Head of the Central Asia Liaison Office

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.

In a frame of implementation of its regional Strategic Note (SN) for 2022-2025, UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) intends to deepen sub-regional approaches through the development and implementation of tailored sub-regional strategies/roadmaps. This Roadmap for the Central Asia sub-region, covering all five countries namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, was developed through analyses related to progress and perspectives for gender equality and women’s empowerment and other related issues in Central Asia and the broader region, including national strategies and actions plans, strategic documents of UN Women and UN system as well as other regional partners. It also builds on the results of extensive multi-stakeholder consultation including with UN Women staff, other UN agencies, both in-country as well as on regional level, and all key partners and collaborators of UN Women in Central Asia. UN Women considers: i) the presence of genuine sub-region-specific issues (such as trade, infrastructure, transboundary water, cross-border issues, and climate change) with direct and indirect implications for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE); ii) on-going sub-regional cooperation, including  specific sub-regional process and institutions (in Central Asia, especially SPECA, CAREC, UN RCCA, IFAS, and several others), and , given similar issues and drivers; iii) conducive environment and potential for peer learning and knowledge transfer, including using a ‘peer pressure’ to advance various agendas.

To support the implementation of the Roadmap, ECARO intends to hire a Head of the Central Asia Liaison Office (P5) who will also serve as a Representative to Kazakhstan and based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to liaise on behalf of the UN Women Regional Office with all Central Asia countries.  The Head of the Liaison Office will strategically focus on the normative and coordination aspects of UN Women’s mandate, fostering knowledge exchange and partnership development in GEWE technical policy advice, advocacy, and strategic negotiations with sub-regional stakeholders for resource mobilization and sub-regional programme development as relevant.

The scope and depth of work for the Head of the Liaison Office require a mastery of gender and developmental issues, extensive experience in political, analysis and advocacy work, management expertise, skills in formulation of strategic results-oriented programmes that align with UN Women strategic vision and mandate, and the capacity to engage in political dialogue and negotiations with member states, donors, and other strategic partners. The work requires regular interaction with representatives of governments, National Women’s Machineries, international development institutions in the sub-region, CSOs, private companies as well as UN Women Country Offices, Programme Presence in Central Asia, UN regional/sub-regional offices based in Almaty and UN agencies in respective countries.

Under the overall direction of the UN Women ECA Regional Director and in close collaboration with ECARO and HQ programme/policy staff, the Head of the Liaison Office will provide guidance, technical and representational support to UN Women teams in Central Asia, as well as ensure coverage and engagement with UNCTs and national partners where UN Women is non-resident.

1. Provide advisory and technical support for implementation of UN Women ECA Roadmap for Central Asia:

• Analyze political, economic, and social dynamics and emerging trends for the sub-region, including specific trends related to progress and challenges regarding gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Identify existing, emerging, and potential gaps that hinder gender equality and women’s empowerment in the sub-region, especially those that could be effectively addressed on the sub-regional level;
• Identify emerging opportunities and entry points to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, especially on the sub-regional level, and propose an appropriate positioning of UN Women to leverage these opportunities;
• Identify key strategic partnerships that UN Women should explore/initiate or scale up as well as partners that could provide resources for exploring the new opportunities and scaling gender equality and women’s empowerment on the sub-regional level;
• Support UN Women teams in Central Asia to design and implement UN Women’s programming in line with sub-regional approaches, in close alignment and collaboration with sub-regional initiatives involving governments, civil society, donors, UN system partners and other development stakeholders and partners;
• Guide the UN Women Regional Director on strategic areas for GEWE related programmatic work and contribution for the further development of UN Women’s engagement in Central Asia;
• Provide specialized technical and strategic support in managing all aspects of the sub-regional programme design and related activities ensuring compliance and accountability in programme monitoring, reporting and evaluation;
• Develop thematic sub-regional initiatives, in line with UN Women’s Strategic Plan, policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/materials for use in the development and presentation of innovative and coherent policy and programmatic positions;
• Support UN Women ECA RO to finalize its strategy/approach for the modality of engagement in Central Asia sub-regional and country specific modality as a follow-up to the functional review’s findings.
• Undertake an annual review of the roadmap implementation and ensure further results-based planning and reporting.

2. Represent UN Women in the subregional interstate and international, including UN inter-agency specific, coordination mechanisms and processes.

