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 is mandated by the UN Security Council to lead on UN system-wide coordination on Women, Peace and Security, and to this end, UN Women has been working with governments, UN partners and civil society in the Arab States Region to support women’s participation and influence at all levels of decision-making to prevent and resolve conflict. Additionally, UN Women is committed to ensuring equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of humanitarian action, and that humanitarian responses seek to promote gender equality and more just societies. To this end, UN Women works in crisis prevention, preparedness, and response to reduce vulnerabilities, address risks, promote resilience, and leverage women’s leadership in crisis and post-crisis contexts.

In the Arab States region, the UN Women’s Regional Office for the Arab States (ROAS), with support from the Government of Germany, contributes toward building sustainable peace by enhancing women’s leadership for sustainable peace in fragile contexts in the region. UN Women’s work focuses on strengthening women’s leadership and meaningful participation in peace and transition processes through implementing the below three outputs:

1. Women peace actors have strengthened knowledge, capacity and technical expertise, and ability to influence peace processes and political and decision-making processes.
2. International, regional, and national stakeholders have improved information-sharing, dialogue, and cross-fertilization towards inclusive peace and political processes.
3. Peace process actors have increased access to systemized evidence-based knowledge that documents women’s participation and influence and disseminate good practices and policies.

In addition, UN Women ROAS contributes to strengthening the resilience of vulnerable refugee and IDP women impacted by crises, displacement, and disasters due to climate change and exacerbated food insecurity in the region, with support from the Government of Japan. UN Women ROAS actively advocates for the inclusion of gender in humanitarian action across the region, mainly through its coordination work as the co-chair of the regional Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group for the Arab States/Middle East and North Africa (RGiHA WG AS/MENA).

Reporting to the Women Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action Regional Advisor, the Programme Specialist WPSHA  exercises overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under their portfolio. The Programme Specialist WPSHA supervises and leads a Programme Associate. The Programme Specialist works in close collaboration with the WPSHA programme and operations team at UN Women ROAS, respective country offices and UN Women HQ staff, Regional stakeholders, multi and bilateral donors, and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under the portfolio.

Key Functions and Accountabilities:

Design and develop programme strategies in the area of Women’s Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action 

• Design and formulate programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Draft inputs to regional strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue, and other documents related to WPSHA.

Manage the implementation and management of the WPSHA programme in line with the regional Strategic Note and specifically the project ‘Enhancing Women’s Leadership for Sustainable Peace in Fragile Contexts in the MENA Region -Phase III’

• Finalize annual work plans and budgets and manage their implementation;
• Manage the technical implementation of the project; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide guidance to personnel and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Organize Project Steering Committee, project review, and/or evaluation meetings, as needed.

Manage technical assistance and capacity development to project partners

• Manage the implementation of technical advice and guidance. Develop and implement technical tools, and initiatives;
• Build and manage relationships with regional partners to support the implementation and expansion of the project; respond to any potential problems;
• Identify capacity building needs of partners and lead the coordination of technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives to partners.

Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project

• Manage the monitoring of project implementation and finances using results-based management tools;
• Oversee field missions and review reports on monitoring missions;
• Write quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output, and outcomes;
• Contribute and lead office donor and UN Women reports.

Manage the people and financial resources of the WPSHA programme

• Manage the project/s budget and draft financial reports;
• Supervise a Programme Associate;
• Oversee recruitment processes, as necessary.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies for the WPSHA portfolio;
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost-sharing.

Contribute to inter-agency coordination on WPSHA to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners in the Arab States Region 

• Provide technical support to the Regional Advisor and/or Regional Director/Deputy Director on inter-agency coordination on WPSHA-related activities by attending meetings, and events, and participating in groups and committees as needed;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors, and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with other regional efforts;
• Provide technical support to the coordination of the Regional GiHA Working Group.

Manage advocacy, knowledge-building, and communication efforts

• Develop and review background documents, briefs, and presentations related to the WPSHA portfolio, with a specific focus on women’s participation;
• Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to WPSHA as necessary;
• Develop advocacy strategies and oversee their implementation;
• Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
• Develop knowledge management strategies, products, and methodologies on [thematic area].

Provide capacity building and coordination support to Country Offices/ Multi Country Office/Programme Presence teams and partners in the Arab States Region on WPSHA

• Provide technical and policy support to the country office, multi-country office programme presence programme teams in the region in developing and strengthening projects/ programmes on WPSHA;
• Implement and monitor capacity-building initiatives;
• Provide coordination support to Country Offices in the region to ensure peer and knowledge exchanges on the WPSHA portfolio.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: The Incumbent will supervise a Programme Associate.

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:

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong knowledge of Women’s Peace and Security and Gender in Humanitarian Action
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities, and threats to fundraising and develop strategies

Recruitment Qualifications:

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women’s studies, international development, 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;
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national, regional, or international level in the areas of Women, Peace and Security and Gender in Humanitarian Action is required.
• Experience in project management is required.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages is required.
• Experience in coordinating and liaising with national, regional, and international agencies and/or donors is desirable.
• Experience working in the UN System is desirable.
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.

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.)