Programme Officer (WPS Highlands Area Base Programme)

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 also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality, and in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda. The entity works to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals, and a more inclusive world.

UN Women PNG Country Office under its current five-year strategic plan (2018-2022) is focusing on the four thematic areas;

•              Women’s Leadership and Political Participation

•              Women’s Economic Empowerment

•              Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

•              Women Peace and Security

Programmes contributing to Women Peace and Security are being implemented in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Southern Highlands and Hela Provinces in partnership with local government authorities and civil society organizations. UN Women has been working in Southern Highlands and Hela Provinces province since 2018 on a gender and youth promotion initiative. This project focused on  increasing women’s influence in peace processes and changing the behaviours leading to tribal conflict; tested effective ways of building peace through strengthening the voices of women and youth in existing peace building mechanisms. In 2020, UN Women is implementing another programme called Highlands Area base programme which aims at building upon success and lessons learnt from the previous project. Specifically, the programme will contribute towards four outcome areas:

1.   Communities affected by conflict in the Highlands have increased capacity to promote and demand for peace and social cohesion;

2.    Highlands’ communities and households have improved resilience to manage risks and mitigate shocks from conflict and man-made/ natural disasters;

3.   Traditional/non-traditional leaders and service providers have enhanced knowledge and skills to integrate peacebuilding strategies into service delivery in conflict affected areas in the Highlands;

4.    Public institutions in the Highlands have people-centred, proactive and transparent/ accountable systems to support effective leadership that promotes peace and security.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the UN Women PNG Deputy Country Representative, in collaboration with programme and operations team in Port Moresby, the Programme Officer will work in close collaboration with other UN agencies, and project partners to deliver UN Women’s programme results in the Highlands area. The Programme Officer will adopt an approach focusing on quality and result oriented project management. He/ She will work in close collaboration with UN Women implementing partners across programme areas within the region, in addition to the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and Pacific team to ensure a high quality programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

• Management
• Strategic Planning and Coordination
• Capacity Building and Knowledge Management;
• Partnership Building and Support to Resource Mobilization

Management

• Lead and supervise the design and implementation of activities related to the programme and sustainability of the project;
• Provide support for development of strategic documents on the Highlands Area base programme, including budget plans, procurement plans and operational plans with the related detailed budget allocations for project implementation;
• Oversee the procurement action under the project, including the drafting of complex Requests for Proposals and technical Terms of Reference and evaluation of bids.
•  Supervise assigned personnel ; Provide clear direction and monitor performance of staff working on the projects based on specific benchmarks. 
• Continuously monitor the implementation of activities and budget expenditures by implementing partners and ensure that projects’ implementation is in line with agreed upon work plans and related time frames;
• Ensure proper (evidence based and disaggregated) data collection and prepare narrative reports on projects’ progress, oversee projects’ review and ensure UN Women’s visibility across projects’ implementation is compliant with UN Women’s rules and regulations;
• Manage stakeholder relations in the Highlands area, working closely with governmental and local partners to ensure ownership and delivery of projects’ results;
• Ensure that close cooperation and coordination is maintained with project partners and existing and future consultative committees for project implementation;
• Prepare project reports as per agreed schedule and ensure regular informal reports for donors;

Strategic Planning and Coordination

• Provide inputs into planning, monitoring and evaluation of UN Women’s work in PNG related to women’s rights and protection, including the identification of strategic programme areas of cooperation;
• Contribute to the DRF 4, Women Peace and Security project design document, programme strategies and other programming documents, and ensure their effective implementation;
• Create linkages and synergies between the DRF4 and other DRF areas 1, 2, 3 and Normative and coordination areas and other UN Women programmes and projects to maximize impact for targeted beneficiaries; 
• Participate in UN coordination and local level stakeholder coordination forums within the Highlands area. Liaise with governmental and non-governmental national stakeholders to maintain discussions and ensure proper planning for addressing strategic priorities;
• Identify and share with the office, emerging protection planning related to women’s rights issues. 

Capacity Building and Knowledge Management

• Ensure technical support and advice on issues related to women’s rights and protection is provided, as needed, to governmental counterparts and non-state actors and UN Agencies;
• Identify and address staff and partner capacity needs; link personnel and partners to learning opportunities
• Contribute to UN Women’s global knowledge management efforts related to collection and dissemination of lessons learnt and best practices in procurement and operational areas; 
• Ensure linkages are established and maintained with other UN Women programmes and projects;
• Provide constant briefing/debriefing of senior management, staff and project teams on emerging issues relating to area of work;
• Provide sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Partnership Building and Support to Resource Mobilization

• Develop and strengthen the network of support to WPS,  women’s rights and protection-related issues and widen the potential of the HABP; 
• Working alongside with the National Programme Specialist and other PNG CO personnel, liaise with donors, raise and maintain interest in areas of women’s peace building and women’s rights relevant to the PNG context, including emerging areas; 
• Support resource mobilization efforts for ensuring the sustainability of the HAB programme;
• Formulate funding proposals and prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, analyze and research information on relevant donors, and support the identification of opportunities for cost-sharing;
• Ensure wide strategic communication of the project’s findings, good practices and lessons learned to local, national, regional and global partners including UN agencies.

Competencies

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES 

• 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.

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects.
• Ability to support strategic planning, results-based management and reporting.
• Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost recovery.
• Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change.
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
• Ability to advocate and provide required technical advice.
• Lead teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills.
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.
• Focuses on impact and result for the partners and responds positively to feedback.
• Ability to operate and work in resource challenged environments.
• Ability to research for, plan and write complex donor and substantive reports to a high standard

Required Skills and Experience

Education Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in International Development, Gender, Human Rights, Applied Anthropology, or in other related Social Sciences.

Experience: 

• Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in urban or regional planning, or international development work preferably focused on or strongly involving gender equality and/or Human Rights at national, regional or international levels. 
• Professional experience in project development/ management and coordination, as well as in budget preparation.  
• UN experience is considered an asset.

Language Requirements: 

• Fluency in English is required