Gender Specialist - Sexual and Gender-Based rime Investigator

NOTE\: The duration of this Temporary Appointment will be until 30 September 2019.

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.

Peace and Security is a key area of UN Women's work. At headquarters, the Peace and Security Section leads on UN system-wide coordination on Women, Peace and Security, provides technical and financial support to the peace and security work of UN Women field offices, and implements a number of global initiatives that range from training women on mediation, peacekeepers on preventing and responding to sexual violence, and experts on investigation and documentation of international crimes, to rapidly deploying gender advisors to commissions of inquiry, peace talks, and post-conflict planning and financing processes, supporting gender-responsive public service delivery, and linking women in the community and grassroots organizations to police and other actors to ensure better protection.

A key area of UN-Women’s work is ensuring access to justice for women and the equal application of the rule of law. Effective judicial and legal systems not only ensure the protection and advancement of women’s rights, but can provide an enabling environment to address discriminatory practices which impede development. From a women’s human rights and rule of law perspective, at no time is legal protection more necessary, or more fragile, than during and in the immediate aftermath of conflicts when women’s experiences of insecurity and violations often continue unabated. Securing accountability and ending impunity for sexual and gender-based crime (SGBC) and asserting women’s access to the full range of rights are some of the most challenging yet fundamental conditions for the restoration of the rule of law post-conflict.

Under the supervision of the Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women, and in close coordination with the relevant accountability mechanism, the Gender Specialist- Sexual Gender Based Crime (SGBC) Investigator will contribute to implementation of UN Women’s mandate on promoting women’s access to justice and the rule of law through providing technical support to international, regional and national accountability mechanisms in investigation, documentation and training of SGBC and women’s human rights violations.

NOTE\: The duration of this Temporary Appointment will be until 30 September 2019.

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.

Peace and Security is a key area of UN Women's work. At headquarters, the Peace and Security Section leads on UN system-wide coordination on Women, Peace and Security, provides technical and financial support to the peace and security work of UN Women field offices, and implements a number of global initiatives that range from training women on mediation, peacekeepers on preventing and responding to sexual violence, and experts on investigation and documentation of international crimes, to rapidly deploying gender advisors to commissions of inquiry, peace talks, and post-conflict planning and financing processes, supporting gender-responsive public service delivery, and linking women in the community and grassroots organizations to police and other actors to ensure better protection.

A key area of UN-Women’s work is ensuring access to justice for women and the equal application of the rule of law. Effective judicial and legal systems not only ensure the protection and advancement of women’s rights, but can provide an enabling environment to address discriminatory practices which impede development. From a women’s human rights and rule of law perspective, at no time is legal protection more necessary, or more fragile, than during and in the immediate aftermath of conflicts when women’s experiences of insecurity and violations often continue unabated. Securing accountability and ending impunity for sexual and gender-based crime (SGBC) and asserting women’s access to the full range of rights are some of the most challenging yet fundamental conditions for the restoration of the rule of law post-conflict.

Under the supervision of the Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women, and in close coordination with the relevant accountability mechanism, the Gender Specialist- Sexual Gender Based Crime (SGBC) Investigator will contribute to implementation of UN Women’s mandate on promoting women’s access to justice and the rule of law through providing technical support to international, regional and national accountability mechanisms in investigation, documentation and training of SGBC and women’s human rights violations.

Provide technical support to the work of accountability bodies supported by UN Women\:

• Ensure proper collection and preservation of information and evidence on cases of SGBC and other gender based human rights violations and abuses, as mandated by the accountability body using the relevant legal framework(s);
• Conduct and/or assist in the conduct of interviews and evidence gathering activities, ensuring that necessary measures
• Provide technical inputs to interview notes, investigation reports, briefings and analytical documents including the final work product as required to ensure adequate attention to women’s human rights and gender issues;
• Ensure that the necessary measures of protection and confidentiality for witnesses and victims of women’s human rights violations and abuses are implemented, that security arrangements are gender-sensitive, and that cultural and contextual gender considerations are considered;
• Raise awareness, including through trainings for other investigators/team members, of the gendered dimensions of human rights violations, specific vulnerability of different categories of women (girls, mothers, repatriate women, women in prisons and camps, girls and women living with disabilities and elderly women), and techniques for documenting SGBC sensitively, ethically and professionally; and
• Prepare an internal report for UN Women reflecting on the work of the Gender Specialist-SGBC Investigator and any recommendations for strengthening the gendered work of such bodies in future.

Perform any other duties, as required by the Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women in coordination with the accountability body.

Provide technical support to the work of accountability bodies supported by UN Women\:

• Ensure proper collection and preservation of information and evidence on cases of SGBC and other gender based human rights violations and abuses, as mandated by the accountability body using the relevant legal framework(s);
• Conduct and/or assist in the conduct of interviews and evidence gathering activities, ensuring that necessary measures
• Provide technical inputs to interview notes, investigation reports, briefings and analytical documents including the final work product as required to ensure adequate attention to women’s human rights and gender issues;
• Ensure that the necessary measures of protection and confidentiality for witnesses and victims of women’s human rights violations and abuses are implemented, that security arrangements are gender-sensitive, and that cultural and contextual gender considerations are considered;
• Raise awareness, including through trainings for other investigators/team members, of the gendered dimensions of human rights violations, specific vulnerability of different categories of women (girls, mothers, repatriate women, women in prisons and camps, girls and women living with disabilities and elderly women), and techniques for documenting SGBC sensitively, ethically and professionally; and
• Prepare an internal report for UN Women reflecting on the work of the Gender Specialist-SGBC Investigator and any recommendations for strengthening the gendered work of such bodies in future.

Perform any other duties, as required by the Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women in coordination with the accountability body.

The appropriate investigation procedures of all accountability mechanisms supported by UN Women will reflect\:

• Good practice in the investigation of SGBC cases, and the documentation of the full extent of violations of women’s rights under international law;
• Proper use of gender-sensitive approaches that advance women’s access to justice;
• Timely Sharing of technical knowledge;
• Quality and timeliness of reports.

The appropriate investigation procedures of all accountability mechanisms supported by UN Women will reflect\:

• Good practice in the investigation of SGBC cases, and the documentation of the full extent of violations of women’s rights under international law;
• Proper use of gender-sensitive approaches that advance women’s access to justice;
• Timely Sharing of technical knowledge;
• Quality and timeliness of reports.

Education\:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in law, political sciences, international relations, gender studies or other disciplines related to human rights. 
• A first-level university degree in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the Master’s degree.

Experience\:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in human rights, international criminal law, criminal investigations or a closely related field, particularly in the area of sexual and gender-based violence;
• Experience drafting public reports is desirable.

Languages\:

• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of a second UN language is an asset.

Education\:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in law, political sciences, international relations, gender studies or other disciplines related to human rights. 
• A first-level university degree in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the Master’s degree.

Experience\:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in human rights, international criminal law, criminal investigations or a closely related field, particularly in the area of sexual and gender-based violence;
• Experience drafting public reports is desirable.

Languages\:

• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of a second UN language is an asset.