Consultant - Policy Specialist for G20 Secretariat (Three Positions) - Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (Open to Indian Nationals Only)

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

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.

UN Women’s India Country Office works towards promoting women’s leadership in governance and participation in intergovernmental processes, UN interagency coordination, women’s economic empowerment and ending violence against women and girls.

Under its comprehensive and unique mandate of normative support and coordination, UN Women is expected to provide strong and coherent leadership in support of countries’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society, the nodal government agency, private sector and other relevant actors.

The Intergovernmental Processes and Coordination Division is UN Women’s interface with intergovernmental bodies, including the Commission on the Status of Women, the Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly, the G20, as well as with other intergovernmental processes and events.

UN Women operates in coordination with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) in the Country, which supports the work of, and coordinates activities of, the UN Country Team in its engagement with the Government of India as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). The UNRCO coordinates activities related to common programming including Agenda 2030, joint programmes, joint programming activities and development coordination work. This is done in conformity with the objectives and priorities of the Government, and the mandates and objectives of the United Nations agencies in India.

The Resident Coordinator’s Office is focused on the advancement of sustainable development, leaving no one behind, and with the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions as an overarching objective, consistent with the integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UN Women and the UNRCO are supporting the G20 Secretariat, Ministry of External Affairs, in providing technical policy guidance across the identified priority areas under the Indian presidency of G20 Summit in 2023.

The Technical Consultant(s) for Policy support embedded at the G20 Secretariat contributes to the effective management of the G20 Summit on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs, UNRCO and UN Women by providing substantive inputs to agenda setting, policy strategizing, support for intergovernmental dialogues about the G20 agenda, and documentation. The consultant(s) will also support the Ministry’s engagement with other working groups, ministerial meetings and engagement groups (the non-governmental complement to the G20 process). She/he will also engage with the work streams to maximise support for the Government India’s engagement on the gender aspects of the G20. She/he works in closely with the G20 secretariat at the Ministry, other Government officials from line Ministries and UNRCO and UN Women ro ensure successful implementation of programmes under the G20 Summit.

UN Women and UNRCO will be placing a Policy Specialist/ Technical Consultants at the Ministry of External Affairs (G20 Secretariat - MEA) to support the Ministry with a focus on intergovernmental processes, particularly on the G20 Summit, and sustainable development goals. The Policy Specialist/ Technical Consultant will be placed in MEA and will directly report to the additional Secretary, G20 Secretariat, MEA, under the overall supervision of the UNRCO and UN WOMEN. The Policy Specialist/ Technical Consultant will also meet with UNRCO and UN Women once a fortnight or when required to discuss work undertaken.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions :

• Engage with stakeholders towards strengthening attention to gender perspectives in intergovernmental work, including through gathering information, identifying challenges and creating opportunities for MEA to help advance the global normative framework for gender equality;
• Support the smooth functioning of intergovernmental processes, including through overseeing reporting processes and providing advice to, and sharing institutional knowledge on intergovernmental procedures and working methods;
• Supports creation of strategic partnerships & initiatives on advancing Agenda 2030 at MEA;
• Supports & conducts research and analysis as required.

Technical Advice and Strategic Support to India’s G20 Presidency to further Align the G20 Agenda with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, focusing on Goal 5:

• Provide technical advice on international cooperation under G20 Summit for sustainable development, with focused inclusion of Goal 5 on Gender Equality;
• Develop concept notes, issue notes, background documents, scoping notes on themes and key priorities in thematic areas prioritised for India’s G 20 presidency;
• Support in organising Working Group meetings; prepare presentations, interventions, position papers, as guided by the G 20 Secretariat for Ministerial meetings.

