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 above is fulfilled through the triple mandate of the organization.

Through the normative mandate we support the strengthening of global norms and standards. We also promote more effective coordination, coherence and gender mainstreaming across the UN system in support of commitments for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and as part of our operational mandate we support Member States to translate global norms and standards into legislation, policies and development plans at the regional, national and local levels.

UN Women’s presence in the Republic of Moldova has evolved from being a project-based office in 2007 to a Country Office with full delegated authority as of 2015. Currently, UN Women Moldova Country Office is implementing its Strategic Note (SN) for 2018-2022, which is aligned with the Republic of Moldova-United Nations Partnership Framework for Sustainable Development 2018-2022 and the Global Strategic Plan of UN Women. The SN 2018-2022 aims at advancing progress under the following three Impact Areas: 1. Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems, including in the security sector, 2. Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, 3. All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence.

UN Women’s Strategic Note is fully aligned to the national priories on gender equality and women’s empowerment and is being development and implemented within the framework of the Partnership Framework for Sustainable Development 2018–2022 (PFSD, further as UNDAF). The PFSD/UNDAF is a medium-term strategic planning document that articulates the collective vision and response of the United Nations system to national development priorities and activities to be implemented in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Moldova and in close cooperation with international and national partners and civil society throughout the time period indicated. The strategic direction and the vision of the PFSD/UNDAF are fully aligned with national development priorities and aspirations. Four thematic areas have been selected for further pursuit: 1. Governance, human rights and gender equality; 2. Sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic growth; 3. Environmental sustainability and resilience; 4. Inclusive and equitable social development.

In total four Result Group (RG) were established for coordination of the PFSD/UNDAF thematic areas. UN Women is part of three areas and is leading the RG 1 on Governance, human rights and gender equality as well as is part of other coordination thematic groups. This includes, UN Gender Thematic Group (UN GTG), UN Youth group, operations management group, communication group, monitoring and evaluation group, as well as acts as board members of the joint programmes and initiatives (ex. statistics, innovation etc.). 

Moreover, UN Women is part of the UN Common Chapter jointly with UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, a platform for joint actions to accelerate policy prioritization, investment and, ultimately, achievement of results. The Common Chapter group prioritized collaboration in the areas of Youth and Gender Equality, as well as data and monitoring. This is in response to the call by the UN Development system (UNDS) to work together more coherently to help Member States to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

As per approved Strategic Note, UN Women will continue supporting UN concerted efforts on promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, supplemented by UN Women contributions on coordinating the work on GE and WHR, leading Civil Society Advisory Group, advancing introduction of temporary special measures and increasing women’s leadership and participation in decision making in public and private sectors, securing women’s access, especially from rural areas to productive resources and services, providing social protection to the most excluded groups of women such as Roma and disabled, leading UN agencies efforts for ending violence against women and girls, promoting and protecting rights of migrant women.

Taking into account the new challenges and tasks in the context of the current context in the country, as well as based on the lessons learnt from previous years implementation of the strategic note and in line with normative mandate, UN Women aims to further strengthen the fulfilment of its coordination mandate in the framework of SDGs, CEDAW, Beijing+25, and CSW. UN Women was acknowledged as a proactive and high profile member of the UNCT and other inter-ministerial platforms, with a strong voice among development partners advocating for the rights of women and gender equality. It was proposed that UN Women needs to offer more capacity building to other UN entities on gender and WHR and the need to facilitate the UN’s common and joint agenda on gender equality for policies and actions (especially in the area of EVAW) increasingly through joint and shared visioning of the solutions to the challenges was highlighted. Suggestions were also made to improve coordination between UN agencies and other partners focusing on priority domains and on a regular basis, for which the role of UN Women is crucial. Thus, in line with the above UN Women Moldova Country Office envisages to recruit a Coordination Associate to strengthen its coordination function at the country level.

