Regional Humanitarian 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 gender equality, considering women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.  Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system’s efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

 

The war in Ukraine has become a regional crisis, demanding a regional response. As the humanitarian crises become more complex and challenging, it places bilateral and multilateral (UN) partners/organizations in a position to prioritize humanitarian assistance to meet the immediate needs of those impacted, and therefore a well-coordinated gender-responsive humanitarian response is critical more than ever. It is of paramount importance that international efforts have robust gender-expertise and capacities to better represent gender, age, disabilities, and other vulnerable groups in humanitarian response through improved collection of disaggregated data.

 

In line with this triple mandate, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system’s efforts to ensure that the commitments to gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action in humanitarian response plans.  With the new realities and challenges posed by the war against Ukraine, UN Women engagement in the humanitarian and refugee response space is more critical than ever in the Ukraine response to ensure that humanitarian response prioritizes women and girls’ voices and needs so that no woman or girl is left behind. 

 

UN Women’s Regional Office (based in Istanbul, Türkiye) works across the regional humanitarian and refugee response to ensure a gender-transformative response framework.

 

Serving governments, CSOs, UN Country Teams/Humanitarian Country Teams (UNCTs/HCTs), and UN Women country offices, UN Women provides policy advisory services, creates, and disseminates knowledge, evidence and data on gender equality, and advances coherence for gender in humanitarian action/refugee response, including through gender mainstreaming and the coordination of humanitarian/refugee response spaces/structures/platforms on gender equality at regional and country level.  UN Women Regional Office for Europe Central Asia is a leading agency through the Regional Gender Task Force (RGTF) on Gender in Humanitarian Action across the Regional Refugee Response, with a particular focus on Ukraine and neighboring countries, to mitigate the impact of the Ukraine crises on women and girls in the immediate and short-term response by placing them at the center of the response.

 

Under the overall strategic guidance of the Regional Director and Deputy Regional Director, and reporting to the Regional Policy Advisor on Women, Peace and Security, the Regional Humanitarian Specialist will oversee the development and implementation of programmes under the humanitarian portfolio, provide technical and advisory support to UN Women country offices and humanitarian actors in the region and establish and strengthen partnerships with relevant humanitarian stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Oversee the development of humanitarian programmes by Country Office/Programme Presence teams

• Oversee the development of regional programme documents on humanitarian action;
• Provide guidance and technical inputs to programme proposals from country offices;
• Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products;
• Advise on the development and implementation of signature interventions in line with the new UN Women's Humanitarian Strategy.

 

2. Provide technical and advisory support to Country Office/Programme Presence teams and partners in response to the Ukraine refugee and humanitarian response

• Provide substantive technical and policy support to country office, programme presence programme teams in developing and strengthening projects/ programmes;
• Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives;
• Provide technical support to partners on implementation of humanitarian action;
• Advise the Regional Office and Country Offices on facilitating the inclusion of gender dimensions into needs assessment frameworks, including rapid assessments.

 

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

• Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of humanitarian action;
• Build and maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards humanitarian action;
• Work with GenCap and other gender advisers, gender focal points, GBV Programme Specialist of the ECARO region, and GBV managers/focal points in other agencies and organisations (including governments, UN, INGOs, local NGOs, community and women’s groups), and other key actors at country and regional level;

• Produce periodic updates and briefs on regional/country development situation to be used by stakeholders, CO and HQ;
• Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women HQ.

 

4. Manage the resource mobilization strategy for humanitarian action in the region

• Participate in the implementation, monitoring and periodic updating of the resource mobilization strategy on humanitarian action in the region;
• Provide technical support to field-based presences in the region in mobilizing resources for the implementation of humanitarian action.

 

5. Oversee the design of humanitarian action in the region and the development of relevant knowledge products

• Provide policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on humanitarian action;
• Research, develop and present analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, correspondence, and knowledge products and technical guidance on gender in humanitarian action; 
• Identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities in areas related to gender and humanitarian action and innovation through new technologies.

 

6. Oversee the advocacy of humanitarian action through inter-agency coordination

• Work closely with and provide advice to regional/ national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to humanitarian action and where necessary represent UN Women;
• Co-lead on behalf of UN Women the Regional Gender Task Force under the Ukraine situation Coordination Forum.
• Lead specific efforts in mainstreaming gender and protection in humanitarian response and recovery efforts of relevant clusters and working groups, including inclusion and participation of under-represented groups;
• Advocate for the engagement and participation of local organizations and civil society networks in humanitarian coordination mechanisms.

 

7. Oversee knowledge building and sharing for humanitarian action

• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with country offices;
• Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among country offices.

 

 

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
• Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders
• UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise
• Contributions to resource mobilization
• Timely and quality knowledge products

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

• Substantive knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of gender equality, protection and humanitarian action, including humanitarian coordination; 
• Strong knowledge of the region
• Excellent networking skills
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising
• 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;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification

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

• At least 7 years progressively responsible experience, including experience working in humanitarian settings;
• Substantive and technical experience in inter-agency coordination in humanitarian settings;
• Experience in the localization of global humanitarian policies and frameworks;
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
• Experience working with the UN is an asset;
• Experience working in the region is an asset

 

Language

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

 

 

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, colour, 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.)