UN Women: Child Rights and Gender 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.

Peace and Security is a key area of UN Women's work. At headquarters, the Peace and Security Section leads on UN system-wide coordination on Women, Peace and Security, provides technical and financial support to the peace and security work of UN Women field offices, and implements a number of global initiatives that range from training women on mediation, peacekeepers on preventing and responding to sexual violence, and experts on investigation and documentation of international crimes, to rapidly deploying gender advisors to commissions of inquiry, peace talks, and post-conflict planning and financing processes, supporting gender-responsive public service delivery, and linking women in the community and grassroots organizations to police and other actors to ensure better protection.

A key area of UN Women’s work is ensuring access to justice for women and the equal application of the rule of law. The impartial, timely and professional investigation of sexual and gender-based crimes is the first step towards justice for survivors. Upon request, UN Women provides national and international investigations, courts and transitional justice mechanisms with the gender expertise they need to ensure that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is documented. Since 2009, UN Women, in partnership with Justice Rapid Response, has provided a gender advisor or SGBV investigator to all United Nations commissions of inquiry/fact-finding missions, and other human rights investigative bodies, to the International Criminal Court, and to national and regional investigations. Securing accountability and ending impunity for sexual and gender-based violence and asserting women’s and girls’ access to the full range of rights are some of the most challenging yet fundamental conditions for the restoration of the rule of law post-conflict. UN Women is also committed to ensuring that the perspective of children and youth are integrated into justice processes, and human rights violations against them are addressed.

Under the supervision of the Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women, and in close coordination with the relevant accountability mechanism, the Child Rights and Gender Specialist will contribute to implementation of UN Women’s mandate on promoting women’s access to justice and the rule of law through providing technical support to international accountability mechanisms in the investigation and documentation of crimes against children, including sexual and gender-based crimes under international law.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide substantive guidance and advice on the documentation of child rights violations and the gendered dimensions of human rights and international humanitarian law violations:

• Collect and preserve information on child rights violations, and analyze existing documentation;
• Advise on child- and gender-sensitive information gathering methods including interviewing, security arrangements, safe handling of information;
• Ensure that all team members are aware of the relevant child rights violations, and their gender elements, including sexual and gender-based violence, including by providing training, as needed; and
• Upon request from the accountability mechanism, join selected missions to take part in the information gathering exercise.

Develop and share knowledge:

• Contribute to the drafting of the final report, including by including by recommending accountability measures which address child rights violations; and
• Submit a report to UN Women, to be shared with Justice Rapid Response, on non-confidential aspects of the work of the Child Rights and Gender Specialist and any recommendations for strengthening the gendered work and child-sensitive work of such accountability mechanisms in future.

Establish and strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders:

• Liaise between UN Women, the accountability mechanism and other key stakeholders, including Justice Rapid Response, on issues of shared concern.

Perform any other duties, as required by the Coordinator of the accountability mechanism or the Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women.

Key Performance Indicators: 

• Timely and quality reporting on child rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence;
• Quality advice on the integration of a child rights and gender analysis across all areas of work of the accountability mechanism;
• Increased awareness of UN Women’s work and the importance of a gender- and child-sensitive approach in documentation efforts, and accountability for child rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence;
• Increased cooperation between UN Women and the accountability mechanism; and
• Timely and quality advice to UN Women and other key stakeholders on strengthening the SGBV Justice Experts Rapid Deployment Programme.

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 Values and Competencies Framework: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, including the age and gender dimensions of these legal frameworks.
• Proven ability to conduct complex human rights or criminal investigations, including expertise in monitoring and documenting child rights violations, an understanding of age and gender-specific protection concerns, and experience interviewing vulnerable witnesses;
• Good analytical capacity;
• Knowledge of witness and victim protection and data protection;
• Ability to speak and write in a clear and gender-sensitive language;
• Familiarity with the UN system and knowledge of UN Women.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• Advanced study (Master’s or equivalent) in law, political sciences, international relations, gender studies or other disciplines related to human rights;
• 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 5 years’ experience in human rights investigation and monitoring with a focus on children’s rights and/or women’s human rights and gender issues, including 2 years in the field.

Languages: 

• Fluency in English and French is required. 

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.

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.