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Gender Equality Facility Project Associate

Sarajevo

  • Organization: UNWOMEN - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
  • Location: Sarajevo
  • Grade: Consultancy - SB-3 (SC6/SC7), Service Contract, Local Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Administrative support
    • Women's Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
    • Project and Programme Management
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

UNWOMEN is 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. UNWOMEN does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks

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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action globally. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) progress in recent years respecting and promoting Gender Equality is highlighted in a series of international commitments and in national legal and policy frameworks. The main achievements in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment reside in BiH institutional capacity development for the work on gender equality. Indeed, the legal provisions guaranteeing women’s rights and gender equality are largely in place – the Gender Equality Law, the Gender Action Plan, the Election Law amendment instituting quotas, the Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325, and the ratification of the Istanbul Convention are normative achievements that influence the institutional practice in promoting gender equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

However, BiH still copes with deep-rooted, patriarchal stereotypes regarding the role and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society at large. Women in BiH face a particularly precarious reality – they are excluded from the political and decision-making processes; they have disproportionately limited access to employment and many of them are subjected to violence. Gaps in the policy development and slow implementation of the adopted legislation constitute important structural obstacles to achieving gender equality. Improvements are needed in both strengthening institutional capacities and enhancing cooperation between the gender mechanisms and the key ministries and the civil society organizations in order to increase gender mainstreaming in all aspect of government work, primarily policy development and budgeting as the means for achieving gender equality.

As the Government of BiH prepares itself to align with the broader EU Acquis in a wide range of sectors, it is prioritizing investment in particular sectors with specific areas of social and economic reform, providing for adoption of a comprehensive sector-based approach to development. BiH is currently in the very important stage of the EU candidacy. The country has been asked to fill out comprehensive questionnaire, based on which the next stages of the integration process will be crafted, IPA programming process is becoming more intensive and structured, and harmonization with the EU acquis.

The EU funded Gender Equality Facility (GEF) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is based on the Action Document for the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) for the year 2018 “EU Gender Equality Facility”, entrusted for direct management and implementation to the UN Women in BiH.

GEF aims at strengthening the effective implementation of domestic and international legal frameworks concerning gender equality and women’s rights, mainstreaming gender into EU integration and planning processes for pre-accession assistance and strengthening institutional mechanisms for gender equality in line with the EU standards. Furthermore, GEF will support institutions in correctly aligning with the EU Gender Equality acquis. The focus of the project intervention is on the role and functioning of institutional mechanisms for gender equality and their engagement in all aspects of the EU integration and planning and implementation of pre-accession assistance. Support includes the strengthening of the BiH Agency for Gender Equality (AGE), the FBiH Gender Centre, the Gender Action Plan (GAPs) Coordination Committees and civil servants tasked with providing gender expertise in sectoral areas (gender and IPA focal points in ministries), and also the enhancement of capacities for implementing and monitoring GAPs and other relevant policies at state and entity level. The intervention will address challenges in implementation of laws and gender equality policies through support to the institutions mandated for gender equality and between coordination and monitoring of gender equality policies and measures.

UN Women Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina is seeking to recruit GEF Project Associate who will work under the direct supervision of the GEF Project Manager, overall supervision of the Representative and Director of BiH Agency for Gender Equality, and in close collaboration with the UN Women BiH CO Programme Specialist, UN Women CO team and team of the Agency for Gender Equality, Government officials, media, multilateral and bilateral donors and civil society.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Support to project implementation, ensuring quality of business processes:

  • Ensures that documents related to project implementation are prepared in line with UN Women and EU standards, rules and regulations;
  • Coordinates HR, procurement and finance procedures for the project according to the UN Women and EU rules and regulations;
  • Assists in the organization of field visits, missions, workshops, training, roundtables and conferences within the project;
  • Maintains and updates all administrative, personnel and financial files and records as well as general office files related to the project;
  • Assists in preparation of draft job descriptions, vacancy announcements, requests for recruitments, interview minutes and requests for contract as well as supports all procurement processes within the project;
  • Maintains the inventory of project assets/equipment and project correspondence and files;
  • Ensures completion of monthly leave reports and attendance records of project staff;
  • Prepares vehicle and security request;
  • Performs any other duties as requested by the supervisor.

2. Support to project financial monitoring and management:

  • Prepares and processes all project related financial transactions in online corporate management system, such as vouchers, requisitions, purchase orders, customer/vendor info updates, project budget revisions;
  • Supports periodic and ad-hoc financial reporting to UN Women and other parties, as needed;
  • Supports the project management in monitoring expenditures and commitments against project budget and relevant plans;
  • Provides finance-related data to support project implementation, planning and reporting;
  • Assists team members, experts and consultants, in liaison with UN Women Operations, on financial and other operational matters.

3. Support to project planning:

  • Collects, analyses and presents information for monitoring and evaluation of project implementation against project targets;
  • Compiles and designs background information for formulation of project work plans, draft annual/quarterly budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements, draft of quarterly project reports;
  • Monitors quality of delivery of inputs provided by the consultants, beneficiaries and contracted companies and communicates findings to the supervisor;
  • Maintains timetables for the Project Board meetings and provides support to organizing and holding the meetings, including the preparation and dissemination of information and follow-up.

4. Support to knowledge building and knowledge sharing:

  • Participates in the trainings for the operations/projects staff on relevant rules and procedures and organizes briefings for the project staff where necessary on new internal procedures;
  • When necessary, provides guidance to project staff in business processes, administrative and other requirements and procedures;
  • Contributes to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Impact of Results:

The overall objective of UN Women work on the Gender Equality Facility Project is to increase BiH compliance with international gender equality commitments and EU gender equality acquis by supporting institutional mechanisms for gender equality and key personnel mandated for European integrations and gender equality to perform their mandates efficiently. 

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, multiethnic 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 extract, interpret, analyze data and resolve operational problems;
  • Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;
  • Ability to support a team and team building skills;
  • Strong IT skills and ability to apply it consistently in work tasks;
  • Good knowledge of administrative rules and regulations, organizational policies and procedures related to the position and ability to apply it consistently in work tasks;
  • Focus on results and positive response to feedback;
  • Attention to detail;
  • Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
  • Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches;
  • Reports to internal and external partners in a timely and appropriate fashion;
  • Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet partners and donors needs and deadlines;
  • Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships within the work unit and with internal and external partners;
  • Responds to partners needs promptly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Secondary Education;
  • University Degree in Business, Administration and Finance, would be desirable, but it is not a requirement;

Experience:

  • A minimum of 6 years (with secondary education) or 3 years (with BA) of professional experience is required;
  • Demonstrated project experience will be highly valued as well as the previous work on topics related to gender equality, human rights and/or European integrations;
  • Experience with the EU and UN standards related to the project cycle management and monitoring, and evaluation of projects is required;
  • Previous experience working with UN or other international organizations will be considered an asset.

Language requirements:

  • Excellent English and B/S/C language skills, both written and oral. 
This vacancy is now closed.
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