Gender and Humanitarian Action Adviser

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 (UNW) 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. Under UN Women’s first Strategic Plan (2011-2013), the Gender and Humanitarian Action Adviser, under the overall supervision of the Director of the Programme Support Division, is responsible for UN Women’s engagement in humanitarian action. She/ He will lead in advocating for a coordinated and coherent approach on gender mainstreaming in emergency response and humanitarian action and is responsible for ensuring that specialized technical and strategic support is available to field offices where needed. The scope of work of the Gender and Humanitarian Action Adviser requires experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, as well as expertise on humanitarian issues, to translate UN Women`s strategic plans into results. It also requires developing mutually reinforcing partnerships with national entities, civil society, regional institutions and the international humanitarian system, including relevant UN entities and bilateral donors to enhance awareness and commitment as well as visibility and resources to advance gender equality and women's empowerment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key functions Policy Guidance and Strategic Planning Coordination and partnership building Evidence-based advocacy and communication Capacity Building and Knowledge Management Under the overall supervision of the Director, Programme Support Division, and in close collaboration with the Policy Division Peace and Security Section, the Gender and Humanitarian Action Advisor will have the following functions: Policy Guidance and Strategic Planning for engagement in humanitarian action Lead the formulation and development of UN Women’s Humanitarian Strategy based on the Strategic Plan (SP) in partnership with UN system humanitarian actors, in support of mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment concerns into humanitarian response; Establish UN Women’s humanitarian unit and ensure its effective functioning; Provide direction and guide field offices on UN Women’s role and objectives in the humanitarian area; Identify strategic programme approaches and modalities which provide value added for UN Women in the humanitarian area both at HQ level and in the field; Provide support to UN Women senior management on UN Women’s engagement in humanitarian action; Support UN Women field offices and UN Country Team (UNCT) through direct technical advice via field missions and through rapid short term deployments (using UN Women roster and/or GEnCap capacities) to provide hands-on support for gender equality programming during and after emergencies, including UN Women’s participation in gender-sensitive needs assessment such as Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) or Post Conflict Need Assessment (PCNA). Proactively assess trends and identify emerging issues at the national, regional or international level of relevance to the mandate of UN Women in humanitarian area; Undertake specific flagship technical projects as appropriate to UN Women's SP. Conceive, design, staff, direct, and assess these initiatives; Contribute to regular review and assessment of UN WOMEN's SP as well as regional and country programming on humanitarian issues; Coordination and partnership building Participate and lead UN Women’s contribution to the existing inter-agency coordination mechanisms and enhance coherence of UN system in promoting gender equality concerns in humanitarian response. Substantive participation and support to relevant inter-agency and inter governmental forums, notably the IASC, the GenCap Steering Committee, the IASC Sub-Working Group on Gender, donor conferences and others. Contribute to strategic thinking and policy decisions on mainstreaming gender into humanitarian response and influence agenda and priority setting in relevant UN system-wide inter-agency tasks forces; Work in close partnership with member states and non-governmental partners for key programming initiatives and build synergies for effective gender equality programming and advocacy; Forge strategic partnerships and alliances at the country level to promote gender equality and women's advancement through joint projects and interagency efforts; Support country offices through direct technical assistance as required. Advocacy and Communication Engage in policy debates relevant to gender and humanitarian action, including participation in global knowledge events and support formulation of corporate policy guidance and practice notes; Advocate on behalf of UN Women and its mandate to help raise awareness and stimulate action to advance gender equality and women's rights within humanitarian context and form strategic partnerships with government, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, media and the private sector; Ensure information exchange on crosscutting themes within UN WOMEN, with a particular focus on information chains between the Programme Support and Policy Divisions, in particular the Peace and Security and the Ending Violence Against Women Clusters, geo sections, regional and country offices and other thematic sections; Provide support as needed to ensure that UN humanitarian response is done in a gender responsive manner, and within agreed regional and international frameworks to promote and protect gender equality. Actively participate in country level programming processes where UN Women has presence, ensuring that the UN Women is strategically placed within UN humanitarian context. Assist the RC/HC System to secure expertise that will ensure commitment, quality control and resources for gender equality programming. Capacity Building and Knowledge Management Initiate and manage the process of collecting and disseminating best practices on gender equality programming in humanitarian situations and contribute to UN Women’s knowledge management efforts; • Promote the development and dissemination of gender-sensitive tools and methodologies for humanitarian actions at the country level; • Contribute to the development and maintenance of global, regional and national knowledge networks and practices on mainstreaming gender into humanitarian context; • Generate ideas for innovative capacity development initiatives and support development of new project proposals for use in resource generation; • Support country staff capacity development to engage in post-crisis needs assessments and in supporting humanitarian coordination and responses from a gender perspective. Impact of Results: The functioning of humanitarian unit directly impacts on changing humanitarian practice for the benefit of women and girls. This takes place through enhancing coordination and accountability for gender mainstreaming in humanitarian action, promoting consistency and sustainability in addressing gender equality concerns and strengthening capacity and effectiveness of UN Women field offices together with national entities and civil society.

Competencies

Core Competencies and 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. Ethics and Values: Promoting Ethics and Integrity Organizational Awareness: Building support and political acumen. Planning and organizing: Proven ability to plan strategic direction and ability to organize and service inter- agency bodies and international technical meetings. Developing and Empowering People / coaching and mentoring: Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation. Working in Teams: Proven record of building and managing teams and creating an enabling and collaborative work environment, including the ability to effectively recruit, lead, supervise, mentor, develop and evaluate staff. Communicating Information and Ideas: Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication. Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating an emotionally intelligent organization. Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards. Ability to interact and negotiate with high-level government officials are required. Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Commitment to continuous learning: Willingness to keep abreast of new developments in the field of gender equality thematic areas Leadership - Proven track record of excellent management and technical leadership skills and ability to delegate appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority. Functional Competencies: Substantive knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of gender equality and humanitarian action. Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience. Strong communications skills, with proven expertise in writing cogent and convincing policy and programme documents Proven analytical and problem solving skills Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills. Effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners. Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Master degree (or equivalent) in development-related disciplines, gender issues, public policy or other social science fields; Experience: A minimum of 10 years of experience in management and development programming preferably with humanitarian issues, including in conflict and post-conflict settings and gender equality. Programme and policy analysis, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation and field experience in developing country contexts; Substantive and technical experience in inter-agency coordination, experience working with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field; Language: Written and oral proficiency in English is required; Knowledge of another UN working language is an asset. 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.