Under the overall guidance of the Country Representative and direct supervision of the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and in close collaboration with UN Women programme and operations teams, the Coordination Associate provides support to inter-agency coordination, resource mobilization and partnership building, as well as advocacy and communication. She/he provides support in promoting the UN Women’s coordination mandate to advance the full realization of women’s rights and opportunities, as well as supports improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of GEWE coordination at the country level the Coordination Associate provides support to UN Women Strategic Note, Common Country Assessment (CCA) and United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as joint initiatives with the UN agencies.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide support to fulfillment of coordination mandate of UN Women Moldova Country Office:

• Provide substantive inputs to the fulfillment of coordination mandate;
• Provide inputs to the development of country programming processes and products, including the annual workplan, programme/ project documents;
• Provide support to the SN Quarterly and Annual Reporting;
• Provide technical support to CO in monitoring and preparing briefings about UN Women’s programme experiences, as necessary;
• Provide inputs and support in management of the core and non-core CO financial resources allocated for coordination activities under the UN Women SN and annual working plans.

2. Provide technical support on inter-agency coordination

• Provide inputs on behalf of UN Women to the formulation, planning, monitoring and reporting related to United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF);
• Provide support to UN system joint inter-agency UN initiatives;
• Prepare inputs for the CO as part of the preparation to each UNCT and other key UN coordination and intergovernmental events and meetings;
• Provide technical support to CO on coordination activities with the inter-agency platform: Gender Thematic Group, Monitoring and Evaluation Group, and other key Results Groups;
• Provide substantive inputs and support to CO in cooperation with the main national partners (Ministry of Health, Labour, and Social Protection, the State Chancellery, Ministry of Finance etc.) for the fulfillment of coordination mandate.

3. Provide technical support to the development of strategic partnerships and resource mobilization efforts

• Provide support in managing activities and other promotional events to engage bilateral and multilateral institutions/ donors, private sector and civil society to expand and/or sustain interest and resources for UN Women programmes and joint UN system programmes;
• Prepare background documents and analysis for the Country Representative to forge and implement strategic partnerships to increase outreach on UN Women’s work in country;
• Provide support to development partners and national counterparts on implementation of key UN frameworks and conventions on gender equality.

4. Facilitate knowledge building and sharing

• Provide support to the development and dissemination of good practices and lessons learned in coordination area; ensure incorporation into programme planning;
• Facilitate knowledge building within CO staff as well as with the stakeholders;
• Support CO efforts to disseminate the knowledge products within the UNCT and national partners on gender equality and coordination mandate of UN Women;
• Contribute to capacity building exercises, as necessary.

Perform other tasks as assigned by supervisor.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality contributions to the CO’s coordination efforts;
• Quality inputs and technical support provided to UN agencies;
• Quality inputs to planning processes and reports, and quality support to the Country Representative;
• Increased awareness of UN Women’s work;
• Increased resources mobilized and interest in GEWE among partners and donors.

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

• Good knowledge of gender equity and women’s empowerment issues;
• Good knowledge of UN system and understanding of inter-agency coordination processes;
• Good knowledge of results -based programme planning and management;
• Ability to promote and monitor inclusion of gender-specific objectives, indicators, targets and activities in the UN agencies programmes;
• Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with UN Agencies and main constituents, advocate effectively, communicate sensitively across different constituencies;
• Ability to support monitoring stages of projects/programme implementation;
• Ability to maintain an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues;
• Maintains databases on required information for CO coordination processes ( donor/partners information, mobilized resources, SP/SN indicators, etc.;
• Good analytical skills;
• Ability to provide advice and support new concept in development work.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position
• Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments
• Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• University degree or equivalent in Economics, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Sciences or related field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience of coordinating multi-stakeholder/inter-agency/inter-group program processes;
• Experience in the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of programme;
• Experience working in gender equality and women’s rights at national and international levels is an asset’;
• Experience within UN or other international organizations and knowledge about the UN systems would be an advantage.
• Experience in the usage of computers, office software packages, and experience in handling of web-based management systems.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Romanian (written and spoken) and working knowledge of Russian is required;
• Working knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Moldova, including Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian or sign language would be an asset.

The United Nations in Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Application Process

This is a local position, therefore only citizens of the Republic of Moldova are eligible to apply. Applications should be submitted on line and include a fully completed UN Women Personal History Form (P11) as attachment instead of CV/resume, with the mark “Coordination Associate/UN Women” by 11 March 2019, COB.

Failure to disclose prior employment or making false representations on this form will be grounds for withdrawal of further consideration of his/her application or termination, where the appointment or contract has been issued.

Note:
The system will only allow one attachment, hence all supporting document e.g. P11, CV and Cover letter must be scanned as one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Only qualified, shortlisted candidates will be contacted for test and interview.

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.