Country Programme Manager - Tajikistan

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 work in Tajikistan contributes to the implementation of UN Women Global Strategic Plan (SP) through the implementation of the MCO Annual Work Plan for Tajikistan and in direct alignment with the country’s national development priorities. In Tajikistan in 2017-2020 UN Women intends to support the state’s efforts to implement its gender equality policy by focusing on initiatives in the following thematic priorities: 1) women’s economic empowerment; 2) ending violence against women and improving access to public services, including civil registration services; and 3) increasing women’s participation in conflict prevention and engendering disaster risk reduction. UN Women leads the extended Gender Theme Group, which provides a platform for national and international stakeholders to coordinate gender-specific activities in Tajikistan and to ensure joint consolidated support to the state to enforce its international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment. More detailed information about UN Women’s activities in Tajikistan could be found at http://eca.unwomen.org/en/where-we-are/tajikistan

Reporting to ECA RO Deputy Regional Director, Country Programme Manager, Tajikistan PP is responsible for the strategic positioning of UN Women as a leader in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Tajikistan. The Country Programme Manager is responsible for leading and managing the Country portfolio and for translating UN Women’s Strategic Plan in line with regional and national priorities, into development initiatives and results by developing, implementing and managing programmes; and developing effective partnerships with government counterparts, UN system agencies and organizations, civil society organizations and with bilateral and non-traditional donors in order to promote inter-agency partnerships, support for UN report, mobilization of visibility and resources to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Country Programme Manager will be responsible for implementation of UN Women Strategic Note for Tajikistan and will also facilitation of implementation of the Regional Office Central Asia Roadmap in close engagement with other UN Women offices in the sub-region.

Duties and Responsibilities

Manage programme development and overall management and implementation of programme in Tajikistan

Develop the multi-year strategic document of UN Women Tajikistan Office (i.e. Strategic Note/Country programme document) and keep it updated/amended in line with the new emerging priorities and opportunities for partnerships on GEWE
Lead the preparation and monitoring of implementation of work plans of UN Women Tajikistan Office each year, including budget and results framework
Manage delivery of the day-to-day programme activities to ensure prompt and adequate delivery of results;
Ensure effective use of resources and compliance with UN Women rules, policies, and procedures as well as donor/fund requirements;
Manage the preparation for programme audits and implementation of its recommendations.
Identify areas that may require improvement and capture best practices/lessons learned, using corporate monitoring tools. Take action to improve areas of weakness.

Manage advisory/technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners

Support to identify GEWE priorities for programmatic support in line with the national policies and country’s international commitments
Oversee relationship building with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the country programme; respond to any potential problems;
Oversee and manage capacity building opportunities and initiatives of key institutions and mechanisms;
Provide timely advice on programmatic areas;
Provide partners with technical advice, training, and capacity development initiatives;
Support Government, civil society and UNCT in the UN Treaty Bodies’ reporting, including on CEDAW, UPR, etc.
Facilitate preparations for Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, review of BPfA progress implementation to track achievements and challenges on GEWE

Oversee the implementation of programme activities through monitoring and reporting

Oversee the establishment of an effective monitoring system for the delivery of programme results;
Finalize the preparation of quarterly and annual progress reports and donor reports and organize progress reviews as necessary;
Oversee the organization of field missions and follow-up on their findings.
Ensure quality control and timeliness of y all substantive technical reports, briefs and required documents in line with the Strategic Note and project implementation plans.
Ensure timely production and submission of all partial and/or progress reports by all members of the project team, contractors and project partners.
Conduct field visits to supervise, coordinate and monitor field level activities of portfolio.

Oversee people and financial resources of the programme

Manage programme presence’s budget and operations;
Ensure all financial reports are submitted on time and in accordance with UN Women procedures and rules.;
Supervise and coach programme and operations staff and manage performance;
Ensure programme team is well-staffed and promote its work-life balance.
Identify lessons learned from resource and staff management to ensure effective change management as required in adapting the programme and the office to meet changed circumstances.

Oversee inter-agency and partner coordination

Participate in country level Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA)/United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) processes and similar exercises related to the Resident Coordinator system and UNCT’s planning processes;
Provide leadership and guidance to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in supporting enhanced response to national partners in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment;
Oversee the writing of progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences in support of UN women inter-agency coordination role;
Provide coordination support to UN Agencies, development partners, CSOs and national authorities to promote gender equality and women empowerment activities in Tajikistan;
Identify and inform the ECA RO of joint programming opportunities and participate in the development of UN joint programmes
Ensure that UN Women is strategically placed within UN planning processes, joint programmes and other inter-agency initiatives.
Facilitate inter-agency coordination related activities. Chair the Gender Theme Group and facilitate gender mainstreaming in the UN Country Team’s work. Play the role of GTG secretariat.

Oversee partnership building and resource mobilization strategies

Establish and maintain partnerships with other UN agencies, governments, donors, civil society organizations, public sector and stakeholders
Support engagement of partners into the Generation Equality and other multistakeholder platforms to strengthen their commitments to GEWE results and support networking and knowledge sharing
Monitor and map opportunities for fundraising to support the programme presence’s programmatic work;
Keep relations with the international development partners and IFIs for possible joint work on GEWE and resource mobilization
Lead UN Women engagement with civil society at the country level and support platforms for their mobilization and networking for GEWE results;
Conceptualize, design, lead and implement resource mobilization strategy and activities for fund raising for new projects in coordination with the ECA RO;
Analyze and research of information on donors, determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities; prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost-sharing, and draft project proposals for funding

Oversee knowledge building and sharing and communications and advocacy

Oversee the development of knowledge management strategy and methodologies;
Identify lessons learned and areas of emphasis to guide programme improvements and future strategic development planning;
Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the programme and contribute to their global dissemination;
Introduce innovation and best practices to enhance programme performance;
Oversee capacity building training activities to enhance skills and knowledge in results based management; results based reporting and budgeting, and systematic quality assurance;
Plan and oversee the implementation of advocacy and awareness campaigns and fund raising events, as required;
Facilitate the maintenance of advocacy networks at national level and linkages to international networks related to the sectorial/thematic areas assigned;
Proactively and substantively support and implement relevant, high-impact advocacy activities and campaigns with key partners, including civil society advisory mechanisms for UN Women in Tajikistan.

Key Performance Indicators:

Timely and quality programme strategies and activities
Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget and workplans
Partners and other stakeholder provide positive feedback on advisory and technical services
Timely and quality of reports
Quality monitoring and reporting
Quality knowledge products
Increased awareness of UN Women’s work in Tajikistan

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 programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them

Excellent knowledge of Results Based Management in project/programme design, planning, implementation, monitoring/reporting and evaluation.
Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
Excellent knowledge of gender equality and women's empowerment
Strong knowledge of country and/or region
Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation to drive results
Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising
Proven ability in managing and empowering teams to work effectively together in reaching results.
Demonstrated political acumen and technical capacity in representing the organization effectively in national and international fora to advocate and to promote organizational priorities, initiatives and a better understanding of the organizational strategic agenda.
Ability to establish and maintain broad strategic networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies.
Ability to go beyond established procedures and practices, introduce new approaches and strategic innovations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/ women’s studies, international development, or a related field is required

Experience:

At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national and/or international level in design, planning and implementation of development projects and programmes;
Experience in the in the field of gender equality, women’s empowerment and human rights of women in the development field at the country, regional or/and international level related to project/programmes-related and/or policy/normative-related work;
Experience in supervising staff member(s) with and managing team with various background;
At least 3 years of experience in resource mobilization and donor relations

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English, Russian and Tajik is required.
Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset