Context:

After nearly two years of civil conflict in Sudan, women and girls continue to pay a high price. Millions have been driven from their homes, and now the country is facing the worst levels of food insecurity ever recorded. Around 8.5 million people are on the verge of famine, including an estimated 203,000 pregnant women. Some 755,000 people, including 18,000 pregnant women, are already in famine conditions.

The ongoing war has stripped women and girls of everything they need to survive – food, medical support and shelter. Close to 80 percent of hospitals in conflict-affected areas are no longer functioning, with facilities destroyed, looted or struggling with staff shortages and an acute lack of essential medicines and supplies. The health facilities that remain operational are overwhelmed by the influx of people seeking care, many of whom are internally displaced, straining the country’s health system to its very limits. Most women and girls in areas affected by conflict have no access to the reproductive health and protection services they desperately need.

Harrowing levels of violence, including rape, kidnappings and forced and child marriage, continue to take an unacceptable toll on women and girls, creating an environment of fear for those with little recourse to services, support or justice.

UNFPA is working with partners to provide life-saving reproductive health and protection services in areas with high numbers of internally displaced people. This includes deploying mobile teams and supplies to build capacity for maternal health, including emergency obstetric care, and for the clinical management of rape, as well as supporting safe spaces.

The position:

The Representative leads the country office team in the design and implementation of a population and development and sexual and reproductive health country programme. Through alliances and partnerships with governments, UN and bilateral agencies, development partners, civil society, academia and the private sector, the programme aims to realize the 2030 Agenda in order to make a positive difference in the lives of millions of people; especially those furthest behind.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA expands choices and possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy and productive lives. Our work is derived from the ICPD Programme of Action; that all human beings are entitled to equal rights and protections and no one person should be left behind in the fulfillment of their fundamental human rights. In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical leaders, who embody these international norms and standards that have come under threat, and who will courageously and with full conviction defend them.

UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices.

UNFPA is seeking leaders that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; leaders who can drive the 2030 Agenda through innovation, co-creation and systems-thinking and who thrive working in an increasingly dynamic context. We need leaders who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Candidates are competing to become members of our prestigious Leadership Pool; the next generation of UNFPA leaders; and our pipeline for international rotational posts. Staff on International rotational posts are required to serve in a variety of contexts including hardship and non-family duty stations.

Job Purpose:

We need visionary leaders who stand up for the values inherent in the UN Charter: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity; who are able to maneuver complex political settings including humanitarian and emergency; who can leverage multi- stakeholder partnerships and coalitions; who think creatively, innovatively and connect cross-pillars of evidence, knowledge and experience; and who consistently seek greater system-wide solutions that reach beyond individual entities and interests.

Under the guidance of the Regional Director for Arab States, you will lead a Country team in the development and management of an innovative Country Programme of Cooperation focused on population and development and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, including maternal health, family planning, gender, and adolescent and youth empowerment.

You are accountable for the effective implementation of the Country Programme, playing the lead role in promoting the mandate of the organization, and ensuring the integration of issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the broader national development agenda. Through engagement with national counterparts, UN Country Teams, compelling advocacy, and delivery of effective programmes, including in emergency settings, you serve on the frontline of the organization, validating both the mandate of the organization and its ability to deliver high quality support and results. Your ultimate accountability is to the people that you serve; the most vulnerable, excluded, or marginalized and for the causes that you serve; human rights, sustainable development and humanitarian relief.

Aside from the country office in Port Sudan, there are an additional five field offices which require oversight and engagement.

You would be responsible for:

Strategic direction, planning and management

• Lead the positioning of UNFPA on strategic issues in the country on the basis of global, regional and national policies and strategies
• Build institutional relationships with government counterparts, civil society, the private sector, the UN community, other international/national organizations, academia and bilaterals that galvanize support for UNFPA’s mandate in both Baghdad and Erbil offices
• Promote UNFPA’s role in the national development agenda, and in the changing aid environment
• Establish priorities for the work of the Country Office in line with regional and global UNFPA corporate priorities as well as in line with the UNSDCF priorities
• Promote joint UN programming using UNFPA’s mandated areas to engage women and girls more effectively
• Ensure that policies, programming tools, state-of-the-art knowledge and sound business practices are incorporated into UNFPA country operations
• Lead and coordinate the development of a strategic plan for UNFPA’s humanitarian and preparedness actions in-country
• Support the co-financing of UNFPA programs from national budget

