Gender and Mediation Training and Resources Development Expert

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work 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. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in collaboration with Department of Political Affairs is seeking to strengthen its in-house capacity to mainstream gender in all mediation efforts supported or led by the UN as part of the Joint Strategy on Gender and Mediation. Peace processes provide a critical opportunity to reshape the political, security and broader socio-economic landscape of a nation state. However, women are consistently marginalized in peacemaking efforts. The low number of women at the peace table demonstrates the gap between the aspirational global and regional commitments and the reality women face at the local and national level. A sample of 24 comprehensive peace processes since 1992, reviewed by UN Women, shows that women represent a negligible percentage of all participants to peace negotiations. Consequently, ceasefire and peace agreements rarely include women's specific security and peacebuilding needs. For instance, only six ceasefire agreements out of forty-five major conflicts since 1989, include sexual violence is only as a prohibited act. Five UN Security Council resolutions (S/RES/1325 (2000), S/RES/1820 (2008), S/RES/1888 (2009), S/RES/1889 (2009) and S/RES/1960 (2010)), as well as the United Nations Secretary-General's reports on mediation support (2009) and women's participation in peace building (2010) have repeatedly called for the inclusion of dedicated gender expertise and greater numbers of women in peace processes. Member states have echoed this demand on numerous occasions.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the joint supervision of the UN Women Peace and Security Cluster and the DPA/Mediation Support Unit (Gender Focal Point), the Senior Gender and Peacebuilding Specialist will advance the implementation of the joint UN Women/DPA joint strategy on gender and mediation, through the following duties and responsibilities: Develop and pilot training modules, based on assessment of gender and mediation capacity needs of UN staff and mediation experts; Develop curriculum for UN staff trainings on gender and mediation, based on SCR 1325 global indicators and commitments made under the Secretary-General's report on the participation of women in peacebuilding; Oversee and support the process of data collection and reporting against the set of indicators to track the implementation of SCR 1325 that the Department of Political Affairs committed to track; this includes: - Assist the UN Working Group on Indicators in the technical fine-tuning of the five DPA indicators to track the implementation of SCR 1325; - Oversee the mapping of gender and mediation support partners for inclusion in a database of women and local organisations involved in mediation efforts (Track I, II, observers etc), for use by regional divisions and special political missions to meet SCR 1325 commitments. Deliverables: Assessment of gender and mediation capacity needs of UN staff and mediation experts. Gender and Mediation training module for UN staff training on gender and mediation. Three Gender and Mediation pilot training sessions. 2012 report on the five DPA indicators to track implementation of SCR 1325. First regional data base is operational, containing women involved in mediation efforts for regional division and field missions.

Competencies

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES: Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct. Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity. Specific Competencies: In-depth knowledge and familiarity with thematic issues related to Women, Peace and Security, and relevant Security Council resolutions. Experience in the development and implementation of SCR 1325 indicators and commitments made under the Secretary-General's report on the participation of peacebuilding. Experience in lecturing and training. Demonstrated capacity to perform effectively within a multicultural work environment. Ability to work in a team, share information and collaborate with others to deliver results. Willingness to accept additional responsibilities as required by the demands of the service. Strong inter-personal skills and excellent organizational skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Post-graduate degree in development studies, international relations, public policy, gender studies, social sciences or related discipline. Work Experience: 15 years of relevant professional experience, including field experience, and expertise in mainstreaming gender equality in peacebuilding. Experience in development and implementation of indicators and benchmarks, including for UN policy since the adoption of SCR 1889. Experience in development and coordination of gender and peacemaking programming and training within the UN System. Recent, relevant experience in practice and research in the area of Conflict Studies, Mediation Support, Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. Experience in programme and policy analysis, as well as strategic planning at field and global level. Previous work with the UN member states and/or civil society organizations will be an advantage. Language: Strong, proven communication and writing skills in English are required. 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.

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