Strategic Thinking and Coordination to Strengthen MEA’s Strategic Engagement with the G20:

• Support MEA’s engagement with the G20 secretariat by contributing to the design of a strategic approach to embed the Decade of Action in the G20 work to further accelerate global progress towards the SDGs.
• Support preparation of draft outcome documents for the G20 meetings, including mainstreaming of gender and inclusion perspective; support the negotiation process, including live drafting of document during negotiations.
• Engage in policy resource and support preparation ahead of G20 meetings and relevant working group meetings from the G20 Sherpa tracks in relation to the 2030 Agenda.
• Provide substantive information and coordinate stakeholder engagement in key areas of the G20 priorities including, Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030; Disaster Risk Resilience; Digital Public Goods/Platforms, Data for Development, women-led development and other related areas.
• Provide support to coordinate with various Line Ministries/Departments of GoI, Think Tanks, International Organizations, including UN and G20 member and Invitees.
• Work closely with various UN agencies to provide coordinated support to the Development Group and other G20 Working Groups.
• Draft meeting records and coordinate with G20 Countries and Sherpa meetings, as guided by the G 20 Secretariat
• Keep track of the state of play on issues discussed in G20 Working Group and to work towards proposals that would garner consensus in G20.
• Support the smooth functioning of intergovernmental processes, including through overseeing reporting processes and providing advice to, and sharing institutional knowledge with the G20 Secretariat.

Research and Analysis:

• Analysis of documents/references from different departments from a gender perspective.
• Undertake research and documentation work for the G20, in the run up to and during India’s G20 presidency, including assessing key issues, country positions.

Any other duties assigned by the Direct Supervisor in MEA & UNRCO and UN Women.

Key Deliverables:

• Substantive positioning of the Ministry of External Affairs within G20 processes, working groups and outcomes.
• Background papers and fact sheets on G20 are required.
• Monthly reporting as per corporate norms.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
• Demonstrating sound judgment;
• Self-development, initiative-taking;
• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
• Managing conflict;
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encouraging the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
• Informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to Government of India and UN in India’s mission, vision and values;
• Sound knowledge on one or more thematic areas relevant to the priorities of India’s G20 presidency, including climate and environment; gender; health; agriculture; trade; investment and industry; energy; anti-corruption; developmental issues; digital economy; disaster management;
• Experience in policy making, analysis or advocacy;
• Excellent coordination skills; good writing and analytical skills;
• Experience in speech writing, analytical writing and preparing negotiation strategy;
• Demonstrated ability to analyse policy and strategies from a gender perspective;
• Produces qualitative, accurate outputs with considerable attention to detail, in a timely manner;
• Manages complexities, shifting priorities, and is able to work effectively without constant supervision;
• Maintains constructive, effective business relationships with clients and partners;
• Adheres to deadlines and follows up on time-bound issues;
• Maintains diplomacy, tact and strict confidentiality with internal and external partners and clients;
• Strong interpersonal and communication (verbal, listening, writing) skills;
• Organization skills (time management, efficient administration, multi-tasking and fast-paced);
• Ability to work under pressure within strict deadlines;
• Ability to adapt quickly to work demands, and changing deadlines;
• Willingness to “inter-change” work functions with other staff within the Unit, when required.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Minimum Bachelors’ degree in Social Sciences/Economics/Development Studies/ Gender Studies/ Political Science/International Relations/International Law/Public Administration from a reputed Indian/International university.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in providing management advisory services and hands-on experience, preferably with the Government, in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.
• Experience of working for the Government and/ or United Nations in support of normative intergovernmental processes is an advantage.
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and in handling web-based management systems.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Hindi.

Application:

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs;
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
• Applications should be submitted along with latest CV and statement of purpose/cover letter stating your interest in this role;
• Applications received after the close date will not be accepted;
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria:

Criteria for shortlisting of CVs will be based on the following assessment:

• Required Qualification (5 points);
• Minimum Experience relevant to the assignment (5 points);

• Experience working for the Government and/ or United Nations in support of normative intergovernmental processes is an advantage. (5 points).

  The evaluation process for selection of the candidate will be based on the following assessment:

• Interview (80 points)

• Writing Samples (20 Points)

Please Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work prior to engagement in the consultancy.
• Due to large number of potential applicants only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the selection process.
• This is a full-time assignment. The consultant is expected to disclose any outside activity and shall not be permitted to take up any outside work during the course of this assignment.

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.