UN Women: Policy Specialist, Rule of Law and Transitional Justice

Overview

Lead UN Women’s work on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice.

You have:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in law, transitional justice, human rights, international relations or other social science fields 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.
• At least 7 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for gender justice, rule of law, transitional justice and the women, peace and security agenda, ideally with some experience on global programming.
• Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning relating to gender justice, rule of law, transitional justice, and women, peace and security.
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field.
• Experience working with the UN is an asset, particularly the UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law and UN human rights investigations.
• Experience supporting the documentation of women’s human rights violations under international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law is an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language is desirable.

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 159,743 USD and 205,956 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.

The Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action Section supports UN Women to fulfill its coordination mandate in the area of peace and security and UN system efforts to improve implementation, and monitoring and reporting of global commitments on women and peace and security, and gender equality in humanitarian action. In the area of rule of law and transitional justice, UN Women works to strengthen inclusivity by generating knowledge, providing expertise, building partnerships, facilitating dialogue and strengthening the capacity of actors engaged on rule of law and transitional justice efforts to enhance women’s meaningful participation and advance gender justice.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Chief, Peace and Security (P5), the Policy Specialist on Rule of Law and Transitional Justice is responsible for leading UN Women’s work on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts, and UN Women’s global work on transitional justice. This includes coordinating UN Women’s participation in inter-agency groups on these topics, including the UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law; managing UN Women’s global programmes on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice; providing country-level capacity-building support and advice in these areas; and leading UN Women’s policy engagement and knowledge development on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Oversee the development and implementation of global programming on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice:

• Lead implementation of UN Women’s global programmes on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice, including UN Women’s SGBV Justice Expert Rapid Deployment Programme and relevant components of UN Women’s joint programme with UNDP on gender justice;
• Build and strengthen partnerships for the implementation of UN Women’s global programmes, including UN entities working on joint programming, Justice Rapid Response, and international and national civil society organizations;
• Develop the annual workplan, monitoring and budget planning for UN Women global programming on ROL and transitional justice:
• Build and strengthen UN Women’s relationships with key donors on rule of law and transitional justice, including through timely donor reporting; and
• Mobilize resources for future UN Women global programming.

2. Advise and provide capacity building support to country and regional offices and their partners on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice:

• Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives with UN Women offices and their partners;
• Provide technical support and policy advice to UN Women offices and their partners;
• Provide technical advice and strategic guidance to UN Women country and regional offices, including through online support and country visits;
• Support resource mobilization undertaken by UN Women country and regional offices, including advice on the development of funding proposals, for example through the UN Peacebuilding Fund’s Gender and Youth Promotion Initiative; and
• Provide technical policy advice to programme/ project managers/ specialists in the CO and MCOs.

3. Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships and coordinate UN Women’s participation in inter-agency fora on the rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice, and women, peace and security:

• Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of the rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice, including with donors;
• Coordinate UN Women’s participation the UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law (GFP), including by representing UN Women in GFP partners’ meeting, liaising with relevant UN Women country offices on country-specific meetings and missions, and participating in rule of law assessment missions;
• Provide strategic guidance for UN Women’s participation in the UN Action to Sexual Violence in Conflict network; and
• Represent UN Women at relevant country-specific interagency task forces.

4. Oversee policy development and knowledge building and sharing on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts, transitional justice and women, peace and security:

• Provide policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice;
• Identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice; and
• Identify and develop UN Women’s research agenda on rule of law and transitional justice, including by creating and disseminating knowledge products; and
• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with country offices, including through participation in UN Women’s community of practice on Women, Peace and Security.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality technical advice and support
• Leadership in area of expertise in area of rule of law and transitional justice
• Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner
• Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders
• UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise
• Contributions to resource mobilization
• Timely and quality knowledge products

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:

• Excellent knowledge of gender-responsive rule of law and transitional justice
• Strong knowledge of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law
• Strong networking skills
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
• Excellent analytical skills
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in law, transitional justice, human rights, international relations or other social science fields 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.

Experience:

• At least 7 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for gender justice, rule of law, transitional justice and the women, peace and security agenda, ideally with some experience on global programming;
• Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning relating to gender justice, rule of law, transitional justice, and women, peace and security;
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
• Experience working with the UN is an asset, particularly the UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law and UN human rights investigations;
• Experience supporting the documentation of women’s human rights violations under international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language in 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/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 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.

Potential interview questions