Gender Advisor

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, peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts in Kenya to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Kenya’s priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Under the direct supervision of the Head of the Resident Coordinator office in close consultation with UN Women Deputy Country Director, the Gender Advisor will be responsible for providing strategic and technical advice to the Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team (UNCT), to strengthen the work of the United Nations in Kenya on gender equality across the result areas of the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The Adviser will also provide technical support and content expertise on mainstreaming a gender approach into key elements of the UNCT's planning and programming. She/he works will also work in close collaboration with UN Women Kenya programme staff, UN staff and agencies and other partners in ensuring successful interventions of UN Women’s work. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Coordination and Knowledge Management:

• Play a coordination role by supporting the UN system, in the development and implementation of programmes in support of international and national commitments on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as outlined in the UNDAF 2014-18;
• Provision of technical advice to the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) as required, in the coordination of emerging technical and development assistance to the Government of Kenya and civil society, ensuring emerging development support responds to women’s needs and national gender equality priorities;
• Contribute to mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment into all programs related to the UNDAF implementation in a coherent manner, through close consultation with the UN Gender Working Group (GWG), all UN agencies and the Chair/co-chairs of the UNDAF Strategic Area Result Groups and Outcome Result Groups;
• Coordinate capacity building efforts on gender mainstreaming at all stages of the UNDAF implementation (bi-annual work planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation) as well as other processes related to fulfilling the Delivering as One agenda in close consultation with UN Women and other UN agencies;
• With the support of the Gender Focal Points build and promote internal capabilities and collaboration in mainstreaming gender within UNDAF;
• Act as resource person in capacity building, knowledge sharing events and other relevant activities on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the UN System;
• Coordinate gender equality and women’s empowerment activities of the RCO in close consultation with other advisors (peace and development, human rights, monitoring and evaluation);
• Ensure knowledge sharing, documentation and dissemination of good practices on gender equality, women’s empowerment and rights within the UNCT and the broader UN system;
• Support in close consultation with UN Communications Group, the communication of gender equality and women’s empowerment results to external audiences.

Strategic advice to the UN RC and UNCT in promoting women’s rights and gender equality in the country:

• Provide analysis and strategic advice to the UNCT on current gender issues and opportunities to support inclusive engagement of women in the development and humanitarian assistance provided by the UN in Kenya including through preparation of regular analytical briefs;
• Identify and advise on entry points for new initiatives for the UN to strengthen national and local capacities for gender equality and to support the advancement of women’s empowerment and gender equality in the country in close consultation with UN Women and other UN agencies;
• Ensure the UNCT utilizes key accountability tools and processes (e.g. the Gender Score Card, Gender Marker) to ensure that the UN in Kenya tracks and is accountable for gender equality and women’s empowerment during the UNDAF implementation;
• Advise and support the UNCT in forging strategic partnerships at the national and local level to promote gender equality, women’s advancement and women’s representation.

Representation and Partnership Building:

• Support inter-agency coordination on gender including support to the workings of the UN GWG in close consultation with the Chair and Co-Chair as well as UN Women who are the Secretariat;
• Represent the UN at inter-agency, intergovernmental, international, regional and national conferences and meetings and advocate the UN’s positions on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• At the request of the Resident Coordinator, represent the UN system on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues at conferences and meetings to present UN system efforts for the advancement of gender equality in Kenya;
• Maintain active relationship/partnerships with National Government Counterparts, UN System, international community, inter-government and non-governmental organizations, institutes and academia on women’s issue to enhance collaboration, resource mobilization and share and influence agenda and priority setting

Competencies

CORE VALUES:

• Integrity: 

Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

• Professionalism:

Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

• Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff; Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

• Ethics and Values:

 Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity

• Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment

• Development and Innovation:

 Take charge of self-development and take initiative

• Work in teams:

 Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

• Communicating and Information Sharing:

 Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication

• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others

• Conflict Management:

Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

 Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge

• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

 Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

FUNTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Proven ability to advocate and provide policy advice in gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment;
• Knowledge of UN System and understanding of  inter-agency coordination processes;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships;
• Knowledge of methodologies and best practices for promoting gender equality, equity and women empowerment in general and in the Africa region in particular;
• High degree of political acumen and sensitivity and demonstrated ability to achieve results in politically and operationally complex environments;
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in gender, women’s studies, social sciences, international development, international relations or other development-related fields.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in development, focused on providing policy advice, technical assistance and/or programming around gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights issues; part of which should include previous field experience with the UN or an international development organization;
• Experience writing analytical documents and reports;
• Experience in coordination and advocacy;
• Strong public speaking skills and representational experience;
• Knowledge of and experience in Kenya desirable;
• Good knowledge of the UN system;
• Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in gender equality and women's empowerment issues at policy and programming level;
• Experience with implementing gender mainstreaming agendas across a variety of sectors, including experience gender mainstreaming in governmental bodies;
• Experience working with the UN in development and humanitarian contexts;
• Experience working with women’s movements, and civil society and familiarity with women's rights organizations and networks in the region and globally.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English