• Represent UN Women Kazakhstan in high-level processes, including upon request of the Government of Kazakhstan, the National Women’s Machinery, the Parliament, other state bodies and mechanisms, and UNCT Kazakhstan;
• Support UN Women country teams in Central Asia, as requested, to provide thought leadership and guidance to the United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs), UNSDCF Results Groups, GTGs and other thematic groups in supporting an enhanced sub-regional response to national partners in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment in Central Asia, in line with the normative agenda;
• Provide thought leadership and support for mobilization and networking of civil society and other relevant stakeholders, leveraging already established sub-regional platforms and networks (Women’s Dialogue of Central Asia, Central Asian Alliance to End GBV, ActForEqual Central Asia, AsiaFem and others) to promote gender equality and women empowerment activities in the sub-region;
• Ensure that UN Women is strategically placed with the UN planning processes, joint programs and other inter-agency initiatives at the sub-regional level;
• Lead regular briefing for the international development partners/donors on GEWE priorities and opportunities for joint work in Central Asia;
• Identify and support the development of UN joint programming, sub-regional opportunities, and programmes, including specifically on GEWE;
• Provide progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences in support of UN women inter-agency coordination role in Central Asia;
• Represent UN Women at conferences, events, strategic conferences, and fora in the region.

3. Create and maintain strategic partnerships and manage resource mobilization strategies.

• Support UN Women country teams to establish and maintain partnerships with other UN agencies, governments, donors, civil society organizations and stakeholders;
• Oversee relationship building with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the work of UN Women in the country, and respond to any potential problems;
• Build further cooperation with existing and new civil society platforms and networks in organizing joint efforts at the sub-regional and regional levels;
• Facilitate engagement of stakeholders in Central Asia into the global initiatives as Generation Equality and Action Coalitions; Compact on WPS-HA, etc.
• Lead the development of partnerships with private sector companies, foundations, and other business institutions in the region;
• Support UN Women country teams to conceptualize, design and implement resource mobilization strategies for country and sub-region-specific initiatives;
• Coordinate external relations and public outreach; establish and maintain relationships with governments, parliaments, CSOs, gender expert community and networks and think tanks working at the sub-regional level. 
• Plan and oversee the implementation of advocacy and awareness campaigns and fund-raising events, as required.

4. Facilitate knowledge development and dissemination, communications, and advocacy on GEWE sub-regional and national priorities.

• Support UN Women country teams to develop and facilitate a knowledge management strategy/plan, based on needs and priorities of partners in Central Asia.
• Facilitate the development and implementation of UN capacity building strategy on GEWE in Central Asia;
• Provide substantive technical advice and capacity building support to the partners;
• Support UN Women country teams to develop policies, products, and other technical documents as requested;
• Oversee and manage capacity building opportunities and initiatives of key institutions and mechanisms;
• Provide timely advice on programmatic areas of work at the design and implementation stages;
• Coordinate the AsiaFem knowledge sharing initiative on behalf of the Regional Office;
• 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;
• Support to develop and implement communications/advocacy initiatives;
• Support UN Women country offices and partners on innovation and best practices to enhance programme performance, in line with ECA RO Knowledge Management Plan;
• Identify gaps and design/support capacity building/ learning opportunities for UN Women staff in the region.

5. Manage the UN Women Liaison Office

• Provide guidance and oversight to the Programme Specialist of Kazakhstan UN Women Country Office who manages the   day-to-day basis operations of the Country office in Astana.
• Lead the Liaison office in the delivery of programmatic and operational goals;
• Finalize the annual work plan and budget; and oversee the implementation, including providing direction, guidance, and technical support;
• Manage the performance of personnel under supervision; provide managerial direction, guidance, and leadership to staff and provide performance feedback and coaching to personnel, ensure performance assessment are implemented on time and ensure personnel are fully aware of UN Women workplace relations policies;
• Promote teamwork to ensure harmonization, linkages, collaboration, and synergy;
• Ensure a respectful, inclusive safe and healthy work environment for personnel.
• Identify learning and development opportunities of staff under his/her supervision and ensure support is provided to build their capacities.

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Ethics and Values
• GEWE and Organizational Awareness:
• Development and Innovation
• Work in teams
• Communication and Information Sharing
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence
• Conflict Management
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making 

Functional Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment; 
• Strong political experience preferably in the Central Asian region;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience; 
• Excellent negotiation, advocacy and interpersonal skills; 
• Proven expertise in writing cogent and convincing documents; 
• Strong communications and public speaking skills; 
• Proven analytical and problem solving skills; 
• Ability to lead a team and manage performance; 
• Ability to interact with high-level decision-makers and good understanding of intergovernmental processes; 
• Effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, and NGO partners; 
• Effectiveness in strengthening accountability and results-based management in supporting organizational priorities, policy, and decision-making processes.

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.

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