Gender and Development Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works in approximately 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequality and exclusion. The programme helps countries to develop policies, leadership and partnership skills, institutional capacities, and to build resilience to sustainable development results. UNDP implements several projects in different areas, offering its partners technical, operational and management assistance through access to methodologies, specialized knowledge, specialized advice and technical cooperation through its Global Policy Network. UNDP in Guyana is guided by a Country Programme Document (currently Country Programme 2022-2026, as approved by the Executive Board in February 2022), which is in line with the strategic priorities of the Government of Guyana, enshrined in key strategies and plans, including the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS 2030). UNDP continues to support Guyana in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and an agenda that focuses on i) building a diversified and resilient productive sector, with emphasis on job creation and support to small-medium businesses; (ii) supporting effective governance, safety, security and the rule of law; (iii) environmental management and resilience; (iv) enhancing and expanding social services, particularly in education and health and including support for the national COVID-19 recovery programmes. More specifically, in this new Country Programme, support to Amerindian Communities, which are aimed at leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first, are undertaken in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Amerindian Affairs (MoAA), National Toshaos’ Council, Amerindian Village Councils and Communities and other key stakeholders. Planned/ongoing activities cover livelihood opportunities, land tenure, energy services and extending internet connectivity.

Context

Approximately 80% of the initiatives in the current programme cycle are either directly or indirectly linked to climate action, environmental management and resilience. Some of these include, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation by supporting Guyana’s forest peoples, the Indigenous Peoples, in access to sustainable livelihood opportunities (US$10.5 mln) and land rights (US$5.9 mln); framework for mainstreaming biodiversity in gold-mining (US$4.5 mln); mainstreaming low emissions technology towards the Guyana’s energy transition to renewable sources (US$1.5 mln); institutional strengthening for natural resources management; and support for gender-responsive approaches to climate and environmental resilience. These initiatives are in direct response to national priorities as captured in the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and the development needs of Guyana, a low-lying coastal state that is 1.5 metres below sea level. In addition, in keeping with UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and more specially the Signature Solution on Gender Equality, UNDP in Guyana conducted a gender portfolio review, which produced recommendations for the mainstreaming of gender equality across projects and portfolios. The Country Office is also a Recipient UN Organization under the global United Nations-European Union Spotlight Initiative, which seeks to end violence against women and girls. It is envisioned that the International UN Youth Volunteer will provide direct support to UNDP in Guyana in the continued implementation of the recommendations of the Gender Portfolio review, the gender equality signature solution and other related actions to mainstream gender across the programme portfolio.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Analyst (Environment, Energy and Extractive Industries and the Gender Focal Point of the Country Office, the UN Youth Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Gender mainstreaming in development projects In consultation with the Programme Team and Strategic Management Analyst, • Review the recommendations of the gender portfolio review (2019); • Provide suggestions for the updating of the gender portfolio report and its rec-ommendations; • Following the trend in the report, support the completion of similar reviews for new development projects that are not captured in the report; • In line with UNDP's Signature Solution on Gender Equality, support the design of a gender mainstreaming framework to inform project designs and project documents; • Support gender analyses of strategic and related project documents; • Review documents (reports, action plans, etc) with gender lens and incorporate gender framework. 2. Project Support • Provide project support to the implementation of Pillar 5 of the Spotlight Initia-tive, the Women in Disaster Risk Reduction and EnGender Projects in Guyana. 3. Gender training, including for national counterparts • Contribute to training for UNDP staff and national counterparts, including at lo-cal level on gender mainstreaming, gender sensitive, gender responsive and gender transformative programming or other requested gender-related topics. 4. Gender-related communication, Research, Codification of Knowledge • Formulate gender stories and results in line with corporate guidelines • Conduct research, synthesize best practices and codify project experiences on the ground in comprehensive knowledge products with lessons learned and step-by-step guidance for replication.