UNW: Central Asian SGBV Alliance Coordinator, Almaty, Kazakhstan, SB4, SC

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 Central Asia Alliance to End Gender-Based Violence (from here on referred to as the “Alliance”) was established in 2023 as an effective platform and mechanism for preventing and contributing to the elimination of gender-based violence (GBV) in the region. This initiative aims at strengthening regional cooperation and advance the implementation of national and international commitments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), and commitments under the Generation Equality Forum’s (GEF) the Action Coalition to address GBV. The Alliance builds on the successes of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan, ensuring a legacy of coordinated action and creating a multistakeholder platform. It focuses on catalyzing collaboration among civil society organizations (CSOs), governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders to address GBV, thereby driving progress toward gender equality in the region.

The Central Asian region, encompassing Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, presents a diverse political, socioeconomic, and cultural landscape. Central Asian countries face shared challenges that the Alliance is uniquely positioned to address, while also capitalizing on opportunities for collaboration. Government and civil society partnerships can enhance the grassroots impact of efforts to end GBV, private-sector engagement can mobilize resources and amplify advocacy efforts and joint public awareness campaigns can challenge harmful norms and promote gender equality. 

The Alliance Secretariat functions as a coordination and liaison body with the members of the Alliance, relevant UN entities, development, and other partners. It consists of three (3) permanent staff members (Coordinator, Communications Specialist, and Admin/Finance Associate), supported by auxiliary ad hoc staff (e.g. consultants, technical experts, interns, volunteers etc) and is in charge of supporting and coordinating the achieving strategic goals and tangible results, the implementation of the Alliance annual work plan, and facilitating all the operations of the Alliance throughout the calendar year. 

The Coordinator will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women Kazakhstan Head of Office a.i./Representative in Kazakhstan and in close coordination with the UN Women Programme Specialist and with key stakeholders of the Alliance. 

The Coordinator will also ensure close collaboration and coordination with UN Women and other UN Gender Theme Group chairs in the region.  The Coordinator will lead the day-to-day work of the Secretariat, ensuring the achievement of the Alliance’s strategic goals, and overall coordination of the Alliance and all its members, namely national state institutions and civil society in the five central Asian countries. The Coordinator will be responsible for the effective coordination of the implementation of planned initiatives, the Secretariat’s human resources, and budget management. 

 The Coordinator will serve as a focal point in the organization of the Alliance meetings (in person, online, and hybrid) and support the follow-up actions related to their implementation, including on policy aspects as well as communication and interactions with all stakeholders throughout the year. 

In discharging these functions, the Coordinator will engage with partners at the national, sub-regional, regional, and global levels to ensure coordination and collaboration in the delivery of results across all workstreams. 

The Coordinator will work closely with the UN Women Country Office Kazakhstan, other relevant UN Women offices and UN entities in the region, Ministries of Foreign Affairs of five central Asian countries, National Women Machineries, Members of Parliament, Ombudspersons, Law Enforcement, Civil Society Organisations, and all other relevant stakeholders part of the Alliance.

The Coordinator will: 

