Gender Coordination Specialist - Micronesia

Contract

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

This IUNV position of Gender Coordination Specialist will assist UN Women in the Pacific in establishing a gender focal point in the newly formed Micronesian multi-country office (MCO) in Pohnpei, FSM. The Micronesia MCO covers countries in the North Pacific (Nauru, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Kiribati). The purpose of the office is to ensure that gender and development support is present and that through the catalytic role of the RC (Resident Coordinator) will serve the Micronesian states by working with resident and non-resident agencies, funds and programmes (AFPs) to identify needs, assess services currently provided and consider changes that improve UN support to governments in their pursuit of Agenda 2030 and SAMOA Pathway priorities.

UN Women’s current structure in the Pacific is through the regional UNW Fiji MCO office based in Suva, Fiji, with small country offices in Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. There is also a project staff person in Tonga. The Samoa office unofficially covers the four countries covered by the Samoa MCO which are Cook Islands, Niue Samoa, and Tokelau. UN Women is seeking to align its Pacific structure to the new regional architecture and to be able to provide support through all 3 MCOs and therefore seeks to establish a position and office in the Micronesia UNCT (Northern Pacific). The initial focus of the position is to establish an office and programmatic presence, and to support the Micronesian MCO with gender coordination and technical support.

UN Women is establishing a post within the joint UN premises in the newly formed Micronesia MCO located in Pohnpei, FSM. The post will cover UN Women’s role in gender coordination and provision of gender analysis and technical assistance to the Micronesian MCO covering FSM, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau and RMI. The UNW Micronesia Gender Coordination Officer’s role will ensure that UN Women’s priorities in the Micronesia MCO are in alignment with the gender equality commitments and priorities of Micronesia UNCT Member States as well as in alignment with the newly developed Pacific UNSDCF and UN Women’s Pacific and Global Strategic Notes for 2022-26 .

The position will be supervised by the Representative of the UN Women Fiji MCO, with matrix management provided through the Resident Coordinator’s office in Micronesia and the Fiji MCO Gender Coordination Specialist. The position will also be technically supported by regional specialists in EVAWG, Political participation, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Women’s Resilience to Disasters through technical colleagues in the Fiji MCO.

Key objectives will focus initially on: UN Coordination: UN Women actively contributes to normative work and UN coordination activities in the Micronesian MCO to support implementation of the UNSDCF and UN coherence and coordination. Partnerships: Strategic partnerships with key stakeholders in the Micronesian MCO are established and maintained to support resource mobilization and program development and implementation. Gender and Protection: UN Women is able to respond effectively and efficiently in gender and protection to disaster preparedness and response through coordination and linkages with the Pacific Humanitarian Protection Cluster of the Fiji MCO.

Once the Micronesia MCO UN Women Gender portfolio grows, the position will also be responsible for the following:

Program Management: UNW programming in the Micronesian MCO is designed and implemented in a coherent and well-coordinated manner through the provision of timely advice and programming support to MCO and in-country program teams. Office management: The Micronesian MCO UN Women country office, once established, is well managed, and any project staff recruited are supported to perform their duties in line with UN Women policies and procedures

Under the direct supervision of the Representative UN Women Fiji MCO, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Gender Situation Analysis – the first task will be to develop a stock take, or situation analy-sis of gender equality programming in the Micronesian MCO. Utilizing the UN Women Country Gender Equality Briefs for data, the Joint UN Common Country Analyses, the Mi-cronesian country strategic plans, as well as UPR and CEDAW reports to develop a clear pic-ture of the key priorities, stakeholders and gap areas that exist in the Micronesian MCO countries in progressing gender equality. 2. Establish a Gender Coordination Mechanism – based upon the regional Gender Coordina-tion group, establish and support a Micronesian gender coordination mechanism with key partners including Government Women’s Machineries, CSOs, UN agencies, donors and de-velopment partners to share and jointly plan efforts on gender equality. Support provided is both as secretariat as well as technical and coordination support. MCO level coordination and support to national coordination mechanisms. 3. Develop Joint Proposals (Resource Mobilization) - Based upon the situation analysis pro-gress the development of joint programmes that will address key gender equality priorities and gap areas in the Micronesian MCO. This will require the IUNV to develop joint pro-posals for resource mobilization. 4. Establish the UN Women office and presence in the Micronesian MCO – Support the estab-lishment of a UN Women desk initially, and if funding and resource mobilization is success-ful, to establish project presence in the Micronesian MCO premises / country premises.

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Empowering Others ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Leadership ☒ Managing Performance ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Vision ☒ Working in Teams

gender and development • Human rights and social development

The Federated States of Micronesia ( FSM), often referred to as Micronesia, is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states – from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. Each of the four states is centered on one or more main high islands, and all but Kosrae include numerous outlying atolls. As a federal republic, each state not only has its own distinct history, culture, geography and language, it is also governed through a State Government linked to the Federal Government. The total population of FSM is around 110,000, with 35,000 living on Pohnpei.

FSM enjoys year-round daily tropical temperatures of between 25-29 degrees with generally high humidity, and monsoon type rainfall on a near daily basis. There is a moderate risk of tropical storms and severe weather events. Pohnpei, and FSM more generally, is a natural paradise covered in rainforest and surrounded by lagoons and the Pacific Ocean.

FSM is a hardship duty station level C, thus it is important to be flexible and open-minded as the conditions are relatively basic. The country has remained COVID-19 free throughout the pandemic and is only just opening up with flights and travel returning to normal by August 2022. There are several health care centres and a main hospital, where basic health care is provided.

There is a functioning international postal service and there are two main supermarkets on island, and two electronics stores. There is a small number of diners and several hotels and resorts available for on island tourism. All other types of of goods need to be purchased via mail order. Amazon delivers to FSM. Accommodation ranges from one-bedroom apartments to small houses, both furnished and unfurnished. These are modest but all amenities are provided, but flexibility is required. Public transport in the form of taxis is cheap and reliable, depending on how directly you need to get to your destination as most taxis are group taxis.

Most recreational activities are centred on outdoor activities and sports. Diving, snorkelling, fishing and sailing, as well as hiking are amongst the most popular leisure pursuits. In Kolonia there are several tennis courts and a public swimming pool. With some excellent tennis instructors being available, tennis is a also a very popular leisure activity amongst all. There are also two gyms and several running tracks/ location, and fitness classes are available.