UN Women: Inter-Agency Coordination Advisor – Gender Accountability Frameworks

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.

The UN System Coordination Division (UNSCD) leads operationalization of the intergovernmental mandate to “lead, coordinate and promote the accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women” at the global, regional and country levels.

In 2012, the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) endorsed the System-Wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (the UN-SWAP) for adoption across the UN system. As an accountability framework for accelerating gender mainstreaming in the UN system, the UN-SWAP, for the first time, provided UN entities with a set of fifteen performance indicators clustered into six broad functional areas by which to measure their individual progress across all institutional operations. UN Women leads and coordinates the UN-SWAP implementation.

Upon the completion of the 2012-2017 implementation period of the UN-SWAP 1.0, a second generation of the action plan (UN-SWAP 2.0) was developed using a widely consultative two-year system-wide process. UN-SWAP 2.0 updates the existing framework, building into it refinements and lessons learnt from the implementation of UN-SWAP 1.0. The UN-SWAP 2.0 contextualizes the framework to the 2030 Agenda adding three performance indicators on SDG results, SDG monitoring and one on leadership. The remaining performance indicators were retained and upgraded. This updated framework provides a more robust platform to enhance accountability and strengthen coherence on gender equality and the empowerment of women in the UN system.

The UNCT-SWAP Scorecard constitutes the equivalent of the UN-SWAP at the country level. It has been developed by UN Women and UNDP in joint partnership. The successful implementation of the UN-SWAP in a range of institutional contexts demonstrated its potential for replicability by UNCTs. The UNCT SWAP Scorecard has also been updated and harmonized to coordinate accountability for gender mainstreaming at individual entity and country team level.

The UNCT-SWAP Scorecard is a standardized assessment of UN country-level gender mainstreaming practices and performance aimed at ensuring accountability of senior managers and improving UN Country Team performance on gender equality and the empowerment of women. It results from almost two years of work by the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), under the leadership of UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It has been harmonized with the UN-SWAP to strengthen[1] accountability for gender mainstreaming and   development results at country level.

The UNCT-SWAP Scorecard enables UNCTs to reach those most in need, while strengthening coordination, transparency and accountability. It encourages UNCTs to work collaboratively and empowers managers and teams to improve gender equality performance.

Under the guidance of the Director of the UNSCD, the Inter-Agency Coordination Advisor is responsible for leading the development, revision, implementation and monitoring of the UN System Wide Action Plan (UN-SWAP) on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (GEEW) and the UNCT-SWAP Score Card on Gender Equality,  providing technical and substantive advice on accountability and results-based management frameworks related to gender equality, overseeing the development and distribution of reports related to the UN SWAP and the UNCT-SWAP Score Card, representing UN Women at high level UN and stakeholder meetings, leading the mobilization of resources related to UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card, leading the development of knowledge products related to the UN SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card and managing the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card Accountability Team.

[1] https://undg.org/document/un-system-wide-action-plan-on-gender-equality-and-the-empowerment-of-women/

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead the development, revision, implementation and monitoring of the UN System Wide Action Plan (UN-SWAP) on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (GEEW) and the UNCT-SWAP Score Card on Gender Equality:

• Lead the development and roll out of the two UN gender accountability frameworks: the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Scorecard;
• Lead the collection and quantitative and qualitative monitoring and analysis of system-wide data for the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card;
• Lead the provision of technical and substantive support related to the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card;
• Regularly review and evaluate the accountability framework and provide suggestions for improvement.

Provide technical and substantive advice on accountability and results-based management frameworks related to gender equality:

• Provide technical support on other accountability and results-based management frameworks related to improving the status of women in the UN System including through the development of relevant gender equality policies and strategies, and mechanisms for implementation and managerial accountability;
• Provide substantive support to policy papers, briefing notes and talking points as required.

Oversee the development and distribution of reports related to the UN-SWAP and the UNCT-SWAP Score Card:

• Lead the preparation of annual reports to agencies;
• Lead the preparation of the annual Secretary General Report on the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Scorecard to ECOSOC.

Represent UN Women at high level UN and stakeholder meetings on the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card:

• Present the results of the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Cards at high level meetings;
• Strengthen partnerships and cooperation with entities of the UN System through regular contacts to discuss concerns, review progress in implementation, and promote initiatives for increased collaboration on individual indicators of the UN-SWAP framework and UNCT-SWAP Score Card;
• Convene and lead trainings and inter-agency workshops;
• Lead the development and implementation of the UN-SWAP/UNCT-SWAP Score Card Network;
• Develop and strengthen partnerships with a broad range of actors in the private and non-governmental sectors working on accountability for gender mainstreaming and improving the status of women in the workplace.

Lead the mobilization of resources related to UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card:

• Develop proposals, and business case to mobilize resources for the coordination and implementation of the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card for member states and other potential donors;
• Provide technical inputs for proposals of other UNSCD initiatives.

Lead the development of knowledge products related to the UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card:

• Develop a knowledge management strategy for supporting UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card focal points and users;
• Develop communication and knowledge products, including Newsletters;
• Lead and maintain a repository of knowledge products and resources;
• Develop capacity building and information tools;
• Review and revise the reporting data base and digital platforms and IT systems as required.

Lead learning initiatives to transfer lessons learned and replicate accountability frameworks:

• Assess the performance of UN system-wide gender-related accountability frameworks on a regular basis;
• Lead lessons-learned exercise and compile good practice;
• Provide advice on the replication of accountability frameworks to other sectoral areas.

Liaise with other UN Women Divisions for the purpose of harmonizing approaches and sharing information:

• Liaise with the Training Centre for UN system-wide capacity building initiatives on gender mainstreaming, gender equality and the empowerment of women;
• Liaise with other Divisions and Regional and Country offices for a harmonized implementation of the UNCT-SWAP Scorecards.

Manage the UN SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card Accountability Team:

• Supervise staff related to UN-SWAP and UNCT-SWAP Score Card, review performance and mentor/ coach staff;
• Manage workplan and budget of team;
• Ensure timely reporting by team members.

Ad hoc corporate and division tasks as necessary.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely implementation of the UN SWAP as per workplan and budget;
• Timely support and guidance to UNCTS on the Score Cards (no. of UNCT Score Cards implemented);
• Quality of reports;
• Quality of capacity building products;
• Mobilization of Resources;
• Number of coordination meetings and workshops organized;
• Performance of staff under supervision.

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 Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Substantive knowledge of gender-equality accountability frameworks;
• Substantive knowledge of a variety of gender equality issues and gender mainstreaming;
• Good understanding of UN Women coordination mandate;
• Ability to develop theories of change, causal analysis and impact assessment;
• Excellent skills in data research and statistical analysis, as well as demonstrated knowledge in qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation;
• Well-developed people management skills;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision;
• Strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills;
• Proven problem-solving skills;
• Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills;
• Effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with UN agencies and other UN Women counterparts;
• Demonstrated negotiating, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills;
• Ability to leverage information technology for optimal performance.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a social science, economics, gender studies, or other development-related fields. 

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience related to gender and women’s empowerment in an international environment;
• Experience in working in partnership with other UN entities and international organizations;
• Demonstrated experience in the development and implementation of gender-related accountability frameworks, metrics and assessment of impact;
• Demonstrated engagement with gender issues including research, writing and data compilation and analysis of relevance to broad accountability frameworks and its multiple dimensions including the representation of women;
• Experience in inter-agency affairs;
• Experience leading a team;
• Some experience in Knowledge Management (KM) preferably in the field of gender equality. 

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of  other UN official working language is an asset.

Application:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment. 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.