Programme Officer- Gender-Responsive COVID-19 Recovery in India (Open to Indian Nationals Only)

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.

As the UN agency with the mandate to work on gender equality, UN Women is responsible for leading and coordinating United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world and at the country level. UN Women is also expected to provide strong and coherent leadership in support of countries’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society, the nodal government agency, private sector and other relevant actors.

In times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, women and girls face higher risk of violence.  Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in India remains a highly prevalent and protracted problem which not only affects the human rights many women, girls and other vulnerable group, but remains a major public health and development challenge. COVID-19 outbreak has uncovered the existing inequalities in families and society in India and exacerbated the structural factors that contribute to SGBV in its different forms including domestic violence, intimate partier violence, violence against children, sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, and at different sites- private pubic, work and online. The UN Secretary General made an appeal to the leaders of the Members States to put ‘Women and Girls Safety first’ and center- stage gender responsive measures in their plans to address the challenge of COVID-19, to build back better and equal world. India was among 140 countries to endorse the Call.

UN Women is currently implementing a programme focused on the reduction of the disproportionate gender-based risks and negative impact of COVID-19 on women, including those who are the most marginalized and in particularly vulnerable situations, by focusing on the following Outcome and Outputs 1, 2 and 4 , while Output 3 will be covered in a complementing programme, in order to generate best practices and lessons learned to inform a gender-responsive COVID-19 recovery:

Outcome: The disproportionate gender-based risks and negative impact of COVID-19 on women, including those who are the most marginalized and in particularly vulnerable situations, are reduced

Output 1: One-Stop-Crisis Centres (OSCCs) have strengthened ability to deliver and ensure for the accessibility and availability of essential GBV services

Output 2: Women have increased access to and benefit from economic and livelihood opportunities to enhance COVID-19 recovery

Output 3: Women in at-risk communities have increased access to and benefit from life-saving information, knowledge and resources to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Output 4: Platforms are strengthened to inform inclusive and gender-responsive measures to prevent the spread and the negative socio-economic impact of COVID-19

Theory of Change (TOC): IF:

• Women have increased access to GBV prevention and response mechanisms, including through availability and accessibility of One-Stop-Crisis Centres (OSCCs) delivering essential GBV services;
• Women have increased access to and benefit from economic and livelihood opportunities;
• Women in at-risk communities have increased access to and benefit from life-saving information, knowledge and resources to prevent the spread of COVID-19;
• Platforms are strengthened to inform inclusive and gender-responsive measures to prevent the spread and the negative socio-economic impact of COVID 19.

Then: The disproportionate gender-based risks and negative impact of COVID-19 on women, including those who are the most marginalized and in particularly vulnerable situations, will be reduced

Because: Specific needs and concerns of women will be addressed in COVID-19 policies

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Programme Specialist Lead– Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW Specialist) and Girls and Programme Analyst – Intergovernmental Processes and UN Inter-agency Coordination (IGP-UNC Analyst), the Programme Officer  is responsible to support formulation, management and evaluation of programme activities within his/her portfolio and provide policy advice services on the sectoral themes.

The Programme Officer will work in close collaboration with the operations team, programme staff in other UN Agencies, UN WOMEN staff and Government officials, technical advisors and experts, multilateral and bilateral donors and civil society ensuring successful implementation of specific components of the programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

• Implementation of programme strategies;
• Management of the Programme;
• Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilization strategy for the programme activities and the EVAW programmes;
• Provision of advisory services to the Government and facilitation of knowledge building and management;
• Any other duties assigned by the supervisor.

Support the management and provide technical support:

• Provide technical support in the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for the delivery of technical assistance, policy advocacy and programme support. The strategy should reflect the response and recovery of COVID-19;
• Delivery and monitoring of activities aligned to the Programme Framework;
• Draft annual workplans and progress and financial reports under the Programme Framework and as per internal UN Women processes;
• Facilitate outreach and media campaigns on SGBV for women and girls and also men and boys;
• Review project implementation and expenditure using ATLAS;
• Document good practices and updates from the programme, for website and quarterly reporting;
• Regular coordination with the Programme Lead – (EVAWG), Programme Analyst – IGP-UNC, and other related tasks.

Implementing of processes and documentation:

• Document and track innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches;
• Ensure the implementation of the programme aligned to the programme strategy;
• Review and adopt new approaches as applicable;
• Lead scoping studies to analyse gender responsive budgeting and planning including steps to address SGBV at the State and National level.

Coordination and maintaining database of partners:

• Coordinate with UN agencies under the programme and other team members of UN Women;
• Expand and maintain a database of partners including law enforcement agents and agencies, government functionaries and nodal Ministries. addressing the heterogenous women’s group (disability, age, ethnicity, etc.)
• Build and facilitate strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders and expand its scope to school-level safety and health programmes;
• Ensure effective communication and coordination with partners;
• Draft and work in accordance with the resource mobilization strategy
• Track and report on mobilized resources.

Basic research and analysis:

• Research best practices and pose new, more effective ways of doing things
• Build and support the development of knowledge resources on SGBV: prevention and response including but not limited to resource kits/tool kits, information booklets; technology enabled interactive audio-visual tools and posts on social media for a multi-stakeholder audience;
• Build collective evidence on existing policies and legal frameworks (such as POCSO), programmes (such as MNREGA), official data records (NCRB, NFHS, NCPCR) along with data from civil society (such as CHILDLINE). This will facilitate meaningful conversation on addressing gaps and formulating recommendations;
• Maintain a record of meetings and official communication.

Support the preparation of information for advocacy:

• Identify relevant information for advocacy with multiple and varied stakeholders and partners;
• Provide policy advice and technical support to Government functionaries, law enforcement agencies and individual stakeholders;
• Build an online repository of knowledge resources and meeting records.

Any other task assigned by the Programme Lead and Representative /Deputy Representative with regard to overall programmatic functions.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and accurate support to events, workshops, and missions;
• Full compliance of administrative activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures;
• Timely recording of overall programme unit finances;
• Timely and accurate tracking of data for CO management and donor purposes;
• Quality maintenance of internal systems.

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

• Good knowledge of programme management;
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Strong financial and budgeting skills;
• Strong IT skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Masters’ degree in social sciences, women’s human rights, international studies, law or any other related discipline.

Experience:

• 5 years of professional experience with programming, especially project design, implementation, management and evaluation.
• Programming experience on human rights and violence against women would be an asset.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and advance knowledge of spread sheet and database packages.
• Experience in handling of web-based management systems.

Language:

• Fluency in English and Hindi is required
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Application Information: Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
• 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;
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

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.