UNWomen Policy Advisor

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 scope of work of the Policy Adviser, Governance, Peace and Security, who will be based in UN Women's Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, requires experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality, women's political participation, democratization and women, peace and security issues, to translate UN Women's strategic plans in the areas of Peace and Security and Leadership/Governance into effective programmes and results. It also requires developing mutually reinforcing partnerships with relevant Government counterparts, UN organizations, and CSOs.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Regional Director, the Policy Adviser, Governance, Peace and Security will engage proactively with local and regional women leaders and UN Entities (including relevant Divisions, Sections, and Country Offices within UN Women) to ensure gender issues are addressed on efforts related to political participation processes, peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding including formal mediation processes with UN's involvement, transitional justice mechanisms, security sector reform processes, post-conflict elections among others relevant in the region. The Adviser will oversee the development of peace and security, leadership and governance programmes and regional interventions, support UN Women offices in the ECA region, establish and strengthen partnerships, and develop relevant knowledge products on peace and security, leadership and governance issues. 

Duties and Responsibilities

1.   Provide policy advice to Regional Office and Country Offices

• Provide policy recommendations, strategic advice and proposed courses of action to the Regional Director and Country Representatives;
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of regional trends, challenges and opportunities in political development, governance and peace and security issues and integrate information in support of policy and programme development, analysis, outreach and advocacy;
• Prepare analytical reports, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, talking points and others as required by the Regional Director;
• Represent UN Women at inter-governmental and regional meetings on gender responsive governance and leadership and peace and security issues in the region, as requested by the Regional Director;
• Work closely with colleagues of UN Women's Peace and Security and Leadership and Governance Sections at HQ to identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities for addressing women's empowerment and gender issues in the areas of governance and peace and security;
• Provide technical support to COs in developing and strengthening policies and programmes to scale up efforts to increase women's participation as candidates and voters; to reduce violence against women in politics; to support newly elected women; to create more gender responsive parliaments, and to promote gender responsive policy making and budgeting;
• Provide technical assistance to the Government on key governance/political participation and women, peace and security issues, including for the development and implementation of National Action Plans on women, peace and security, in collaboration with the Peace and Security section, at the request of COs.

2. Lead the provision of programme development support to UN Women Country Offices (COs):

• Manage the development of regional programmes on leadership and governance and peace and security, and monitor implementation;
• Promote coordination and participation in joint activities with various stakeholders including UN agencies, relevant government stakeholders, civil society, inter-governmental organizations and regional women's networks;
• Provide programme guidance and support to UN Women COs to develop and implement programmes at the local and national level on the area of governance, women's political participation, women's participation in public service delivery, and on all aspects of women, peace and security in conflict-affected settings, including conflict prevention, mediation, transitional justice, justice and security sector reform, peacekeeping, conflict-related sexual violence, national action plans on SCR 1325, among others.

3. Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners:

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships for the advancement of women, peace and security and leadership and governance; Build and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships to develop regional strategies and initiatives in the areas of women peace and security, leadership and governance.
• Maintain close liaison with relevant donors, regional entities and other actors supporting efforts on governance/political participation and women, peace and security in the region;
• Provide technical support to offices in the field in mobilizing resources for the implementation of leadership/governance and women, peace and security initiatives in the region;
• Liaise with relevant regional organizations engaged in peace and security issues, such as the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UN peacekeeping missions (ex: UNFICYP), regional networks and academic institutions;

4. Provide technical contributions to resource mobilization on Governance peace and security in the region

• Participate in the implementation, monitoring and periodic updating of the resource mobilization strategy on governance peace and security in the region;
• Provide technical support to field-based presences in the region in mobilizing resource;
• Research and analyze information on donors; prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation.

5. Manage knowledge building and sharing for Peace and Security and Governance in the ECA region

• Manage the process of compiling reports and lessons learned on peace and security, leadership and governance, and contribute to UN Women's corporate and regional knowledge management efforts;
• Establish and regularly update a regional knowledge management platform on peace and security, leadership and government, With HQ and the field, which is regularly updated;
• Review reports and knowledge products developed in the field to develop regional and sub regional best practices and analysis of lessons learned to improve and scale up results;
• Prepare briefs and presentations on best practices developed in the region on peace and security, leadership and governance to share with internal and external stakeholders, including at the global level and cross-regionally;
• Collect information at the regional level to input to into regional mechanisms as appropriate and into annual SG reports such as the report on Women and Peace and Security, as well as other relevant thematic SG reports such as peacebuilding and sustaining peace;
• Provide strategic information to input into briefings by UN Women's Executive Director to the Security Council and to UN Women participants in regional coordination mechanisms such as the Regional Monthly Review as requested;
• Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among field offices in the region; facilitate cross-regional exchange with Regional Peace and Security Advisors and HQ Peace and Security and Leadership and Governance Divisions;

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality technical advice and support
• Leadership in area of expertise in the region
• Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner
• Regular communication and information flow with other UN Women Advisors Quality strategic documents delivered in a timely manner
• Timely and quality knowledge products
• Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders
• UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise
• Increase in resources mobilized

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 Core Values and Competencies:http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Strong knowledge of region
• Excellent networking skills
• Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources;
• 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
• Excellent knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting
• Demonstrated people management skills;
• Familiarity with the ECA region. Familiarity of other regions in which UN Women operates is an advantage;
• Good knowledge of UN Women and the UN system;
• Good understanding of coordination mechanisms.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in gender, human rights, international relations 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.

 Experience: 

• Minimum of 10 years progressively responsible experience in the area of women, peace and security and inclusive governance, preferably with 5 years field experience in one or more of the regions in which UN Women operates;
• Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the area of women, peace and security and humanitarian assistance;
• Significant progressively responsible experience in strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting;
• Experience in developing and maintaining strong partnerships and in mobilizing resources;
• Experience working in large multicultural development agencies is a distinct advantage.  

 Languages:

• Fluency English is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset;
• Working Knowledge of Russian an asset.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. 

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.