UN Women: Programme specialist - gender, climate change and disaster risk reduction

Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women 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 center of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations (UN) System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The scope of work of the Programme Specialist in the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific requires experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality, climate change and disaster risk reduction issues, to translate UN Women's strategic plans into effective programmes and results. It also requires developing mutually reinforcing partnerships with relevant Government counterparts, UN organizations, donors and CSOs.
Under the overall supervision of the Regional Director and reporting to the Regional Programme Director for the UN Women Pacific Multi-Country Office in Suva, Fiji where the Programme Specialist will be based, he/she is expected to engage proactively with local and regional women leaders and UN Entities to ensure gender issues are addressed on efforts related to climate change and disaster risk reduction in the Asia Pacific region.

Duties and responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

• Analysis And Monitoring of Trends, Opportunities and Challenges
• Programme Development and Technical Support
• Establish and Strengthen Strategic Partnerships With Key Stakeholders, Regional and International Actors and Development Partners
• Knowledge Management and Reporting

Under the overall supervision of the Regional Director and reporting to the Regional Programme Director for the UN Women Pacific Multi-Country Office in Suva, Fiji, the Programme Specialist has the following key functions:

Analysis and monitoring of trends, opportunities and challenges:

• Contribute to the timely provision of guidance and support to Country Offices as they engage in the climate change/DRR policy dialogues at the national and regional level.
• Support COs on specific issues of Gender, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction policy dialogues at national level with key partners, including key line Ministries, donors, NGOs, private sector, and civil society building on and ensuring consistency with international climate policy guidance provided by HQ .
• Provide to Country Offices policy support and information in the context of multilateral negotiations/discussions on Gender, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, including those associated with the UNFCC.
• Support the capacity development of governments to programme gender and climate change-related resources and provide advice on the effective use and management of different climate financing mechanisms.
• Explore strategic opportunities with Country Offices and governments that can maximize synergies between gender, climate change, DRR, poverty, and MDG-related activities, including south-south cooperation schemes and innovative clean technology options for energy access for the poor.
• Liaise and coordinate with regional development partners and donors, building strategic alliances on behalf the Regional Office and HQ that deliver benefits to national governments and NGOs and Country Offices.
• Represent UN Women at inter-governmental and regional meetings in the region, as requested by the Regional Director.

Programme development and technical support:

• Lead the development and implementation of regional and/or multi-country programmatic approaches to gender and climate change/DRR.
• Provide substantive inputs to Country Offices and governments on gender-responsive national low-carbon, climate-resilient development strategies and plans and review of sector policies, which can provide the foundation for National adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs), national adaptation plans (NAPs), and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs).
• Provide to Country Offices policy support and information in the context of multilateral negotiations/discussions on climate change, including those associated with the UNFCCC.
• Support the Country Offices in the development of strategic and thematic partnerships with governmental agencies, UN agencies and other important actors in climate change/DRR.
• Support the capacity development of UN Women partners to programme gender and climate change-related resources and provide advice on the effective use and management of different climate financing mechanisms.
• Support strategic planning for the regional activities addressing gender and climate change and their incorporation into the regional business plan.
• Provide practice/cluster programme management/oversight, including development/management of global programmes and manage related human resources if applicable.
• Mobilize and manage financial resources, for gender and climate change/DRR processes.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners:

• Support the building of strategic alliances and partnerships to develop regional strategies and initiatives.
• Maintain close liaison with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts on gender and climate change/DRR in the region.
• Support the country offices mobilizing resources for the implementation of gender and climate change/DRR initiatives in the region.
• Collaborate with UN Entities at the regional level, and support country offices, on ensuring gender-responsive climate change/DRR programmes.
• Liaise with relevant regional organizations engaged in climate change and disaster risk reduction.
• Support the building of strategic alliances and partnerships for gender and climate change and disaster risk reduction related strategies and initiatives.
• Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women HQ .

Knowledge management and reporting:

• Secure a flow of information between the Country Offices, the Regional Office and UN Women headquarters by putting in place mechanisms to ensure the region and Country Offices know about climate change related activities undertaken by UN bodies and major global and regional actors and that good practices and lessons learned from the field are shared with HQ and relevant UN system assessments and compilations (such as by CC: Learn, ISDR and OCHA etc).
• Promote the use and improvement of knowledge management mechanisms to share information about gender and climate change/DRR related initiatives.
• Share technical and strategic position papers, presentations, advisory and briefing notes, as needed.
• Adapt HQ inputs for regional policy briefs/position papers in collaboration with other practices that address links between climate change and other development concerns such as governance, private sector, poverty alleviation, gender, crisis prevention and recovery, and capacity development.
• Provide gender and climate change/DRR advisory services to Country Office colleagues as needed.
• Identify relevant lessons learnt to be disseminated between countries and identify and develop linkages between countries in the region as appropriate.
• Promotion of awareness and understanding of the UN Women mandate, mission and purpose and focus on Sustainable Human Development with special emphasis on gender, climate change and disaster preparedness.
• Participate in community of practices.
• Facilitate cross-regional exchange of best practices and lessons learned.
• Contribute to the development of the regional knowledge hub.

Competencies

Core values and guiding principles:

• Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core competencies:

• Ethics and Values: Promoting Ethics and Integrity / Creating Organizational Precedents
• Organizational Awareness: Building support and political acumen
• Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation.
• Working in Teams: Building and promoting effective teams.
• Communicating Information and Ideas: Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication.
• Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating an emotionally intelligent organization.
• Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards.
• Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking

Functional competencies:

• Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the area of gender equality and climate change/disaster risk reduction.
• Demonstrated People Management Skills.
• Familiarity with the Asia Pacific Region, women's rights organizations and networks in the region and globally.
• Good knowledge of UN Women and the UN system.
• Proven ability to advocate for gender equality and provide policy advice.
• Ability to lead strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting.
• Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources.

Required skills and experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree in climate sciences, environmental sciences, earth sciences, natural resource economics, political science, related social sciences or related discipline.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of relevant work experience on issues related to climate risk, vulnerability reduction and capacity development.
• Technical experience on specific climate issue (e.g., capacity development, technology, adaptation, gender, economics, etc).
• Proven expertise in the area of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
• Strong background in partnership building will be an essential requirement.
• Experience in working with government, donors or UN previously is an asset
• Familiarity with development work
• Proven track record in policy analysis, development work in the area of climate change/DRR and related issues.
• Knowledge and understanding of the global debate on gender and climate change and experience in multilateral environmental debates and dialogues and processes.

Language:

• Fluency in written and oral English is required.