International Consultant - Program Advisor
UN Women – United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Date of
Issue: 25 August 2011
Closing Date:
09 September 2011
SSA Announcement No. UNWOMEN/SRO/2011/013
Job Code Title : International Consultant –
Program Advisor Bangladesh Program Office.
Organization : UN Women – United Nations
Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Direct supervisor : Regional Program Director, South
Asia Sub-Regional Office
Duty Station : Dhaka, Bangladesh
Type of Contract : SSA
No. of positions : One
Duration : Six Months (with
possibility of extension)
Context
UN WOMEN set up its office in Dhaka in 2006 at the invitation of
the Government of Bangladesh and since then has been running various programs.
Some of the specific programme areas in which UN WOMEN is involved in Bangladesh
include supporting the government institutions in strengthening the national
structures and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming in all relevant government
programmes; projects, policies, actions and budgets; ensuring safe migration of
women; supporting efforts for the elimination of violence against women and
combating HIV/AIDS; CEDAW learning and sharing both at national and regional
levels; promoting economic security for women; supporting excluded women’s
network; and taking the Beijing biennial review process forward.
UN WOMEN wants to consolidate and intensify its work with a range
of stakeholders in Bangladesh including the government, the civil society,
women’s organizations, UN agencies and donors, towards the promotion of gender
equality and women’s empowerment. This will entail the development of Country
Programme Strategy in consultation with all the stakeholders and actors and
scaling up some of the initial initiatives that have been implemented to date as
well as identifying innovative opportunities for mobilizing strategic alliance
within the UN, government, donors and the civil society. UN WOMEN will expand
its programme initiatives in Bangladesh through developing its Country Programme
Strategy and scaling up some of the initial initiatives that have been
implemented to date. To strengthen its support to Bangladesh as well as to
contribute its technical expertise and resources to the effort of the RC and the
UNCT to offer holistic support to assist the country to move forward on its
commitments on women’s empowerment and gender equality, UN WOMEN is engaging the
services of a Programme Advisor on a SSA for one year. The Programme Advisor
will be responsible for the following:
1.
Strategic
Policy Coordination and Partnerships
§
Finalize the
Bangladesh Office Strategy for 20122015 taking into account UN Women’s
Priorities and the opportunities and challenges that exist in Bangladesh,
§
Participate
in the UN Country Team Meetings, UN Heads of Agencies meetings as well as donor
consultation processes to ensure strategic partnerships and strengthen
collaborations with UN organizations;
·
Proactively interact with all stakeholders to effectively represent
UN WOMEN and to champion gender equality and women's human rights in Bangladesh,
in close consultation with the team in Bangladesh;
·
Provide leadership and quality oversight on efforts to
support capacity strengthening of government institutions, to implement national
development strategies and focus on mainstreaming gender and developing
implementation capacity in Ministries for gender responsive programs. S/he will
work on developing strong partnerships with wide ranging constituencies,
including NGOs, donors and the UN system;
·
Ensure UN Women’s strategic and technical support to government
counterparts, the civil society and UN agencies in Bangladesh through direct
involvement as well as procurement of required services as might be needed;
·
Identify strategic programme opportunities; broaden the scope of
work; and develop further programmes which includes UN joint programming on
specific gender equality and women’s empowerment issues;
·
Identify strategic programme opportunities which include better
implementation of CEDAW, programmes on safe migration, anti-trafficking, gender
and HIV/AIDS, gender responsive budgeting, economical security and other
emerging issues such as gender and trade.
·
Monitor trends and issues affecting women in Bangladesh for a
strategic response to opportunities and challenges; particularly in UN Women's
core focus areas in Bangladesh in line with UN Women’s Strategic Plan including
the Bangladesh Office Strategy 2011-2015.
2.
