Gender Specialist

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.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are key to sustainable human development. Building resilient societies based on gender equality and respect for human rights are central to UNDP’s mandate to promote gender-responsive sustainable development. UNDP works closely with governments, and national and sub-national institutions to support integration of gender-related concerns in their development agendas aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. UNDP Somalia is currently composed of four programme portfolios: Rule of Law and Security (ROLS); Inclusive Politics (IP); Resilience and Climate Change (RCC); Economic Recovery and Institutional Development (ERID). Gender and youth are cross-cutting areas of the UNDP Programme. All four portfolios are implemented from Mogadishu, two (2) Area Offices in Somaliland and Puntland, with projects level presence in Jubaland, Galmudug, Southwest and Hirshebelle States and (1) liaison office in Nairobi, Kenya. UNDP Somalia’s efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment have been guided by a Gender Equality Strategy 2022- 2025 to achieve relevant and sustainable gender equality results via twin–track approach. Targeted initiatives contribute to reducing existing disparities, whilst strong mechanisms for mainstreaming are part of each of the four portfolios.

The Country Program Document (2021- 2025) is designed to support the efforts of Somalia to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals as articulated in the National Development Plan 2020-2024 (NDP-9). The Country Programme Document (CPD) is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) in content, structure, and timelines. UNDP Country Programme is contributing to the national development priorities through three interlinked and mutually reinforcing development results, namely: 1. Effective Governance, Inclusive Politics and Reconciliation; 2. Enhanced Security, Rule of Law and Access to Justice; and 3. Sustainable Management of Natural Resources for Inclusive Economic Growth. These are being achieved through integrated programmatic approaches, with emphasis on sustainable capacity development; gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment; human rights-based approach; environmental sustainability; humanitarian-development-peace nexus; coherent policy support; local area-based programming; risk/conflict sensitive programming; and partnerships.

In order to ensure an adequate impact of gender mainstreaming and consolidate an enabling environment for institutional effectiveness to deliver gender-responsive and sustainable results, the CO intends to hire Gender Specialist based in Mogadishu, Somalia.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the overall guidance of the Resident Representative and the direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative for Programmes, and work closely with colleagues and teams in UNDP and other UN Agencies represented in Somalia. The Gender Specialist will provide strategic policy advice and support to the Senior Management and will develop and roll out an implementation plan on gender across the work of the CO to ensure that gender equality is effectively mainstreamed within all programme and operational areas and that the gender focus of the CPD achieves maximum impact.

Key duties and accountabilities include:

Provides Strategic Policy Advice and Coordination, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Support the CO Senior Management in building strong institutional commitment and leadership to implement UNDP’s Gender Equality Strategy for Somalia and in ensuring that gender focus within the country office is well articulated, communicated, and supported by all spheres of operations and programming.
• Provide guidance to UNDP programmes to ensure that a sound gender analysis informs programme design and implementation, identify strategic actions to be undertaken to improve the quality of programme implementation and ensure achievement of related results.
• Ensure coordinated approaches across programmes and review associated implementation challenges on a regular basis with a view to overcoming bottlenecks
• Advocate and promote more gender-balanced composition of CO; with a special focus on attracting, retaining and promoting qualified Somali women in UNDP within the CO and beyond. 
• Substantial contribution to the preparation of and launch of national and regional gender reports and thematic contributions to the sub-national, National, regional and inter-agency initiatives related to gender issues.
• Representation of UNDP in different working groups and interagency working groups on Gender, as requested by CO Senior Management
• Support CO Management with Identifying and following up on strategic opportunities for partnerships and resource mobilization and build strong partnerships with donor agencies in Somalia focusing on gender issues.

• Finalise Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan for UNDP-Somalia and ensure that gender focus within the country office is aligned with the corporate Gender Equality Strategy (2022-25)