• Lead and manage the daily work of the Alliance in full alignment with UN Women’s rules and regulations through coordination with the representatives of stakeholders, the Alliance members,  national and international partners, reaching a consensus on the operationalization of the Alliance objectives;
• Finalize the adoption of the Alliance's key organisational documents with representatives of the Central Asian governments, CSOs and other partners;  
• Keep regular contact with the Alliance members/partners to decide on yearly priorities and develop, in close consultation with UN Women Kazakhstan, an Annual Work Plan to be implemented in the calendar year; 
• Manage implementation of the Alliance’s annual work plan ensuring high quality and timely delivery of results and achievement of goals and objectives of the Alliance through technical monitoring and administrative and financial supervision ensuring the proper application of a monitoring system to track progress on program results and indicators;
• Ensure effective application of Results-Based Management tools and monitoring achievement of results. 
• Ensure timely preparation and quality control of all substantive Donor, corporate and external technical reports, briefs and required documents (UN Women corporate reports through timely monitoring in Results Management System (RMS) and Quantum, including quarterly and annual narrative interim project progress and final reports; narrative interim and final reports and certified financial reports as agreed with Donor).
• Organize  annual thematic and ad-hoc meetings of the Alliance by engaging all active key stakeholders and partners;
• Provide quality advisory support to the UN Women Senior Management through analysis and research of the political, social and economic and GBV situation in the Central Asian region;
• Provide support to and promote the implementation of Alliance-related cross-border and regional initiatives on ending GBV (e.g. visits, experience exchanges, etc.);
• Monitor best practices at the national, regional, and international levels, related to policy-making, legal review, capacity building, awareness raising and data gathering on GBV,  to channel them to the potential rotating chair and the Alliance members; Ensure access to the technical experts for inputs to policy documents on various approaches to GBV to be used by the thematic working groups;
• Attend and organise  records of meetings,  drafting reports and circulating them with all members, supporting with follow-up, including with UN entities, as necessary; 
• Support high-level advocacy related to the Alliance in close coordination with UN Women Country Office Kazakhstan; 
• Prepare analytical reports, talking points, briefing notes for the UN Women Senior Management in relation of work of the Alliance;
• Provide inputs to the communication and visibility strategy of the Alliance, supporting its implementation (including by tracking media activity related to the Alliance and supervising the Communications specialist);
• Ensure that interventions are aligned with UN Women’s Global Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and the broader mission and work of UN Women;
• Support the alignment of the Alliance work with GEF Action Coalitions through regular exchange of information, meetings and reporting;
• Pro-actively reach out to potential new members in close coordination with the Alliance members and UN Women Kazakhstan;
• Represent the Alliance (in coordination with UN Women) at different fora, where relevant;
• Lead the development and implementation of a sustainable financing strategy, including through resource mobilization, for the Alliance and consult with all relevant stakeholders;
• Oversee procurement related to the Alliance operations;
• Oversee the work of an Administrative/Finance Associate and of a Communications Specialist, ensuring timely and high-quality outputs (e.g. organisation of events, meetings, written documents, etc);
• Ensure efficient budget maintenance of the Secretariat with a financial annual delivery minimum of 90% ;
• Guide supervisees and ensure they effectively achieve their key performance indicators;
• Participate in UN Women Kazakhstan initiatives, and the UN thematic groups, and provide inputs to corporate documents, reports, presentations etc;
• Ensure effective communication with national, international, and local partners for delivery of results;effectively manage, monitor, and track financial deposits, allocations/resources, ensure timely payments in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, and procedures; generate Quantum reports;
• Develop Terms of Reference for project personnel and consultants/potential service providers and ensure proper delivery of technical services and submission of technical and delivery reports
• Perform other responsibilities aligned with UN Women’s triple mandate. 

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: 

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of women’s leadership, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment context on the national, regional and global levels.
• Excellent knowledge of SGBV and HPs, their incidence and patterns in the region 
• Excellent networking skills 
• Ability to interact with high level governmental officials, donors, the United Nations system, international organisations, civil society, diplomatic community, private sector
• Iidentify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising  
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice  
• Excellent representational and analytical skills
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings

Education:

• University degree in political science, law, social sciences, business/public administration, and/ or other related fields. 
• Specialized training/ certifications in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment is an asset.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.
• Master degree in a related field of study is an asset.

Required Qualifications and Experience:

• At least 9  of progressively responsible experience in International and/or state organisations, international human rights, and gender equality mechanisms; or 7 years with relevant Master Degree.
• Demonstrated leadership skills, including leading a diverse team;
• At least 3 years of experience in working with multiple stakeholders, establishing and managing networks, working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations at the national and international level; 
• Experience in the area of human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women is an asset
• Familiarity with UN development programmes and working methods, and particularly with UN Women policies and programming procedures, desirable;
• Experience with ERP systems (SAP, ORACLE) is an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written English, Russian/Kazakh is required.   
• Knowledge of any other language from the region (Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek) is an asset.

Statements :

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.)