Donor
Relations and Resource Mobilization
·
Lead UN Women’s efforts to ensure ongoing and substantive
communications with current and potential donors to gender equality initiatives
resulting in strengthened donor confidence in UN WOMEN and resources;
·
Identify and build partnerships and mobilize resources for
programme implementation including new programme development to respond to the
evolving situation and critical areas of concern;
·
Lead negotiations on cost-sharing agreements with donors;
·
Ensure an open line of communication with donor representatives
based in Bangladesh, as well as ensuring that high quality reports for those
contributing to UN Women’s programmes are prepared and disseminated in a timely
fashion.
3.
Programme
Management
·
Provide close guidance and direction to ensure a strategic focus,
results orientation and effectiveness and efficiency in all aspects of UN
Women's programmes and operations in keeping with organizational policies for
development effectiveness;
·
Monitor programme implementation ensuring results orientation and
drawing from lessons learnt;
·
Provide guidance on programme management and monitor programme
implementation, resulting in strategic focus, results orientation and
effectiveness and efficiency in all aspects of UN Women’s programmes and
operations in keeping with organizational policies for development
effectiveness;
·
Lead ongoing programme activities in Bangladesh which include
migration, eliminating violence against women, HIV/AIDS, Institutional Capacity
building for the national machineries and engendering the national planning,
programming and program implementation processes;
·
Ensure that the evaluation framework and plans for distinct
programme elements are implemented and support ongoing learning and mid-course
corrections within UN Women and with partners responding to opportunities and
challenges;
·
Ensure documentation and dissemination of lessons learned in
promoting gender equality and dissemination of lessons learned in promoting
gender equality;
·
Promote a positive and accurate image of UN Women and its work in
the country through effective communication and media strategies.
4.
Operations
Management
·
Manage office operations including financial and human resources
management as well as organization of logistical support including procurement
of office space and equipment, as is necessary and in compliance with UN Women’s
policies, rules and regulations on financial and human resources;
·
Ensure effective management of programme resources using
appropriate financial information systems to closely monitor programming of
resources and to closely track project budgets and expenditures;
·
Provide clear direction and monitor performance of the teams
working on UN Women initiatives based on specific benchmarks;
·
Lead a process of increased team building and internal
communication so that synergy is maximized between programme areas. Manage human
resources in the office ensuring optimal performance and incorporating the
principles of a transparent, learning organization. Help in developing short
term as well as long term perspectives on staffing issues including succession
planning where relevant, increased possibilities of transition to national
staffing and staff capacity development;
·
Ensure oversight of financial resource management and
administrative processes in line with UNDP/UN Women policies;
·
Matrix Management by ensuring products and results, handovers and
consultations are prepared; effective and efficient management of partnerships
with government and NGO partners;
·
Providing strategic and data inputs into UN Women programme
activities, and the eventual gender component of the UN programme, including
budget preparation exercises and management of sub-allotment to the gender
program and UN Women;
·
Content Management by ensuring (1) prescriptive content on gender
equality is continuously updated and available through the UN web site; (2) Good
Practices are continuously identified, documented and made available to clients
and peers through the web site; and (3) appropriate and up-to-date information
and learning tools are available;
·
In co-operation with UNDSS and the UN Security Officer scan the
environment on a regular basis for assessing external and internal risks to
staff and implementation of programmes.
·
Provide written reports to SARO on a regular basis on the security
situation and consult on responses and preparedness to any emerging situation;
·
Establish and lead a good management system for staff security and
safety to promote inter-unit co-operation and UN Women’s effectiveness on the
ground;
·
Ensure that all staff is aware of safety and security procedures
and policies and that these are monitored for compliance with UNDSS rules and
regulations on safety and security.
5.
Advocacy to
maximize UN support towards the realization of national plans and priorities
This will
include programmatic support to the national efforts to further
gender equality and in particular to the SAARC gender info base, GRB and aid
effectiveness, Migration, CEDAW implementation, honouring Beijing and MDG
commitments, organizing events, facilitating the full engagement of NGOs with a
view to supporting strategic collective action between NGOs as well as improved
cooperation between NGOs and the government; facilitate linkages with UN WOMEN
regional programmes in South Asia.
