Coordination and Partnerships Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

Update

Context

The office presently leads the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda in Sri Lanka. With regard to the WPS Agenda, UN Women recognizes that ongoing and emerging conflicts have devastating consequences, including the widening of development gaps between women and men. Women frequently make up the bulk of displaced and refugee populations and are disproportionately targeted for sexual violence. UN Women acts to build women’s participation and influence in decision-making to prevent and resolve conflicts and works towards more inclusive and peaceful societies. UN Women’s programmes on women, peace and security are guided by a series of commitments to women’s rights. Other key reference points are the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Following the aftermath of nearly three decades of conflict in 2009, UN Women aims to ensure that peacebuilding initiatives in Sri Lanka include leveraging women’s capacities and contributions, and developing strategies for inclusion which recognize their roles, and diverse experiences of conflict. The most challenging gap that remains concerns the participation of women in peace processes and post-conflict political transitions. This is particularly relevant in the context of women’s political participation in Sri Lanka, where the gender gap is the widest when compared to other development indices. Moreover, decades of armed conflict brought a major transformation in women’s roles in society. With the large loss or disappearances of spouses, over 1.2 million women became heads of households and were left to cope with the loss of family members, death and disappearance of income earners, and displacement unassisted. This has resulted in intersectional vulnerabilities and exploitation of women directly and indirectly affected by conflict. Poverty, discrimination based on gender, multiple responsibilities of women, little to limited support structures, insecurity, vulnerable forms of employment, indebtedness, limited access to basic services, goods and resources, and the extent of trauma undergone converge to increase the likelihood of exploitation and re-victimization, particularly through sexual exploitation and sexual bribery. Additionally, both the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka have had and continue to have devastating consequences, and women and girls have been noted as being among those most at risk. On 27 February 2023, Sri Lanka adopted its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP WPS), for the period 2023 - 2027. It was developed with technical support from UN Women as part of a joint partnership between the Government of Japan and the Government of Sri Lanka. It aims to provide targeted support for women who have been, and continue to be, directly harmed by conflict, violence and climate insecurity. In addition, it aims to strengthen the security of marginalized women and girls, and the economic empowerment of women through access to equal opportunities and resources. The Plan also aims to strengthen coordination between stakeholders of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, which is vital to sustainable peace and development in Sri Lanka. UN Women will be supporting the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment on the coordination, implementation and monitoring of the NAP WPS.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Office – UN Women Sri Lanka, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: Coordination on WPS:  Assist the UN Women team in liaising and coordinating with key stakeholders (including UN Agencies, development partners, civil society) on the roll-out and implementation of the NAP WPS.  Contribute to the planning and organizing of stakeholder discussions, conferences, advocacy/outreach and other initiatives at the national and local level on the NAP WPS.  Support in identifying capacity building needs of government and non-government stakeholders on gender mainstreaming, gender-responsive governance and advancing the WPS Agenda.  Support in organizing capacity development/training initiatives on the abovementioned areas.  Contribute to briefing materials, presentations, advocacy products, planning and other documents for internal and external audiences.  Support the UN Women team in disseminating and sharing resources, good practices and lessons learnt among key stakeholders, including creating a repository of GEWE/WPS material. Strategic partnerships and resource mobilization:  Assist the UN Women team in the development and strengthening of partnerships with UN agencies, government institutions, civil society, development partners and other stakeholders on advancing GEWE in Sri Lanka;  Participate and provide support in managing activities and other promotional events to engage the abovementioned stakeholders to expand interest and commitment to GEWE through UN Women programmes and joint UN system programmes;  Contribute to the preparation of background documents and analysis to forge and implement strategic partnerships to increase outreach on UN Women’s work in country;  Support in resource mobilization efforts to further UN Women’s engagement on the WPS Agenda and GEWE in Sri Lanka.  Contribute to strengthening partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in liaising with the Gender Advisor at JICA Sri Lanka;  Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:  Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);  Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;  Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities; Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;  Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;  Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.