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.

The Spotlight Initiative is a global initiative of the United Nations which has received generous support from the European Union. Its aim is to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. The Initiative represents an unprecedented global effort to invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment as a precondition and driver for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan is fostering legal reforms, strengthening capacities of the respective institutions
and women’s movements, promoting gender-equitable attitudes, and enhancing systems for collecting data on violence against women and girls.

The Spotlight Regional Programme partners with a broad range of actors, including civil society, donors, practitioners, academia, and media, to facilitate the elimination of harmful practices and advocate further gender transformation in the region. For more detailed information about the Programme, please refer to www.spotlightinitiative.org. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The Spotlight Project Expert will provide support to the effective implementation of the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan Phase II under the Pillars 1,2, 3 and 5 managed by UN Women by actively assisting in timely and quality achievement of Programme’s outcomes and implementation of planned interventions. The incumbent reports directly to the UN Women Project Officer responsible for the Pillars 1,2,3 and 5. She/he will provide substantive support in the daily implementation, monitoring, reporting and coordination functions in line with UN Women rules and regulations. S/he will also provide programmatic and administrative assistance for the smooth Programme’s implementation.

Under the guidance, the incumbent will ensure effective communication between UN Women’s Spotlight Initiative Programme team and the Resident Coordinator’s Office, Programme Unit, Programme Coordinator, Recipient United Nations Organisations (UNDP and UNFPA), International and National Consultants, Civil Society Organisations, service provides and other partners in Central Asia and Afghanistan. 

Substantive Project Support:

  • Provide programmatic support to the UN Women Project Officer and the Programme team;
  • Support timely and quality achievement of results and delivery of project activities in line with Programme document and the Phase II proposal, annual workplan, and budget;
  • Provide the necessary assistance in development, updating, and implementation of the Programme’s annual work plan, support the Project Officer in managing vendors and consultants workplans’ implementation;
  • Contribute to the preparation of status and progress reports by collecting information, preparing tables and drafting selected sections;
  • Draft drafts of Terms of References, concept notes, agendas, and other programmatic documents;
  • Draft formal and informal correspondence, keep the necessary flow of correspondence and maintain contacts database;
  • Maintain accurate and up-to-date filing system for the documents, keeps information and reference material in a manner which allows easy retrieval;
  • Communicate with partners, vendors, consultants concerning the Programme, responding directly where appropriate;
  • Prepare unofficial translations and act as an interpreter where necessary.

Mission logistics and Workshop logistics:

  • Assist in organizing meetings, workshops, conferences and missions;
  • Ensure timely logistical support in coordination with the UN Women Operations unit;
  • Provide logistical and administrative support and prepare background materials for use in events, workshops, seminars, training sessions, meetings, visiting missions, field trips, etc.

Travel arrangements:

  • Coordinate and assist in making travel arrangements for participants of events, programme team in connection with their domestic and international programme-related travels;
  • Prepare Requests for Services and Payments in accordance with UN Women rules and procedures.

Communication support:

  • Draft external correspondence with projects’ partners and stakeholders, maintain files and assist in the preparation of documentation in advance of and following meetings;
  • Draft inputs for the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme and UN Women social media posts on Pillars implementation and achievements where necessary, file developed communication products and required consent forms accordingly;
  • Assist in acquisition of letters of co-financing and support from stakeholders.

 Procurement and financial support:

  • Assist in procurement and recruitment processes through drafting necessary documentation in line with the UN Women standards and deadlines;
  • Arrange procurement of equipment, supplies and services in accordance with the Work Plan and UN Women policies and procedures;
  • Provide support in monitoring of programmatic budget for timely and quality budget execution and achievement of at least 85% of financial delivery of entrusted Pillars 1,2,3 and 5 by the end of the fiscal year.  

Other tasks:

  • Provide coordination support to the Project Officer between programme’s Pillars;
  • Perform all necessary services such as photocopying, dealing with mail; filing, etc.;
  • Perform other duties as may be required;
  • Participate in other initiatives and projects for effective UN Women’s mandate implementation in the country.

Competencies

Core values:

  • Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
  • Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments,;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Core competencies:

  • Excellent communication skills, including the ability to convey complex concepts and recommendations, both orally and in writing, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences;
  • Ability to, interact, establish and maintain effective working relations with a culturally diverse team, as a team member, to build trust, and to manage in a deliberate, transparent and predictable way;
  • Ability to establish and maintain productive partnerships with national partners and stakeholders and pro-activeness in identifying of beneficiaries and partners’ needs and matching them to appropriate solutions.
  • Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
  • Accountability
  • Creative Problem Solving
  • Effective Communication
  • Inclusive Collaboration
  • Stakeholder Engagement
  • Leading by Example

Functional competencies

  • Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities aimed at effective and efficient functioning of the project team including logistical support;
  • Creates, edits and presents information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality;
  • Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
  • Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
  • Ability to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client's perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly;
  • Ability to administer and execute financial processes and transactions;
  • Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
  • Ability to observe deadlines and achieving results.

Required Skills and Experience

 Recruitment Qualifications

Education:

 

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in social and philology sciences, finance, business or public administration, international development, or a related field is required;
  • Specialized trainings/ certificates in the related fields is an asset.

 

Experience:

  • At least 5 years of relevant administrative or project management support experience at the national or regional level;
  • Experience working in an environment requiring liaison and collaboration with multiple actors including government and civil society organizations’ representatives, donors and other stakeholders is an asset;
  • Excellent inter-personal, communication and organizational skills;
  • Ability to work to tight deadlines and to handle multiple concurrent project components;
  • Excellent computer skills (especially Microsoft office applications) and ability to use information technology as a tool and resource;
  • Experience in the area of gender equality and the empowerment of women is an asset;
  • Experience with the UN or international organization is an asset;
  • Knowledge of UN Standard Operational Procedures and Atlas is a strong asset;
  • Knowledge of the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan is an asset;
  • Experience with Enterprise Resource Planning tools is an asset.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in Russian/ Kazakh and English is required;

 

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, hires, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by applicable law. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational needs.

 If you require any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information with your application.

 UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of power and discrimination. All selected candidates will be required to adhere to UN-Women's policies