Programme and Finance Associate (Making Migration Safe for Women Programme)

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.

Economic empowerment is one of the priority areas of UN Women. UN Women works with governments and partners to promote women’s economic empowerment and increase their access to economic opportunities and outcomes, especially for those who are most excluded, including women migrant workers. In 2018, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was adopted by UN Member States. And as the blueprint for the governance and coordination of international migration, it is critical that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are central in its implementation. UN Women works to help ensure that migrant women’s human and labour rights are effectively promoted and protected at all stages of migration, and that the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration is human rights -based and gender- responsive.

Since 2019, UN Women has been implementing the Germany-funded Making Migration Safe for Women programme globally and country programmes in Niger (2019-2023) and Ethiopia (2023-2025) with the goal of ensuring that international norms and standards for protecting and promoting migrant women’s rights are strengthened and the development and implementation of national migration policies and laws are gender-responsive. The programme also aims to improve the use and collection of sex-disaggregated data and provide robust evidence and research on migrant women to inform national policy making. In January 2025, UN Women will expand implementation of the Making Migration Safe for Women programme in South Africa.

Under the overall supervision of the Deputy Country Representative in South Africa and reporting to the National Programme Specialist - Making Migration Safe for Women programme in South Africa, the Programme and Finance Associate is responsible for finance and operational support to help ensure the successful implementation of the Making Migration Safe for Women programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide administrative and logistical support to the formulation and management  of the Making Migration Safe for Women programme in South Africa:

• Provide administrative support in the preparation and implementation of Making Migration Safe for Women programme work plans, budgets, and proposals on programme implementation arrangements;
• Provide technical guidance to the executing agencies on routine delivery and reporting of programme supported activities and finances;
• Prepare information for the audit of programmes/ projects and support implementation of audit recommendations;
• Identify sources and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers;
• Assist the Deputy Country Representative and National Coordinator in all aspects of partner agreement and management;
• Provide administrative support to the coordination of the call/request for proposals, including the organization of technical review committees, and capacity assessment of partners;
• Monitor the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Support the capacity development training to partners on financial management and monitor implementation.

Implement financial strategies, in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems:

• Perform duties in full compliance with UN Women financial regulations and rules, policies and standard operating procedures, including internal controls;
• Review and verify financial transactions, activities, and documentation; taking corrective actions as needed and reporting any unusual activities;
• Monitor financial exceptions reports for unusual activities or transaction, investigate anomalies and report to the supervisor conclusions and/or present recommendations for actions/decisions;
• Draft reports on financial status, procedures, exchange rates, costs and expenditures;
• Provide advice and recommend solutions to a wide range of financial issues;
• Monitor the proper functioning of the financial resources management system for office and programmatic budgets and resources;
• Input and update the UN Trust Fund management budget and work plan in Quantum (ERP system)– verify accuracy by checking data sources, making necessary calculations and ensuring inclusion of all relevant data.

Provide finance support to the for the Making Migration Safe for Women (MMSfW) programme in South Africa:

• Prepare PO and non-PO vouchers/invoices for projects;
• Support the review of financial reports from grantees to ensure proper recording of expenses providing feedback on technical accounting topics (ai. foreign currency, accruing staff costs, etc) and prepare the necessary journals (accounts payable journal vouchers or APJVs) to process the financial reports in Quantum ERP system to liquidate cash advances to grantees;
• Monitor each month over-expenditure of budgets and follow up with Budget Owner;
• Monitor regularly transactions posted to projects ensuring actual expenditure has been recorded against correct budget category and activity, take timely corrective actions as required;
• Monitor proper follow up of advances to implementing partners, review their financial reports together with project managers;
• Monitor and proper follow up of all the financial items in Month-end and Year-end closure instructions status and under the guidance of the Operations Manager, take correction actions as required;
• Keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely actions/decisions and review status reports for quality control;
• Provide information inputs to financial reports for Regional Office, HQ Finance and stakeholders;
• Provide inputs and take necessary actions to facilitate timely financial project closure, financial reporting, and closure of transactional processes;
• Provide administrative support to the UNTF procurement focal point to arrange procurement activities for projects.

Prepare and administer Making Migration Safe for Women (MMSfW) programme budgets in South Africa in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems:

• Formulate the budget, control allotments, monitor expenditures, and prepare revisions according to the needs of the Office; 
• Track the appropriate and timely use of financial resources;   
• Create projects in Quantum, prepare budget revisions, revise project awards and status; and determine unutilized funds; 
• Implement and maintain control mechanism for development projects through monitoring budgets preparation and modifications and budgetary status;   
• Monitor, reconcile advances to grantees which are not in accordance with the approved budget and report any non-compliance;
• Assist the Making Migration Safe for Women programme in internal and external audits, coordinating the implementation of audit recommendations;
• Undertake corrective actions on un-posted vouchers, including vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions and unapproved vouchers. Respond to RO /HQ requests to resolve financial data issues; 
• Input data in Quantum and monitor status. Keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely action and/or decisions.

Provide administrative support and facilitate knowledge sharing for the Programme:

• Undertake all logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for organization for meetings, workshops, events, and missions;
• Make travel arrangements for the Programme Team, including travel requisitions and claims, and undertake monitoring missions as needed;
• Assist the Regional Coordinator in coordinating meetings, dialogues, advocacy spaces, engaging with civil society, women’s rights and feminist networks for the implementation of the programme;
• Provide logistical support and technical inputs for the coordination of events and participation in global and regional fora and advocacy spaces.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: N/A 

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:

• Strong knowledge of financial rules and regulations and accounting principles;  
• Strong knowledge and application skills of IT tools and understanding of management systems;   
• Strong knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages; 
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems; 
• Ability to administer and execute financial and accounting processes and transactions. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Completion of secondary education is required;
• Specialized national or international certification in accounting and finance is an asset;
• Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting is an asset;
• Successful completion of UN Women Accounting and Finance Test is required as part of the selection process.

Experience:

• At least 6 years of progressively responsible experience in finance;
• Experience in administration or programme management/support is required; 
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required;
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable. 

Languages:

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

All applications must include (as an attachment) a completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from 

Please note that the system will only allow one attachment and candidates are required to include in the P-11 form.  Applications without the completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Notes:

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.