Programme Specialist - Strategic Planning and Coordination

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 UN Women Regional Office for East and Southern Africa furthers gender equality in the ESA region, including by addressing deeply embedded discriminatory social norms and practices. The Regional Office works across the following areas: Governance and Inter-governmental support (including Gender Statistics); Women’s Economic Empowerment (including Migration, Ending Violence Against Women; Women, Peace, and Security; Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Humanitarian Action. The Eastern and Southern Africa region (ESAR) comprises 22 countries. UN Women exercises its triple mandate and functions at a regional level and in support of UN Women’s offices and UN Country Teams (UNCT) in 13 countries and oversees and manages programming where there is programme presence and provides support on demand to an additional 12 countries where UN women has no physical presence (Non-resident Agencies - NRAs) within ESAR.

The Programme Specialist will work under the dual supervision: the primary level is Resident Coordinator Office (RCO) and the secondary level is the UN Women ESARO Strategic Planning and Coordination Specialist. The Programme Specialist will be embedded in the Resident Coordinator’s Office of Eritrea and report directly to RCO Head of Office.  The Programme Specialist will be responsible for supporting country-level strategic planning processes on gender issues across the UNCT. He/she will provide technical support towards building partnerships around women’s rights and equality with government entities, inter-governmental bodies, UN agencies, the women’s association, youth groups, organizations of persons with disabilities, multi and bilateral donors. He/she will also support GoSE’s engagement in intergovernmental processes. Additionally, he/she will provide technical and capacity development support in UNSDCF formulation and implementation processes, including supporting joint programme development, implementation of normative frameworks (CEDAW, Beijing+30, CSO, SDG’s VNR, WPS 1325, etc) and UN inter-agency coordination, including coordination processes and accountability for the advancement of women’s rights and equality. He/she will also support the UNCT with resource mobilization efforts in consultation with the UN Women Regional Strategic Partnerships Advisor, and other members of the UN Women ESARO team as relevant, as well as knowledge management.

Key Functions and Accountabilities:

High-quality technical and policy advisory support to Resident Coordinator (RC) and the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) and UNCT:

• Lead analysis on gender issues in Eritrea;
• Provide advisory support to the RC and UNCT in their efforts to support the Government of Eritrea’s initiatives towards women’s rights and equality. Including, where relevant, advising on the development of gender-responsive policy and legal frameworks in-country;
• Draft policy documents, briefs, and other strategic background papers for use by the UNCT to inform policy and programmatic positions;
• Coordinate research and analysis on the social and economic situation in the country related to women’s rights and equality, including supporting the development and implementation of Country Gender Equality Briefs/Profiles;
• Provide technical inputs in the development of programmes, implementation, monitoring, and progress reporting with a gender lens;
• Provide analysis and guidance to the RC, the RCO, and the UNCT on key gender issues;
• Coordinate the UNCT Eritrea’s contribution towards key normative processes such as periodic report of CEDAW, Commission on Status of Women, SDGs voluntary national review, 1325 and Beijing Platform for Action + 30;
• Support the interagency group on LNOB to ensure gender equality and women’s rights is reflected in all aspects of its work and through that mainstreamed into UNCT in relation to planning, analysis, programming, and monitoring.

Technical and advisory support in inter-agency coordination on Common Country Assessments (CCA) and United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCF) process:

• Provide technical support in mainstreaming gender concerns in the planning, development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, annual reviews, and progress reporting of the UNSDCF;
• Coordinate and provide substantive inputs in the conduct of rigorous gender analysis to inform the Common Country Assessment (CCA), including its annual updates, analyzing root causes of gender inequalities and discrimination that results in differentiated impacts for men and women, boys and girls;
• Support the preparation of analytical and regular progress reports on gender equality marker index through UNINFO, in close coordination with the RCO Data Management Officer;
• Support the preparation of analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s experiences in support of its inter-agency coordination role.

Foster coherent inter-agency planning, analysis, and action for women’s rights and equality: 

• Coordinate and provide strategic analysis and advice to the RC and UNCT on gender perspectives and opportunities to support inclusive engagement of women in the development assistance provided by the UNCT where applicable;
• Coordinate and provide technical support to strengthen UNCT’s commitment and accountability for gender equality including supporting the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard exercise and implementation of its Action Plan;
• Provide strategic guidance and support to joint programmes to ensure equality outcomes are central;
• Support the implementation of relevant system-wide UN strategies and frameworks at the country level, such as SG Parity Strategy and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) strategy and support related monitoring and reporting;
• Support capacity-building initiatives of GTGs, UNCTs, staff, government, and women-led organizations on mainstreaming gender concerns into UNSDCF, Gender Scorecard, Gender Markers, and others;
• Support and coordinate partnerships with relevant UN Agencies, government institutions, inter-governmental bodies, bilateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society, media, etc., to support successful development and implementation of programmatic activities at country level.

Interagency advocacy and facilitation of knowledge building and management:

• Coordinate interagency efforts to establish advocacy networks and linkages to international networks related to women’s rights and equality;
• Coordinate the development of relevant interagency advocacy strategies and their implementation;
• Lead and oversee the process of identifying and synthesizing best practices and lessons learned, according to priorities set by the UNCT; and contribute to their dissemination.

Coordinate technical support to strategic partnerships building and resource mobilization in close coordination with the RCO partnerships and development financing officer:

• Coordinate the provision of technical and substantive inputs to partnerships and joint resource mobilization strategies related to gender issues and the Cooperation Framework;
• Support interagency efforts to liaise with key stakeholders to build and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships on women’s rights and gender equality initiatives;
• Coordinate, review, and lead the development of interagency briefs on possible areas of cooperation, including the identification of opportunities for cost-sharing.

Support the UNCT in engaging in intergovernmental and normative work related to gender concerns with national partners:

• Coordinate the provision of technical and substantive inputs to partnerships and joint resource mobilization strategies related to gender issues and the Cooperation Framework;
• Support interagency efforts to liaise with key stakeholders to build and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships on women’s rights and gender equality initiatives;
• Coordinate, review, and lead the development of interagency briefs on possible areas of cooperation, including the identification of opportunities for cost-sharing.

Key performance indicators:

• Gender responsive programme/project documents, workplans, and budgets are developed, and programme teams supported on implementation, in line with JWP, and RCOs rules, regulations, policies, and procedures, using results-based management approaches;
• Timely and quality contributions and guidance to the UNCT, and interagency working groups and other coordination meetings;
• Quality advice to RC, UNCT, and Senior Management;
• Increased communication and collaboration on women’s rights and equality between agencies;
• Increased UNCT leadership and results in gender equality and women’s rights;
• Increased UNCT programming grounded in and including women’s rights and equality;
• Better integration with and support received from UN Women as a non-resident agency.

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:

• Ability to support strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to support formulation, implementation, monitoring and reporting of development programmes and projects;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioural/ attitudinal change;
• Ability to build strong relationships with development stakeholders focussed on impact and results for target beneficiaries;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Ability to lead teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in International Development, Gender, Human Rights, Applied Anthropology, or in other related Social Sciences;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying procurement management experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in the design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of development projects;
• Experience in setting priorities, budgets, work plans, participating in programme development, and programme writing;
• Technical experience in the field of gender and/or human rights of women is preferred; 
• Prior experience in the UN System and working on UN System coordination is desirable;
• Experience in partnership building with development stakeholders including national governments, international organizations, and other UN entities;
• In-depth contextual understanding, technical and practical expertise, and relationship building skills to define and deliver UN strategic ambition for advancing gender related outcomes in Eritrea;
• Experience in leading teams effectively is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.