holders and promoting changes in negative social norms that sustain and perpetuate CEFM and gender inequality.

Reporting to the UN Women Country Programme Manager , the Project Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating the design, implementation and monitoring of UN Women’s CEFM portfolio which includes coordinating relationships with national partners and stakeholders, monitoring and reporting, overseeing the use of finances and budget implementation, and managing project staff and consultants. The Program Coordinator will be involved in activities that include research and data collection, outreach, awareness raising and training, developing local strategies and encouraging monitoring of their implementation, and supporting local NGOs and civil society groups develop local partnerships with other stakeholders to end CEFM.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions

  • Manage UN Women’s component of the UN joint program on CEFM and provide technical support.
  • Manage the Programme’s work plan development and implementation according to the programme document and (draft) UN Women implementation plan.
  • Finalize the implemention plan, including the activities, responsible parties, budgetary provisions and timeline.
  • Based on the implementation plan, develop a Performance Monitoring Framework to track progress towards agreed results and timelines.
  • Liaise with UN agencies, national counterparts, donors, the UN Women Regional Office and other offices to ensure the Programme results are achieved and resources are managed based on best practices.
  • Prepare and present work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to the Programme Board and UN Women.
  • Establish systems for project planning, implementation and monitoring, in collaboration with partners.
  • Record and maintain documents on relevant Programme activities, issues, and risks.
  • Guide coordination with UN agencies, national partners and other stakeholders.
  • Coordinate relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the child marriage Programme, raise potential problems and provide solutions.
  • Provide guidance to partners on establishment of performance indicators, and monitoring achievement of results.
  • Identify capacity building needs and support partners through technical assistance, mentoring, training, cross-partner learning, and capacity development initiatives.
  • Assist the Country Programme Manager  prepare for coordination and information sharing meetings of UN Agencies participating in the CEFM Joint programme, EVAW and relevant meetings.
  • Meet programme partners and beneficiaries of the UN Women programmes and projects in the area of refugee response and Elimination on Violence Against Women, with the view of ensuring programmatic linkages and synergies to be reflected in the implementation plan.
  • Coordinate the monitoring and reporting on the Child Marriage Programme/Portfolios.
  • Gather and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting on programmes and projects from the planning to the evaluation stages.
  • Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds by partners; conduct regular monitoring visits.
  • Write annual and quarterly reports; review and coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports.
  • Provide inputs from child marriage programme activities and results to Turkey Programme Presence reporting.
  • Manage financial resources and supervise staff.
  • Supervise and manage a small team of staff and consultants, review performance and mentor/ coach staff.
  • Coordinate development and preparation of financial resources of the Programme including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting.
  • Oversee and monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to participating partners.
  • Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies.
  • Provide technical support to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies to further expand UN Women’s work in CEFM.
  • 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 programme implementation process and products produced are in accordance with UN Women guidelines.
  • Contribute to the exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally of the programme.
  • Organize advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products.

Key Performance Indicators

  • Timely and quality implementation of Programme/Portfolio activities against set workplans, timelines and budgets, in line with the Strategic Note.
  • Quality and timely reporting.
  • Strong relations with 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.

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

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.

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 two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

  • At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in programme management, including programme design, programme coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building.
  • Experience in projects/programs related to Child Marriage and/or EVAW is considered an asset.
  • Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects is an asset.
  • Previous experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Language Requirements

  • Fluency in English and Turkish is required.
  • Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.