Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations globally. It is a major obstacle to the fulfilment of women’s and girls’ human rights and development and therefore a threat to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. One in 3 girls marry before attaining the age of 18 in Malawi, which affects access to education, literacy levels to conduct meaningful economic empowerment activities among others. While there have been efforts to address and eliminate Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and Harmful Practices (HP) in the African region, and improved access to, and exercise of, Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR), progress has remained slow and uneven, and the approaches have been fragmented. It is increasingly clear that the elimination of all forms of SGBV and HP is intrinsically connected to transformation of gender and socio-cultural norms including those related to women’s sexuality and reproduction; and to improving women’s access to comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health information and services.

Malawi ranks 145/188 on the Gender Inequality Index, reflecting high levels of inequalities in reproductive health, women’s empowerment and economic activity. Women in Malawi generally fare worse than men on most social and economic indicators including wage equality, political participation, secondary and tertiary education enrolment and literacy. Additionally, violence against women and girls and harmful practices, including early and forced marriages, sexual assaults, harmful sexual initiation, and domestic violence, remain serious issues. Nearly half of Malawi’s girls marry before turning 18 (47%), and the adolescent birth rate is very high, with 30% of babies born to mothers 19 years or younger. Early sexual initiation with limited access to sexual and reproductive health services, lead to early pregnancies, which prevent girls from finishing school, expose them to HIV/AIDS and is the leading cause of mortality among girls 15-19.

UNDP is implementing gender and human rights projects in its Governance and Resilience and sustainable Growth Portfolios (RSG) aimed at empowering women, girls and vulnerable groups economically and through promotion of human rights. Under Powering Gender Equality project in RSG Portfolio, UNDP is mainstreaming gender in energy access, energy legal and policy frameworks and supporting women economic empowerment. UNDP also aims at mainstreaming gender across all projects by screening the projects documents, AWPs and Results frameworks for gender inclusion in accordance with the UNDP Gender Equality Seal and UNDP Gender Equality Strategy. UNDP is also implementing a project in Governance Portfolio with Civil Society Organizations to address SGBV, HP and SRHR among other types of violence derailing attainment of development.

•Support the enhancement of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment within the framework of Governance Pillar III targets and results.

•S/he will work in close collaboration with the Gender Specialist, Programme Support Unit and other project teams, Government officials, technical
advisors, and experts, implementing partners, donors, beneficiaries and civil society in order to ensure timely and high-quality delivery of Pillar activities relating to the promotion of women’s rights and economic empowerment.

•Ensures coordination and implementation of activities relating to gender equality and women’s empowerment

•Support initiatives aimed at addressing SGBV through access to justice and promotion of women’s rights.

•Support creation of strategic partnerships.

•Lead and support research, knowledge building and management.

•Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor

• Accountability
• Client orientation
• Creativity
• Integrity
• Knowledge sharing
• Planning and organising
• Professionalism
• Respect for diversity
• Working in teams

professional work experience at the national and/or international level in gender mainstreaming and women’s rights or designing, managing and implementing development projects, or other relevant programmes

Experience in partnership with NGOs and civil society organizations is an asset, as is experience working in the UN or other international development organization

Overall good understanding of the social and political landscape of the country

Experience in monitoring and evaluation (using qualitative and quantitative methodologies)

Experience in analytical writing and research; writing strategy documents and project/programme reports

Malawi continues to enjoy a stable and democratic government and has no major security problem. Living conditions in all the major cities are modest with all basic supplies available. Appropriate health services and international schools are available in Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba. Malaria is prevalent throughout the country. Social infrastructure can be found in all the major cities. The UN Volunteer will be based in the capital of the country, Lilongwe. Conditions in Lilongwe are good and has appropriate health services. Housing in Lilongwe varies, and it is possible to rent apartments in safe areas. UNDP will offer reasonable accommodation and offer transport to and from the office

Link to the entitlement calculator: https://app.unv.org/calculator