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.

Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The UN Women’s UN System Coordination Division (UNSCD) leads the operationalization of the intergovernmental mandate to “lead, coordinate and promote the accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women” at the corporate, regional and country team levels. The UNSCD is responsible for implementing system-wide accountability frameworks on gender mainstreaming: the UN-SWAP at corporate level and the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard at country team level. In addition, it leads on the implementation of the System-wide Financial Data Reporting Standard VII, the UN Gender Equality Marker, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB). The Division seeks to contribute to enhancing coherence in the work of the UN system on Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and the Empowerment of Women and Girls.

The Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist is a member of the UN System Coordination Division’s team which is part of the Strategic Partnerships, Coordination and Intergovernmental Bureau of UN Women.

Under the guidance of the UN Coordination Advisor, the Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist will contribute to and support gender mainstreaming in the UN system, including through providing technical contributions and substantive support to the implementation of the UN System-Wide Action Plan and Accountability Framework on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP 3.0), the Gender Equality Marker (GEM) and the synergies and complementarities with the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard and other related system-wide frameworks; providing Substantive support to monitoring and reporting individual and aggregate results in the UN system to intergovernmental processes and high-level UN global coordination mechanisms; providing substantive support to the preparation of communication materials, implementation of capacity building initiatives, knowledge management and outreach efforts; providing programme support to UNSCD management priorities; and providing other support as requested.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide technical contributions and substantive support to the implementation of the UN System-Wide Action Plan and Accountability Framework on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP), the Gender Equality Marker (GEM) and the synergies and complementarities with the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard and other related system-wide framework, such as the Secretary-General System-wide Gender Equality Acceleration Plan:

• Provide coordination and technical support and guidance to the implementation of the UN-SWAP, collaborating closely with other UN entities, funds and programmes and UN coordinating bodies;
• Coordinate and provide technical support to the UN-SWAP Help Desk Support service, including providing guidance, training and expert advice;
• Identify and deploy expert advisors, as necessary;
• Develop relevant guidance plans and other initiatives to support gender equality policies, strategies and mechanisms for managerial accountability;
• Provide substantive and organizational support to the UN-SWAP inter-agency workshops and meetings, including drafting work plans, developing meeting agendas, overseeing logistical arrangements for meetings, and issuing regular communications to the UN-SWAP Focal Point Network through a variety of channels, including in-person meetings;
• Review and contribute to the update of the design, technical notes and overall adequacy and implementation of the UN system-wide accountability frameworks for gender mainstreaming in light of feedback from entities and recommendations from other coordination bodies and input from Member States and provide suggestions for improvement;
• Provide technical assistance to UN-SWAP focal points to promote the use of data generated through the process of implementation of the accountability frameworks, the use of the gender equality marker and financial targets for gender equality, gender focused evaluations, gender audits, gender responsive evaluations and similar tools;
• Provide technical contributions to the implementation of the recommendations emanating from the Secretary-General High Level Task Force on Financing for Gender Equality in the UN system, the Independent review of the capacity of the UN system to deliver on gender equality, the implementation of the UN Gender Equality Marker as part of the UN Data Standards, and further approaches to improve financing for gender equality, including through inter-agency pooled funds, the UN system-wide gender architecture and the implementation of UN System Wide financial resource tracking and the establishment of financial targets for gender equality.

2. Provide substantive support to monitoring and reporting individual and aggregate results on the implementation of the gender mainstreaming strategy in the UN system to intergovernmental processes and high-level UN global coordination mechanisms:

• Conduct quantitative and qualitative monitoring of policy, practice and progress made by the organizations of the UN System for enhanced gender mainstreaming and analysis of annual UN-SWAP reporting results;
• Provide substantive support to the production of entity level reports and personalized letters on annual UN-SWAP reporting results and provide technical contributions to the quality assurance of self-reporting by UN entities;
• Draft inputs for the annual report of the Secretary-General on “Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system” and provide support to the subsequent ECOSOC annual Resolution;
• Provide inputs for other high-level briefs and reports of the Secretary-General on accountability for gender mainstreaming in the UN system, including financial accountability, and overall gender mainstreaming and gender equality, women’s rights and the empowerment of women and girls;
• Provide substantive input in the preparation of position papers and reports for policy-making organs and responses to member states’ requests, as necessary.

