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 this role as the global voice and advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women, UN Women must deliver to an ambitious agenda as a centre of excellence on knowledge, partnerships, advocacy and social mobilization, as well as a convener, thought leader and champion of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

UN Women will take a lead role in helping to drive commitment and action on gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment as the imperative of our time. Such leadership is especially urgent at a time when Member States of the United Nations and all stakeholders have committed to accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, in the context of the fact that no country has fully achieved gender equality and the empowerment of women;  It is also urgent at a time when Member States are committed to implementing a transformative Sustainable Development Goals agenda with gender equality and the empowerment of women as a stand-alone goal and with gender-specific targets integrated across the entire agenda. 

In view of the crucial contribution of civil society organizations in the advancement of gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights, the role of civil society and the women’s movement as partners, supporting UN Women’s leadership, is seen as fundamental in the full realization of gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment. UN Women’s unique and critical role in engaging civil society and partnership building with women’s organizations as stakeholders to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment will be key drivers in helping UN Women achieve its strategic goals and fulfil its organizational mandate.

UN Women works to strengthen civil society’s historically crucial role in leading global action on gender equality including promoting reform, influencing policies, monitoring and upholding accountability of duty bearers.

Under the general guidance and direction of the Deputy of the Civil Society Division, the Programme Specialist will be responsible for supporting the strengthening of partnerships with civil society organizations while also supporting advocacy and alliance building initiatives, and inter-governmental events.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide strategic policy, coordination and management support to the Civil Society Division’s work on advocacy and partnership building, including the Youth and Faith-based constituencies:

  • Provide strategic guidance on the Civil Society Division’s work on engaging youth populations on issues of gender equality and movement building, including to country and regional offices, well as establishing partnerships with youth civil society organisations and individual activists, in partnership with the Global Youth Focal Point;
  • Provide strategic guidance on the Civil Society Division’s work on engaging faith-based organisations on issues of gender equality and movement building, including to country and regional offices, well as establishing partnerships with faith based civil society organisations and individual activists;
  • Provide conceptual, monitoring and coordination expertise to the Division’s work as required, including on planning for the work at CSW 63 (2019) and 64 (2020), and the roadmap towards Beijing+25;
  • Collaborate on the development of high-quality advocacy tools and advocacy messages;
  • Support other partnership initiatives, including with disability rights groups.

Manage the implementation of the Youth, Faith portfolios:

  • Finalize the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
  • Manage the technical implementation of the programme/ project; provide technical advice; ensure synergies with other teams;
  • Review the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports as required;
  • Provide guidance to staff and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
  • Lead Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings.

Oversee technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners:

  • Provide technical advice to partners; oversee the provision of technical guidance by the team;
  • Build, manage, and expand relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the Youth, Faith, Disability Rights portfolios among others; respond to any potential problems;
  • Serve as an expert resource to partners on the area of Civil Society and Youth, Faith, Disability and other partnerships;
  • Implement and oversee capacity building opportunities and initiatives;
  • Provide partners with advanced technical assistance, training and capacity development initiatives.

Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme/project:

  • Manage the process of monitoring the programme/ project implementation of activities and finances using results based management tools;
  • Finalize quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output and outcomes;
  • Write office donor and UN Women reports;
  • Oversee recruitment processes, as necessary.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies:

  • Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
  • Finalize relevant documentation on donors and develop potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
  • Analyze and research information on donors, finalize substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.

Lead advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts:

  • Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to the intersections of civil society, youth, faith, disability;
  • Manage advocacy strategies and their implementation;
  • Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
  • Lead the development of knowledge management strategies and methodologies and products.

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Quality knowledge products and timely sharing of best practices to improve/ enhance donor relations;
  • Timely and quality programme strategies and contributions to Strategic Note;
  • Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget, workplans and the Strategic Note;
  • Strong and clear leadership/supervision of team;
  • Partners and other stakeholder provide positive feedback on advisory and technical services;
  • Quality reports and timely submission;
  • Quality of advocacy, communication and knowledge management initiatives;
  • Resources mobilized;
  • Strong relationships with donors, partners and other stakeholders.

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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

  • Strong knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues, with particular focus on youth and faith work;
  • Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with partners, especially women’s right organisations and youth organisations
  • Proven networking skills, and ability to mobilize support on behalf of UN Women;
  • Excellent negotiating skills;
  • Knowledge and understanding of UN system and familiarity with inter-governmental processes;
  • Excellent IT skills, including databases, extranet and office software packages;
  • Strong analytical and interpersonal skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, international relations, communications, women's studies, or a related field is required.

Experience:

  • At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in civil society mobilization and communications/ advocacy;
  • Experience in gender equality and women's empowerment;
  • Experience working with civil society organizations, international institutions and donors;
  • Experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Languages:

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

Application:

  • 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.

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.