Background

The UN Women (UNW), 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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 as UNIFEM. UN Women focuses its activities on one overarching goal; namely to empower Palestinian women and girls and to allow them to enjoy their human rights.  In support of this goal and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the context in Palestine, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realization of three strategic goals: Engendering humanitarian action and increasing the effective leadership and participation of women in peace and security; Supporting women's income security, decent work and economic autonomy; and Promoting a life free of violence for women and girls in Palestine, also, UN Women works in an integrated manner to align its normative and operational mandates through enhanced coordination, coherence and accountability of the UN system for commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment, and through developing and implementing programmes across thematic areas to support the State of Palestine to address gender perspectives in intergovernmental processes (such as the Beijing Platform for Action, Enhancing the implementation of UNSCR 1325, reporting and implementing CEDAW, etc.). 

To achieve its results, UN Women Palestine Country Office would like to recruit a qualified programme Associate to support UN Women’s projects under the women’s economic empowerment portfolio and the normative work.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Special Representative and the direct supervision of the assigned Programme Manager/s, UN Women wishes to bring on board a Programme Associate, who will undertake the following duties and responsibilities:

Provides effective support to management of the programmes; focusing on the achievement of the following actions:

  • Support the efficient and timely implementation of the programmes activities;
  • Assist in the development of programmes’ workplans (including procurement and financial plans) and provide support for monitoring projects’ budget in terms of expenditures according to the work plan;
  • Establish and maintain the projects’ follow-up system for actions and deadlines;
  • Support to coordination efforts with programmes partners and ensuring flow of information with women’s organizations, private sector, government organizations, donors and local NGOs; arranging for meetings with stakeholders and draft minutes of meetings as requested.
  • Prepare and draft ToRs, contracts, agreements and MoUs for programme partners and consultants and follow up submission of progress reports and agreed deliverables.
  • Support in drafting progress reports, inception reports, donor reports, briefings, success stories and press releases, as requested;
  • Draft formal correspondence, in both Arabic and English, as needed;
  • Translation of documents (Arabic/English) when requested.
  • Arrange and coordinate appointments and meetings as well as field mission plans for in-coming and outgoing official missions.
  • Organize workshops, activities and events related to the programme interventions, as needed;
  • Provide support to the Programmes’ Monitoring and Evaluation Actions through organizing meetings/workshops with relevant stakeholders.
  • Ensure proper filing for the projects in adherence to UN Women regulations.
  • Review and collection of information on recent reports on Palestinian women and other related issues released from different UN agencies and partners.

Provides support to Financial Resources Management

  • Support the programme managers in the financial management and reporting of programme interventions;
  • Perform regular spot check visits to partners to verify financial documents;
  • Ensure timely and quality liquidation of funds;
  • Support in the creation of project budgets in Atlas, preparation of budget revisions, revision of project award and project status, operational and financial closure of ATLAS projects;
  • Support in the preparation of required documents for financial audits for UN Women and partners;
  • Create e-requisitions in Atlas and register of goods receipt in ATLAS.

Provides programmatic support focusing on achievement of the following actions:

  • Support the collection, analysis and presentation of information for identification of areas for support, policy and programmes formulation/implementation.
  • Support in providing inputs for enhancing linkages between the programme interventions and UN Women’s Strategic Note and Annual Work Plans (AWPs); 
  • Support in providing inputs and information for evidence-based advocacy;

Supports knowledge building and knowledge sharing focusing on achievement of the following actions:

  • Participate in workshops and trainings as requested by the Programme Managers;
  • Contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
  • Keep up to date with the latest advancement in the field of information and knowledge sharing

Competencies

 

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

Integrity:

  • Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

  • Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

  • Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff.
  • Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

  • Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity;
  • Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
  • Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative;
  • Working in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
  • Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication;
  • Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.
  • Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
  • Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

  • Build strong relationships with partners, focusing on impact and results for the partners and responds positively to feedback;
  • Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
  • Good knowledge of Results Based Management;
  • Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations;
  • Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to details;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to perform a wide range of varied, inter-related administrative services;
  • Ability to interpret and analyze data, resolve operational problems and propose solutions
  • Ability to work with minimum supervision, and to plan and organize work
  • Ability to focus on result for the client and responds positively to feedback

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • A bachelor’s degree in Finance/Accounting, Business Administration, development, or other related fields. 

Experience:

  • Minimum of 4 years of experience working in programme/project management, financial management/accounting.
  • Previous technical expertise in the areas of Women’s Economic Empowerment and gender equality. 
  • Previous experience in the UN system or international organizations is considered a strong asset.
  • Previous coordination and work experience with civil society organizations, private sector and government institutions is an asset.

Language Requirements:

  • Very good communication and writing skills and fluency in English and Arabic (comprehension, written and spoken)

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials: