Programme Analyst (NIRD)– Gender Responsive Governance (Open to Indian Nationals Only)

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. 

UN Women implemented a three-year programme entitled ‘Promoting Women’s Political Leadership and Governance in India (from 2011 to 2014), aimed at empowering elected women representatives in local governance to make public policy and resource allocation patterns responsive to women’s human rights. Phase I of the Governance Programme was a demand-driven programme implemented, in partnership with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and select state governments, to build capacities of elected women panchayat leaders across 5 states in collaboration with state governments, trainings institutions and civil society organizations. Through the projects, efforts were also made to strengthen women’s collectives and creating linkages with local institutions. The larger objective was to open up and activate spaces and initiatives for public participation, by mobilizing and supporting women to engage with public institutions such as the Gram Sabha. Significant results were achieved with regard to increasing political participation of women through the activation of Gram Sabha, organization of Mahila Sabhas with the help of motivators, and training of EWRs and other functionaries.

UN Women is currently implementing the second phase of the programme, entitled, From Opportunities to Capacities: A Multi-Sectoral Approach to Enhancing Gender Responsive Governance (from 2015 to 2018). The second phase of the programme aims to build a body of evidence, to inform and enhance the capacity of governance institutions to better respond to the real opportunities for gender equality and women’s empowerment that have been created through progressive legislation, policies and programmes. These enhanced governance capacities should lead to better outcomes for women.

The programme is being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj across six states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha.

In this context the proposed programme will work towards strengthening capacities of national and sub national governments for gender responsive design and implementation of key schemes and policies, so as to ensure better outcomes for women especially those from the most marginalized communities. This will be operationalized through strengthening training institutions (at the national and sub-national level such as NIRD&PR and SIRDs); and developing effective mechanisms to build capacities of elected representatives and functionaries of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

UN Women partnered with NIRD&PR during the first phase of its programme on GRG. The overarching goal of the program was to create an enabling environment to empower Elected Women Representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions to become change agents in political decision making for promotion of gender equality.

In the second phase of the programme the NIRD & PR and UN Women partnership will consolidate these efforts towards institutional strengthening in PRIs.

In connection with the above tasks, UN Women will place a Programme Analyst at the Centre for Gender Studies & Development (CGAD), NIRD & PR. The Programme Analyst will be placed in NIRD & PR and will directly report to the Director General, NIRD & PR; under the overall supervision of the Programme Specialist (Governance), UN Women

The Programme Analyst will ensure that the project produces the results, as specified in the project documents, to the required standards of quality and within the given time and cost specifications. 

Therefore, the Programme Analyst will support NIRD & PR to implement the UN Women project and to ensure that it delivers on its objectives with feasible work plans and appropriate monitoring processes to ensure the following results:

• Strengthening knowledge base on gender responsive governance and sharing of good practices on GRG at the national level;
• Review of capacity development frameworks and approaches at the national level;
• Advocacy, coordination and network support.

With a view to achieving the above, the Programme Analyst will provide inputs and support implementation of UN Women’s Work Plan on Gender Responsive Governance.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions: 

• Project Implementation;
• Capacity Development;
• Technical Support – Research, Documentation and Knowledge Management.

Project Implementation:

• Support implementation of project activities and develop a mechanism to monitor implementation of planned activities and budgets;
• Establish effective coordination with State Institutes for Rural Development, Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs), other key stakeholders and the media;
• Identify opportunities for collaboration, and joint action with government and other partners to improve the training quality and program deliverables;
• Undertake mission travel to select areas as and when required for research, documentation and monitoring of UN Women- NIRD & PR collaborative project;
• Compile relevant sections for periodic/annual reporting of NIRD & PR and UN Women;
• Participate in key meetings, conferences, and trainings of NIRD & PR and UN Women, and prepare proceedings report/meeting minutes;
• Support UN Women with possible areas of collaboration and coordination on gender responsive governance;
• Maintain project related reports/files and extend support preparation of quarterly narrative reports;
• Coordinate with other implementing partners/vendors and support preparation of financial reports to UN Women (FACE FORMs).

Capacity Development:

• Review of existing training resources on IPPE-2, Gender Budgeting /GPDP and provisions and entitlements for women under various legislation and flagship programs and identify areas/gaps to incorporate GRG;
• Conduct training needs assessment in key thematic areas related to Gender Responsive Governance and support identification of potential trainees from district and state levels;
• Support capacity development efforts on gender mainstreaming within the NIRD & PR, including but not limited to development of modules & design and delivery of trainings modules on women's leadership and participation in governance;
• Prepare reports to capture key issues, achievements and challenges of capacity development initiatives under the programme.

Technical Support – Research, Documentation and Knowledge Management:

• Provide technical support and inputs on key processes and result areas on Gender Responsive Governance to relevant stakeholders in a need-based manner;
• Coordinate and manage proposed research and case studies on promoting women’s political participation and leadership;
• Document best practices on gender responsive governance with a focus on promoting women’s political participation and leadership at the PRI level through field visits, and compilation of best practices through desk research;
• Provide coordination and resource support (IEC/advocacy) to mainstream gender in the ongoing trainings of NIRD & PR;
• Develop partnerships with state/district level resource institutions, agencies, experts and practitioners on decentralized planning and gender responsive governance;
• Support impact assessment of gender mainstreaming in the ongoing CB&T initiatives at the state level;
• Provide inputs on different knowledge products generated during the course of the programme;
• Develop an offline information base on diverse practices of GRG at district and state levels.

In addition to the above the Programme Analyst will also be required to execute other duties and assignments entrusted by the NIRD & PR and UN Women as relevant to the implementation of the project.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Technical Knowledge:

• Thorough familiarity with the development context and challenges regarding inclusive growth, human development and disadvantaged groups in the State, with particular reference to Gender Responsive Governance, development and social inclusion;
• Adequate knowledge of the policy context of devolution, Decentralized Planning, spatial planning based on rural-participatory processes, disadvantaged groups, and human development outcomes;
• Familiarity with UNDAF, CPAP, and UN project systems in India is preferred;
• Knowledge of programmes and schemes relevant to decentralization, participatory planning and local self-governance.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Ability to interact with disadvantaged groups and PRI/ULB members and local officials;
• Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
• Demonstrates ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in the area of professional discipline and job knowledge, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills;
• Demonstrates competent analytical and presentation skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to facilitate strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources;
• Excellent working knowledge of MS Office-Word, Excel, Access, Power Point, Intra-Internet, e-mail applications etc. Knowledge of other applications such as Front Page, Publisher and some multimedia tools would be useful.

Management and Leadership:

• Focuses on expected impact and results and responds positively to feedback;
• Promotes teamwork and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with stakeholders and external actors;
• High interpersonal skills, and ability to remain calm, in control and good humored under pressure;
• Ability to prioritize assignments and requirements, and multitask as needed;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Demonstrates skills to liaise with varied government stakeholders and report to senior government officials.

Communication Skills:

• Excellent oral and writing and communication skills;
• Sound analytical and presentation skills;
• Good interpersonal and presentation skills, with an ability to work in a multi-cultural environment. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in Social Sciences, Social Work, Rural Management, Gender Studies, Public Administration, Policy or related fields. 

Experience:

6 years of relevant experience at the national/state level working with development projects including hand-on experience of design, implementation and monitoring of projects preferably in the area of Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Women’s Rights 

Language:

Proficiency in English and good command over Hindi; Working knowledge of local language desirable.

Application Information:

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from  http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
• 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;
• UN Women will only consider applications from consultants as per the relevant terms and conditions laid down by Government of India (for outsourcing through bilateral/multilateral organisations).  
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

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.