Background
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.
UN Women, under its flagship programme on ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment through Climate-Resilient Agriculture’ (hereafter CRA FP) and with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), is seeking a qualified Regional Policy Advisor to lead the initiative in East and Southern Africa, based in the UN Women Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya.
The flagship programme covers four priority outcome areas, which will require action from a coalition of partners to achieve
- Increase women’s land tenure security and rights;
- Improve the productivity and reduce the time and labour burdens of women smallholder farmers by ensuring equal access to climate-resilient productive resources and information;
- Remove financing barriers to allow women farmers to invest in climate-resilient agriculture;
- Promote opportunities for women farmers to participate in green value chains and markets.
By addressing the gender gap in agriculture through informed, women-centered investments and interventions that remove structural barriers and promote equal access to land and other productive resources, the initiative will support women’s economic empowerment and overall sustainable development.
Reporting to the Regional Director, East and Southern Africa, the Regional Policy Advisor will support programme development and knowledge management across the CRA FP country programmes in the region. The Policy Advisor will oversee the launch of country programmes and will thereafter support the country programme coordinators. The position involves high-level advocacy and partnership building, as well as policy and technical support and advisory functions. The Regional Policy Advisor will lead in developing strategies and methodologies towards programme outcomes; identify opportunities for engagement with partners and for resource mobilization; keep abreast of policy research and development practice in gender and climate-resilient agriculture; ensure knowledge, learning and innovation in programmatic areas, including through documentation and contributing to a community of practice on gender and climate-resilient agriculture; handle communications within the region and with the counterpart Regional Policy Advisor in the UN Women Regional Office in Dakar and UN Women headquarters; and represent the programme externally.
Duties and Responsibilities
Manage the development of country programmes under the CRA FP with UN Women country offices and country programme coordinators
- Manage the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for the delivery of technical assistance, policy advocacy and programme support to programme coordinators in the region;
- Manage the development of country project documents under the CRA FP;
- Oversee the contextualization/ localization of global programme documents, strategies, and knowledge products, and ensure proper monitoring and reporting of the CRA FP in the region.
Lead the provision of capacity-building support to country programme coordinators
- Lead programme coordinators in developing and strengthening policies, projects/ programmes and modalities; and ensuring proper monitoring;
- Manage the identification of knowledge and implementation gaps and possible solutions;
- Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives;
- Lead the provision of technical policy advice to programme coordinators.
Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners
- Build and strengthen strategic partnerships to achieve CRA FP outcomes;
- Build and strengthen close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting CRA FP efforts;
- Develop and execute resource mobilization strategies.
Lead the design of strategies to achieve CRA FP outcomes in the region and the development of relevant knowledge products
- Lead the provision of policy recommendations and guidance for strategic planning and positioning for the CRA FP;
- Lead and provide advice to regional/ national bodies; represent UN Women in interagency groups that influence national policies related to CRA FP outcomes;
- Contribute substantively and lead existing thematic and gender equality networks to better connect UN Women and partners;
- Lead the research, development, and presentation of analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, correspondence in the CRA FP outcome areas;
- Identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities.
Manage knowledge building and sharing for the CRA FP
- Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with programme coordinators;
- Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among programme coordinators;
- Manage and monitor the regional knowledge platform and innovative approaches in Climate-Resilient Agriculture.
Key Performance Indicators
- Timely and quality technical advice and support
- Leadership in area of expertise in the region
- Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner
- Regular communication and information flow with other UN Women Policy Advisors
- Quality strategic documents delivered in a timely manner
- Timely and quality knowledge products
- Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders
- UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise
- Increase in resources mobilized
Competencies
Core values
- 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.
- Respect for 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 promote ethics and integrity by creating organizational precedents
- Organizational Awareness: Build support for the organization and ensure political acumen
- Development and Innovation: Support staff competence development, and contribute to an environment of creativity and innovation
- Work in teams: Build and promote effective 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.
- Communication and Information Sharing: Create and promote an environment for open and 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: Share knowledge across the organization and build a culture of knowledge sharing and learning
- Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Ensure fair and transparent decision making processes and manage risk
Functional Competencies
- Outstanding knowledge of the CRA FP outcome areas
- Strong knowledge of the region
- Knowledge of the UN system
- Excellent networking skills
- Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising
- Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research
- Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
- Excellent analytical and problem solving skills
- Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings
- Excellent knowledge of programme development, implementation, results based management and reporting
Required Skills and Experience
Education
- Master’s degree in a relevant discipline, such as economics or agricultural economics; international development, gender, or environmental studies;; rural sociology, geography, anthropology or agronomy is required.
- PhD is an asset.
Experience
- At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for women’s economic empowerment in the region;
- Experience working on climate resilience agriculture and understanding of its relation to women’s economic empowerment and gender equality;
- Substantial experience in policy analysis, and strategic planning;
- Demonstrated experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field;
- Experience working with the UN system is an asset.
Language
- Fluency in English is required;
- Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.
Application
- 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.
- Previous applicants will be reconsidered and do not have to resubmit new application.
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.
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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.
More Information
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