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; empowerment of women; and achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The Government of Albania has made national and international commitments to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in many different socio-economic aspects.  Several international conventions and platforms, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Beijing Platform for Action, demonstrate Albania’s commitment to the realization of women’s rights and the achievement of gender equality.

UN Women Albania Strategic Note (SN) 2022-2026 aims to ensure that “All Women and girls enjoy and exercise their human rights in a gender equal society and meaningfully contribute to Albania’s sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development and EU integration”. To achieve such result, across its interventions, UN Women Albania addresses key thematic areas in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2022 – 2026, specifically Outcome C1. By 2026, governance is more transparent and accountable, enabling people and especially vulnerable groups, to enjoy quality, inclusive services, enhanced rule of law and access to justice in line with Albania’s human rights commitments; and Outcome C2. By 2026, gender responsive governance strengthens equality and non-discrimination, promotes women’s empowerment and human rights, and reduces violence against women and children.

Over the past years, UN Women in Albania has provided support to national and local stakeholders in strengthening democratic governance and advancing women’s rights through initiatives aimed at mainstreaming gender in policy planning and budgeting. Gender Responsive Budgeting -GRB is a legal requirement in both the Organic Budget Law (2016) and Local Government Financial Management Law (2017) which allows for effective inclusion of GRB in all the phases of central and local financial management cycles . GRB is currently an important tool for advancing gender equality in key national documents as in accordance with existing Albanian national policy documents on social inclusion and gender equality. UN Women is implementing a regional programme with participation of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Serbia, and North Macedonia on “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2025) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation. UN Women in Albania is working with the Government in guiding and assisting institutions to apply gender responsive budgeting across the public finance cycle and consider carefully links between the National Strategy on Gender Equality, gender-related objectives and measures in sectoral strategies and respective budgeting through the medium-term budget programming at central and local level.

In addition, UN Women is implementing jointly with UN agencies, the UN Joint Programme “Leave No One Behind 2”. UN Women interventions within the project aim to empower vulnerable women to have equal access to public services that support their social rights, social inclusion, and well-being. In that regard, UN Women is working to strengthen capacities of state authorities at central and local level to apply a gender and intersectionality perspective in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategies, policies and plans relevant for social inclusion and protection.

Furthermore, UN Women actively contributes to the implementation of the LEAP Programme (Lifelong Empowerment and Protection in Albania), a joint initiative of the Government of Albania, UNDP, UNICEF, ILO, and UN Women. The LEAP Programme aims to advance an inclusive and responsive social protection system that supports individuals throughout their life cycle. UN Women’s contribution to LEAP focuses on strengthening gender-responsive approaches within social protection systems, enhancing capacity development for national and local authorities, and fostering policies that ensure equitable access to services for marginalized groups. This program aligns with UN Women’s strategic goals of promoting social inclusion and empowering women and girls to fully enjoy their rights.

About the Position and/or Portfolio

Reporting to the UN Women CO Albania Program Management Specialist and the Programme Specialist for GRB at the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, the Program Coordinator is responsible for the effective and timely day-to-day implementation of National Planning and Budgeting and Leave No One Behind projects. This includes overseeing work planning, coordinating with relevant technical experts and responsible parties, and ensuring consistent monitoring, evaluation, and quality reporting.

Functions:

Summary of Key Functions:

• Design and implementation of National Planning and Budgeting and Leave No One Behind projects
• Results based monitoring and reporting, knowledge building and communications.
• Technical Support and Financial Management
• Strategic Partnerships and External communication
• Other support

Design and implementation of National Planning and Budgeting and Leave No One Behind projects

