Back 2097 Gender Responsive Budgeting Programme Coordinator

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 maintains a large presence throughout Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, covering 12 countries, with programme presence in Kosovo*[1], Serbia, Tajikistan and North Macedonia; and country offices in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine.

Over the past years, through the technical and financial support UN Women have been carried out different initiatives in Western Balkans’ countries with the goal of strengthening democratic governance and advance women’s rights aiming at mainstreaming gender in policy planning and budgeting. As result, gender responsive budgeting has increasingly been recognized as important tool for advancing de facto gender equality, support the SDGs, the 2030 Agenda and other global goals as well as contribute to the achievements of the commitments of the Western Balkans under the Gender Action Plan in the EU External Relations 2016-2020.

In order to deepen the work previously done, initiate new initiatives and ensure sustainability of the interventions on GRB, UN Women initiated a regional programme with participation of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Serbia and North Macedonia “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2024). The main programme approach will be transformative financing as an enabler factor for policy and financing actions to accelerate implementation of existing national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the in Western Balkans.

The programme is structured around two outcomes:

• By 2024, national and local governments apply gender responsive budgeting to integrate gender equality principles in public financing processes;
• By 2024 public oversight bodies[2] CSOs, women including the disadvantaged, demand transparency and accountability of public policies and budgets to gender equality processes.

In Serbia, the programme will support the Ministry of Finance, line ministries and National GEM to have knowledge and evidences to make informed budgetary allocation towards gender equality in line with national, international commitments and post recovery of COVID19. Furthermore, the focus will be on developing capacities of local governments to apply GRB tools in their plans and budget including post recovery of COVID19.

At central level, the programme will apply strategies focused on mainstreaming gender in specific sectors and will support the public finance management systems and/or reforms to promote more inclusive and transparent governance, accountable to the needs and interests of women and men, including the most excluded and most left behind.

At local level, the programme interventions will focus on policies that directly influence the improvement of the life of women and men from the most excluded groups, particularly by upscaling proven approaches and good practices identified in previous GRB interventions.

Work on the increased oversight and accountability on budget allocation and expenditure of the government including support to both oversight bodies including parliament is another area of intervention spelled out in the programme.

The Programme Coordinator will work under the direct supervision of the Head of Serbia UN Women Programme Presence and GRB Regional Programme Specialist. She/he is responsible for coordinating the relationships with national partners and stakeholders, programme monitoring and reporting, finances and personnel of the portfolio.

[1] References to Kosovo* shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).

[2] Parliament, Ombudsperson, Court of Audit, Commissioner for Protection Against Discrimination

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Coordinate the Gender Responsive Budgeting Programme/Portfolios

• Coordinate the Programme work plan development and implementation according to the programme document;
• Gather inputs and coordinate the preparation of work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to the Programme Advisory Board and UN Women;
• Establish systems for programme planning, implementation, and monitoring, in collaboration with partners;
• Record and maintain documents on relevant Programme activities, issues, and risks.

2. Guide coordination with national partners and other stakeholders

• Coordinate relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the Gender Responsive Budgeting Programme, raise potential problems and suggest solutions;
• Identify capacity building needs and support partners through technical assistance, mentoring, training, and capacity development initiatives, as needed.

3. Coordinate the monitoring and reporting on the Gender Responsive Budgeting Programme

• Gather and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting on programme from the planning to the evaluation stages;
• Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds; conduct regular monitoring visits, as required;
• Draft and provide inputs to annual and quarterly reports; coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide inputs from Gender Responsive Budgeting Programme activities and results to Programme Presence/Regional Office reporting.

4. Manage people and finances of the Gender Responsive Budgeting programme

• Coordinate development and preparation of financial resources of the programme including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting;
• Monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to participating partners;
• Liaison with the Finance Assistant and the Communication Officer.

5. Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Provide inputs to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies.

6. Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication

• Document the programme implementation process and products;
• Contribute to the exchange of information and provide inputs to the development of knowledge products internally and externally of the programme;
• Coordinate the organization of major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops, and knowledge products.

Key performance indicators:

• Timely and quality implementation of Programme activities against set workplans, timelines, and budgets;
• Quality and timely reporting;
• Strong relations with partners and stakeholders;
• Regular and timely monitoring of activities; 
• Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated.

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

• Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Good budget and finance skills;
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings and recommendations;
• Good analytical skills;
• Knowledge of UN programme management systems.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences, or other related areas is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions with national partners, preferably related to thematic area;
• Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating development programmes and projects is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English, and Serbian is required;
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

Application Procedure:

The following are steps for on-line application:

• Submit the application through the UNDP Serbia Jobs website: http://www.rs.undp.org/content/serbia/en/home/jobs.html 
• Upload completed and signed P11 form in the required resume field. The P11 form can be downloaded from: http://www.undp.org.rs/download/P11_SC_SSA.doc .

• Special consideration 

  As this position is under Service Contract modality, only applications of applicants with Serbian nationality or valid working permit in Serbia will be considered for the vacancy.

  Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise and a competency based interview.

Special consideration 

As this position is under Service Contract modality, only applications of applicants with Serbian nationality or valid working permit in Serbia will be considered for the vacancy.

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise and a competency based interview.