Spotlight Initiative Programme Coordinator – CARICOM Secretariat

Contract

This is a SB-5 contract. This kind of contract is known as Service Board / Service Contract. It is normally only for nationals. More about SB-5 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.

In September 2017, the EU and the UN launched an ambitious joint partnership to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls worldwide. The Spotlight Initiative (SI) aims at mobilizing commitment of political leaders and contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Initiative aims at ending all forms of violence against women and girls, targeting those that are most prevalent and contribute to gender inequality across the world. The Spotlight Initiative will deploy targeted, large-scale investments in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific and the Caribbean, aimed at achieving significant improvements in the lives of women and girls. Guyana, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago are three of the countries in the Caribbean to benefit from this transformative initiative.

The Spotlight Initiative thematic focus in the Caribbean is the reduction in prevalence and incidence of family violence. Family violence includes physical, social, sexual, economic and psychological/emotional abuse and acts of aggression within relationships that are considered as family connections or akin to family. The definition is guided by the domestic violence legislation across the region and the Initiative will take a non-discriminatory approach in advancing a comprehensive approach for all regardless of social status, location, identity or sexual orientation.

The initiative recognizes that family violence is a form of gender-based violence in which women and girls are disproportionately the victims. The initiative is concerned to address the root causes of this violence, that is, patriarchal and unequal gender norms and relations between women and men. Family violence negatively affects a range of human rights including women’s and girls’ enjoyment of sexual and reproductive rights. While the focus of Spotlight is on women and girls, the improved capacities of regional and national institutions to implement laws and policies, collect and analyse data and engage in prevention programming will benefit men and boys some who also experience family violence and all of whom are affected by harmful stereotypes around masculinity.

However, with the sustained demand by women’s organisations, there is now readily apparent greater resolve to address GBV through systemic approaches. Key inter-governmental and regional institutions have prioritised ending gender-based violence in the period coinciding with the Spotlight Initiative. These include CARICOM and its institutions, OECS Commission, the Caribbean Development Bank.

Complementing the Spotlight country programmes in six Caribbean countries, the Regional Spotlight Initiative will focus on 4 pillars of programming: i)working to ensure institutions are gender-responsive; ii) establishing comprehensive and evidence based prevention programmes aimed at changing social norms and gender stereotypes; iii) promoting the collection and use of quality, comparable data to inform public policy, advocacy, policy making, and delivery of complimentary services to improve prevention; and iv)supporting autonomous women’s movements to influence, and monitor policy and to ensure accountability.

The regional programme will complement the investments of regional institutions and contribute to the scale, sustainability, visibility, lessons learnt and replication of programming throughout the region. It will address specific regional institutional bottlenecks that impede or limit the reach of technical support to respond to and prevent family violence in CARICOM member countries. In particular, the regional programme will support CARICOM and OECS as the two intergovernmental frameworks leading functional cooperation in the region. The regional programme will add value in a number of ways, including:

• Ensuring that countries without a country level Spotlight programme benefit from the regional public goods developed through the regional programme
• Supporting regional integration and functional cooperation both within and between regional institutions as approaches to ending family violence are mainstreamed into approaches to crime and security, health, justice and data and research
• Building capacities of regional level organisations to provide technical support to national institutions will contribute to sustainability
• Supporting the demands of civil society for inter-governmental and state action and accountability to end family violence.
• Providing models for Caribbean specific community approaches to support behavioural and cultural change.

CARICOM Secretariat serves as Co-Chair of the Regional Steering Committee and the Regional Technical Advisory Group for the regional Spotlight Initiative. The Gender and Development, Statistics and Education Programmes in the Secretariat are directly involved in the implementation of a number of Spotlight Initiative activities, in collaboration with the programme RUNOs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the Day-to-Day Management of the UN Women Planning and Coordination (Specialist Trinidad and Tobago), and the Deputy Programme Manager, Gender and Development, CARICOM Secretariat, for guidance and direction, functions include the following:

1. Support the implementation of projects under the Caribbean Regional Spotlight Programme

• Provide support for projects under Pillars 2 and 5 within the Caribbean Regional Spotlight Initiative.

2. Support coordination among CARICOM Secretariat and its institutions, UN agencies, regional and national partners, and other relevant stakeholders

• Facilitate communication and collaboration among Secretariat, RUNOs and partners towards effective programme implementation of the Spotlight Initiative.
• Provide technical assistance and support for meetings and other initiatives to enhance coordination and collaboration.
• Support the implementation of the Gender and Development Work Programme (14.2) in alignment with the Spotlight Initiative.

3. Support the monitoring and reporting on the Spotlight Initiative

• Gather and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting.
• Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds.
• Draft quarterly and milestone reports.
• Facilitate and support the review and submission of financial and narrative reports.

4. Provide administrative, budget and logistical support for the Spotlight Initiative

• Draft workplans, budgets, expenditure and narrative reports.
• Monitor and facilitate the allocation and disbursement of funds to consultants and partners.
• Provide logistical support for meetings, workshops, consultations and presentations.
• Draft presentations on the activities/projects as needed, attend, take notes and prepare reports on programme meetings.
• Provide logistical support for meetings of the Council for Human and Social Development and of Directors of Gender Affairs, to review and adopt Spotlight Initiative outputs and best practice.

5. Support the finalization of the CARICOM Gender Equality Strategy (CGES) in line with the Spotlight Initiative

• Assist with logistical arrangements for national consultations in/with Member States on the CGES.
• Assist with preparing the revised CGES drafts.
• Support the development of the Draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.
• Support the circulation and review of the CGES drafts and final submission to the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) for approval.

Key Performance Indicators

Timely and quality support for the implementation of Spotlight Initiative activities against set workplans, timelines and budgets, in line with the Project Document.

• Quality and timely reporting.
• Strong relations facilitated among partners and stakeholders.
• Regular and timely monitoring of activities.
• Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated.

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:

• Ability to deliver on time and on target, with a careful attention to detail.
• Ability to adapt in a changing environment and to think and act quickly,
• sometimes under pressure yet remaining calm and effective.
• Strong programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills.
• Strong budget and finance 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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Management, Public Administration, Programme/Project Management, Gender and Development, or a relevant Social Sciences degree is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with five 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 experience at the national or international level in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions with regional and national partners, preferably related to Ending Violence against Women and Girls.
• Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects.
• Experience working in the CARICOM region is required.
• Previous experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Oral and written fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Applications:

• This position is subject to service contract conditions for Guyana.
• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; Please group all documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows one document to be uploaded.

Note:

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.

UN Women 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.