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 Pacific Multi-Country Office is based in Suva, Fiji and works alongside over 20 other UN agencies in the region and in 14 countries across the Pacific: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Under its Strategic Note (SN) 2023 – 2027, UN Women Fiji MCO focuses on delivering on four interlinked programme areas underpinned by support for intergovernmental and normative processes:

• Women’s Governance, Political Participation and Leadership
• Women’s Economic Empowerment
• Ending Violence against Women and Girls
• Climate Action/Humanitarian Action and Resilience

Within the UN Women Fiji MCO, the Climate Action/Humanitarian Action and Resilience work, comes under the SN Impact Area 4, Women, Peace, Security (WPS), Humanitarian Action & Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). UN Women Fiji MCO is engaged in supporting the region’s efforts to respond to the climate crisis, and disaster risk management. This includes efforts to advance the resilience of countries, communities and individuals, through support to climate action i.e. adaptation and mitigation efforts in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement (2015), including the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan. Also key to this region, UN Women Fiji MCO is supporting the operationalization of the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP) (2017-2030). Ensuring that women’s voices and priorities shape these efforts has been a key focus, including through knowledge generation on the gendered impacts of climate change and disasters in the Pacific.

The scope of work of the Gender & Climate Action Specialist in the UN Women Fiji MCO will require an in-depth understanding and experience in the operationalization and monitoring of national commitments relating to gender mainstreaming in climate adaptation and mitigation .. Linked to this the Gender & Climate Action Specialist will support programs within the UN Women Fiji MCO in the integration of strategies supportive of advancing gender-responsive climate resilience and environmental sustainability. This will also require experience in engaging and partnering with relevant Government counterparts, regional intergovernmental bodies, UN entities, Civil Society Organizations, private sector and bi-lateral partners.

Reporting to the UN Women Fiji MCO Representative, the Gender & Climate Action Specialist will spearhead the establishment of the UN Women Fiji MCO Climate Action programme i.e. to support gender-responsive climate adaptation and mitigation, resilience-building to climate-induced disasters, and environmental sustainability; including technical support to regional and national stakeholders and through strengthening partnerships, and the development and leadership of relevant programme interventions in the Pacific region, in line with the global climate action and environmental sustainability strategies and in an integrated manner with UN Women’s programmes across the Pacific.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Oversee the development of programmes on gender -responsive climate action and environmental sustainability within the Pacific region:

• Oversee the development of regional programme documents on gender-responsive Climate action and environmental sustainability;
• Provide technical inputs to programme proposals from the UN Women Fiji MCO;
• Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products;
• Coordinate proper monitoring and reporting for gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability in collaboration with programme teams.

2. Provide technical and capacity building support to the UN Women Fiji MCO’s teams and partners:

• Provide substantive technical and policy support to UN Women Fiji MCO teams in developing and strengthening projects/ programmes;
• Develop, implement and monitor capacity building strategies and initiatives;
• Provide technical support to partners on implementation of gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability initiatives;
• Provide technical policy advice to programme/ project managers/ specialists in the MCO on coordinated gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability.
• Provide substantive support by contributing to UN Women Fiji MCO’s capacities through CCA and UNSDCF development processes including by closely supporting Resident Coordinators’ Offices and UNCTs covered by the UN Women Fiji MCO, i.e. in CCA and UNSDCF development processes; and by : (i) ensuring gender mainstreaming in national gender strategies and UNSDCF and CCA processes; (ii) providing on demand support to UN Agencies to integrate gender in their specific strategic plans or joint programming on gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability initiatives; and (iii) working with UN Women Fiji MCO teams to meet gender equality requirements with a specific focus on implementation of Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), CSW, CEDAW, UPR, and COP recommendations related to gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability initiatives, the SDGs, and other normative work.

3. Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners:

• Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability;
• Build and maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability;

• Produce periodic updates and briefs on regional/country development situation to be used by stakeholders, the regional office for Asia and the Pacific and Headquarters;
• Maintain close collaboration with relevant staff in UN Women ROAP.

4. Manage the resource mobilization strategy for gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability programmes in the region:

• Spearhead the development, implementation, monitoring and periodic updating of the resource mobilization strategy on gender-responsive climate action in the region;
• Research and analyze information on donors; prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, ensuring donors in country are aware of strategies for advancing gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability.

5. Oversee knowledge building and sharing for gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability

• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with sister agencies in the Pacific;
• Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among UN Women Fiji MCO teams on gender-responsive climate action and environmental sustainability.

6. 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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Substantive knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of gender equality, protection and humanitarian action, including humanitarian coordination;
• Strong knowledge of the region;
• Excellent networking skills;
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising;
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Climate/Environmental Studies, Agricultural studies, Gender Studies, Human Rights, 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 7 years (with Master’s degree), or minimum of 9 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the national and/or international level in providing management advisory services, hands-on experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development portfolios and projects in relevant thematic areas; and establishing inter-relationships among international organizations and national governments
• Understanding of international, national, and local climate change, agriculture, energy and environment’s frameworks/treaties, policies, regulations;
• Managerial and leadership experience is required, and proven hands-on experience in providing policy advice to the Governments and support to the development of strategic policies is required.
• Demonstratable analytical, conceptualization and communication skills, experience with working in a multicultural environment international or regional organizations or United Nations is an asset.
• Experience in building partnerships and resource mobilization through different funding sources is an asset.
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), database packages, and web-based management systems such as ERP.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, 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 Statement:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, 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.)