• Ensure timely and adequate implementation of activities according to the projects documents and  workplans in collaboration with main partners, other UN agencies, donors and development partners;
•  Analyze and synthesize proposals within the assigned practice area of specialization, identifying areas of support and intervention, and exploring opportunities for collaboration.
• Prepare a detailed work plan and performance monitoring plan to implement proposed activities in Albania in coordination with the Albania Program Management Specialist and Programme Specialist for GRB at the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, and ensure links with UN Women’s commitment under United Nations’ Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and UN Women Albania’s Strategic Note (2022-2026);
• Design, oversee, and coordinate the implementation of relevant activities with implementing partners, the whole project team, and other UN Women Albania personnel;
• Maintain close communication with national authorities, development actors, civil society organizations and other key stakeholders working on gender responsive planning and budgeting and social protection;
• Provide overall supervision of the work of implementing partners and external consultants engaged as part of the program to ensure the achievement of the expected outputs;
• Ensure proper identification of and follow up with civil society groups, national institutions and consultants who will be involved in the implementation of activities under the relevant project outcome areas;
• Provide technical support and expert advice to implementing partners and key stakeholders on specific issues related to the program component scope;
• Assume responsibility for the smooth functioning of all operational activities related to project implementation;
• Ensure timely implementation of all program component activities and monitor the proper use of funds according to signed agreements and work plans;
• Prepare complete documentation necessary for signing Project Partner Agreements (PAs) with implementing partners, and contracts with individual and other service providers; and
• Provide support to implementing partners to manage related outputs and activities.

Results based monitoring and reporting, knowledge building and communications 

• Regular monitoring and contribute to the overall projects and program reporting as well as for timely submission of quality progress reports and agreed-upon monitoring deliverables;
• Regularly review planned activities, and make necessary adjustments when needed in response to any emerging circumstances;
• Review partners’ reports and provide technical support and capacity building for improved results based reporting of project partners;
• Provide evidence-based advocacy inputs to inform UN Women and the portfolio’s advocacy efforts, as well as its communications and partnership strategies for the project;
• Contribute to UN Women and UNCT  bi-annual monitoring reporting and annual reporting.

Technical Support and Financial Management

• Support management of the program’s financial resources in accordance with UN Women rules and regulations;
• Manage projects files and support information collection and dissemination;
• Contribute to the development of technical documents, including those needed to initiate and generate momentum, such as implementation/action plans for project activities; prepare terms of reference, etc.

Strategic Partnerships and External communication 

• Create strategic partnerships with stakeholders on national and local level as well as with other partners programs on the NPB and LNB projects to enhance collaboration, resource mobilization, and policy agenda setting in support of the program.
•  Draft concept notes and follow-up on resource mobilization efforts at the country level in coordination with the Program Management Specialist and the Country Representative;
• Make linkages between the SDG priority targets and the implementation of NPB and LNB Projects;
• Support Communication team with information on program implementation;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies and participate in UN results group, other working groups as well as in meetings and activities on behalf of UN Women as needed.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality implementation of Projects activities against set workplans, timelines, and budgets, in line with the Strategic Note, project documents and Joint UN workplans
• Quality and timely reporting
• Strong relationships with partners and stakeholders
• Regular and timely monitoring of activities
• Timely and quality implementation of advocacy events in line with work plan
• Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated.

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 knowledge on gender equality and gender mainstreaming
• Good knowledge of program development, results-based management, and reporting
• Strong budget formulation and financial management skills
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings and recommendations.
• Prior knowledge of gender responsive planning and budgeting policies and know-how would be an advantage
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
• Strong networking skills with ability to interact with government and non-government partners and build strong relationships with clients
• Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications, e.g., word processing, spreadsheets, internet, etc.

Recruitment Qualifications:

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in gender, development, public policy, human rights, or other social science fields 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.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressive experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating projects with a particular focus on gender equality.
• Sound experience in implementation of projects related to gender mainstreaming, social inclusion and protection and gender responsive budgeting.
• Proven track record and experience in reporting and communicating results and developing programme and project planning documents.
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors, media and civil society organizations at the country level.
• Experience working with international organizations is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Albanian both verbal and written 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.)

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements