Capacity Development and Knowledge

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.

The Policy Division develops and implements the UN Women program of work on analysis, research, and knowledge management that provides the evidence base and global policy compass to guide UN Women’s work at the country and regional level, the intergovernmental process, and the UN system on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It identifies emerging issues and trends and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving agreed goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice.

Women’s Political Participation (WPP) is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the role of women’s leadership in strong and stable democratic processes and inclusive societies. It is covered under the Entity’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 Impact Area 1 – Participation and Governance in Public Life: “Women and girls participate in leadership and decision making and benefit from gender responsive governance”; and across several Systemic Outcomes of the Strategic Plan, mainly: Outcome 1 on normative frameworks and policies, Outcome 5 on Voice Leadership and Agency; and Outcome 7 on UN coordination. Key areas of work include, inter alia: supporting legal and policy reforms to promote women’s electoral participation; strengthening the capacities of women to engage in political life; supporting parliamentary bodies to deliver gender equality reforms; monitoring and preventing violence against women in politics; and improving data and statistics on women’s representation in local government (SDG indicator 5.5.1b). UN Women works with various partners and stakeholders nationally, regionally, and globally to ensure more women of all ages fully participate, lead, and engage in political institutions.

The Women’s Political Participation Team in HQ provides integrated policy advice and comparative knowledge technical assistance on women’s political participation at global, regional, and country levels. UN Women’s corporate commitment to knowledge management is essential to enhancing the effectiveness of the organization’s interventions, especially at the country and regional level, and improving global collaboration across the UN system. Research and knowledge production is a cross-cutting component of UN Women’s corporate strategy on WPP to inform capacity building and advocacy initiatives implemented to promote key national stakeholders’ action to translate normative commitments into national and local legal and policy frameworks that advance WPP.

Under the guidance and supervision of the Global Policy Advisor on Political Participation, the Capacity Development and Knowledge Management Specialist on Women’s Political Participation will: implement the global knowledge management strategy, including support capacity development initiatives on UN Women’s thematic priority topics under WPP, oversee knowledge management, including the WPP global COP and linkages with regional COPs,  provide team representation, and support to relevant corporate, interagency, and intergovernmental processes.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Oversee the implementation of the Knowledge Management strategy on women’s political participation.
2. Manage, implement, and coordinate global knowledge management initiatives on women’s political participation, including managing a community of practice.
3. Oversee technical guidance to and liaise with internal and external stakeholders on knowledge management related to women’s political participation.
4. Develop and implement capacity development initiatives on women’s political participation.
5. Provide technical assistance to regional and country offices upon request on various WPP-related capacity-development needs:
6. Support UN Women corporate processes and interagency efforts upon request:
7. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Competencies:

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies

• Excellent knowledge of Women’s Political Participation
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research.
• Ability to link Knowledge Management to key processes, including programming, results-based management, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation.
• Ability to apply knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of UN Women.
• In-depth substantive knowledge of Knowledge Management and development policy issues.
• Ability to manage for results: translate strategy into achievable plans with established priorities, monitor them, making periodic adjustments as required.
• Ability to build strong relationships with and focus on results for clients and partners. Responds positively to feedback.
• Outstanding networking, team building, organizational, and communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience:

Education and certification:

• A master’s degree in international development, Gender Studies, Political Science, Management, or another relevant field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted instead of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of experience in managing projects and building capacity for women’s political participation for diverse groups.
• Experience designing and implementing women’s political participation programs is required.
• Experience drafting and coordinating the production of knowledge products on women’s political participation is required.
• Experience working in the field of Knowledge Management; familiarity with different Knowledge Management approaches, including the development of practice communities and the use of ICT/web-based systems (familiarity with SharePoint an asset) is required.
• Experience in program analysis, evaluation, and results-based management is an asset that is required.
• Experience designing and delivering training and workshops is desirable.
• Working experience in a governmental, multilateral, or civil society organization in a developed or developing country is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of French and/or another official UN language is desirable (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. 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.

Additional Information:

LOCATION: New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

TYPE OF CONTRACT: FTA International

STARTING DATE: 01-Apr-2024

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 10-Jan-24 (Midnight New York, USA)

POST LEVEL: P-4

LANGUAGES REQUIRED: English