UN Women - Programme Specialist (Economic Empowerment) Job Vacancy in Monrovia, Liberia

UN WOMEN:
PROGRAMME SPECIALIST (ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT)

Location : Monrovia, LIBERIA

Application
Deadline : 22-Jan-14

Type of
Contract : FTA International

Post Level : P-3

Languages
Required : English

Duration of
Initial Contract : 1 year

Background

The United
Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (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, the 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.

UN Women’s
programming in Liberia is developed within the framework of the gender
priorities identified in Liberia’s Agenda for Transformation (AFT) and
reflected in the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The goal of UN
Women’s presence in Liberia is to contribute to addressing gender justice and
equity through sustained peace building efforts particularly addressing
violence against women and girls, promoting gender equality in governance and
supporting women’s economic security and rights.

The
following have been identified as strategic areas for UN Women’s support:

Increased economic empowerment of women,
especially those who are most excluded;
Women’s leadership in peace, security and
humanitarian response;
National planning and budgeting processes
which promote stronger institutional accountability to gender equality
commitments.

UN Women’s
programme is implemented within the context of Liberia as a post-conflict
country emerging from 14 years of armed conflict with devastating gender
dimensions, which continue to pose serious challenges to the achievement of
women’s human rights and gender equality in Liberia.

The
Programme Specialist reports to the UN Women Country Representative who
provides the strategic leadership, guidance and oversight of programs and operations,
formulation and execution of UN Women Country Office strategic programs and
plans of actions in line with UN Women and UN development efforts in the
country. Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Country Representative, the
Programme Specialist is responsible for the implementation of the UN Women
Strategic Plan and coordination of related projects in the area of women’s
economic empowerment.

The
Programme Specialist is responsible for the day to day coordination,
administration, monitoring and reporting and oversight of this programme and
will provide technical assistance to partners and participate in related
interagency and governmental working groups. She/he will further be responsible
for general programme administration, coordination and consolidating progress
on various programmes as well as ensuring the monitoring and implementation
functions. She/he will also ensure the supervision of project officers to
ensure progress toward the stated results and actively participate in knowledge
management activities documenting the lessons learned and supporting resource
mobilization. She/he will work closely with the UN Women thematic advisors at
the UN Women Regional Centre and HQ to support integration of the lessons
learned at the corporate level.

Duties and
Responsibilities

Summary of
key functions:

Analytical, technical and operational support;
Programme development, management and
oversight support;
Support to UN inter-agency coordination and
normative process;
Support to partnership building and resource
mobilization efforts;
Knowledge management and capacity building.

Description
of Key Functions:

Analytical,
technical and operational support:

Manage the allocation of funds to the project
and assure the proper utilization of resources approved and allocated to
the programme;
Ensure the submission of timely and high
quality reporting;
Undertake and or coordinate substantive
research in the thematic area and provide operational inputs in national
level as well as corporate exercises.

Programme
development, management and oversight support:

Support the supervisor in the review of the
country programme performance and progress reports to assess impact and
compliance with development goals and results-based performance
indicators;
Ensure the implementation of the Economic
empowerment programme and other UN-Women and Ministry of Gender and
Development initiatives and ensure sustained progress towards the stated
results;
Provide technical support and leadership to
ensure that procurement and selection processes are carried out in
compliance with UN rules and regulations;
Ensure liaison with the Implementation Unit
within the Ministry of Gender and Development to implement results-based
management approaches in programme implementation;
Ensure synergies with other relevant
initiatives being implemented as well as with relevant initiatives being
implemented with the support of other development partners;
Under the guidance of the supervisor, support
the regular assessments of the country offices’ strategic and
implementation plans. Identify lessons learned to guide program
improvements and future strategic development planning;
Under the guidance of the supervisor,
facilitate the flow of information to the Peace building Steering
Committee, relevant Inter-agency forums and governmental forums on
thematic trends, so that policy direction and guidelines respond
appropriately to emerging demands and needs.

