UN Women: Policy Specialist

Location : New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Application Deadline : 05-Sep-23 (Midnight New York, USA)

Type of Contract : TA International

Post Level : P-4

Languages Required : English

Expected Duration of Assignment : until 31 December 2023

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

The duration of the assignment is for six (6) months. Whereas an external candidate will be offered a temporary appointment; subject to release agreements, staff members in UN Women may be administered as a temporary assignment and staff members in the UN Common system may be administered under a loan arrangement.

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 Policy, Programme, and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) supports UN Women offices in all field locations to deliver results in line with UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and internationally agreed goals on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, including the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Division provides intellectual and strategic leadership on normative support and the delivery of integrated policy and programme advice, including through policy analysis and gender mainstreaming. The Division leverages innovation, knowledge management, and cutting-edge technical expertise to support UN Women programmes and to build the capacity of partners to deliver results on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

The Governance and Participation Section leads UN Women’s policy and programme work to ensure that women and girls benefit from gender responsive governance. Within this Section, the Governance and National Planning (GNP) Unit leads UN-Women’s work on gender responsive planning and budgeting. UN Women’s GNP portfolio focuses on advancing global norms and standards on gender responsive planning and budgeting, strengthening capacities of national partners, improving multi-stakeholder coordination and developing and monitoring international and national policy standards. This work is done through partnerships with governments, UN agencies, International Financial Institutions, civil society and academia.

Under the guidance and supervision of the Global Policy Advisor, Governance and National Planning, the Policy Specialist contributes to the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of UN Women’s GNP portfolio. The Policy Specialist will contribute to key intergovernmental processes, specifically the Sixty-Eighth Session of the Commission on Status of Women (CSW); inter-agency support, with a focus on Financing for Development; and provision of high-quality technical advice and organizational reporting on gender responsive planning and budgeting.

Duties and Responsibilities

Intergovernmental support:

•  Provide substantive technical support to the planning and execution of an Expert Group Meeting, to be convened in lead-up to the Sixty-Eighth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
•  Contribute to the drafting, via research, evidence gathering, analysis and writing, of the Secretary-General’s Report for CSW68
•  Lead the initiation of the next round of data collection for SDG Indicator 5.c.1, by developing a strategic approach and providing targeted outreach to countries for accurate and comprehensive reporting.

Inter-agency coordination and support:

•  Support the Financing for Development follow up process, by advancing the integration of gender equality consideration in the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development on the margins of the UN General Assembly
•  Coordinate the gender group of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development, to ensure strong gender mainstreaming in inter-agency dialogues and policy documents, specifically the Financing for Sustainable Development Report.
•  Liaise with UN-partners and other specialized agencies to facilitate their engagement in/and contributions of observation/informational expertise and analysis for CSW68.

Technical Support and Reporting:

•  Provide high-quality technical support to Country and Regional Offices on gender responsive planning and budgeting and ensure broad dissemination and exchange on promising practices and lessons learned.
•  Deliver on-demand guidance and support on the operationalization of the Gender Equality Accelerator on Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting, including guiding COs in the application of the framework in their Strategic Note development process and programme planning.
•  Lead data validation and analysis for corporate reporting for Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) outputs and outcomes under Strategic Plan Systemic Outcome 2.
•  Contribute insightful analysis as part of preparations for the Strategic Plan mid-term review.

Key Performance Indicators

•  Quality representation, coordination and input to intergovernmental/interagency fora.
•  Relevant research, analysis and writing on governance and national planning, particularly gender responsive planning and budgeting;
•  Quality technical support to UN Women country, multi-country and regional offices on governance and national planning;
•  Quality monitoring, tracking and reporting of UN Women programming and results, strengthening corporate results reporting on governance and national planning; and
•  Quality and timely inputs to briefings, knowledge products, publications and other documents which contribute to positioning UN-Women as a knowledge leader and repository on governance and national planning.

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

•  Ability to provide high-quality policy advice and technical suport;
•  Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds;
•  Ability to produce high quality programme documents and knowledge products demonstrating analytical ability.
•  Ability to manage for results, translate strategy into achievable plans, with established priorities, and monitor them, making periodic adjustments as necessary;
•  Excellent knowledge and programmatic experience in gender responsive planning and budgeting and financing for gender equality;
•  Ability to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with partners;
•  Excellent communication and public speaking skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

•  Advanced university degree in Social Sciences, Economics, Political Science, Gender/Women’s Studies or related field.
•  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:

•  A minimum of 7 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in gender programming, policy research, gender analysis at international level, including at least 4 years focused on financing for gender equality and/or gender responsive planning and budgeting;
•  At least 7 years of experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects, including on gender equality;
•  Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights and related instruments is required;
•  Experience with UN Inter-agency and Intergovernmental processes including those related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and financing for development is required;
•  Proven advocacy, analytical and writing skills are required

Language Requirements:

•  Fluency in English is required.
•  Knowledge of another UN official working language is desirable.

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.

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.)

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