6.
Support the
Resident Coordinator’s office to enhance gender mainstreaming, internal UN
coordination as well as country-coordination on gender, in the UN initiative
§
Work closely
with the Gender Adviser to the RC/UNCT to promote and sustain inter-agency
cooperation and harmonization of gender-related activities in the UN initiative.
This includes:
·
Ensuring that gender perspectives are well mainstreamed and
resourced under the UNDAF; that agencies that are part of the UNDAF , harmonize
activities and results on gender; that the results framework for the UNDAF has
gender perspectives at it’s core;
·
That gender equality and women’s empowerment perspectives are
mainstreamed into and well resourced under the joint programmes of different UN
Theme Groups; that there are synergies on gender equality interventions under
the UNDAF and Theme Groups;
·
Lead knowledge management on gender issues for UN organizations
participating in the Joint UN Programme, ensuring documentation and
dissemination of lessons learnt for UN coordination; draw on UN/UN WOMEN good
practices and experiences on gender equality, including from the One UN pilots;
·
Support RC in monitoring and reporting on UN work focused on
gender; ensure that UN policies and any new guidance on gender equality work are
widely disseminated and supported at country level;
·
Support the RC in identifying and negotiating agreements with
donors/funding mechanisms and
·
Actively participate in the UNCT/SMT and clusters.
Deliverables
-
Strategic and Results:
-
Permanent seat for UN Women in the UNCT as well as in different cluster /
pillar meeting of the under the UN Bangladesh UNDAF.
-
Finalized UN Women Country Strategy for 2012 – 2015.
-
MOU with the Government of Bangladesh for working on women’s empowerment and
gender equality.
-
Resource Mobilization:
-
At least three major breakthroughs (singed contract for funding guarantee)
with bilateral / multi-lateral or corporate donor agencies for three major
programs that will be implemented in Bangladesh to ensure financial
stability of the office.
-
Program Management:
-
At least 80% delivery of allocated funds (both core and noncore) through
excellent program management of all programs implemented in Bangladesh.
-
Timely annual Report submission to the sub regional office as per guidance.
-
Operations Management:
-
Excellent operations management including recruitment, procurement,
administration, systems management, etc. as per operational guidelines.
Qualifications
Advanced University degree in Development Studies, International
Affairs, Human Rights, Economic and Political Development, gender equality or a
related discipline. Strong familiarity with current theories and issues in
gender, development studies and human rights is an important prerequisite.
Essential knowledge and experience
·
At least 15 years of relevant professional experience with a strong
focus on women’s empowerment and gender equality at national, regional and
international levels, of which a minimum of 5 years experience is in the field
with an international organization;
·
Knowledge of and experience in working in the region with similar
context is desirable.;
·
Strong familiarity with UN inter-agency cooperation and the UN
reform;
·
Experience of working in conflict/post conflict is desirable;
·
Excellent written and spoken English.
Competencies Required
·
Substantive knowledge and understanding specifically on gender
equality issues as well as more broadly, human rights and development
cooperation, with an emphasis on the provision of coordinated support and
management of strategic programmes to advance gender equality
·
Substantive knowledge and experience with the development of fund
mobilization and management for the UN’s work in support of gender equality
·
Ability to identify research priorities to contribute to the
formulation of policies, procedures and guidelines, implementation strategies,
monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
·
Proven ability to advocate and provide policy advice
·
Successful track record in developing strong partnerships with
donors and mobilizing significant resources for development assistance
programmes
·
Has ability to lead strategic planning, change processes,
results-based management and reporting
·
Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of development programmes
Interested applicants should apply for the vacancy, using the “Personal
History Form - P 11” and the latest CV.
Application to this vacancy should be sent to
jobs.india@unwomen.org
Please insert SSA Announcement Number in the Subject of the E-mail.
Applications without the SSA Number or with the incorrect SSA Number will not be
accepted.
NOTE :
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
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