ECOWAS Liaison Officer

Contract

This is a UNV International Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Youth contracts.

Description of task

Working in the UN Women Representative’s Front Office, the UN Youth Volunteer will support with strengthening the Country Officer’s partnership and engagements with the ECOWAS Secretariat. Specifically, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Assists in research, analyze and monitor political developments, trends and emerging issues in the West Africa region;

• Supports in assessing the implications and make recommendations to senior management on the impact of developments in the region in line with the priorities of ECOWAS as they relate to UN Women’s mandate.

• Prepare monthly/quarterly situation reports/briefing notes for senior management on developments at ECOWAS of relevance to UN Women’s mandate.
• Update draft partnership engagement strategy for ECOWAS, based on the UN Women-ECOWA Memorandum of Understanding, and support operationalization of the strategy
• Support resource mobilization efforts to expand programming partnership with ECOWAS, including through the development of concept notes and elaboration of proposals

• Liaise with UN Women’s Regional Office in Dakar on a regular basis to foster a coherent partnership engagement between the Country Office, Regional Office and the ECOWAS Commission

• Support planning, organizing and reporting on partnership activities;

• Maintain regular liaison function with relevant departments of ECOWAS Commission
• Draft and provide inputs to speeches and talking points related to ECOWAS partnership engagements.
• Support the development of thematic areas on women peace and security, women’s economic empowerment, women’s political empowerment, and ending violence against women to facilitate knowledge-sharing in relation to ECOWAS partnerships

• Provide input country office communications efforts as they related to partnerships with ECOWAS

• Assists in the preparation of knowledge products and documentation of lessons learned on partnership interventions between UN Women and ECOWAS.

• Represent UN Women as appropriate in meetings organized by the ECOWAS Commission.

Educational additional comments

Bachelor's degree (preferably Master's degree) in gender, politics, social science, human rights, and related fields.

Experience remark

• Demonstrated interest and/or experience (0 to 2 years) in the work of regional organizations and supporting partnership activities for promoting gender equality

• Motivated to contribute towards peace and development and to serve others;

• Good interpersonal, networking and communication skills;

• Willingness to contribute and work as part of a team;
• Flexible and open to learning and new experiences;
• Respect for diversity and adaptability to other cultures, environments and living conditions;

• Fluency in spoken and written English is required , and knowledge of an other UN language is an asset;

• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work,

Language skills

• English(Mandatory), Level - Fluent

Area of expertise details

The incumbent must be a dynamic, multi-functional person, who supports UN Women with professionalism, dedication and client orientation, and who must be willing both to work on programmatic/substantive aspects and to provide operational/logistical services. The following competencies are required:

• Strong knowledge of programme formulation and Results Based Management

• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports

• Strong analytical and report writing skills

• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems
• Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members and authorities at different levels;
• Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills;

• Excellent ability to quickly grasp and synthesize inputs;

• Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management; and office technology equipment;

• Desirable: experience with project development and management, monitoring and evaluation, human rights-based approaches, capacity development approaches, are all assets;

Learning Expectations

Learning and development are a central part of the UN Youth Volunteer’s assignment and take place before, during and after his or her assignment in the field. Ideally, offering diverse opportunities for learning and development aim to strengthen the volunteer’s skills and competences, improve the quality of the assignment and keep the volunteer’s motivation high.

Learning elements for the UN Youth Volunteer include the development of:

• Professional skills: including specific competencies and reflection on assignment-related abilities; and on-the-job skills such as time management, problem solving, team building; and career preparedness such as interview skills, CV preparation, job searching.

• Inter-personal skills: including communication and listening skills; multi-cultural awareness and cultural competency; and conflict and stress management.

• Volunteering-related skills: including leadership; civic responsibility; and engagement and active participation.

Beyond the learning opportunities provided by UNV, the host agency will support knowledge and capacity development in the technical areas that are relevant to the UN Youth Volunteer’s assignment. The host agency will provide, at its expense, UN Youth Volunteers with equal opportunity to participate in training courses and workshops offered to its personnel.

Competencies values

Accountability, Adaptability and Flexibility, Building Trust, Commitment and Motivation, Communication, Empowering Others, Ethics and Values, Integrity, Judgement and Decision-making, Leadership, Planning and Organizing, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity, Working in Teams

Application procedure

Prerequisites This assignment is funded by the Government of the Republic of Ireland, therefore only the following are eligible to apply: Irish citizen or a European Economic Area national with an unrestricted right to reside in Ireland or have a declaration of refugee status from the Minister for Justice and Law Reform. This is a UN Youth Volunteer assignment and eligible candidates must be between 18 and 29 years of age throughout the assignment. Selection process Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The selection will be done by the UN Host Entity at the level of the country of assignment, via competency-based interviews held via skype or telephone. Selected candidates will be invited to an assignment preparation training. How to apply Please apply via the link below. You can then either log in if you already have an account or register via ‘Candidate Signup’. You may apply to a maximum of three assignments per advertisement and indicate your order of preference in the ‘Additional Remarks’ section of your profile. Application deadline: 29 September 2021