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.

Globally, UN Women focuses on six priority areas. These include increasing women’s leadership and participation in political spaces, ending violence against women, enhancing women’s economic empowerment, supporting women's participation in achieving and sustaining peace, making gender equality central to national planning and budgeting and advancing gender in intergovernmental processes.

To ensure that women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems, UN Women’s programmes on leadership and participation are designed to train women leaders to help build their capacities and promote women's leadership at all levels of decision-making. It advocates for legislative, policy, budgetary, and constitutional reforms to end discriminatory laws that prevent women from meaningfully participating in all spheres of life. To ensure that women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, UN Women promotes women’s ability to secure decent jobs, accumulate assets, and influence institutions and public policies determining growth and development. To ensure that women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence, UN Women focuses on women's economic empowerment, early education, respectful relationships, and working with men and boys, recognizing that prevention is still the most cost-effective, long-term way to stop violence.

Reporting to the Head of Office, Strategic Partnerships and Coordination Analyst will provide support to the Sri Lanka office colleagues in strategic programme planning, inter-agency coordination, resource mobilization and partnership building, as well as advocacy and communication. 

Key Functions and Accountabilities 

1.Provide support in strategic planning for the Sri Lanka Office

Provide substantive inputs on the formulation of concept notes for UN Women's intervention areas; as well as the office’s strategic note; Provide inputs to the development of country programming processes and products, including the including the annual workplan, strategic note, and programme/ project documents, the preparation of United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and other UN system joint programming documents; Follow up on required action/outstanding issues and report on outcome/ result. Alert the Head of Office on critical issues to be addressed.

2.Provide technical support to the Sri Lanka Office on inter-agency coordination 

Provide technical support to joint inter-agency UN planning processes and similar exercises;  Prepare briefing materials for the Sri Lanka Office on issues to be discussed in the UN and other events and meetings; Prepare background materials and analysis for the Resident Coordinator (RC) and the UN Country Team (UNCT) on the gender dynamics and opportunities to support inclusive engagement of women in the development assistance provided by the UNCT; Provide technical support to UNCT in monitoring and reporting and prepare analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences, as necessary.

3.Provide technical support to the development of strategic partnerships and resource mobilization efforts

Provide support in managing activities and other promotional events to engage bilateral and multilateral institutions/ donors, private sector and civil society to expand and/or sustain interest and resources for UN Women programmes and joint UN system programmes; Prepare background documents and analysis for the Head of Office to build and implement strategic partnerships to increase outreach on UN Women’s work in country; Provide support to development partners and national counterparts on implementation of key UN frameworks and conventions on gender equality; Provide network and capacity development to partner Civil Society Organizations and other stakeholders, as necessary.

4.Provide advocacy and communication support to the Sri Lanka Office

Assist the Communications Officer to update the Sri Lanka Office Annual Communication Strategy, develop content and ensure proper management/ monitoring of the Sri Lanka Office website and social media channels; Assist the Communications Officer with coordinating and implementing advocacy campaigns on issues related to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE), with a specific focus on International Women’s Day, and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence;  Participate in and contribute to policy dialogues around gender equality and the empowerment of women, as necessary.

5.Facilitate knowledge building and sharing

Provide support to the development and dissemination of good practices and lessons learned; ensure incorporation into programme planning; Contribute to capacity building exercises, as necessary.

6.The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Key Performance Indicators

Quality and timeliness of UN coordination-related support provided to UN Women Sri Lanka Office. Quality inputs to planning processes and reports, and quality support to the Head of Office Increased awareness of UN Women’s work in GEWE among partners and donors Quality advocacy products which result in increased resources and a strong investment case for UN Women Quality monitoring and reporting mechanism to ensure quality of data and limit redundancy in efforts Positive feedback from UN Women partners, including government and donors on their working relationship with UN Women, based on evaluations and assessments; 

Competencies:

Core Values:

Integrity; Professionalism; Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

Good knowledge of gender equity and women’s empowerment issues Good knowledge of UN system and understanding of inter-agency coordination processes Good knowledge of results-based programme planning and management Ability to provide support new concept in development work. Ability to promote and monitor inclusion of gender-specific objectives, indicators, targets and activities in the UN agencies programmes Ability to maintain an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues; Ability to maintain databases on required information for the Sri Lanka office coordination processes (donor/partners information, mobilized resources, SP/SN indicators, etc.);

Recruitment Qualifications

Education and certification:

Master's degree (or equivalent) in international development, public administration, public policy, or other relevant social science field 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 working with inter-agency coordination and strategic programme planning processes is required.  Experience in the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of programmes is required. Experience working in gender equality and women’s rights at the international level is desirable. Experience working in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programs is desirable. Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required. Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English and local Languages (Sinhala/Tamil) is required. Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Statements :

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

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