UN Women: Policy Specialist, Conflict Resolution - New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - Closing Date : 05-Feb-17

UN Women: Policy Specialist, Conflict Resolution - New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - Closing Date : 05-Feb-17

Apply for this job

Location :	New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Application Deadline :	05-Feb-17 (Midnight New York, USA)
Time left :	16d 1h 21m
Type of Contract :	FTA International
Post Level :	P-3
Languages Required :	English
Duration of Initial Contract :	1 year

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 Policy Division develops and implements the UN Women program of work on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to the intergovernmental process, the UN system, and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It identifies emerging issues and trends, and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving the agreed goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice. It also designs and oversees the training and capacity development programs of UN Women, working closely with the UN Women training facility in Santa Domingo. The Peace and Security Section of the Policy Division supports UN Women to fulfill its coordination mandate in the area of peace and security and UN system efforts to promote improved implementation, and monitoring and reporting of global commitments on women and peace and security, including as set out in Beijing Platform for Action and in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015), relevant Statements by the President of the Security Council, as well as related accountability frameworks established by the UN system. In the area of conflict resolution, the Peace and Security Section works to strengthen the capacity of actors engaged in inclusive peacemaking, conflict resolution and national dialogue processes to enhance women’s participation and influence, and to secure gender-equality outcomes.   Reporting to the Policy Specialist, the Policy Specialist, Conflict Resolution will reinforce the development of work within the area of gender and mediation, including policy development and coordination, capacity building interventions and strategic partnerships, and learning and knowledge production and management. She or He will act as an important channel between country and regional offices, and global policy-related work in the areas of gender, conflict resolution and mediation. The Policy Specialist will also contribute to the broader work of the Peace and Security Section.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide substantive support to policy development and coordination: Substantively support the Peace and Security Section in leading the global-level coordination, monitoring, and catalytic programming efforts to advance the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda with regard to gender and peace processes; Produce studies, reports, background papers on the gender and mediation programme in accordance with mandates provided by relevant intergovernmental bodies, highlighting progress and challenges in critical areas and emerging issues as well as preparing options and recommendations for action; Provide inputs to intergovernmental processes and other international fora to help shape the development of global and regional policies, norms and standards and implementation strategies to facilitate and increase women’s participation in, and influence of, mediation and peace processes; Organize expert meetings, panels and other interactive events on relevant issues for intergovernmental processes; Conceptualize and execute action-oriented policy research on national planning and implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325 with a focus on gender and peace processes; Assess implementation bottlenecks and gaps in advancing the women, peace and security agenda with regards to conflict resolution and take appropriate responses whether in terms of policy development and negotiation with relevant stakeholders, or pilot programming interventions. Provide substantive support and capacity building to UN Women field offices: Provide substantive support to UN Women Country Offices, civil society and governmental partners to move forward the participation pillar of the women, peace and security agenda, including through technical assistance, action planning, advocacy and research; Ensure information flow between Country and Regional Offices, and HQ on lessons learned, promising approaches, and good practices of support to women’s participation in peace processes. Provide substantive support to partnership building: Identify relevant actors/forums, and liaise with key international, national, regional, and local civil society and governmental stakeholders to strengthen women’s capacity and solidarity and to facilitate and increase their access, participation and representation to peace processes and to key stakeholders; Develop and solidify partnerships with key stakeholders, including academic institutions, governments and civil society organizations; Strengthen partnerships with other UN entities and international policy making forums to highlight and reinforce accountability mechanisms for the implementation of global policy commitments on women, peace and security, including SCRs 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009),1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015); Represent the Peace and Security Section at internal and external meetings, as delegated. Contribute to the development of knowledge products: Contribute to the development of policy and knowledge products, as appropriate and under the guidance of the Policy Specialist; Provide substantive guidance and technical inputs to ensure the quality of knowledge products and capacity development tools commissioned under the Section’s gender and mediation programme; Provide feedback to UN Women offices on case studies and other related knowledge products and publications as requested and needed; Contribute to the systematic collation of good practices and lessons learned and feed into the WPS Community of Practice; Produce relevant knowledge products to meet UN Women needs and standards of quality. Contribute to the broader work of the Peace and Security Section: Provide support to the development of peace and security related programme and project proposals, and related donor reporting; Contribute to mandated reports and publications as requested; Perform duties as assigned by supervisor. Key Performance Indicators: Quality reports, publications, and studies on Conflict Resolution as well as broader Peace and Security themes; Timely and quality of organization of meetings which leads to development of intergovernmental processes; Quality research which leads to actionable results; Provide timely and quality support to field offices; Number of strong partnerships which lead to results.

Competencies

Core Values: 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. Respect for 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, multi ethnic 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: Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization; Strong communication skills, both written and oral; Strong public speaking skills. Excellent analytical and drafting skills; Strong analytical and problem solving skills; Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all level of the organization; Demonstrate sensitivity, tact and diplomacy, comfortable with handling external relationships at all level; Work in a highly pressured environment; Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability; Excellent understanding of women, peace and security issues.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Master degree (or equivalent) in development related disciplines, gender issues, economics, public policy, law or other social science fields. (Education in Peace and Security is an advantage) is required. Experience: At least 5 years of progressive experience in international development, law, policy analysis, sociological/gender equality or related areas, preferably with work experience from international organizations and/or the United Nations system; Substantial experience of working on policy and advocacy work on women’s human rights and gender equality, including conflict resolution and peacebuilding, with field experience in peace and security contexts an advantage; Experience in planning and coordinating events and activities. Languages: Fluency in English is required; Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset. Application: All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Previous applicants will be reconsidered and do not have to resubmit new application.