Technical Specialist – Political Participation, Women Make the Change

Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women 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’s leadership and participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. In order to promote the leadership and participation of women in decision-making processes, UN Women works to promote gender equality in parliaments, electoral bodies, political parties, media, and other institutions. 

UN Women has a proven track-record in supporting women’s political participation through its projects across various regions, under the guidance of UN Women’s founding resolution (GA resolution 64/289) and its Strategic Plan. UN Women is increasingly being called upon by UN partners, civil society partners, donors and governments to provide specific and often short-term gender expertise for capacity building and policy support on women’s political rights, participation and leadership.

UN Women Papau New Guinea is the implementing partner of the Women Make Change (WMC) programme on Women’s Leadership and Political Participation at the district, local level and governments, provincial and national levels in partnership with UNDP. UN Women and UNDP will draw on good practice from around the globe. And will with the Department of Community Development, Sports and Religion; Constitutional Law Reform Commission, The Department of National Planning and Monitoring; Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP)/Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission (IPPCC); PNG National Parliament; PNG Electoral Commission; ABG Department of Community Development, Sports and Religion and UNDP.

The WMC Programme aims to contribute towards women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political and public life. In order to achieve the longer-term outcome; the WMC programme will contribute towards four sub-outcome areas:

Outcome 1: Legal and Policy frameworks promote gender balance throughout the electoral cycle

Outcome 2: A cadre of interested, diverse and capable women political leaders is formed at national and sub-national levels

Outcome 3: Significantly increased perception of women as equally legitimate and effective political leaders as men

Outcome 4: Women are promoted as leaders in gender sensitive political institutions.

Reporting to Programme Manager and in close collaboration with the Deputy Country Representative, the Technical Specialist will provide technical and policy advise and oversee the capacity building initiatives related to the implementation of the programme. The Technical Specialist works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio. 

The Technical Specialist working closely with UNDP and Secretary for Department for Community Development and Religion (DFCDR)

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide technical assistance and advisory support to the Department for Community Development and Religion (DRCDR);

• Provide technical and advisory support to the development and implementation of annual work plan and budget for the implementation of the relevant WMC priority area(s), including activities that address SDG 5 on Gender Equality, CEDAW recommendations, UPR recommendations, UNSCR 1325;
• Provide technical assistance to the Government of Papau New Guinea (PNG) in the implementation of the WMC programme;
• Identify and Develop recommendations for TA gaps and priorities for future in line with national priorities;
• Participate in all relevant coordination meetings and provide substantive input to guide the coordination efforts and activities of the existing work;
• Provide technical assistance and coordination support to other line ministries to ensure Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) commitments are fulfilled.

2. Strengthen coordination, harmonization and coherence among relevant stakeholders, including at the State and regional level:

• Review and identify bottlenecks in GEWE coordination at national, regional provincial and local levels and provide hands-on technical assistance to strengthen coordination, develop coherence and consistency across all stakeholders;
• Provide day-to-day supervision and guidance to the national TAs and ensure close coordination and harmonization among the TWGs;
• Ensure coordination of the WMC programme.

3.  Provide capacity development, mentoring and coaching support to DFCDR staff including Women Make Change Project Staff,

• Strengthen DRCDR’s understanding of WMC, CEDAW, Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) compliance and latest global policies and tools on gender equality and women’s empowerment;

• Provide substantive capacity development support, including coaching, mentoring and training of DFCDR staff for effective implementation of WMC;

• Dissemination latest policy and programming tools, global GEWE norms and standards, latest research and data on GEW for capacity development purposes;

• Develop capacity building materials as needed.

4.  Provide technical support to DFCDR-led monitoring and reporting mechanisms, including develop tools and prepare report on the progress, achievements, gaps and challenges related to WMC, CEDAW, UPR and BPfA implementation

• Prepare policy briefs, background documents, training materials and other relevant information package to inform DFCDR led policy and programming efforts;
• Set up DFCDR led system for regular/standard mechanism including development of tools and guidance for monitoring and reporting on the activities of the four TWGs and prepare a comprehensive annual report inclusive of achievements, gaps and challenges;
• Prepare progress update and report to the chairperson of the MNCWA, in close collaboration with DFCDR, GEWECG and TWGs.

5.  Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication

• Coordinate exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally of the WLPP;
• Organize major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality technical assistance and guidance provided in line with annual workplan and budget
• Strong relations with partners and stakeholders
• Quality and timeliness of capacity guidance and materials
• Quality and timeliness of reports
• Issues are escalated in a timely manner
• Quality of advocacy and communication initiates  

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

• Excellent knowledge in women’s political leadership
• Strong knowledge of capacity development tools and mechanisms
• Strong knowledge of women’s economic empowerment
• Strong understanding of the socio-economic and political context of the Pacific region especially Papua New Guinea, preferably in gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Strong interpersonal, networking and collaboration skills
• Ability to explain technical concepts to different audiences
• Strong monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Strong knowledge of women’s economic empowerment
• Strong analytical skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

Work Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Experience in providing high level technical assistance and coordination support to government, CSOs and development partners is required
• Experience of working to improving women’s political leadership
• Experience working on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in developing country context is required, preferably with government systems
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset

Language Requirement:

• Fluent in oral and written English is a must, pidgin language an added advantage
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

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/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 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.