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.

Women’s leadership and participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. In order to promote the leadership and participation of women in decision-making processes, UN Women works to promote gender equality in parliaments, electoral bodies, political parties, media, and other institutions. 

UN Women has a proven track-record in supporting women’s political participation through its projects across various regions, under the guidance of UN Women’s founding resolution (GA resolution 64/289) and its Strategic Plan. UN Women is increasingly being called upon by UN partners, civil society partners, donors and governments to provide specific and often short-term gender expertise for capacity building and policy support on women’s political rights, participation and leadership.

UN Women Papua New Guinea is the implementing partner of the Women Make Change (WMC) programme on Women’s Leadership and Political Participation at the local level, District, Provincial (or Autonomous Region) and National levels in partnership with UNDP. UN Women and UNDP will draw on good practice from around the globe. Government partners include the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission, Department of Community Development and Religion; Constitutional Law Reform Commission, The Department of National Planning and Monitoring;; PNG National Parliament; PNG Electoral Commission; Community Governments; ABG Department of Community Development,  and Autonomous Region of Bougainville Government and Parliament.

The WMC Programme aims to contribute towards women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political and public life. In order to achieve the longer-term outcome; the WMC programme will contribute towards four sub-outcome areas:

Outcome 1: Legal and Policy frameworks promote gender balance throughout the electoral cycle

Outcome 2: A cadre of interested, diverse and capable women political leaders is formed at national and sub-national levels

Outcome 3: Significantly increased perception of women as equally legitimate and effective political leaders as men

Outcome 4: Women are promoted as leaders in gender sensitive political institutions.

Reporting to the Women Make Change Project Coordinator, the Project Interlocutor will be responsible for supporting the Women Make the Change project in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. The Project Interlocutor will strengthen and maintain partnerships, liaise with key project partners and implement project activities in Bougainville.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under direct supervision of the WMC Project Coordinator the Project Interlocutor will be responsible for providing expert technical assistance through performing the following key tasks and delivery of the expected results:

Provide support to the programme management and implementation:

• Provide technical support to the Women, Peace and Security technical working group (WPS TWG);
• Provide support for coordinating UN Women’s technical support to Office of Bougainville Electoral Commission (OBEC);
• Assist in strengthening connections between the WPS TWG and key governance mechanisms related to gender equality, for example the Parliamentary Committee on Gender Equality and Human Rights and Office for Gender Equality;
• Participate in all relevant coordination meetings and provide substantive input to guide the coordination efforts and activities of existing work;
• Provide support and guidance to United Nations Volunteers engaged in Bougainville as part of the WMC programme.
• Work with UN Women Implementing Partner to ensure that interventions on Bottom up planning for Women Ward Representatives are implemented in line with agreed expectations;
• Provide technical assistance and coordination support to women parliamentarians, line ministries and other key actors to ensure Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) commitments are fulfilled.

Continue dialogue with key stakeholders on the planned activities under the Women Make the Change Programme:

• Meet on a regular basis with key stakeholders to ensure coordination on programme implementation;
• Coordinate and maintain regular contact with women’s groups, civil society organizations, community/religious leaders and local government counterparts;
• Ensure women’s effective participation in political dialogue in AROB;
• Monitor and strengthen existing relationships with key programme partners;
• Conduct monitoring and assessments on projects and project risk and provide regular updates to UN Women;
• Map out and explore synergies for coordination in Bougainville to be considered by the WMC programme team. 

Provide support for information gathering and data collection

• Provide research and documentation support for ongoing/future initiatives on women, peace and security (data and information collection, briefing notes, presentations, concept notes, talking points);
• Assist with facilitating and/or monitoring UN Women work in Bougainville ensuring effective implementation;
• Assist in preparation of knowledge resources, best practices and lessons learned, including fact sheets on thematic issues 

Expected Deliverables and Timeframe 

Duration of the assignment

The duration of this assignment will be for Six months. There is a possibility of extension. Work will commence in the 1st week of February 2020 upon signing of the contract.

Performance evaluation

Contractor’s performance will be evaluated based on: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling UN Women values and ethical standards;
• Able to work effectively within a team;
• Able to multi-task and juggle competing demands;
• Demonstrated ability to work remotely with minimal supervision and achieve results.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Completion of secondary education required.

Experience and skills

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in providing assistance and coordination support to government, CSOs and development partners.
• Experience in political participation and working to improve women’s political leadership.
• Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects is an asset.
• Experience in supporting a team.
• Experience in Bougainville is a strong asset.

Language and other skills

• Fluency in oral and written English is required;
• Ability to speak Tok Pisin is required;
• Working knowledge of another local language is an asset.
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.