Policy Specialist, Peace and Security – Participation

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’s Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) provides global support to UN Women offices at Headquarters and in all field locations to deliver results in support of UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2018-2021 and internationally agreed goals on gender equality and women’s empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Division provides intellectual and strategic leadership on normative support and the delivery of integrated policy and program advice, including through policy analysis and gender mainstreaming. The Division leverages innovation, knowledge management and cutting-edge technical expertise to support UN Women programmes and to build the capacity of partners to deliver results on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Reporting to the Deputy Chief for Peace and Security, the Policy Specialist, Peace and Security is responsible for leading the development of work within the area of the participation pillar of the women, peace and security agenda, including technical support to mediation processes, women’s leadership and mediation networks and inclusive peace processes. The Policy Specialist will act as an important channel between country and regional offices and global policy-related work and support engagement with the Security Council in particular on follow-up on the implementation of Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security.

The Policy Specialist will provide overall leadership, strategic guidance, coordination, management, quality assurance and technical oversight to UN Women's work the participation pillar of the Security Council's women, peace and security agenda; and directly support and monitor the implementation of relevant cross-regional components of the section’s global policy development and programming on women, peace and security involving various countries. These include components related to technical assistance, monitoring, knowledge­ sharing, advocacy and resource mobilization, and results-based reporting.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Policy development and coordination:

Substantively lead the global-level coordination, monitoring, and catalytic programming efforts to advance the participation pillar of the women, peace and security agenda;
Support UN Women Country Offices, civil society, and governmental partners to advance the participation pillar of the women, peace and security agenda, including through technical assistance, action planning, advocacy, and research;
Work closely with UN Women Regional Peace and Security Advisers to promote coherence in UN Women’s approaches, tools and approaches to promoting women’s participation in peace and security decision-making;
Conceptualize and execute action-oriented policy research on mediation and peace processes;
Assess implementation bottlenecks and gaps in advancing the women, peace and security agenda and take appropriate responses whether in terms of policy development and negotiation with relevant stakeholders, or pilot programming interventions;
Take a lead role in UN Women’s engagement in and support to networks of women leaders and mediators to advance gender equality and women, peace and security objectives worldwide.

2. Substantive support to intergovernmental processes:

Provide inputs in international forums to help shape development of global and regional policies, norms and standards and implementation strategies for participation, peace processes and mediation;
Produce studies, reports, background papers in accordance with mandates provided by relevant intergovernmental bodies, highlighting progress and challenges in critical areas and emerging issues as well as preparing options and recommendations for action;
Act as the focal point on regional organizations’ efforts to advance women, peace and security, particularly supporting UN Women’s role as the secretariat of the African Women’s Leaders Network;
Organize expert group meetings, panels and other interactive events on gender issues for intergovernmental processes;
Provide substantive support to intergovernmental bodies such as the Security Council, Peacebuilding Commission and UN Women Executive Board, preparing analytical summaries of debates, supporting negotiations and analyzing/compiling outcomes;
Targeted engagement with the Security Council to monitor the ongoing programme of work, track debates and outcomes, provide technical support, and provide linkages for information sharing between Council experts and UN Women country and regional offices, particularly on the participation pillar, mediation and peace processes.

3. Representation, partnerships and advocacy:

Represent UN-Women in international fora to encourage greater commitment to and collaboration on the implementation of gender equality policies in peace processes and mediation;
Strengthen partnerships with other UN entities and international policy-making forums to highlight and reinforce accountability mechanisms for the implementation of global policy commitments on women, peace and security, including SCRs 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009),1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019) and 2493 (2019); support inter-agency work and processes pertaining to gender, conflict prevention, peace processes and mediation within the UN system, when requested;
Contribute to the development of strategic approaches to policy dialogue, resource mobilization, partnerships, and outreach;
Establish and nurture relationship with academia, research institutes, civil society and experts on gender, peace and security to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking in UN work on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

4. Learning and knowledge management:

Contribute to the development of policy and knowledge, as appropriate and under the guidance of the Deputy Chief and Chief of the Section;
Ensure information flow between field and HQ on lessons learned, promising approaches, and good practice;
Provide feedback to UN-Women regional and country offices on case studies and other related knowledge products and publications as requested and needed;
Recruit, monitor and assess performance of consultants and other service providers hired to design and develop knowledge products related to the programme;
Contribute to the systematic collation of good practices and lessons learned;
Produce relevant knowledge products to meet UN-Women needs and standards of quality.

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
Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders
UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise
Contributions to resource mobilization
Timely and quality knowledge products

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

Possesses in-depth knowledge of the issues of women's rights and gender equality;
Familiarity with the UN system, in particular with UN-Women and its mandate;
Programme/project design and management skills;
Analytical thinking and research skills;
Effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners;
Demonstrated ability to work in an independent manner; ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks;
Excellent communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in law, conflict resolution, gender studies, development studies, political science, human rights, international relations or other social science fields 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.

Experience:

At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in women, peace and security, national planning for gender equality, conflict prevention, or peace-building, including relevant field experience in conflict and post-crisis settings;
Experience in women, peace and security programming and policy implementation
Experience in programme, policy analysis, and strategic planning;
Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and at country level;
Experience working on gender equality in a fragile setting for a minimum of two years strongly preferred;
Experience working with the UN and/or other international development organisation is an asset;
Experience in UN-inter-agency cooperation is an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required;
Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.