3. Provide substantive support to the preparation of communication materials, capacity building initiatives, knowledge management and outreach efforts related to gender mainstreaming and system-wide accountability frameworks:

• Provide technical contributions to the conceptualization and development of knowledge products to increase accountability for gender mainstreaming, including financial accountability;
• Lead the management of the UN-SWAP Knowledge Hub, an online repository of resources for each of the performance areas of the UN-SWAP, including policies, practices, training materials and lessons learned;
• Contribute to the organization of in-person and online meetings, workshops and webinars, including the Annual Conference of UN-SWAP Focal Points;
• Manage the UN-SWAP online reporting site, including liaising with site developers and overseeing necessary updates and improvement of the reporting mechanisms and user experience;
• Manage and update webpages related to promoting accountability on the UN Women global website;
• Provide technical contributions for the development communication and information products such as newsletters, website updates, social media and other dissemination materials;
• Collaborate with the UN Women Training Centre and other UN training and research institutes for UN system-wide capacity building initiatives on gender mainstreaming and accountability on gender mainstreaming and strengthening the focal point system, and coordinate, and/or contribute substantively to seminars, expert group meetings, panel discussions, etc. on emerging topics related to the UN-SWAP and system-wide accountability frameworks;
• Develop and strengthen partnerships with a broad range of actors in the UN System and in the private and non­governmental sectors working on accountability for gender mainstreaming;
• Support statistical analysis to identify lessons learned from individual entities and system-wide mechanisms;
• Provide technical contributions in the replication of accountability frameworks to other sectoral areas, including national governments;
• Provide support for the implementation of stocktaking and lessons-learned exercises and maintain a database of good practices.

4. Provide programme support to UNSCD management priorities:

• Assist in the administration of the work of the Division including the development and monitoring of annual workplans and budgets and preparation of inputs for results-based budgeting;
• Assist in the selection, orientation and supervision of support staff and interns;
• Provide support the mobilization of resources by developing proposals for member states, private sector, foundations, individuals and other potential donors on the coordination and implementation of accountability frameworks for gender mainstreaming;
• Collaborate with other UN Women Divisions and Regional and Country offices in the dissemination of information and results from the implementation of the UN system-wide accountability frameworks on gender mainstreaming, including through the Executive-Director Annual Report, Executive Board meetings and other requests from audit, evaluations and external reviews;
• Contribute to corporate priorities, events and activities such as International Women’s Day, Beijing plus 30, CSW and other relevant inter-divisional and inter-agency task forces, as required;
• Provide substantive support to policy papers, briefing notes and talking points as required;
• Represent UN Women at briefings and meetings as required;

5. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

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:

• Strong knowledge of Inter-agency processes related to gender equality and the work of the UN on gender equality issues;
• Demonstrated engagement with gender equality issues including research, writing and data compilation and analysis of relevance to broad accountability frameworks and its multiple dimensions.
• Excellent drafting, editing and oral presentation skills and ability to write and advocate succinctly;
• Strong planning and organizing skills, including time management skills;
• Good supervisory skills;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Demonstrated judgement in decision-making;
• Demonstrated negotiating, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills;
• Technological awareness and ability to leverage information technology for optimal performance;
• Demonstrated skills in capacity building to diverse teams and individuals;
• Demonstrated skills in organizing large inter-agency/inter organization meetings, preparing reports, keeping records, follow-up etc.;
• Demonstrated skills in the use of Knowledge Management (KM) strategies and practices;
• Strong skills in data research and statistical analysis, as well as demonstrated knowledge in qualitative and quantitative monitoring;
• Familiarity with financial tracking mechanisms and gender budgeting tools.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree or equivalent in gender issues, social sciences, economics or a related field 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.
• Qualifications/Training in data analysis, data research, and/or knowledge management is highly desirable.
• At least five (5) years of progressively responsible work experience focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, including at the international level.
• Experience supporting inter-agency bodies and UN Coordination mechanisms to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women required.
• Experience supporting capacity-building related to gender mainstreaming is required.
• Experience in the UN Common System is required.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of French is desirable.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

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/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc. 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.

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.