BACKGROUND

UNDP 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.

UNDP 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.

The Presidential, Parliamentary and Local council elections in Sierra Leone will be held on 24 June 2023. The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) and other election management bodies (EMBs) have advanced the preparation for the elections increasing venues for multi-stakeholders’ engagement in the electoral process. The electoral environment in Sierra Leone remains fragile raising the state institutions and stakeholders’ commitment for further promoting organization of inclusive, and fully transparent elections in 2023. Misinformation and hate speech used in the electoral process had been considered as a principal factor undermining the conduct of peaceful elections in Sierra Leone. Despite improving the national legislation by adopting the 2020 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy and introducing the ECSL Gender and Disability polices, yet gender affirmative action plan to be adopted to further promote women’ participation in electoral process.

Despite significant achievements made in improving the electoral legislation and other related regulatory policies, frameworks in Sierra Leone, the EMBs and other state actors engaged in administration of elections require technical assistance for enhancing administrative processes to deliver peaceful and credible elections. Over the years, UNDP Sierra Leone was instrumental in providing electoral support to the EMBs and advancing engagement of vulnerable groups such as women, youth and persons with disabilities in electoral processes. Promoting coordination and strengthening of conflict prevention mechanisms in the electoral process were the primary objectives of the UNDP technical support projects. Following the request made by the ECSL, a new UN Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) was deployed to Sierra Leone in December 2020 which recommended the United Nation’s engagement in a number of electoral areas including providing of technical assistance to the ECSL and the Political Party Registration Commission (PPRC) and strengthening of early warning and conflict prevention mechanisms established under the management of national security sector. The UNDP Election Project “Fostering Peaceful, Credible and Inclusive Elections in Sierra Leone 2022-2023” (election project) was established in June 2022 to assist the EMBs in the organization of peaceful and inclusive elections in Sierra Leone. The project includes a component funded under the UN Peacebuilding fund (PBF) aimed at promoting a peaceful environment towards the elections and supporting state institutions and security sector to mitigate and prevent conflicts before and after the elections.

The Gender and Inclusion Specialist works under the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Specialist.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The UNDP election project is seeking to engage a Gender and Inclusion Specialist to provide high level advise to national stakeholders on promoting inclusive electoral processes and support strengthening of coordination of gender and disability initiatives among different electoral stakeholders.

Support implementation of the gender and inclusion activities comprised in the election and PBF projects:

  • Coordinate implementation of the gender and Inclusion component of the election and UN PBF projects in line with the project documents.
  • Ensure the coordination of gender and inclusion activities and public outreach messaging among stakeholders.
  • Work with ECSL, Commissions, CSO and State Institutions to hold gender and Inclusion meetings.
  • Develop capacity through support for mentoring and coaching as these skills are applied to key contemporary issues.

Support the design and carry out a gender-responsive and inclusive public outreach campaign for the 2023 elections:

  • Work with the national state institutions to coordinate the project activities designed to enhance the gender and inclusion components in the 2023 elections.
  • Advise on drafting gender, youth and disability responsive public outreach messages in close coordination with national stakeholders.
  • Provide policy advice and expert support for the development of policy recommendations to address gaps in achieving the preconditions for gender and inclusion.
  • Support the organization of awareness-raising events at the national and local level on the disability inclusion and rights of people with disabilities and other relevant areas to support knowledge building and exchange of best practices.
  • Support the ECSL to organize voter awareness sessions on electoral procedures for citizens with speaking and hearing impairments using sign language interpreters.

Support the development and roll-out of a national campaign on gender equality and women’s rights to equal participation in public life:

  • Undertake analysis of relevant developments related to the project focus areas, including elections, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, voter education, and women’s empowerment.
  • Recommend necessary actions and adjustments to project activities.
  • Support developing gender-related briefs for consultations with observers, and political parties highlighting women’s participation in the political processes.
  • Support designing and rolling out a gender capacity-building program for political parties and candidates.
  • Support organization of training courses for political parties on electoral laws and gender policies.

Support promoting participation of women and youth groups and persons with disabilities in different phases of the electoral process:

  • Assist in the development of ToRs for hiring of CSOs through the small grants scheme.
  • Mainstream gender & inclusion throughout the recruitment process, including but not limited to undertaking necessary interventions and providing relevant inputs for highlighting gender and inclusion-related issues.
  • Support set up and advancing of a Youth Lab activity aimed at increasing participation of youth in the electoral process.
  • Support development of strategies to ensure gender-disaggregated data is collected and collated by the ECSL according to the monitoring and evaluation framework.
  • Support the ECSL in the training of Ward Election Education Committees (WEECs) and organization of the ECSL’s Gender and Disability Stakeholders coordination groups meetings at the districts level.

Project Reporting:

  • Contribute to quarterly and annual project reports.
  • Provide inputs to electoral updates prepared by the project.
  • Work closely with the project communication specialist to ensure the highest visibility of the project activities.
  • Contribute to the implementing partner organizations reports with the primary focus on gender and inclusion.

COMPETENCIES

Core Competencies:

  • Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have a lasting impact
  • Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, and develop new ideas to solve complex problems
  • Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
  • Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
  • Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
  • Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate the complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
  • Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate the benefits of a diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

Business Direction and Strategy - Strategic Thinking:

  • Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.

Negotiation & Influence – Negotiation:

  • Ability to reach an understanding, persuade others, resolve points of difference, gain an advantage in the outcome of dialogue, negotiates mutually acceptable solutions through compromise and creates in-in-situations

Build Capability – Empowerment:

  • Identify and develop talent in individuals, providing positive support to enable them to achieve their potential
  • Foster learning or development of others by giving feedback, guidance, and support; support career development of others

Business management - Risk management:

  • Ability to identify and organize action around mitigating and proactively managing risks

Knowledge Generation – Knowledge:

  • Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content, or responsive to a stated need

Business management – Partnerships Management:

  • Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies

Business management Communication:

  • Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose 4 communication methods depending on the audience
  • Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

QUALIFICATIONS

Education

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in gender studies, anthropology, sociology, social welfare, development studies or a related field, with a focus on international development, gender or human rights.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills

  • Minimum 7  years of relevant experience in electoral assistance and gender mainstreaming,
  • Proven experienced in needs assessment planning and implementation.
  • Experience working with the UNDP or other international organizations supporting gender and human rights or international development, specifically related to the promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment
  • Knowledge and understanding of crisis prevention, preparedness, response and recovery; resilience; stabilization; transition; etc.); international crisis response architecture (including humanitarian system; peacekeeping operations; special political missions; etc.); gender equality in the context of programming in humanitarian and early recovery settings) and relevant policy and tools
  • Work experience with security sector institutions is an advantage.

Language requirements:

  • Proficiency in oral and written English.

Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

UNDP Disclaimer for FTA/TA International Posts

Important information for US Permanent Residents (‘Green Card’ holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Scam warning

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

At Impactpool we do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.