Programme Specialist (Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and Governance) (Open to Fiji Nationals ONLY)

Contract

This is a NO-C contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education. More about NO-C 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.

The UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office is based in Suva, Fiji and works alongside the other UN agencies in the region and in 14 countries and territories: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The MCO has field presences in Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and program presence in Tonga. Each field presence is led by a national Country Programme Coordinator.

UN Women, in partnership with Pacific Islands Governments, regional organizations, CSOs, donors and UN agencies, focuses on delivering within four interlinked programme areas:

• Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership (WPEL);
• Ending Violence against Women (EVAW);
• Improving Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE);
• Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Risk Reduction.

The work of the MCO on Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and Governance is currently mostly led under the WPEL Programme which has a strong focus on Women’s Rights, Governance and Women’s Political Participation and Leadership. The Programme Specialist will however be expected to support and provide technical gender expertise to the entire portfolio of programming of the Fiji MCO. The scope of work of the Programme Specialist therefore requires experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality and women’s rights, governance as well as programme management expertise, to translate the programme objectives into effective development initiatives and results.

Reporting to the Deputy Representative, the Programme Specialist exercises overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under his/her portfolio. She/he works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.

Duties and Responsibilities

Design and develop programmes for the MCO related to gender equality, women’s political empowerment and leadership, women’s rights and governance

• Design and formulate programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Draft inputs to country strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to gender equality, women’s rights and governance including women’s political participation.
• Support the integration of women’s rights and CEDAW throughout the programming portfolio of the MCO

Manage the implementation and management of the MCO programs on gender equality, women’s political empowerment and leadership women’s rights and governance.

• Finalize the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
• Manage the technical implementation of the programme/project; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide guidance to staff and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Organize Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings, as needed.

Manage technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners

• Build and manage relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the MCO programming on gender equality, women’s political empowerment and leadership women’s rights and governance; respond to any potential problems;
• Identify capacity building needs of partners and lead the coordination of technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives to partners in the area of gender equality, women’s rights and governance.
• Manage the Fiji MCO’s CEDAW support (technical and financial support) including support to CSOs for Shadow Report development and development of UNCT Confidential reports.

Manage the implementation of programme/ project activities through monitoring and reporting

• Manage the monitoring of programme/ project implementation and finances using results based management tools;
• Oversee field missions and review reports on monitoring missions;
• Write quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output and outcomes;
• Contribute to office donor and UN Women reports.

Manage the people and financial resources of the MCO programs on gender equality, women’s political empowerment and leadership women’s rights and governance

• Manage the programme budget and draft financial reports;
• Supervise Programme Analysts and Technical Specialists as necessary; Mentor and coach staff and do performance assessments as necessary;
• Oversee recruitment processes, as necessary.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.

Contribute to inter-agency coordination to achieve a coherent and aligned presence for the MCO on gender equality, women’s political empowerment and leadership, women’s rights and governance

• Provide technical support to the Representative and Deputy Representative on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, events, and participating in groups and committees as needed;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with other in-country efforts.

Manage advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop and review background documents, briefs and presentations related to the areas of gender equality. women’s rights and governance;
• Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to gender equality, women’s rights and governance as necessary;
• Develop advocacy strategies and oversee their implementation;
• Develop knowledge management strategies, products and methodologies on gender equality, women’s rights and governance.

Competencies

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality programme design and inputs to Strategic Note;
• Timely and quality programme delivery in line with budget and workplans;
• Timely and quality monitoring and evaluation of programmes;
• Relations with partners and stakeholders;
• Timely and quality of reports;
• Regular communication with other agencies and partners;
• Quality of advocacy, communication and knowledge management initiatives.

Core values

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Respect for Diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

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 gender equality and women’s rights, including CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action;
• 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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education & Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects focusing on gender equality and the empowerment of women;
• Strong technical experience in gender mainstreaming and women’s rights;
• Experience in establishing relationships among international organizations and national governments in the field of gender and human rights of women;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset;
• Management experience is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.