Mission and objectives

UNICEF was established in 1946 to supply emergency relief to millions of children suffering in the aftermath of World War II. The organization still functions to ease the suffering of millions of children in emergency situations across the world. UNICEF also focuses on the protection and promotion of child rights, working for the survival, protection, education and healthy development of every child. UNICEF has worked in Jordan since 1952 to promote and protect the rights of children. In the following decades, significant progress has been achieved for children. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2013, UNICEF has significantly increased its operation to respond to the challenges faced by both refugee children and those in the communities where they live. Building on the lessons learned from this emergency response, UNICEF Jordan moved to a vulnerability approach in 2018 – supporting interventions that target the most vulnerable children in the country, regardless of their nationality.

Context

Gender equality is essential to realizing UNICEF’s mandate to uphold the rights of all children. The UNICEF Gender Action Plan (GAP), 2022–2025, operationalizes the UNICEF Gender Policy, 2021–2030, by specifying how UNICEF will promote gender equality across its programmes and workplaces. Recognizing that gender discrimination has lifelong and intergenerational impacts, the GAP advances gender equality throughout life. In humanitarian settings, the gender sectoral commitment and gender-cross-cutting commitments outlined in UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs) outline UNICEF’s commitments to women and girls and gender equality in crisis response. At the same time, it promotes targeted actions to advance the leadership and well-being of adolescent girls, as girls are disproportionately affected by gender inequality and have tremendous potential to be leaders for change. This dual-track approach goes beyond responding to the manifestations of gender inequality to tackle its underlying drivers, including engaging boys and men as allies, advancing upstream financing and policy solutions, and supporting girls’ agency and voice. Additional information: International UN Volunteers are entitled to: • Monthly Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) at the amount of USD 2,507.69 (subject to change in monthly Post Adjustment Modifier). • Entry lumpsum, Exit lumpsum; and Travel Allowance • Annual and learning leaves; • Free Medical and life insurance; and • Free access to different learning platforms. For more information on UN Volunteer benefits, entitlements and support, please visit: https://www.unv.org/become-volunteer/volunteer-abroad

Task Description

The Gender Programme Specialist collaborates closely with the Sectors, Humanitarian team and the ADAP teams, and provides technical support to UNICEF MENARO Country Offices. Under the direct supervision of UNICEF MENARO Regional Gender Advisor, the UN Volunteer will: In relation to the Adolescent Girls priority agenda, and working with the Regional Gender Advisor: • Coordinate, review and support the implementation and monitoring/evaluation of the MENA Adolescent Girl Strategy across accelerators at MENARO, reflecting regional learning and in alignment with the UNICEF global strategy and priorities, with an emphasis on promoting the transition from learning to earning; • Support CO teams managing adolescent girl programming to integrate gender equality analysis and recommendations into responsive and transformative programmatic and policy action through reporting, monitoring and evaluation, joint resource mobilization, partnership outreach and management (especially with regional partner girl-led, human rights and women’s organizations), and annual work-planning, including through capacity building and field visits; • Manage partnerships and collaboration with Plan International and Oxfam to achieve gender transformative results, identify effective gender equality strategies, and to promote girls’ voices and participation in regional and global forums. • Support gender analysis in climate action (NDC, UNFCC/GAP), capacity building and advocacy support for COs, and promoting girls’ engagement in regional and global platforms; In relation to Humanitarian Preparedness and Response, and working with the Regional Gender Advisor and Emergency Advisor: • Build capacity of UNICEF staff, cluster and partners including women’s organization to improve assessment and monitoring for gender integration in humanitarian preparedness and response, reporting, through analysis, production of country briefs and reporting of sex and age-disaggregated data in line with CCC benchmarks; • Undertake country field missions to UNICEF Country Offices, to support gender responsive humanitarian responses in crisis-affected countries and communities. • Support quality assurance and gender integration into key humanitarian documents and platforms, including L3 Evaluations, EMT presentations, Humanitarian Action Appeals, Emergency Preparedness Plans, Situational Analysis Reports, and Humanitarian Response Plans. • Represent UNICEF in the Regional Gender in Humanitarian Work Group (GiHA) led by UN Women and OCHA through contributions to analysis, advocacy and localization as well as knowledge management and regional capacity sharing for enhanced gender in humanitarian action, and also by engaging with key representatives from regional/country-level structures and women/girl led CSOs;

Competencies and values

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management

Living conditions and remarks

Location: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is located in the Middle East. Bound by Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Red Sea to the south and the Palestinian National Authority to the west. Weather: Jordan’s climate can be classified as semi-arid (Bsh) on the Koeppen-Geiger classification. It features a hot, dry climate characterized by long, hot, dry summers and short, cool winters. The climate is influenced by Jordan’s location between the subtropical aridity of the Arabian desert areas and the subtropical humidity of the eastern Mediterranean area. January is the coldest month, with temperatures from 5°C to 10°C, and August is the hottest month at 20°C to 35°C. Daily temperatures can be quite hot, especially in the summer; on some days it can be 40°C or more, especially when a hot, dry southerly wind blows. Such winds can sometimes be very strong and can cause sandstorms. About 70 percent of the average rainfall in the country falls between November and March; June through August are often rainless. Rainfall varies from season to season and from year to year. Precipitation is often concentrated in violent storms, causing erosion and local flooding, especially in the winter months. Safety and Security: Jordan is a relatively stable country. The potentials for internal or external armed conflict are considered very unlikely in the current political environment. Peaceful demonstrations, and sometimes road blockages, do occur in Jordan, motivated by domestic factors such as unemployment, deprivation of resources and development or for regional issues such as solidarity with the Palestinian cause or with the Syrian crises. Most of these events are driven by civil society unions and Islamic parties. Domestic tribal civil unrest sometimes turns violent, especially outside main cities, due to tribal disputes or socio-economic reasons. In all occasions law enforcement agencies usually manage to contain the situation rapidly. Road traffic accidents are the primary threat against UN personnel in Jordan. Poor road conditions and bad driving behaviours are the main reasons for the high rate of traffic accidents. Amman is a category A duty station with security level 1. Transportation and housing: Taxis as well as ride-hailing services (Uber and Careem) are abundant and affordable in Amman. Medical facilities are generally very good, particularly in Amman where there are several modern, well-equipped public and private hospitals. Public minibuses are the most common form of public transport. They normally only leave when full, so waiting times of an hour or more are inevitable, especially in rural areas. The larger air-con buses offer a speedy and reliable service, departing according to a fixed schedule. Housing is readily available with rents for one- to two-bedroom apartments ranging between 500 and 800 JD (1 JD = 0.708 USD) depending on the location. Health Services: Medical facilities are generally very good, particularly in Amman where there are several modern, well-equipped public and private hospitals. Almost all doctors (and most pharmacists) speak English; many have studied abroad. Language: The official language of Jordan is Arabic, but English is widely spoken – especially in the cities. Learn more about Jordan from the Ministry of Tourism’s website: https://www.mota.gov.jo/EN/Pages/Get_to_know_Jordan