     Management of resources

• Manage international and national staff providing them with direction and motivation; fostering empowerment, learning and career management
• Demonstrate performance appraisal and transparent leadership approaches that support a culture of growth and development, where good performance is incentivized and underperformers are held to account
• Attract and retain the highest caliber of staff for the Country Office
• Set standards of performance, and assign responsibilities for achieving results according to the Country Office Strategic Information System
• Drive the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive resource mobilization and partnership strategy including donor relations and effective mobilisation of funds; securing and efficiently using mobilised funds and assigned budget allocations for the country programme
• Ensure the safety, security and wellbeing of staff by driving compliance with Minimum Operating Security Standards (MOSS) and Minimum Operational Residential Security Standards (MORSS)

Programme leadership and representation

• Advise senior management of UNFPA on country level issues
• Provide leadership in the development and execution of the organization’s country level policy dialogue and programme, including delivery of technical assistance for capacity development and for humanitarian situations
• Engage national counterparts through effective advocacy on UNFPA’s agenda; build support for programme objectives and create awareness of the role of ICPD issues in the overall development agenda and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
• Represent UNFPA within the inter-agency United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and the UN Humanitarian Team; support the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) as UNCT leader, promoting integration of population and development, and sexual and reproductive health issues in the development and humanitarian agenda; contribute to the UN reform process including the triple nexus (Development, Humanitarian and Peace) within the UNCT context
• Drive UNFPA accountability for the UN Flash Appeal/ Humanitarian Response plan and contribute actively to the achievement of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) common results, including through chairing/co-chairing UNCT Results Groups
• Initiate programme and technical support opportunities for South to South collaboration with other countries.

     Programme oversight and coordination

• Drive the application of results-based management and quality assurance frameworks for the work of the Country Office;
• Enforce financial and monitoring processes to ensure the Country Office complies with UNFPA policies and procedures, corporate requirements and audit recommendations;
• Carry out any other duties as may be required by the Regional Director for whom you report to.

Qualifications and Experience Education:

Postgraduate university degree in any of the following disciplines: Public Health, Medicine, Sociology, Demography, Gender, International Relations, International Development, Economics, Public Administration, Management or other related field.

Knowledge and Experience:

• 15 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in public administration and international development of which at least 8 years in the field of population and development, sexual and reproductive health or humanitarian at the international level;
• Current knowledge of issues of population and development, sexual and reproductive health, and their place in the development and humanitarian agenda;
• Proven ability to lead teams to achieve demonstrable and high quality results
• Experience at national and international level in advocacy and policy dialogue
• Experience in media/communication with partners, and public information
• Experience in international development, particularly in the mandate of UNFPA and dedication to the principles of the United Nations;
• Field experience is essential including management of a complex country with a humanitarian profile is compulsory.
• Previous experience as a Representative and/or Humanitarian Coordinator will be considered advantageously
• Able to work effectively in stressful situations
• Understanding of and experience in applying UN security and duty of care obligations in non-family duty stations is critical

Languages:

Fluency in English. Working knowledge of Arabic is a strong asset.

Required Competencies

Values:

• Exemplifying integrity,
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,
• Embracing cultural diversity,
• Embracing change

Managerial Competencies:

• Providing strategic focus,
• Engaging in internal/external partners and stakeholders,
• Leading, developing and empowering people, creating a culture of performance
• Making decisions and exercising judgment

Core Competencies:

• Achieving results,
• Being accountable,
• Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,
• Thinking analytically and strategically,
• Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,
• Communicating for impact

UN Leadership Characteristics:

• Norm-based – grounded in UN norms and standards
• Principled – defends norms and standards without discrimination, fear or favour
• Inclusive of all personnel and stakeholders
• Accountable
• Multi-dimensional
• Transformational
• Collaborative
• Self-applied – modelled in our own behaviour

Compensation and Benefits

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus cost of living adjustment, housing allowance, home leave, health insurance and other benefits.

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA’s workforce – click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements.

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements