Programme Specialist, Women, Peace and Security

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.

Salary

The salary for this job should be more than 4,237 USD.

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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. In Nigeria, UN Women’s work is guided by its three-pronged mandate: 1) Normative support to the Nigerian government, including Federal and State Ministries of Women Affairs, in championing initiatives and implementing policies, systems and practices that advance women’s rights; 2) Programmatic interventions across four priority areas: Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action (WPSHA), Economic Empowerment and Resilience, Leadership and Political Participation, and Ending Violence Against Women; 3) Coordination of gender-focused networks and platforms within the UN system and development community to promote and advance gender equality in line with the development and humanitarian objectives. Over the years, Nigeria has been contending with incessant violent conflicts across the six geopolitical zones. These include attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East, farmer-herder conflict, resource-based conflict in the Niger Delta region, as well as a general increase of incidences of armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom. The humanitarian crisis in North-East Nigeria remains one of the world's largest and most complex humanitarian crises. Though women constitute about 50% of the country's population and contribute in many informal ways to conflict resolution, they continue to be poorly represented in formal peace and security processes. The security sector institutions are major actors engaged by the government to prevent and respond to the security issues in Nigeria. These institutions include the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). However, there is a huge gender gaps in the policies and operational procedures by the institutions, at all levels. The advancement of gender balance in security sector institutions has been increasingly identified as a key strategy for enhancing gender-responsive security sector response, which is supported by global normative frameworks, including the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) and UNSCR 1820 (2008), among others. Ensuring women’s meaningful representation in the security sector is critical to building an inclusive, responsive, and accountable security sector that reflects the diversity of the community it serves and better responds to their needs.

In view of the above, UN Women facilitated several strategic initiatives to enhance gender-responsive security sector operations in Nigeria. One of these is the Enhancing Gender-Responsive Security Operations and Community Dialogue Project (2020-2021), supported by the Government of Germany. The project successfully enhanced the integration of gender-sensitive and human-centric security responses into the security sector at the federal level and target areas in Borno and Yobe states. The development and adoption of gender policies by the AFN, NSCDC and review of gender policy of the NPF. Moreover, the development of a standard training manual on gender for security institutions, and the adoption training manual and SOP on SGBV by the police, supported by the project creates opportunities for further engagements and consolidation of achievements for sustainable impact. These initiatives will therefore be further supported under Phase II of the project.

The project “Enhancing Gender-Responsive Security Operations and Community Dialogue in Nigeria - Phase II (2023 – 2024) is designed to consolidate on the successes recorded by achieving the following outcome results: (i) Security sector legislation, policies, and institutions are reformed to promote gender equality, and women’s participation and rights.; (ii) Women in their diversity, especially those in conflict-affected grassroots communities are empowered to voice and assert their rights to protection and have enhanced collaboration with security institutions to address community security needs in an inclusive and gender-responsive manner; and (iii) Coordination mechanisms among key security sector institutions in Nigeria is improved to address the security needs of individuals and communities in a gender-responsive and inclusive manner. The Governments of the target states (Borno, Yobe and Adamawa) will also be supported to review the State Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security in their respective states, in line with emerging issues, including strengthening mechanisms to enhance the implementation of the policy documents. The entry points will include continuous engagements with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs at the national level and other MDAs, Legislators at the National Assembly, and Security Institutions (including AFN, NPF and NSCDC). At the state level, the State Ministry of Women Affairs and other key MDAs, Traditional and Religious Leaders, CSOs, Community Security Platforms (CSPs), Mixed Observers Teams (MOTs) and Women-Led Organizations (WLOs), among others, will serve as the entry points.

Reporting to the Deputy Representative, under the strategic guidance of the Country Representative, the Programme Specialist exercises overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing the “Enhancing Gender-Responsive Security Operations and Community Dialogue Project in Nigeria (Phase II). The Programme Specialist works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bilateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under the Women, Peace and Security thematic area.

Duties and Responsibilities

Design and develop programme strategies in the area of Women, Peace and Security

• Design and formulate programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Draft inputs to country strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to Women, Peace and Security.

Manage the implementation and management of the Women, Peace and Security programme

• 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 personnel 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

• Manage the implementation of technical advice and guidance. Develop and implement technical tools, and initiatives
• Build and manage relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the Women, Peace and Security programme; 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.

Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project

• 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 Women, Peace and Security programme

• Manage the programme budget and draft financial reports;

• Supervise Programme Officer (Field Operations), M&E Officer, Programme/Finance Associate and Driver/Clerk; Mentor and coach personnel and conduct performance assessments;

• 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 on Women, Peace and Security to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners in the country

• 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 Women, Peace and Security agenda;

• Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to Women, Peace and Security as necessary;

• Develop advocacy strategies and oversee their implementation.

• Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
• Develop knowledge management strategies, products and methodologies on Women, Peace and Security.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality programme design and inputs to Strategic Note
• Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget and workplans, and in line with all UN Women operational rules and regulations, including security
• Timely and quality monitoring and evaluation of programmes
• Relations with partners and stakeholders
• Quality reports and timely submission
• Regular communication with other agencies and partners
• Quality of advocacy and communication initiatives

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

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 to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong knowledge of the Women, Peace and Security agenda
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

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;
• Technical experience in advancing gender responsiveness in the security sector institutions and the Women, Peace and Security agenda;
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset;
• Experience in leading/managing a team is an asset.

Language Requirements:

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

Notes:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity, and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)