UN Women: Partnership and Advocacy Specialist – Civil Society

Contract

This is a P-4 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 171,387 USD and 220,969 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

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 this role as the global voice and advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women, UN Women must deliver to an ambitious agenda as a centre of excellence on knowledge, partnerships, advocacy, and social mobilization, as well as a convener, thought leader and champion of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

UN Women’s Civil Society Division plays a key role in helping to drive commitment and action on gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment through its partnership and engagement with civil society across the globe. The crucial contribution of civil society organizations in the advancement of gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights, the role of civil society and the women’s movement as partners, supporting UN Women’s leadership, is seen as fundamental in the full realization of gender equality, women’s rights, and women’s empowerment. UN Women has a unique and critical role in engaging civil society and partnership building with women’s organizations as stakeholders to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment and the Civil Society Division helps drive this partnership.

The Civil Society Division also aims to support the implementation of the UN Women Strategic Plan (SP) 2022-2025 and promote the rights of women and girls globally through strategic and innovative partnerships with intersectional and intergenerational civil society partners. To appropriately align with SP 2022-2025, CSD has developed an approved Strategic Note that reflects the divisional vision and prioritizes the strengthening of multistakeholder allyship models with civil society at the core, to contribute to a networked, people-centred multilateral system that more effectively supports the rights of women and girls.

This is also in line with Generation Equality, a multi-stakeholder initiative convened by UN Women to catalyse partners, increase investments for gender equality, drive results and accelerate the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative also aims to sustain and expand a movement of support for gender equality with civil society and youth leadership and activism at its heart. Generation Equality is fully embedded in UN Women’s Strategic Plan and aims to accelerate the achievement of results contained therein, notably by operationalizing the Strategic Plan’s vision of achieving results through partnerships. Generation Equality is also recognized by the Secretary-General’s “Common Agenda” as an important initiative for the UN system to take stock of and build on.

Under the guidance of the Director of the Civil Society Division, and the supervision of the Deputy, the Partnership and Advocacy Specialist is responsible for strengthening civil society contributions to the realization and implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda, normative and intergovernmental processes and mechanisms, and their outcomes. The staff member will drive partnership and alliance initiatives, both with civil society as well as donors supporting civil society engagement, coordinate the work on the implementation of UN Women’s Strategic Plan Outcome 5 as well as our annual reporting mechanisms, and provide technical support to UN Women’s regional and country offices.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Lead the development and implementation of partnership and advocacy initiatives

• Develop advocacy strategies with broader CSO constituencies, such as trade unions, men and boys’ networks working on gender equality, faith-based organizations, think-thanks, youth led organisations
• Provide substantive inputs to initiatives and activities related to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and other intergovernmental processes to strengthen civil society contribution to normative processes and their outcomes
• Manage project initiatives with civil society organisations

2. Provide technical support to civil society related to normative processes

• Provide substantive support to civil society contributions on normative processes and their outcomes, including expanding and mobilizing stakeholder engagement for the delivery of the 2030 Agenda, including at country level.

3. Provide technical support to the development and maintenance of regional civil society advocacy and partnership initiatives

• Provide technical support to field offices on the Civil Society Advisory Groups and other issues
• Provide technical advice to Regional offices related to civil society advocacy and partnerships

4. Develop partnerships with civil society and donors and represent UN Women

• Build and maintain relationships with civil society networks globally
• Liaise and consult with UN Women Thematic Advisors, Geographic Sections and field-level Offices, as well as leading practitioners and counterparts from civil society and UN sister agencies
• Provide technical inputs to resource mobilization initiatives, write project proposals and prepare donor reports as required
• Represent UN Women as required; Coordinate and organize meetings, events, workshops or panels and write briefing notes, technical reports, presentations as necessary

5. Lead knowledge management and capacity development initiatives

• Coordinate the implementation of the SP Outcome 5 indicator and collaboration within the Outcome Area, with SP Indicator Managers, and relevant technical/thematic colleagues from HQ and the field to ensure an integrated approach to SP implementation
• Liaise with relevant units/divisions as required for specific tasks associated with planning, monitoring and reporting work of Strategic Plan and IRRF for their Outcome Areas
• Lead the coordination of substantive inputs from their respective Outcome Areas to the Executive Board, including on the Executive Director’s Annual Report (EDAR) and Mid-Term Review (MTR) of Strategic Plan, in collaboration with technical/thematic leads
• Report on a regular basis to PPID, CSD, UNSCD Directors, and other members of UN Women Senior Management as required on the progress in the Outcome Area
• Oversee and quality assure all Indicator Methodological Notes under their Outcome Areas, working closely with the relevant SP Indicator Managers, in consultation with SPRED/SPU
• Ensure the effective communication and socialization of the Outcome Area and corresponding Outcome and Output indicators across the organization, and contribute to the corporate communication/socialization efforts of the Strategic Plan and IRRF
• Oversee and coordinate the collection of baselines and setting of milestones and targets for all indicators under their Outcome Area
• Contribute to the annual review of development results of SP/IRRF in collaboration with thematic teams and other Outcome Leads, Indicator Managers and the field colleagues to jointly review the status of the Outcome Area, identify lessons learnt and take corrective actions as necessary
• Coordinate and oversee data validation under their Outcome Area, with the support of SP Indicator Managers and thematic leads, to ensure the accuracy of results reported in Executive Director’s Annual Report to the Executive Board (EDAR)

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely development of quality advocacy strategies as per workplan and scope
• Timely provision of quality inputs to CSW initiatives as per the workplan and scope
• Timely organization of meetings, events and other activities as per workplan
• Timely technical support to civil society contributions
• Development of partnerships with civil society networks
• Knowledge materials developed and disseminated

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Strong partnership development skills
• Knowledge of the UN context and the role of the UN and its agencies, funds and programmes, including in the area of gender equality and human rights, highly desirable.
• Strong networking, team-building, organizational, communication, public speaking and inter-personal skills.
• Excellent writing and editorial skills in English.
• Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, civil society, women's groups, UN entities and donors.
• Ability to manage for results, by translating strategy into achievable plans, with established priorities and ability to monitor and introduce adjustments. Self-starter and self-resourcefulness major assets.
• Ability to effectively represent UN Women in external fora, including policy-making and United Nations inter-agency initiatives.
• Strong understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Ability to contribute to team work.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Advanced degree or equivalent in international affairs, human rights, gender/women's studies, communications, and/or development.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of relevant national/international working experience in international development, with an emphasis on civil society partnership building.
• Management experience in a global multicultural setting
• Experience in project approvals, management and monitoring an asset.
• Experience in inter-agency/multi-actor collaboration highly desirable.
• Experience in the United Nations, a governmental, other multilateral or civil society organization highly desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Working knowledge of the other UN official working language is highly desirable.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

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.

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.