Gender Advocate

The UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, promotes gender equality, reproductive health, youth empowerment. The organization was created in 1969, the same year the UN General Assembly declared “parents have the exclusive right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children”. Together with partners, UNFPA works in 150 countries, and in Ukraine since 1997. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.

UNFPA in Ukraine works for:
• creating conditions in which every young person can fulfil the potential, lead a healthy lifestyle, know their reproductive rights and take an active social life;
• conducting sexual and reproductive health campaigns to improve access to health and care services and improve its quality, especially for young people;
• combating gender stereotypes in society (through the media, compulsory education for civil servants on gender mainstreaming, the improvement of national gender policy and anti-discrimination expertise of school textbooks);
• providing information and services to gender-based violence survivors through the creation of crisis centres, supporting the work of mobile teams of psycho-social and support, providing expert support and raising general awareness in society.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are crucial for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Ukraine has ratified the Istanbul Convention and is implementing the EU Gender Action Plan (2022-2025), which focuses on gender mainstreaming, ending violence against women, and challenging gender stereotypes.

The war in Ukraine has intensified existing population challenges and introduced new ones:

• Gender Inequality. Families face increased challenges due to conscription, economic hardships, and separations. Female-headed households are expected to rise, along with households with individuals with disabilities. Traditional roles have been reinforced, but EU integration and information campaigns are challenging these norms. However, 85% of Ukrainians still hold gender biases, and women spend over 16 hours more per week than men on unpaid domestic work.
• Surge of gender-based violence (GBV). In 2023, 3.6 million people needed GBV prevention and response services, with domestic violence cases up 51% from 2022. Worsening socio-economic conditions have led to increased exploitation risks, with 50% of the population willing to accept precarious jobs. In 2024, an estimated 2.5 million people, primarily women and girls, will need GBV-related services.
• Veterans’ reintegration. The number of veterans in Ukraine may reach up to 5 million, facing significant reintegration challenges. Military families deal with complex decisions regarding parenthood amidst ongoing war uncertainties. PTSD and war-related mental disorders among male veterans increase the risk of GBV.

The Gender Advocate will play a critical role in supporting coordination and advocacy efforts of gender equality component of UNFPA Ukraine Programme through supporting 2 projects:

1) “EU4Gender Equality: Together against gender stereotypes and gender-based violence in the EaP countries - phase II, ” (funded by the EU);
2) “Recovery Streams: Building up Community Resilience Based on Egalitarian Approaches” (funded by Sweden). The Gender Advocate will focus on achieving the following objectives with a particular emphasis on male advocacy:

• Reduce gender discriminatory attitudes and practices between women and men in institutional and community spheres, including unpaid domestic and care work.
• Promote men engagement and improve psychological resilience within families to mitigate gender-based violence, foster responsible fatherhood through family-focused interventions and provision of targeted psychological support to men and women from vulnerable groups.

The Gender Advocate will ensure that the projects' goals are met by actively involving men in these initiatives, demonstrating the importance of their role in achieving gender equality and fostering resilient, non-violent communities

Under the direct supervision of the Project Coordinator for “Recovery Streams: Building up Community Resilience Based on Egalitarian Approaches” Project , the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Men Engagement and Advocacy Support:

• Act as a male advocate for gender equality and the prevention of GBV, emphasizing the importance of men's involvement in these areas.
• Leverage personal and professional experience to engage other men in dialogues about gender equality, responsible fatherhood, and non-violence.
• Serve as a role model and mentor for male participants in the programmes, demonstrating the benefits of gender equality and respectful relationships.
• Work closely with 'TatoHubs' to support and expand initiatives focused on responsible fatherhood, GBV prevention, and psycho-social support for vulnerable families, including war veterans and IDPs.
• Develop and implement strategies to engage men from diverse backgrounds in the pursuit of egalitarian social norms and community resilience.

Community Engagement & Capacity Building:

• Facilitate workshops, dialogues, and training sessions specifically for men on topics such as gender equality, healthy relationships, non-violent child upbringing, and the prevention of GBV, ensuring these sessions are tailored to address the unique challenges and perspectives of men.
Contribute to the design of project interventions aimed at engaging civilian men and male veterans to transform militarised masculinity and promote responsible fatherhood. These initiatives will serve as key entry points for veterans’ integration into civilian life and for the prevention of gender-based violence (GBV).
• Develop and support community-based programs that encourage men to take active roles in fostering egalitarian social norms and reducing gender-based violence within their communities.
• Mentor and support male participants, helping them to become advocates for gender equality and positive role models in their communities.
• Promote the development of peer support networks among men to sustain engagement and reinforce positive behavior changes related to gender equality and non-violence.

Inter-Agency coordination and partnerships building support:

• Cooperate with partners at the regional and/or local levels to ensure cohesive and complementary actions in response to the projects’ focus, with a particular emphasis on male engagement and participation;
• Participate in, and contribute to, inter-agency coordination meetings as well as national and regional fora, ensuring that the importance of male involvement in gender equality and GBV prevention is highlighted and UNFPA interests are represented;
• Ensure coordination with relevant working groups and information sharing at the national level and in targeted communities, focusing on strategies to engage men as active participants and advocates for gender equality and social cohesion;
• Establish and strengthen partnerships with organizations and initiatives that focus on male engagement, responsible fatherhood, and the prevention of GBV, to create a supportive network for men’s involvement in these areas.
• Advocate for and promote the inclusion of male-focused approaches in inter-agency strategies and policies, ensuring that men’s roles in promoting gender equality and preventing violence are recognized and supported.
• Work collaboratively with other agencies to develop and implement joint initiatives that engage men in community recovery and resilience efforts, leveraging their potential to contribute positively to social cohesion and egalitarian social norms.

Effective Project Management Support:

• Contribute to design, planning, implementation of the projects and their activities by providing programmatic and operational support, and managing data collection and analysis;
• Support monitoring of the impact of project interventions and provide inputs to the project reporting and governmental policy papers, strategies and national plans;
• Assist in the coordination and interactions with Implementing Partners to ensure timely preparation of work plans, budgets, progress reports, project presentations, and other documents and correspondence.
• Support review, steering and evaluation meetings and missions, applying mechanisms to systematically assess the achievement of Programme results; Provide administrative, procurement and finance support to Youth-Gender Programme in accordance with UNFPA rules and regulations and relevant Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs);
• Enhance the visibility of the UNFPA and EU 4 Gender Equality Programme through strategic public relations, advocacy efforts, media engagement, and other targeted communication activities.

Advocacy & Knowledge Management:

• Establish and maintain relationships with local and oblast authorities and partners to support gender mainstreaming in local interventions with a focus on male engagement;
• Advocate for the inclusion of gender equality and GBV prevention in local programmes and policies;
• Undertake research, analyze existing national and international data, surveys, reports, technical journals and media, and drawing trends and projections, prepare briefs to inform projects’ implementation;