Humanitarian Specialist

Location : Bangui, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Application Deadline : 18-Oct-23 (Midnight New York, USA)

Type of Contract : TA International

Post Level : P-4

Languages Required : English French

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)

01-Jan-2024

Duration of Initial Contract : 364 days

Expected Duration of Assignment : 729 days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.

Established in 2015, UN-WOMEN was accredited as full-fledged Country Office in 2021, to support the Central African authorities in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as providing a multisectoral response to the specific needs of women in times of crisis for the implementation of the recommendations made by women on the side lines of the Bangui Forum in May 2015. It focuses its interventions on achieving the following strategic objectives: women’s economic empowerment; promoting leadership and women’s participation in decision-making processes, strengthening women’s role for peace and security in CAR; the integration of the gender dimension in the humanitarian response; and the fight against violence against women.

In November 2021, UNWOMEN adopted a new humanitarian strategy (2022-2025). The aim of UN-Women’s engagement in humanitarian action is to ensure effectiveness in addressing gendered needs, working across the humanitarian-development – peace continuum, and embodying two approaches; i) supporting the mainstreaming of gender in the coordination, planning, prioritization, financing of humanitarian response in the immediate aftermath of emergencies and humanitarian crises; and ii) contributing to long term recovery and protection of rights of women and girls in emergencies and protracted crises through the nexus approach using the LEAP Framework.

UNWOMEN collaborates closely with UN system partners, national institutions, and civil society organizations to ensure accountability and coherence in addressing gender equality in humanitarian action. UN Women works with gender equality institutions and organizations, from grassroots to intergovernmental bodies, to strengthen their position and capacity as champions for gender equality in humanitarian action, recovery and beyond.

The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic has deteriorated under the combined effects of conflict, displacement, rising commodity prices and inadequate access to basic services. The Humanitarian Response Plan 2023 estimates that 3.4 million people (56% of the population) need humanitarian aid. The level of food insecurity remains high. 3 million people are food insecure, according to data from the Integrated Food Security Classification Framework. A total of 641,500 people are threatened by famine, and 40% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition. There are 515 internally displaced persons (as of July 31, 2023) and 714 Central Africans are refugees in neighboring countries.

Governmental and non-governmental infrastructure and civil services have been systematically destroyed or closed because of more than two decades of conflict. Lack of access to vital medical care and insecurity caused by displacement have exacerbated women’s security. Violence, particularly rape/violence against women, and instability have accentuated existing gender inequalities and exposed women to the risk of increased violence at home and in the community. Women are afraid to send their daughters to school, public places, or markets, for fear that they will be abducted and used as sex slaves by armed groups, and they live in a state of advanced trauma. The escalation of violence in the country raises the question of the protection of displaced people, vulnerable host populations and refugees. Communities and individuals in the affected regions are resilient to shocks and have already withstood many crises of different kinds over the past decades. Vital humanitarian aid has been essential in helping them absorb the impact of these shocks and must continue.

Reporting to the UN Women Central African Country Representative, the Humanitarian Gender Specialist will contribute to the effective implementation of the UN Women and Country Office humanitarian strategy. the Humanitarian Specialist will oversee the development of Humanitarian programmes, provide capacity building to the members of his team and to the national party, establish and strengthen partnerships, and develop relevant knowledge products on humanitarian action

Duties and Responsibilities

Oversee the development of programmes on Humanitarian to Country Office

•  Oversee the development of Country Office programme documents on humanitarian action ;
•  Provide technical inputs to programme proposals from country offices;
•  Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products;
•  Coordinate proper monitoring and reporting for humanitarian action in collaboration with programme teams.

Provide technical and capacity building support to Country Office teams and partners

•  Provide substantive technical and policy support to country office teams in developing and strengthening projects/ programmes;
•  Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives.
•  Provide technical support to partners on implementation of humanitarian action.
•  Provide technical policy advice to programme/ project managers/ specialists in the country office.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with humanitarian stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners

•  Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of humanitarian action;
•  Build and maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards humanitarian action;
•  Produce periodic updates and briefs on country humanitarian and development situation to be used by stakeholders, both at CO, RO and HQ;
•  Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women WCARO, Geneva Humanitarian Team and HQ.

Manage the resource mobilization strategy for humanitarian action in the Country Office

•  Participate in the implementation, monitoring and periodic updating of the resource mobilization strategy on humanitarian action in the Country Office;
•  Provide technical support to EVAW, WPS and WEE Programme portfolios in mobilizing resources for the implementation of humanitarian action;
•  Research and analyze information on donors; prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation.

Oversee the design of humanitarian action in the Country Office and the development of relevant knowledge products

•  Provide policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on humanitarian action, more specifically during the HNO and HRP processes led by OCHA;
•  Research, develop and present analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, correspondence, and knowledge products on humanitarian action ;
•  Identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities on humanitarian action

Oversee the advocacy of humanitarian action through inter-agency coordination and UN Humanitarian Country Team (UNHCT)

•  Work closely with and provide advice to regional/ national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to humanitarian action and where necessary represent UN Women at the HCT meetings;
•  Lead UN Women’s role in the national Humanitarian Protection Cluster, including GBV, WASH, Food Security, shelter etc…;
•  Lead specific efforts in mainstreaming gender and protection in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts of other clusters and relevant working groups, including inclusion and participation of under-represented groups in accordance with Commitments on Accountability to Affected Populations;
•  Advocate for the engagement and participation of local organizations and civil society networks in humanitarian coordination mechanisms.

Oversee advocacy and communication of humanitarian action

•  During emergency response, develop and implement communication and advocacy messages and strategies on key gender and protection concerns;
•  Develop information, education and communication (IEC) materials, press releases, situation reports, alerts and contribute gender and protection-related inputs to documents prepared by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Oversee knowledge building and sharing for humanitarian action

•  Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices ;
•  Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among COs

Competencies

Core Values:

•  Respect for Diversity
•  Integrity
•  Professionalism

Core Competencies:

•  Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
•  Accountability
•  Creative Problem Solving
•  Effective Communication
•  Inclusive Collaboration
•  Stakeholder Engagement
•  Leading by Example

Functional Competencies

•  Substantive knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of gender equality, protection and humanitarian action, including humanitarian coordination;
•  Strong knowledge of the region
•  Excellent networking skills
•  Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising
•  Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research
•  Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
•  Excellent analytical skills;
•  Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
•  Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results based management and reporting

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification

•  Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights, gender, international relations, international development, international law 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.
•  A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage
•  At least 7 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing humanitarian programmes, with a particular focus on gender and protection in emergencies;
•  Substantive and technical experience in inter-agency coordination is required, preferably protection cluster coordination, and/or ProCap/GenCap in a natural disaster setting;
•  Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning is required;
•  Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field is required;
•  Experience working with the UN is desirable.
•  Experience working in the region is desirable

Language

•  Fluency in English and French is required.
•  Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish

Application

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

In accordance with the UN Staff Regulation 4.5 (b) A temporary appointment does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal. A temporary appointment shall not be converted to any other type of appointment. This temporary appointment is budgeted for a maximum term of 729 days.

Note

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.