Support to
inter-agency coordination and normative processes:

Under the guidance of the supervisor, liaise,
as required, with inter-agency task forces, committees and initiatives to
ensure that UN Women issues are taken into account in development planning
and formulation in the context of Delivering as ONE;
Support the supervisor on issues related to
normative processes as required including attendance in meetings and other
events and preparing reports/results of participation and following up on
actions and commitments taken.

Partnership
building and resource mobilization support:

Assist the supervisor in the establishment of
partnerships with UN system agencies to collaborate on joint projects and
interagency efforts to promote/advocate on commitments for gender equality
and women’s empowerment and to maximize results and achievements
particularly in the area of women’s economic empowerment;
Provide substantive administrative support to
the Country Representative on matters related to resources mobilization,
donor relations, fundraising activities as per CO resource mobilization
plan particularly in the area of women’s economic empowerment;
Under the guidance of the supervisor, liaise
and facilitate the flow of information with/to the Regional Office/HQ on
corporate partnerships /resource mobilization related issues so that
corporate partnership strategies in the area of women’s economic
empowerment respond appropriately to the field’s demands and needs.

Knowledge
management and capacity building:

Under the guidance of the supervisor, work
with UN-Women CO as well as units within the Government of Liberia to
share best programme and management practices in the area of women’s
economic empowerment;
Undertake the production of briefs, policy
documents, and other KM products which highlight the lessons learned as
well as to influence policy and programme development amongst national and
international partners;
Actively contribute to the development of
communications products which highlight the programme and the results achieved;
Contribute to the development and maintenance
of global and regional program knowledge networks and practices, and
development of knowledge products;
Support the supervisor in the design and
implementation of capacity building training activities to enhance skills
and knowledge of national partners in economic empowerment, results based
management, results based budgeting and systematic quality assurance.

Impact of
Results:

The
technical support provided to the implementation of programmes and projects
enhances overall efficiency, timeliness and effectiveness. Coordination with
multi stakeholders ensures stronger and smoother coordination with Implementing
partners / Donors/UN Agencies. This enhances the impact of UN Women’s
initiatives in its focus areas to promote gender equality and women’s
empowerment in line with the UNDAF and national development priorities. For
this post, it is expected that the Programme Manager will contribute to the
achievement of UN Women’s objectives in the focus area of Economic Empowerment
and enhanced visibility and image of UN women as an effective leader on gender
equality and women’s rights and empowerment.

Competencies

Core Values
and Guiding Principles:

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.

Cultural
sensitivity and valuing 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:

Proven ability to lead and manage ‘smart’
business solutions in challenging environments;
Ability to build strategic partnerships and
focus on impact and results;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a
positive, constructive attitude;
Monitors progress against milestones and
deadlines;
Demonstrates openness to change, flexibility,
and ability to manage complexities;
Ability to work under pressure and with
multi-disciplinary and multicultural teams and possess excellent
inter-personal skills;
Demonstrates strong written and oral
communication skills;
Proven networking, team-building;
Ability to establish priorities for self and
others, and to work independently;
Proven ability to problem-solve and think
creatively to develop and implement smart business solutions in a
challenging socio-economic environment;
Proven ability to develop detailed operational
plans, budgets, and deliver on them for development results;
Possesses knowledge of the issues of women’s
rights and gender equality;
Promotes knowledge management and a learning
environment in the office and among local partners through leadership and
personal example;
Actively works towards continuing personal
learning and development, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired
skills;
Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and
best practices from within and outside of UN Women.

Required
Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in
International Development, Social Sciences, Economics, Political Science,
Gender/Women’s Studies.

Experience:

At least five years of experience required in
the management of development programmes targeting women’s economic
empowerment;
Proven experience in the elaboration and
facilitation of training and other capacity building initiatives for
national partners;
Experience in developing strategies for
community led development programmes is highly desirable;
Significant knowledge and experience with
programming, monitoring and evaluation;
Knowledge of and experience with community
based models for women’s economic security highly desirable;
Experience in joint programming development
and implementation in post conflict/ fragile countries highly desirable;
Experience in West Africa is desirable.

Languages:

Written and oral proficiency in English is
required;
Knowledge of another UN language would be 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.

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.

How to Apply

Interested candidates are required to click hereto apply

Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 January 2014