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.

Within the Cooperation Framework, all heads of the UN agencies comprising the UN Country Teams (UNCT) in Kenya have emphasized joint action and pooled funding. Over the past year, the UN, the Government of Kenya, development partners, civil society, and private sector stakeholders have collaboratively developed approximately 15 Joint Programmes (JPs). These programmes are designed to enhance efficiency in contributing to the Government’s development priorities while catalyzing transformative and scaled-up actions for the SDGs. Together with the drive for more joint UN action with particular focus on JPs, UN Kenya also established a pooled fund to drive joint funding for the JPs. The SDG Multi Partner Trust Fund Kenya (MPTF Kenya) was set up in 2022 to accompany this shift to joint action by offering an easy to use and “off the shelf” modality for pooled funding. The Fund has already received support from a growing number of donors, private foundations, and private sector contributors. As of May 2024, it is capitalized with 23 MUSD. Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) aims to promote gender equality and empower women and girls to reduce poverty and create a more peaceful, inclusive, and prosperous world. As part of this commitment, Canada is providing funding for a Gender Equality (GE) Specialist who will support all Joint Programmes (JPs) within the UN system in Kenya. This initiative is aligned with Canada’s broader objective to incorporate gender equality into all development interventions, ensuring that the rights of women and girls are a central focus of our international assistance efforts.

The Gender Specialist will directly report to the Deputy Country Representative. In this role, the Specialist will closely collaborate with the UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) office and program leads from the JPs to ensure the seamless incorporation of gender equality principles throughout all program activities. This setup will enable the Specialist to influence decision-making processes, provide technical support across agencies, and ensure that gender equality remains a central focus in all UN Kenya’s collaborative efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The GE Specialist will play a crucial role in integrating gender-responsive approaches into all JPs, enhancing their ability to achieve meaningful and sustainable gender equality outcomes. By incorporating gender analysis, inclusive practices, and intersectional strategies into program design, implementation, and evaluation, the GE Specialist will help to ensure that the benefits of development are distributed equitably and that no one is left behind.

The Programme Specialist works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, UNCT Kenya, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful programme implementation.

Key Functions and Accountabilities

Design and develop programme strategies in the area of Gender Equality in UN System

• Support Joint Programmes (JPs) in conducting comprehensive Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) to identify and address gender disparities. Assist in developing strategies to integrate gender equality considerations throughout the program cycle, from design to evaluation.
• Provide tailored training and capacity-building sessions on gender equality principles, gender- responsive budgeting, and effective gender mainstreaming practices for UN staff, implementing partners, and stakeholders.
• Advise on and support the development and implementation of gender-sensitive policies and frameworks within JPs. Advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment in alignment with national strategies and international commitments.
• Establish robust monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks that leverage on innovative technology to track and report on gender equality outcomes. Ensure the collection and analysis of sex- disaggregated data and other relevant indicators to monitor progress and inform decision-making.
• Facilitate meaningful engagement of women’s rights organizations, civil society groups, grassroots movements and other stakeholders in the planning and execution of JPs. Promote participatory approaches to ensure gender mainstreaming strategies are contextually appropriate and reflect the diverse needs of women and marginalized groups.
• Develop strategies to engage men and boys as allies in promoting gender equality, challenging harmful gender norms, and fostering positive masculinities within the context of JPs.

Manage Coordination and Knowledge Management:

• Play a coordination role by supporting the UN system, in the development and implementation of programmes in support of international and national commitments on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as outlined in the current UNSDCF
• Contribute to supporting gender mainstreaming and results within the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Kenya for joint action with focus on joint programming and the Joint Programmes (JP).
• Elevate the overall standard of gender equality (such as developing more gender-responsive JPs/programming and impact activities under the JPs/joint programming, contribute with analysis on how gender responsive the JPs/joint programming are and to support monitoring/reporting) within each JP and joint programming, aiming to achieve the highest possible threshold of the Gender Equality (GE) marker.
• Provide technical advice to the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) as required, in the coordination of emerging technical and development assistance to the Government of Kenya and civil society, ensuring emerging development support responds to women’s needs and national gender equality priorities;
• Develop a joint approach on the gender marker with other relevant markets like disability, youth, and human rights to lead inter-agency work on indicators/markers and successfully position gender equality within UN Kenya activities.

Manage technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners including expert strategic advice to the UNRC and UNCT on mainstreaming gender equality and women’s rights across all JPs in Kenya.

• Provide analysis and strategic advice to the UNCT on current gender issues and opportunities to support inclusive engagement of women in the development and humanitarian assistance provided by the UN in Kenya including through preparation of regular analytical briefs;
• Identify and advise on entry points for new initiatives for the UN to strengthen national and local capacities for gender equality and to support the advancement of women’s empowerment and gender equality in the country in close consultation with UN Women and other UN agencies;
• Ensure the UNCT utilizes key accountability tools and processes (e.g. the Gender Score Card, Gender Marker) to ensure that the UN in Kenya tracks and is accountable for gender equality and women’s empowerment during the UNSDCF implementation;
• Advise and support the UNCT in forging strategic partnerships at the national and local level to promote gender equality, women’s advancement and women’s representation. • Design, develop, and implement comprehensive gender mainstreaming strategies for all JPs.
• Facilitate coordination and collaboration among the UNRC, UNCT, and other stakeholders to ensure that gender equality initiatives are effectively implemented across all JPs.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.
• Provide technical support to the Deputy Representative and Resident Coordinator’s Office on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, 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 in-country efforts.
• Support inter-agency coordination on gender including support to the workings of the UN GTG in close consultation with the Chair and Co-Chair as well as UN Women who are the Secretariat.
• Represent the UN at inter-agency, intergovernmental, international, regional and national conferences and meetings and advocate the UN’s positions on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Maintain active relationship/partnerships with National Government Counterparts, UN System, international community, inter-government and non-governmental organizations, institutes and academia on women’s issue to enhance collaboration, resource mobilization and share and influence agenda and priority setting.

Manage advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop and review background documents, briefs and presentations related to the GEWE.
• Develop advocacy strategies and oversee their implementation. 4
• Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning.
• Develop knowledge management strategies, products, and methodologies on GEWE

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: 

N/A – the incumbent position will not have any supervisory role.

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 in order to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong analytical skills
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making

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 or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects is required.
• Experience with the gender equality markers and scoring systems used by UN agencies and major donors is required.
• Experience with conventions related to gender equality, such as CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action, is required.
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies, UN agencies and/or donors is required.
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required.

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.)