UN Women: Regional Programme Officer on Ending Violence against Women, Bangkok, Thailand, International Consultant

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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In accordance with the UN Women Strategic Plan, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) works to advance social, economic, and political rights of women and girls, including the right to live free of all forms of violence. Ending violence against women is a priority area in UN Women’s global and regional strategic plan.

Assignment Background:

Violence against women (VAW) is one of the most widespread violations of human rights worldwide, globally affecting around one in three women in her lifetime. Regional evidence suggests that a similar rate applies in the Asia-Pacific region, with wide ranging differences in specific contexts and populations. VAW is a human rights violation resulting in immediate and long-term physical, sexual, economic, and mental health consequences for the survivors. The impacts of VAW go beyond survivors, affecting families, communities, and countries. However, research suggests that VAW is preventable. Elimination of VAW requires a holistic approach focusing on both response to and prevention of VAW at different levels, including individual, community, institutional, societal and governmental levels.

The work of the Ending Violence against Women (EVAW) Section within UN Women’s ROAP maintains a comprehensive approach to ending violence against women. This includes transformative approaches to building environments and institutions that do not accept violence, that support gender equality, and that hold perpetrators of violence accountable. The approaches of the EVAW Section focus on evidence- and practice-based knowledge generation and dissemination, informing legislation and policies, prevention and social norms change, ensuring quality essential services for survivors, creating safe public spaces in different settings and supporting women’s rights organisations and movements to end violence against women.

UN Women has partnered with the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to co-design the Southeast Asia Gender-based Violence Prevention Platform (the ‘Prevention Platform’). To support the aims of the Prevention Platform, UN Women and UNFPA are implementing a UN Joint Programme on Prevention of GBV in Southeast Asia (the ‘Joint Programme’), with UN Women as the Convening Agent.

Duties, responsibilities, and key deliverables

The purpose of this assignment is to provide substantive programme support to the implementation, coordination, monitoring and reporting, knowledge management, and partnership engagement related to the UN Joint Programme on GBV Prevention and other regional EVAW initiatives in Asia and the Pacific. Based in the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (in Bangkok, Thailand), the Regional Programme Officer will work under the supervision and guidance of the Regional Coordination Specialist on GBV Prevention and in close coordination with UN Women EVAW team at ROAP and country offices, as well as with UNFPA, and the Prevention Platform team.

1. Programme Implementation and Coordination

• Support implementation of the Joint Programme and related regional GBV prevention initiatives in line with approved workplans, results frameworks, and donor agreements, and UN Women policies;
• Support coordination with UNFPA, UN agencies, UN Women country offices, implementing partners, and regional stakeholders to facilitate joint implementation of activities;
• Support preparation, documentation, and follow-up of Joint Programme governance and coordination mechanisms.
• Contribute to planning and organization of regional and sub-regional meetings, consultations, learning exchanges, and events related to GBV prevention.

2. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting

• Support results-based monitoring of programme implementation, including tracking progress against indicators, outputs, and outcomes;
• Compile, consolidate, review and analyse narrative and quantitative inputs from country offices and partners for quarterly, annual, and donor reports;
• Draft and edit substantive sections of narrative progress reports, results summaries, briefing notes, and presentations for internal and external audiences;
• Support documentation of results, lessons learned, challenges, and promising practices emerging from programme implementation.

3. Knowledge Management, Evidence, and Learning

• Support development, review, and quality assurance of knowledge products related to GBV prevention, including briefs, guidance notes, concept notes, learning products, and research or evaluation reports;
• Support coordination and dissemination of evidence and learning activities, including webinars, online dialogues, regional learning events, and cross-country exchanges;
• Support systematic documentation and knowledge management in accordance with UN Women guidelines, including documentation, archiving, and accessibility of key programme outputs and learning products.

4. Partnerships and Advocacy Support

• Support engagement with UN entities, regional mechanisms, civil society organizations, research institutions, and other partners involved in GBV prevention;
• Contribute to preparation and review of advocacy, communications, and visibility materials, including briefs, concept notes, donor briefs, programme development materials, presentations, talking points, and web-based content;
• Support documentation and reporting on advocacy and communications results, including outreach and engagement metrics.

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

Expected Outputs and Timeline

Monthly progress reports are to be submitted, describing work completed and listing any outputs finalized during that month related to tasks outlined above. Payments will be made upon approval of the progress reports by the Regional Coordination Specialist on Gender-Based Violence Prevention.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

The Regional Programme Officer (consultant) is office-based at Bangkok, Thailand. The consultant is expected to work part-time, at 80%, (4/5 days per week).

If the selected candidate is not based at the duty station, UN Women will cover the cost of the most economical economy-class airfare for travel to the duty station at the start of the assignment and return travel to the consultant's home country upon completion of the assignment. Reimbursement will be made based on the actual cost of the air ticket, supported by the invoice submitted by the consultant, and shall not exceed the airfare estimate established by UN Women’s authorized travel provider.

As part of the assignment, official travel may be required. Travel will be managed following UN Women travel policy.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Teamwork and 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.

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

Functional Competencies:

• Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization.
• Strong knowledge of Inter-agency processes and engagement with civil society related to ending violence against women in the context of Asia and the Pacific region.
• Excellent drafting, editing and presentation skills.
• Strong planning and organizing skills.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Technological awareness and ability to leverage information technology for optimal performance.
• Strong capacity development experience with diverse organizations, teams and individuals.
• Demonstrated skills in organizing large inter-agency/inter organization meetings, preparing reports, keeping records, follow-up etc.;
• Strong skills in data research and statistical analysis, as well as demonstrated knowledge in qualitative and quantitative monitoring;

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s Degree in the field of social work, social science, public health, international development, international law, gender studies, or other related areas.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional experience in the area of programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting and implementation on ending violence against women and girls or gender-based violence.
• Experience working in the field of violence against women (VAW)/gender-based violence (GBV) in the development and/or humanitarian setting in the Southeast Asia region is an advantage.
• Experience working in the field of prevention of VAW or GBV is an advantage.
• Experience working in international settings is an advantage.
• Experience with writing concept notes, donor reporting and maintaining partnerships is an asset.

Languages:

Fluency in English, and strong English writing communication skills are required.

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.