UN Women: Inter-Governmental Specialist

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. 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. (GA document A/64/588 of 6 January 2010) The Intergovernmental Support Division provides the inter-governmental bodies with the timely, high quality and relevant substantive support and inputs they need for successful deliberations related to gender equality and the empowerment of women. This includes supporting the work of the main bodies of the UN (GA/ECOSOC/Security Council, Functional Committees, etc,), organizing and supporting the meetings of Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and organizing and supporting the meetings of the UN Women Executive Board. The Inter-Governmental Specialist reports to the Director, Inter-Governmental Support Division as well as the Executive Secretary to the CSW. The Specialist ensures that UN Women provides the inter-governmental bodies with the substantive support and inputs they need for successful deliberations related to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions: The Inter-Governmental Specialist develops approaches to the consideration of issues, analyses policies, programmes and initiatives undertaken by public and private sector entities and elaborates policy recommendations for the consideration of intergovernmental bodies such as the CSW. The Specialist is responsible for the research programme on selected critical areas of concern including women and health, education and training of women, women in power and decision-making etc. The Specialist also supports the UN Women's Inter-Governmental strategy in order to strengthen understanding and support for work on gender equality and women's empowerment in inter-governmental bodies and covers other inter-governmental processes that are relevant to efforts to advance gender equality and women's empowerment. Within the relevant delegated authority, the Inter-Governmental Specialist will be responsible for the following duties: Draft policy analysis reports and other documents for the consideration of the CSW, ECOSOC and the General Assembly. Provide substantive support to the Commission in its consideration of the issues assigned. Undertake ongoing analysis on selected areas of inter-governmental deliberations on the development, coordination and implementation of policies for gender equality and on development issues and on the implications of debates on gender equality and women's empowerment. Researches and analyses the effectiveness of national and regional policies, plans and programmes; reviews inter-governmental programmes and evaluates private sector initiatives. Organizes and participates in inter-agency and expert group meetings and seminars on the subjects assigned and drafts related reports. Liaise and coordinate with the Secretariats of relevant Inter-Governmental bodies to ensure that UN Women is delivering on its responsibilities, advocacy, policy development, dissemination of good practice, monitoring, analysis and inter-governmental reporting related to gender equality and empowerment of women. Liaise regularly with representatives of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women and the Conference of NGO's in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) on the work of the Intergovernmental Support Division and arrangements for upcoming sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Draft information materials for dissemination on Inter-Governmental processes. Follow discussions in the Commission on the Status of Women on the review of the assigned area of concern and prepares meeting summaries. Contribute to publications by conducting research and providing background material and drafting articles for inclusion in serial publications of UN Women. Serve as a member of teams assigned to committees such as CSW by studying state parties reports, following discussions between representatives of states parties and committee members, and drafting summaries for inclusion in the committee's report.

Competencies

Ethics and Values: Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Self-development, initiative-taking Working in Teams: Acting as a team player and facilitating team work Communicating Information and Ideas:Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Managing conflict Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Informed and transparent decision making 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. FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: Ability to contribute to the formulation of strategy and policy based on a practical business understanding that leads to the realization of corporate goals and the facilitation of creativity. Ability to improve processes and approaches, integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives. Demonstrating expertise and experience in good communications products and public relations Strong knowledge of IT as an instrument to improve business processes and to provide new services. Good knowledge of gender issues.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Master's degree (or equivalent) in international relations, development studies, gender studies, social sciences, or other related fields. Experience: A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in providing analysis and policy guidance on issues related to development cooperation, international relations, public administration or related area. Experience with UN highly desirable. Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in another UN working language is desirable. 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. 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.

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UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.