International Consultant to support Women Peace and Security

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Background

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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, 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.

On 12th September 2018, the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) was signed, an agreement expected to chart a peaceful solution to the conflict that had plagued South Sudan since 2013 and to set the country on a path to equitable development for all. Despite the signing of this agreement, the conflicts in South Sudan had far reaching consequences including displacements, loss of lives and food insecurity. South Sudan has an estimated population of 12.2 million but by late 2019, 7.5 million people (more than two thirds of the population) needed humanitarian assistance; nearly 4 million people remain displaced,1 and 2.2 million children of school-going age remained out of school2. The country remains in a situation of severe food insecurity, with 6.4 million people considered food insecure. Protection concerns also remain significant, with the population often living in fear due to persistent insecurity, landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), human rights violations, Sexual and Gender Based Violence among others.

The years of conflict, with only a short respite after independence, has led to massive humanitarian displacements and crisis and extremely low socio-economic indicators with massive implications for

women’s rights, including extremely patriarchal and entrenched gender and social norms that discriminate against women and men. The continuous cycle of political and communal violence has all bred a culture of violence and militarization that exacerbates women and girls’ already weakened status in the society and has led to further erosion of women and girls limited community protections. South Sudan has one of the highest rates of violence against women and girls, including conflict related sexual violence, manifested at different levels – conflict related sexual violence by armed groups, within communities during ethnic/communal violence, normalization of domestic violence with almost 65% of women in various studies admitting to facing intimate partner violence and insecurity in Protection of Civilian (PoCs) sites. Displaced adolescent girls are further marginalized, often forced into child/early marriages as coping strategies, resulting in a lack of access to educational services, skills for job opportunities and decision making, and exposure to sexual exploitation and abuse. While the protracted conflict affects all populations, women are particularly vulnerable due to limitations on their mobility, shrinking safe and secure space, rights abuses and the burden of caring for children and other family members. The crisis has left most women economically and physically vulnerable by limiting their access to livelihoods opportunities, health, and educational services. South Sudan women’s participation in politics and in peacebuilding is minimal despite the 35% affirmative action on women political participation. Women’s historical exclusion in politics hinders their advancement thus widening the gender disparity in the political sphere. One constant, salient aspect of the volatile situation in South Sudan is the exclusion of women from the conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and state building processes. Women were, and remain, underrepresented in the current government.

As a result of conflict, political prioritization for people of South Sudan, international community and the UN is the implementation of the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement, which prioritizes transitional government and a power sharing arrangement, reform/establishment of specific institutions on transitional justice and humanitarian support and reforms of sectors that are driving the conflict.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women in South Sudan, yet they are less likely to be included in the design and development of responses to the shocks they endure. Women and girls are underrepresented in decision-making forums while they are especially qualified to speak to crises such as COVID-19 as a majority of households in South Sudan are led by women (57%), they are the caregivers and often the main income earners of their families. Women and girls are also suffering the brunt of the crisis in devastating ways especially as it comes to their physical safety. The pandemic has worsened conditions for women and girls which were already extremely poor. The rates of violence against women and girls are on a steep incline and appears as a parallel pandemic. Moreover, more than 800,000 people have been affected by flooding in areas along the White Nile in South Sudan since July in 2020 and estimated 360,000 people are displaced as of 5 October 2020. Women and children are the most affected and in need.

UN Women provides financial and technical support to help strengthen national women’s machineries and works with local partners to promote lasting institutional, attitudinal and behavioral change at all levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Deputy Country Representative, the consultant will be responsible for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions in the below-mentioned areas of work under the scope of the Women, Peace and Security portfolio in country. She/he works in close collaboration with the UN Women programme and operations team in South Sudan, and relevant UN

Women staff in the Regional Office (ESARO) and HQ (New York), Government officials, civil society and development partners to ensure successful implementation and achievement of planned results.

1. Provide Programme development advisory services related to women, peace and security agenda (WPS):

  • Identify strategic programme opportunities and provide timely advice to UN Women senior management on the programmatic area of women, peace, and security;
  • Provide policy advice and substantive inputs to the design, formulation and finalization of the WPS country programme/ project proposals and initiatives related to the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS in cooperation and coordination with Deputy Representative and other programme staff develop project proposals, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to WPS);
  • Organize periodic consultations with key stakeholders, women leaders, human rights defenders and UN partners to gather inputs on programme design, as necessary.

2. Provide support to the technical implementation of the WPS programme; provide technical advice; ensure synergies with other teams:

  • Develop an annual workplan and budget for WPS programme outcomes and support their implementation in line with Results Based Management Tools. Ensure WPS baseline data, clear indicators and targets are provided;
  • Review the submission of implementing partners’ mandatory reports as required;
  • Provide guidance to staff and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
  • Review South Sudan commitments on Women Peace and Security and recommend inclusive sustainable approaches.

3. Provide technical advice to partners; oversee the provision of technical guidance by the team

  • Build, manage, and expand relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the WPS programme;
  • Serve as an expert resource to partners on WPS;
  • Implement and oversee capacity development opportunities and initiatives.
  • Provide partners especially women civil society groups with advanced technical assistance, training and capacity development initiatives.

4. Manage technical and coordination support to the management of inter-agency coordination to achieve a coherent and aligned implementation of WPS activities:

  • Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the programme and contribute to their global dissemination;
  • Provide technical and coordination support to the management of inter-agency coordination to achieve a coherent and aligned implementation of WPS activities: Provide substantive technical;
  • support to the Deputy Country Representative in South Sudan on inter-agency coordination related activities by drafting WPS write ups on a regular basis;
  • Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with the partners’ efforts;
  • Provide WPS inputs to the Country level Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA)/ United Nations Development Assistance Framework with the current UNDAF expiring in 2021.

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Developed WPS programme
  • WPS workplan and budget is developed in line with the Strategic Note and Country Office work plan;
  • Relations with partners and stakeholders;
  • WPS Programme is implemented according to workplan and budget;
  • Regular monitoring of WPS programme, issues/deviations are raised in a timely manner;
  • Timely and quality reporting and regular dissemination and sharing of information, including best practices/ lessons learned.

Competencies

Core Values:

  • Respect for Diversity;
  • Integrity;
  • Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

  • Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
  • Accountability;
  • Creative Problem Solving;
  • Effective Communication;
  • Inclusive Collaboration;
  • Stakeholder Engagement;
  • Leading by Example.

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:

  • Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
  • Strong knowledge of Results Based Management;
  • Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports in order to inform management and strategic decision-making;
  • Strong Knowledge of women, peace and security issues;
  • Strong organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to detail;
  • Good conflict resolution skills;
  • Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies.
  • Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the challenges faced by women and girls in South Sudan.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in law, social sciences, international relations, gender affairs, political science or another related field.

Experience:

  • Minimum of Seven years of experience programme Management
  • Experience of working in conflict and post conflict environment, women’s human rights and gender equality;
  • Solid experience of working with Implementing Partners (IPs) and IP capacity building initiatives;
  • Through understanding and knowledge of donor reporting;
  • Experience of reporting and monitoring including programme design.

Language:

Fluency in spoken and written English is essential.

Application Specifications:

  • All applications must include (as an attachment) a completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;

UNWOMEN is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

Added 3 years ago - Updated 3 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org