UN Women: Policy Specialist, Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action Compact

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.

UN Women seeks to complement and enhance the capacity of other UN entities to serve their respective mandates and deliver on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The Peace, Security and Humanitarian Section (WPSHA) develops and implements the programme of work on research, analysis and knowledge management and provides guidance, technical and strategic support to intergovernmental processes, the UN System and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment in peace, security, disaster risk reduction/preparedness, emergency response and recovery.

The Policy Specialist requires substantive experience and understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, knowledge of peace, security, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction to translate UN Women`s strategic plans into results, linking across all other thematic areas. It also requires understanding and working and reinforcing partnerships with member states, civil society, regional institutions and UN agencies to enhance awareness, commitment, visibility and resources to advance gender equality and women's empowerment. As part of the Generation Equality process, UN Women is serving as the Secretariat for the Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action Compact, a multi-stakeholder initiative to drive implementation of existing commitments in this field. The Compact will be formally launched in the Paris Generation Equality Forum in Paris in June 2021.

The WPS-HA Compact will mobilize governments, regional bodies, international organizations, civil society organizations/networks, academic/research institutions and the private sector to accelerate implementation of global commitments on gender equality in peace and security and humanitarian action. As such, the Compact will serve as a unique, impact-oriented process to mobilize substantive and transformative actions in the next five years to fulfil key existing WPS and HA commitments and to strengthen coordination across existing WPS and HA mechanisms.

The Policy Specialist will report to the Policy Specialist, National and Global Implementation of WPS, who is leading the Secretariat, in close coordination with other team members and members of the Generation Equality and Action Coalitions secretariat.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Policy Specialist, National Implementation and Global Implementation of WPS, the incumbent will be responsible for the following tasks:

Policy Development and Advocacy:

• Take a lead role in the policy development and advocacy on the WPSHA Compact supporting stakeholders to identify and commit to concrete actions to move the WPSHA agenda forward.
• Identify and articulate policy and operational gaps that can be addressed by Compact members.
• Lead the development of advocacy messages to internal and external stakeholders, ensuring smooth and clear communication and expectations management.
• Draw on cutting edge research and knowledge in the field of WPSHA to inform the proposed actions and commitments.
• Advocate with Board and Catalytic members to make concrete commitments during the June 2021 Paris forum.
• Coordinate with communications focal points inside UN Women to disseminate key messages.

Drafting and technical assistance:

• Draft, consultation and finalization of the Compact, coordinating the inputs of relevant stakeholders.
• Review and compile inputs on priority themes from relevant stakeholders.
• Incorporate feedback from Board and Catalytic members, as well as other stakeholders, into the final draft.
• Ensure close substantive and technical engagement with the Action Coalition secretariat to optimize cross-fertilization and complementarity between the processes.
• Work closely with the monitoring and reporting specialist to ensure that Compact actions are measurable and align with Compact priorities.

Coordination:

• Ensure coherence and close coordination between the Compact and the Action Coalitions on relevant themes.
• Take a lead role in coordinating stakeholders’ engagement in the Compact, including but not limited to organizing meetings, communicating with partners and maintaining smooth flow of information within UN Women and with external partners.
• Lead substantive and logistical planning for Compact Board and Catalytic member meetings.
• Work closely with the Compact Communications Specialist to ensure that the Compact is effectively communicated across diverse audiences.
• Carry out additional tasks as needed.

Planning and Organization:

• Oversee the execution of the Compact workplan leading up to the Paris Forum in June 2021.
• Ensure the consistency between planned Compact actions and other UN Women and stakeholder strategic planning processes.
• Develop a workplan for subsequent phases of the Compact for the five year implementation period into 2026.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality submission of knowledge products to ensure the finalization of a transformative Compact framework.

• Quality engagement with diverse stakeholders and Compact members to build consensus on a Compact framework.

• Timely and quality support, advocacy messaging and contributions which promote Compact objectives.

• Quality support to a streamlined, accessible, reporting portal to promote effective Compact advocacy and implementation.

Competencies

Core values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 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

Functional Competencies:

• Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization;
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral;
• Strong public speaking skills.
• Strong analytical and drafting skills;
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
• Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all level of the organization;
• Demonstrate sensitivity, tact and diplomacy, comfortable with handling external relationships at all level;
• Work in a highly pressured environment;
• Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability;
• Strong understanding of women, peace and security issues.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in development related disciplines, gender issues, economics, public policy, law or other social science fields. (Education in Peace and Security is an advantage) 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 of progressive experience in international development, law, policy analysis, sociological/gender equality or related areas, preferably with work experience from international organizations and/or the United Nations system;
• Experience of working on policy and advocacy work on women’s human rights and gender equality, including conflict resolution and peacebuilding, with field experience in peace and security and humanitarian contexts highly desirable;
• Strong experience in contributing to and publishing research on international development and humanitarian issues.
• Experience in planning, coordinating and implementing events and other activities.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of French or Spanish is highly desired;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

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.