Provides Programme Development and Management advice, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Identify opportunities and lead in the conceptualization of strategic programme interventions that respond to the needs and concerns of women and men in Somalia and are in line with the UNDP’s Somalia Country Programme Document, UNDP’s Gender Equality Strategy and Gender Equality 10-Point Action Plan for Crisis Countries.  
• Support implementation of strategic programme interventions across Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
• Provide advice on appropriate gender-sensitive indicators in the CPD results and resources framework and support colleagues in the monitoring and reporting of programme results/outputs and objectives against agreed indicators, in close collaboration with M/E specialist.
• Support programme and project teams with effective application and reporting of the Gender Marker and ensure that staff are equipped to sustainably mainstream gender equality objectives/goals in all CO strategies, projects and programmes.
• Monitor political, economic and social developments, trends and issues affecting women’s rights in Somalia, producing analytic reports and informing a strategic response to opportunities and challenges within the context of UNDP’s programmes in Somalia.
• Support knowledge building and knowledge sharing within the country office on gender equality
• Review the ongoing programmes and projects and advise on possible areas for UNDP support and adjustment to ensure that UNDP programmes are in line with national gender policies and priorities.
• Provide guidance and advisory support to UNDP in the development and implementation of UNDP projects and where relevant joint UN programmes in support of international and national commitments on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
• Work closely and facilitate partnership with UNSOM, UN, UNFPA, UNICEF and other UN agencies working in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment to ensure complementarity and avoid overlap.

Provides advocacy and Partnership building advice, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Ensure the leading role of UNDP in fora and meetings related to gender equality (e.g. RBAS Gender Focal Persons (GFP), Gender Theme Group (GTG), SGBV Working group and others).
• Participate in and represent UNDP in activities to highlight key gender equality and women’s human rights issues and advocate for the integration of gender equality issues into the development agenda. 
• Maintain relationships with UNDP’s partners including donors, government agencies, and NGOs, on matters related to the promotion of national commitments to gender equality with a view to ensuring strategic partnerships and strengthening collaboration. 
• Initiate and coordinate strategic advocacy activities to maximize support of the UN system, government and civil society partners on gender equality in line with international commitments.
• Advise on, advocate for, and facilitate UNDP’s efforts in forging strategic partnerships at the national and local levels to promote gender equality, women’s advancement and women’s representation.

Facilitates knowledge building and knowledge sharing as required by the organization, focusing on the following results:

• Review and document lessons learned and recommendations for policy dialogue, public advocacy and future programming and organize the dissemination of learning by engaging the Country Office Community of Practice
• Monitor and report on the implementation of the CO Gender Equality Strategy and action plan
• Organization and conduct of training on gender advancement, gender equality, women’s empowerment, women’s issues, and social development thematic areas related to UNDP’s Gender Strategic Plan in the Country Office.
• Maintain conducive relationships with UNDP’s partners including donors, government agencies, and NGOs, on matters related to gender equality with a view to ensuring strategic partnerships and strengthening collaboration. 
• Contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice at regional and global levels
• Promote South-South and Triangular cooperation to benefit from best practices on gender mainstreaming across portfolios and projects

Lead Gender Equality Seal process for Somalia CO:

• Support Co Sr Management in leading the process of Gender Seal attainment by engaging gender focal points from programme and operations units
• Lead CO gender team (community of practice Gender and Resilience)
• Facilitate development of the CO Gender Equality Seal Action Plan and monitor its progress.
• Lead the process of consolidating indicators for the Gender Equality Seal process.
• Facilitate learning sessions for colleagues from programme and operations
• Coordinate with RBAS and HQ gender and gender equality seal teams.

COMPETENCIES

Core Competencies:

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, 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 complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

People Management Competencies:

• UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

2030 Agenda - People: Gender

• UNDP's Gender Equality Seal Initiative
• Gender and Institutional Development
• Gender Corporate Reporting
• Gender Issues & Analysis
• Gender Mainstreaming

Business Management: Working with Evidence and Data

• Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making

Business Management: Communication

• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.

Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• A Master’s Degree or equivalent in Gender studies, Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, or a related field is required.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills:

• Minimum 7 Years of experience in mainstreaming gender in projects and programmes, especially in the specific area of intervention, notably in the sphere of Economics.
• Solid knowledge of result-based management and project implementation.
• Good analytical skills and writing skills.
• Experience in Somalia’s development context is an asset.
• Experience in the Muslim world and in dealing with traditional legal systems an advantage
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc)
• Experience in working for international organisations and/or UNDP is highly desirable;
• Language proficiency in written and oral English is required.

Desirable:

• Deep understanding of current and emerging gender equality challenges in the Arab States region;
• Previous experience with UNDP or other UN agencies, preferably in the Arab States region;
• Demonstrated comprehensive understanding and knowledge of UNDP’s work including current guidelines and project management tools;
• Influencing and negotiation skills;
• Knowledge of Somalia or Arabic language is desirable.

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

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