2001 Project Associate (UN Women)

Background

Organizational Context 

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. Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life.

UN Women Programme Office in Serbia works towards selected development results in the framework of several projects to effectively coordinate and promote accountability for the implementation of gender equality commitments and advancing gender responsive policies and budgeting in Serbia.

Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is an innovative public policy tool for assessing the impact of policies and budgets from gender perspective and for ensuring that policies and their accompanied budgets do not perpetuate gender inequalities but contribute to more equal society for women and men. GRB aims to close the “implementation gap” that exists in countries such as Serbia, which have laws and policies in place to advance gender equality, but these are not implemented in practice. GRB was formally introduced in Serbia by the adoption of the Budget System Law in 2015, when promotion of gender equality was identified as one of the budget goals (Article 4). New provisions of the above-mentioned Law introduced GRB as an obligation in the planning and execution of budgets, implying gradual introduction from 2016 to 2020. Additional amendments to the Budget System Law adopted in December 2016 further enhanced the GRB introduction, through introduction of obligatory reporting on impact of the budget programmes on improvement of gender equality as part of the Annual Budget Statement (Article 79). 

In the period 2008-2019, UN Women supported some of the first pioneering initiatives on gender responsive budgeting in the Republic of Serbia. UN Women has been cooperating with the Ministry of Finance, the Provincial Secretariat of Finance, the Coordination Body for Gender Equality and the Provincial Secretariat for Social Policy, Demography and Gender Equality on supporting integration of gender perspective in the programme budgeting at the national and provincial level through development of capacities and tools for gender mainstreaming in the public administration and GRB. As a result of this continuous cooperation, gender perspective is included in the 2019 budget of 52 institutions at the national and provincial level. However, GRB introduction at local level has been slow, mainly due to relatively weak institutional capacities and expertise related to programme budgeting and GRB, and insufficient knowledge on gender equality issues faced by women and men in local communities, which both resulted in failure to mainstream gender perspective in the entire process of policy making and budgeting. 

In order to contribute to GRB implementation and institutionalization at the local level, UN Women Programme Office in Serbia will support 10 local self-governments across Serbia to effectively integrate gender equality at all stages of local policy planning and in the budget, thus improving the quality of lives of women and men through increased availability of services that correspond to their needs. 

Within this context, the UN Women office in Serbia is seeking a Project Associate. Reporting to Gender Specialist, the Project Associate will provide programmatic, operational and administrative support to effective implementation of GRB introduction in 10 local self-governments. The Project Associate will liaise with local self-government officials, civil society organizations, donors, and other UN Agencies for ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Project support

• Provide administrative support in the preparation of programme work plans, budgets, and proposals on project implementation arrangements, including tracking the delivery of funds;
• Provide support for timely and adequate implementation of activities according to the project work plan;
• Provide administrative support to UN Women office on routine delivery and reporting of project supported activities and finances;
• Maintains ongoing contact and close communication with partners, including government, civil society organizations, international organizations, UN agencies, and donors;
• Assists in monitoring and evaluating the performance of partners under contracts/agreements with UN Women.

Provide administrative support to the financial management 

• Provide administrative support in monitoring and preparation of budget and the finances of project;
• Support timely implementation of all project activities and monitor the proper use of funds per signed agreements and work plans;
• Assist in managing the activities’ financial resources in accordance with UN Women rules and regulations;
• Support the procurement, travel and other logistic procedures related to the project (preparing ToR for the consultants, collecting offers, preparing travel authorization, travel claims, and related logistics).

Other support

• Provide support to UN Women Programme Office in Serbia in implementation of gender responsive budgeting;
• Organize, compile, and process documentation and information from donors, and programme team as inputs to various databases and document;
• Report on a regular basis to UN Women Gender Specialist/Head of Office in Serbia to ensure coordination, linkages, and synergies between all areas of work carried out by UN Women’s Programme Office in Serbia.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely coordination and implementation of project strategies and activities;
• Timely and accurate support to events, workshops and missions;
• Full compliance of administrative activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures;
• Timely and quality substantive inputs to workplans and budgets; 
• Timely recording of overall programme unit finances;
• Quality maintenance of internal systems.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

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:

• Good knowledge of project management;
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats;
• Good knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Strong financial and budgeting skills;
• Strong IT skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Completion of secondary education required. 
• Bachelor’s degree in gender studies, management, international relations, political sciences, social sciences, or others is an asset.

Experience:

• 5 years of progressively responsible experience in administrative or project management/ support, preferably in international/multilateral development context;
• Experience in supporting complex projects/processes that included extensive communication, coordination and facilitation;
• Experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages;
• Experience in providing support to the implementation of project/advocacy activities in gender equality and gender responsive budgeting will be considered an advantage;
• Experience in working with multi-discriminated groups of women will be considered an advantage;
• Prior work experience with UN is highly desirable;
• Understanding of Serbia normative framework, government and non-government working on gender equality in Serbia is an asset.

Language Requirements:  

• Fluency in English and Serbian both verbal and written, is required.

Application Procedure:

The following are steps for on-line application:

• Submit the application through the UNDP Serbia Jobs website. http://www.rs.undp.org/content/serbia/en/home/operations/jobs.html
• Upload completed and signed P11 form in the required resume field.

Special consideration:

• As this position is under Service Contract modality, only applications of applicants with Serbian nationality or valid working permit in Serbia will be considered for the vacancy.

UNDP/UN Women are committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.