National Feminist Economist/Gender and Economics Policy Specialist

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.

Women in West and Central Africa represent the most deprived group of the population in spite of their paramount social and economic role. They have limited access to, and control over critical resources, as a result of social, cultural and economic norms. UN Women works with government partners and regional and national stakeholders to improve women’s economic participation with a focus on (i) women’s access to the green economy; (ii) Promoting and strengthening women entrepreneurship; and (ii) Enhancing women’s income security and social protection. UN Women advices governments and regional institutions to develop gender responsive economic policies and supports capacity building of multiple actors to advocate for, formulate, and implement gender-responsive economic policies.

The UN Women Liberia Country Office contributes to its global corporate mandate to make the vision of the sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life. Its main objective is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality which are key in sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development.  In this regard, its programming in the country is connected to four corporate priority areas: (1) Governance, women’s leadership and political participation; (2) enhancing women’s economic empowerment; (3) engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; (4) advancing women’s rights to live free from violence. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s joint work in advancing gender equality.

Reporting to the UN Women Deputy Country Representative, the national feminist economist works in close collaboration with the regional feminist economist in the UN Women’s Regional Office, UN Women’s program and operations teams in the Country office, implementing partners and in consultation with feminist economists appointed within other UN Women country offices. In particular, the economist is expected to perform the following functions.

Duties and Responsibilities

Develop gender-responsive programmes  in the Country Office:

Conduct research on new areas to promote gender responsive economic reforms to support GEWE in the country;

• Provide support in formulating strategies to scale up reform on key areas such as unpaid care, women’s participation in the green economy, women entrepreneurship and other relevant areas of economic policy to achieve GEWE in the country
• Contribute to the coordination and the implementation of flagship policy initiatives in the area of gender, women’s economic empowerment and  economics in the country

Manage the implementation and management of the gender, women’s economic empowerment and  economics programme

• Formulate the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
• Manage the technical implementation of the programme/project; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide guidance to personnel and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Organize Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings, as needed.

Provide expertise and technical assistance to partners

• Support in the provision of technical advice to Governments, civil society and national institutions to formulate, implement and monitor gender-responsive economic reform
• Provide support in the development of national strategies to integrate gender in key economic policies and reforms
• Support government and national partners to meet national, regional and international reporting obligations on gender and economic development

Provide capacity building support to Country Office and partners

• Provide substantive technical and policy support to country office and UN Country Teams in developing and strengthening programmes to support the implementation of GEWE global norms and standards;
• Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives, by identifying capacity-building needs and support of the country office through technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives, as needed
• Develop and deliver training modules, tools, and other capacity building activities and strategies on gender and economics targeting key national and local stakeholders (Ministries of Economy, Finance, Gender, MPs, local municipalities, civil society, women networks)
• Design and deliver capacity building activities for UN Women staff, Government counterparts, and civil society partners on key economic reforms to advance the GEWE agenda in the country

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, national/local actors and development partners

• Support in building and maintaining alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of gender responsive economic policy at the national level
• Implement advocacy strategies to influence agenda of key national and local institutions to promote gender responsive economic policy.

Oversee knowledge building and sharing for Gender responsive economic

• Actively participate in the WEE Community of practice to disseminate national lessons learnt and good practices
• Coordinate the production of knowledge, and communications products in the areas of gender and economics at the national level

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Strategic thinking
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement

Functional Competencies

• Excellent knowledge of gender and economic policy and women’s economic
• Ability to design and deliver training and other capacity building strategies in the area of gender and economics to a variety of audiences
• Strong drafting skills and ability to produce a variety of knowledge products for different audiences and purposes
• Experience using and applying macroeconomic technical tools.
• Ability to produce impactful communications materials and knowledge products 
• Strong knowledge of the region
• Excellent networking skills
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results based management and reporting

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, development economics, feminist economics or any other relevant field of economics or public policy.
• 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 international experience and record of accomplishment in international development promoting policy reform in the area of gender and economics, including macroeconomic policy and women’s economic empowerment policies.
• Proven experience with use of gender analysis of the economy, quantitative and qualitative is required
• Experience in programme, policy analysis, and strategic planning is required;
• Previous professional experience in developing and emerging economies is required.
• Experience working in West and Central Africa is desirable.
• Experience working in the UN System is desirable.

Language requirements

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of French is desirable.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

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.