UN Women - Policy Specialist, Leadership and Political Participation, P4, Panama City, Panama (TA until 31 December 2026))

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’s leadership and political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the role of women’s equal participation in decision-making as essential for stable democratic processes and inclusive societies. It is covered under the Entity’s Strategic Plan 2026-2029 Impact Area 1 – Women’s Leadership and Decision Making; and across its three Systemic Outcomes. 

The UN Women Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ACRO) based in Panama City, Panama, works alongside over 20 locations, including 10 country offices^[1], 1 multi-country office based in Barbados, covering 21 islands and territories in the Caribbean, and 9 countries with small-medium programme teams through non-physical presences (NPPs)^[2].

 In the area of women’s leadership and political participation. UN Women ACRO is recognized as a trusted convener and knowledge broker, working with governments, civil society—including feminist, Indigenous, and Afro-descendant networks—academia, and multilateral institutions, including through its co-convening role with ECLAC in the Regional Conference on Women; its technical support to regional parliaments (PARLATINO, PARLACEN), MERCOSUR mechanisms; and its sustained collaboration with CIM (Inter-American Commission of Women-OAS),  COMMCA (Council of Women Ministers of the Central American Integration System SICA), RMAAM (Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Women of MERCOSUR), and CARICOM.

Under its new Strategic Note (SN) 2026 - 2029, ACRO’s work on leadership and participation will include, inter alia safeguarding and advancing the normative frameworks that underpin women’s rights in the region through supporting governments and regional bodies to align national legislation and policies with international commitments such as CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, and the Belém do Pará Convention. ACRO will promote inclusive decision making systems through supporting legal and policy reforms that facilitate women’s participation in public life; strengthened capacities of diverse women to engage in political life; support parliamentary bodies to deliver gender equality reforms; support legal and policy responses to prevent, monitor and mitigate violence against women in politics; improve knowledge, data and statistics on women’s political participation; support women leaders in gender-sensitive political institutions including legislative bodies at national and local levels; and support initiatives aimed at changing gender norms so that women are accepted as legitimate and effective leaders. UN Women works with a range of partners and stakeholders to ensure more women of all ages fully participate, lead, and engage in political institutions. 

Reporting to the Deputy Regional Director, the Regional Policy Specialist on WPP will oversee the development and implementation of WPP programmes in the region, provide capacity building to Country Offices (CO), establish and strengthen partnerships, develop relevant knowledge products and support implementation, monitoring and reporting on global and regional norms and standards, in close collaboration with the programme and operations team in ACRO. The incumbent will leads a team of 3, which includes 1 junior staff and 2 affiliate personnel.

4. Support the Regional Office’s coordination mandate on Women’s Political Participation:

• Guided by relevant UN policy frameworks, support gender mainstreaming into joint programming on electoral assistance.
• Coordinate high-level advocacy on WPP within relevant inter-agency task forces and support timely and quality inputs as needed to inform Senior Management’s participation in UN coordination mechanisms. 
• Provide substantive support by strengthening country offices’ capacities through CCA and UNSDCF processes; and by engaging with the UNCTs and closely supporting Resident Coordinators’ Offices.
• Support to NRAS focusing on: i) providing technical support to the UNCTs to ensure gender mainstreaming in national gender strategies and UNSDCF and CCA processes; ii) on demand support to UN Agencies to integrate gender in their specific strategic plans or joint programming; and iii) working with NRAs to meet gender equality requirements with a specific focus on implementation key normative frameworks.
• Work closely with and provide advice to regional bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to women’s political participation and where necessary represent UN-Women.

5. Manage advocacy, knowledge building and sharing for WPP.

• Provide thematic support to the Regional Director’s high level advocacy efforts in support to Member States in advancing the implementation of normative frameworks on women’ leadership and political participation (incl. CEDAW Committee general recommendation 40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems). 
• Provides policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on WPP.
• Manage thematic research and maintain up-to-date relevant thematic regional data and integrate analysis into policy-oriented advocacy and corporate support (e.g., briefing notes, background papers, region-specific reports).
• Provide quality assurance of COs’ knowledge products in line with corporate strategies.
• Identify, codify and disseminate lessons learned and good practices in collaboration with country offices; and liaise with HQ thematic unit for ongoing contribution to the global thematic Community of Practice.

6. Manage the resource mobilization strategy for women´s leadership and political participation in the region

• Develop and implement a resource mobilization strategy on women’s leadership and political participation
• Provide technical support to field-based presences in the region in mobilizing resources for the implementation of initiatives in the area women´s political participation.
• Research and analyze information on donors; prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation.
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization.
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.
• Manage donor relations and programmatic expectations. 

7. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of political issues, governance and political participation 
• Strong knowledge of the Americas and Caribbean 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

Recruitment qualifications:

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in or equivalent in law, political science, public administration, gender equality, 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 seven years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for gender equality and women´s rights, ideally with some experience in developing countries is required.
• Experience in political issues preferably with at least five years of field experience in gender-responsive governance and women´s leadership and political participation is required.
• Experience in strategic planning and programming, policy analysis, capacity building and knowledge management is required.
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and in the field is required.
• Experience working with the UN is an asset.
• Experience working in the Americas and Caribbean region is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Spanish is required;
• Knowledge of French and/or Portuguese is an asset; 
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Statements :

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.