JOB DESCRIPTION

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.

The UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office (MCO) is based in Suva, Fiji and works alongside over 20 other UN agencies in the region and 14 countries and territories across the Pacific Region. [1]Under its Strategic Note (SN) 2023 – 2027, UN Women Fiji MCO focuses on delivering on four interlinked programme areas underpinned by UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022 in line with international normative frameworks:

• Governance and Participation in Public Life.
• Women’s Economic Empowerment.
• Ending Violence against Women and Girls.
• Climate Action/Humanitarian Action and Resilience

Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) is a central barrier to gender equality and a cause of widespread violation of human rights across the Pacific[2]. To respond to the rates of violence in the Pacific, UN Women has developed a comprehensive elimination of violence against women and girls (EVAWG) programme which takes a transformative approach to prevent violence against women and girls at multiple levels (regional, national and community), and to ensure survivors have access to quality response services.  The approach to preventing and responding to VAWG also takes into account the context of the Pacific, which requires an integrated approach to addressing VAWG across the humanitarian – development nexus.

The Fiji MCO EVAWG programme is one of the largest UN Women EVAWG programmes globally. The most substantial programme under UN Women’s EVAWG programme is the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (hereafter, Phase I) which is an ambitious, five year joint programme, with UN Women, the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, which brings together governments, civil society organizations (CSO), communities and other partners to change the social norms that allow violence against women and girls to continue; to ensure survivors have access to quality response services; and to support national and regional institutions to meet their commitments to gender equality and prevention of violence against women and girls.

The Pacific Partnership has completed its first phase of implementation (2018 – 2023) and is expanding into Phase 2 (2023 – 2027). The Pacific Partnership Programme Phase 2 is funded primarily by the Government of Australia, the European Union (EU) and UN Women.

Phase II builds on the achievements of Phase I and of the Spotlight Initiative Pacific Regional Programme (2019-2023), which are comprehensive, multi-faceted programmes, grounded in an aligned theory of change. The Action is informed by the lessons and key recommendations of the Pacific Partnership Phase I Mid-Term Evaluation and the Spotlight Initiative Mid-Term Assessment. It expands on Phase I results and wide-ranging regional and national partnerships. It will complement and ensure harmonization with other GE programmes in the region, including the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) “Pacific Women Lead” and other major initiatives on GE and EVAWG.

The overall objective of the Phase II action is to promote GE and prevent VAWG in Pacific Island Countries and territories (PICTs). Elements of the Phase II will be delivered over four years in target PICTs through activities that contribute to four key outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Regional and national political leadership ensures EVAWG legislation and policies are in line with international standards and translated into implementation and action.
• Outcome 2: Favorable social norms, attitudes and behaviours are promoted at the individual, family, community, and societal levels to prevent VAWG.
• Outcome 3: Women, girls and children who experience violence (including before, during and after emergencies), have access to coordinated and high quality, essential services (health, police and justice, social services) to recover from violence and perpetrators are held to account.
• Outcome 4: Women”s rights groups, autonomous social movements and relevant civil society organizations (CSOs), including those representing youth and groups facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination/marginalization, influence and advance progress on GE, women”s empowerment and EVAWG.

The EVAWG Capacity Development Specialist will support training, capacity development and technical assistance across outcome areas and Pacific Partnership Phase II countries. This assistance will be for partners and key stakeholders, including but not limited to Pacific Island governments, CROP agencies and civil society. The consultant will also support the design and refinement of programmatic interventions, informed by learnings collected through the delivery of training and capacity development.

[1] Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu

[2] The Situation of Women in Fiji, Governments 2nd, 3rd and 4th report to the CEDAW Committee

The consultant will report directly to the EVAWG Technical Specialist. The consultant will work closely with the EVAWG team including EVAWG Country Coordinators. The EVAWG Programme Specialist will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

The Consultant will be responsible for supporting the following key roles and responsibilities:

Provide training and capacity development to partners, staff and key stakeholders:

• Co-design and support the implementation of UN Women Pacific Partnership capacity development strategy across target countries, with a focus on building a sustainable approach to capacity building in the region
• Design and deliver trainings in primary prevention and response to partners and key stakeholders to ensure quality, survivor-centred interventions in line with established standards and best practice
• In close coordination with the EVAWG Technical Specialist and other technical staff/consultants, provide in-service technical support to partners and key stakeholders including but not limited to essential service delivery, coordination and administrative data management
• Actively participate in, and contribute to, working groups of national task forces focused on development of quality training materials
• Support internal training and learning to UN Women, including but not limited to EVAWG Country Coordinators

Support effective partnerships and contribute to resource mobilization strategies:

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key partners through the delivery of capacity development assistance
• Develop national training plans and approaches in partnership with government and civil society stakeholders
• Help identify and build new partnerships across strategic EVAWG areas in target countries, including but not limited to climate change, primary prevention, SOGEISC and labor mobility
• Contribute to the design of new and expanded programming in close coordination with national stakeholders, including but not limited to Micronesia
• Identify potential programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, Pacific Partnership and national commitments

Support the development of communities of practice:

• Support the development of partnerships, communities of practice and collaboration across prevention activities.
• Support the finalization and dissemination of training resource packages developed for regional and national training
• Represent UN Women in national and regional working groups and coordination meetings, as requested by the EVAWG Technical Specialist
• Maintain and support communication and coordination of communities of practice within the EVAWG prorgramme.

Support effective monitoring, reporting and knowledge management in relation to capacity development: 

• Work closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, EVAWG Technical Specialist and other key staff to document outcomes, best practices and learnings from training and capacity building actions
• In close coordination with the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, contribute to timely and quality programmatic monitoring, reporting and evaluation related to training and capacity building actions
• Contribute to the exchange of information and development of knowledge products related to training and capacity building actions for internal and external audiences

The consultant may be asked to take on other responsibilities based on emerging or changed priorities. This will be discussed with the EVAWG Technical Specialist and agreed to by both the consultant and Technical Specialist to ensure feasible workload.

Institutional Arrangement

The selected consultant will report to the EVAWG Technical Specialist.  The consultant will work closely with the EVAWG MCO team, EVAWG Country Coordinators and other relevant staff.

Duration of the Work 

The duration of work will be 24 months.

Duty Station

The consultant will be based in the Multi-Country Office in Suva, Fiji. Travel to programming countries is expected. All travel costs will be covered.

Travels to other Pacific countries will be covered by UN Women and will be agreed between the consultant and the supervisor in line with the UN Women Duty Travel Policy.

Performance Evaluation

The Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Financial Arrangements

Payments will be disbursed to the consultant on a monthly basis, upon submission and approval of major outputs or functions set forth in Section “Description of Responsibilities” above, timesheets with actual days worked and certification by the Technical Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

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:

• Excellent knowledge and skills in EVAWG programming and policy making across primary prevention, essential services and emergency preparedness/response in the Pacific.
• Advance skills in relationship management in the context of EVAWG programming.
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management.
• Strong experience in providing technical assistance to diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to identify and analyze trends and opportunities to progress EVAWG and gender equality priorities.
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certifications:

• 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.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years (Masters) and/or 7 years (Degree)  of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) interventions and programmes.
• Proven technical expertise in the development and application of EVAWG programming approaches and tools  for response and prevention.
• Experience in coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors, evidenced by participation in at least one multi-stakeholder initiative, task force, or donor-funded project.
• Minimum of 1 year of professional experience working in the Pacific region.
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and language from one of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga or Vanuatu).

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.)

How to Apply:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.