National Feminist Economist/Gender and Economics Policy Specialist

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.

Women in West and Central Africa represent the most deprived group of the population in spite of their paramount social and economic role. They have limited access to, and control over critical resources, as a result of social, cultural and economic norms. UN Women works with government partners and regional and national stakeholders to improve women’s economic participation with a focus on women’s access to the green economy; (ii) Promoting and strengthening women entrepreneurship; and (ii) Enhancing women’s income security and social protection. UN Women advices governments and regional institutions to develop gender responsive economic policies and supports capacity building of multiple actors to advocate for, formulate, and implement gender responsive economic policies.

UN Women is seeking to recruit a feminist economist to lead its country programme on gender and economics

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the UN Women Country Representative, the national feminist economist works in close collaboration with the regional feminist economist in the UN Women’s Regional Office, UN Women’s program and operations teams in the Country office, implementing partners. In particular, the economist is expected to perform the following functions: 

1. Develop gender-responsive programmes   in the Country Office

• Conduct research on new areas to promote gender responsive economic reforms to support GEWE in the country
• Provide support in formulating strategies to scale up reform on key areas such as unpaid care, women’s participation in the green economy, women entrepreneurship and other relevant areas of economic policy to achieve GEWE in the country
• Contribute to the coordination and implementation of flagship policy initiatives in the area of gender and economics in the country
• Coordinate the production of knowledge, and communications products in the areas of gender and economics at the national level
• Manage the implementation and management of the gender and economics programme
• Formulate the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
• Manage the technical implementation of the programme/project; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide guidance to personnel and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Organize Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings, as needed.
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• Provide technical expertise and assistance to partners
• Support in the provision of technical advice to Governments, civil society and national institutions to formulate, implement and monitor gender-responsive economic reform
• Provide support in the development of national strategies to integrate gender in key economic policies and reforms

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• Provide capacity building support to Country Office  and partners
• Provide substantive technical and policy support to country office and UN Country Teams in developing and strengthening programmes to support the implementation of GEWE global norms and standards;
• Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives, by identifying capacity-building needs and support of the country office through technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives, as needed
• Develop and deliver training modules, tools, and other capacity building activities and strategies on gender and economics targeting key national and local stakeholders (Ministries of Economy, Finance, Gender, MPs, local municipalities, civil society, women networks)
• Design and deliver capacity building events for UN Women staff, Government counterparts, and civil society partners on key economic reforms to advance the GEWE agenda in the country
• Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, national/local actors and development partners
• Support building and maintaining alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of gender responsive economic policy at the national level
• Implement advocacy strategies to influence agenda of key national and local institutions  to promote gender responsive economic policy.
• Oversee knowledge building and sharing for Gender responsive economic
• Actively participate in the WEE Community of practice to disseminate national lessons learnt and good practices

Competencies

.V. Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Strategic thinking
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement

Functional Competencies

• Excellent knowledge of gender and economic policy and women’s economic
• Ability to design and deliver training and other capacity building strategies in the area of gender and economics to a variety of audiences
• Strong drafting skills and ability to produce a variety of knowledge products for different audiences and purposes
• Experience using and applying macroeconomic technical tools.
• Ability to produce impactful communications materials and knowledge products 
• 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 economics, development economics, feminist economics or any other relevant field of economics or public policy.
• 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 international experience and record of accomplishment in international development promoting policy reform in the area of gender and economics, including macroeconomic policy and women’s economic empowerment policies.
• Proven experience with use of gender analysis of the economy, quantitative and qualitative is required.
• Experience in programme, policy analysis, and strategic planning is required;
• Previous professional experience in developing and emerging economies is required.
• Experience working in West and Central Africa is desirable. 
• Experience working in the UN System is desirable 

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in French and at least a working knowledge of English are required.