Gender/Inclusion and Civic Education Specialist - VEEP III

Mid Senior

Overview

Provide strategic guidance on gender and civic education in Vanuatu through VEEP III project

You have:

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in relevant discipline required.
• Minimum 5 years of progressive working experience in development assistance projects in gender, inclusion and civic education required.
• Fluency in English & Bislama is required.
• Experience working in gender and elections in Vanuatu is required.
• Proven experience working with governments in the Pacific development issues is required.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are required.

Contract

This is a NPSA-10 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Personnel Services Agreement. It is normally only for nationals. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education. More about NPSA-10 contracts.

Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

After the passage of a comprehensive electoral and political reform followed by a National Referendum in May 2024, Vanuatu has entered into new phase of implementing these reforms. The Parliament of Vanuatu passed a reforms package which provides for greater independence to electoral management bodies, introduces more modern and inclusive electoral management, regulation and registration of political parties and anti-defection measures to govern the behavior of Members of Parliament.

The Vanuatu Electoral Environment Project has been providing technical assistance to Electoral Commission, Vanuatu Electoral Office and Civil Registration and Identity Management (CRIM) Department over the years. The third phase of the project “VEEP III” builds on previous electoral assistance to Vanuatu and its main objective is to further the democratic development of Vanuatu. The project will do this by further strengthening the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Vanuatu Electoral Office (VEO) to more effectively implement their mandate and ensure inclusive, transparent, and credible electoral processes and by improving the institutional environment and practice of democracy. The project strategy is twofold: (i) to influence the institutional environment: the laws, rules, and regulations of the democratic processes; and (ii) to empower the agency of stakeholders: notably the Electoral Commission / VEO on one hand and individual citizens and civil society organisations on the other. VEEP III will support to the EC/VEO, to work in partnership with key stakeholders, including with civil society organisations, to improve voter education and to maintain trust in the electoral and broader democratic system.

Following are four specific objectives of the VEEP-III project:

• Provide services to support all citizens, including women, youth, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups to be increasingly aware of elections and importance of democratic practices and processes
• Voter register kept accurate and updated with every eligible voter registered
• Political parties operate within the legislated regulatory environment

• Effective and efficient electoral governance with less reliance on external assistance

  Duties and Responsibilities

The Gender/Inclusion and Civic Education Specialist will be working with the Project Support team and reporting to the Chief Technical Specialist.

The Gender/Inclusion and Civic Education Specialist will work closely with the Vanuatu Electoral Office (VEO) and the UNDP VEEP III team to implement the first objective of the project to provide services to support all citizens, including women, youth, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups to be increasingly aware of elections and importance of democratic practices and processes and also ensure inclusion is reflected throughout the three other objectives of the project.

Summary of Key Functions of the Gender/Inclusion and Civic Education Specialist:

Implement and provide strategic guidance of all activities under Output 1 and mainstreaming gender and inclusion across all other outputs of the project.

• Work with key stakeholders to undertake a Needs Assessment to identify the specific barriers faced by women, youth, and people with disabilities to meaningfully participate in electoral processes.
• Implement and track the progress of the “Liftemap Fiuja” Gender Strategy, implementing key activities within the strategy in collaboration with VEO.
• Provide advice to VEO and affiliated committees on best ways to reach traditionally underrepresented in elections populations, especially women, youth, and people with disabilities through voter outreach channels.
• Ensure Voter Registration activities under Output 2 are inclusive of all populations, especially people with disabilities.
• Wherever necessary, support VEO in political parties registration efforts.
• Integrate gender and inclusion into all VEO and EC governance activities, ensuring all demographics are equitably represented throughout the process.

Build strong relationships with key stakeholders to ensure sustainable implementation of civic and voter education activities.

• Collaborate with VEO to strengthen parternships with civil society organizations, NGOs, government agencies, and decentralized networks.
• Ensure stakeholder partnerships are equally representative of all populations and demographics across Vanuatu.
• Support planning and preparations of outreach committee events.

Manage sub-grant process, including tracking and monitoring of sub-grant activities while providing advice to grantees on best ways to integrate gender and inclusion into activities.

• Provide advice and guidance in development of call for proposals.
• Monitor and track activities of both sub-grantees’ activities and the effectiveness of the sub-grant process within UNDP and inform on lessons learned to improve in future calls for proposals.

Track and monitor implementation of civic education across Vanuatu’s secondary schools, providing advice on ways to continually enhance civic education curriculum.

• Integrate assessments of civic education into Ministry of Education and Training’s planning and testing.
• Collaborate with VEO to conduct consultations and evaluations of civic education effectiveness. Build lessons learned into civic education materials.

Ensure reporting and maintenance of records as necessary

• Work closely with project team to provide inputs into annual and other reports and presentations as necessary.
• Collaborate with the project team, especially the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, in project closure activities as necessary.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Competencies

Core competencies:

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Business Direction & Strategy

• System Thinking. Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.
• Effective Decision Making. Take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one's authority, area of expertise and resources and take into consideration potential wider implications.

2030 Agenda: People

• Gender. Gender Equality and Institutional Transformation.

Business Management

• Customer Satisfaction/Client Management. Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfill and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

Finance

• Budget management. Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets

2030 Agenda: Partnerships

• Governance. Electoral Cycle Support

  Required Skills and Experience

  Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Public Administration, Public Policy, Gender Studies, Communications and relevant discipline, including Law, Research Governance, Commerce, Social Work and International Development is required, or

• A first-level university degree (Bachelor´s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with additional 2 years of qualifying experience, will be given due consideration in lieu of Master´s degree

  Experience:

• Minimum 5 years (with a Master's degree) and 7 years (with a bachelor's degree) of progressive working experience in development assistance projects at national level in gender, inclusion and civic education.

• Ability to network and liaise with relevant counterparts.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Experience in project management, preferably within UNDP or another UN agency;
• Proven experience working in gender and inclusion in Vanuatu, experience of working in gender and elections in Vanuatu
• Demonstrated familiarity with Pacific development issues at regional and national levels and working experience with governments
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advance knowledge of web-based management systems.

Required languages:

• Fluency in English & Bislama is required.

• Knowledge of other languages an advantage.

  Disclaimer

  Important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders)

  Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

  UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

  Applicant information about UNDP rosters

  Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

  Non-discrimination

  UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

  UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

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Potential interview questions

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org