UN Women is hiring: Regional Policy Specialist, Political Participation and Governance

Location: Dakar, SENEGAL

Application Deadline: 22-Mar-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Time left: 19d 6h 36m

Type of Contract: FTA International

Post Level: P-4

Languages Required: English and French  

Duration of Initial Contract: 1 year

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.

UN Women’s West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO) in Dakar, Senegal, has coverage of 25 countries of West and Central Africa, with country offices and programme presence in 12 of these.

The scope of work of the Policy Specialist for Women’s Political Participation and Governance requires experience in and in-depth understanding of gender equality and women’s political empowerment and leadership to translate UN Women’s strategic plans in the area of political participation into effective programmes and results in the West and Central Africa region.

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Director, the Policy Specialist, Political Participation and Governance will provide technical oversight for the development of political participation and governance programmes; support capacity and skills-enhancement of staff and partners in country offices; establish and strengthen partnerships; and develop relevant knowledge products on political participation and governance. As part of this portfolio of work, the Policy Specialist will provide the technical support and oversight required for the implementation of a Regional Flagship Programme Initiative on women’s political participation and leadership.

Duties and Responsibilities

Oversee the development of programmes on women’s political participation and governance:

• Oversee the development of regional programme documents on women’s political participation and governance, including those related to the flagship programme initiative on Women’s Political Empowerment;
• Provide technical inputs to programme proposals and project documents from country offices;
• Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products;
• Coordinate the development, monitoring and reporting of women’s political participation and governance programmes in collaboration with programme teams and in close cooperation with the Political Participation Unit at UN Women Headquarters.

Provide capacity building support to Country Office teams and partners:

• Provide substantive technical and policy support to country office programme teams in developing and strengthening projects and programmes;
• Promote coordination and participation in joint activities with various stakeholders in pursuit of shared goal of increasing women’s political participation and gender-responsive governance;
• Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives;
• Provide technical support to regional or national partners on implementation of women’s political participation initiatives;
• Provide technical policy advice to programme/ project managers/ specialists in country offices.

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

• Support country offices in mobilizing resources for women’s political participation programmes, including for the flagship programme initiative on Women’s Political Empowerment;
• Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships, including with donor partners for the advancement of women’s political participation and governance;
• Represent UN Women at regional meetings, workshops and events on women’s political participation and governance related issues;
• Work closely with, and provide advice to regional/ national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to women’s political participation and governance and where necessary represent UN Women;
• Contribute substantively to existing thematic and gender equality networks established to support women’s political participation.

Oversee the development of relevant knowledge products:

• Provide policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on women’s political participation and governance, including in coordination with HQ Political Participation unit;
• Research, coordinate, develop and present analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, correspondence, and knowledge products on women’s political participation and governance;
• Support the establishment of a regional Community of Practice to share lessons learned, identify good practices, strengthen dialogue and information sharing to advance women’s political participation and support the implementation of the flagship programme initiative on Women’s Political Empowerment in West and Central Africa;
• Lead the development of relevant advocacy and communication materials to promote women’s political participation, including in coordination with HQ Political Participation unit.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge, data on women’s political participation and relevant political events in the region and integrate analysis and information in support of policy development, analysis, outreach and advocacy and corporate support.

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;
• Regular communication with colleagues at both country and global levels to ensure policy coherence;
• 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:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Respect for Diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of women’s political empowerment and leadership (including issues related to democratic development, electoral assistance, campaigns, legal frameworks, political parties, legislatures, local government);
• Strong knowledge of the region;
• Knowledge of the UN System;
• 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 and problem solving skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results based management and reporting;
• Ability to work collaboratively in diverse teams, as well as strong communication skills;
• Ability to undertake frequent travel within the West and Central Africa regions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in political science, gender studies, law, human rights, international relations or other social science fields is required.

Experience:

• At least 7 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for women’s political empowerment and/or gender-responsive governance, ideally with some experience in developing countries;
• Experience in programme, policy analysis, and strategic planning;
• 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 West and/or Central Africa is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and French is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset;
• Knowledge of Portuguese and any other language(s) pertinent to the West and Central Africa region are assets. 

Application Information:

• 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. 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.