PROGRAMME SPECIALIST, ASIA-PACIFIC GENDER MAINSTREAMING PROGRAMME

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s Global Development Network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, employing participatory approaches to developing local solutions to national and global development challenges. UNDP has a longstanding commitment to mainstreaming gender equality and promoting women’s empowerment in its work. As the UN’s lead development agency, with extensive field presence, UNDP has facilitated the integration of gender equality in the work of Country Offices through core and non-core fund investments and has initiated and implemented numerous innovative initiatives, some in partnership with UNIFEM, that support both government and civil society work on gender issues. The Asia-Pacific Regional Centre (APRC) serves countries of the Asia-Pacific. It is a regional hub for development knowledge and expertise, providing policy advisory and capacity development services in Asia and the Pacific. UNDP’s Asia and Pacific Gender Mainstreaming Programme focuses on progressive realization of women’s human rights in the economic, legal and political spheres as guaranteed by CEDAW and other human rights treaties. Gender disparities and discrimination in these areas are brought up for consideration at policy levels, through regional level activities and use of regional public goods. The programme also mainstreams gender into all practice areas of UNDP in a closely coordinated manner in line with UNDP’s Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013 (GES) which seeks to ensure that gender equality be central to the organization’s strategic vision and planning. The Programme Specialist will contribute to management of the programme and provide substantive analytical policy and technical input toward achieving the stated programme objectives. The Programme Specialist will also be responsible for supporting the senior management with regard to quality assurance on development effectiveness and organizational effectiveness in country programme management. The Programme Specialist will report to the Gender Practice Leader, UNDP APRC, Bangkok and will work in close collaboration with all units of the APRC as well as relevant UNDP headquarters units such as the Regional Bureau for Asia Pacific and the Bureau for Development Policy.

Duties and Responsibilities

Policy Advocacy and Advisory Services Provide and organize policy advisory services to the Governments and other partners in the region in the area of gender, in consultation with the relevant Country Office(s); Contribute to the formulation of CO programmes drawing upon lessons from programmes and other initiatives in the region and from global experiences; Provide effective support and backstopping for, and timely feedback and reporting on implementation of programmes in support of the gender architecture; Strengthen internal CO capacity on the use of UNDP corporate practice development frameworks; Promote the utilization of financial resources mobilized and allocated for gender in regional and country programmes and in HQ, thematic trust funds, ensuring that all policy advisors are able to facilitate access to these funds by country offices and regional projects. Programme Management/Implementation Assist the Gender Practice Leader with: Management and implementation of the Asia-Pacific Gender Mainstreaming Programme. Effective application of RBM tools, in monitoring achievement of results. Design and formulation of regional programme components within the area of responsibility, translating UNDP priorities into local interventions. Coordination of programme implementation with the executing agencies. Planning, budgeting, implementing and monitoring of the programme, tracking use of financial resources in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations. Effective monitoring, measuring the impact of the programme and evaluation. Constant monitoring and analysis of the programme environment, timely readjustment of programme. Programme reporting requirements. Partnership Building Develop partnerships and ensure effective coordination with key partners, including UNDP COs and UNDP programmes; other UN agencies; regional organizations; government institutions; bi-lateral organizations; academic institutions the private sector and civil society – based on the strategic goals of UNDP, country needs and donors’ priorities. Support the development of a region-based pool of gender experts with appropriate subject specializations, language skills and field experience. Support the coordination and organization of regional forums/ meetings with key policy makers/government representatives from countries of Asia for advocacy, knowledge networking and capacity strengthening. Ensure and facilitate regular reporting, communication and information exchange on the technical areas among partners, Governments and other stake holders in the region as appropriate. Policy Development Contribute to the development and formulation of regional and global policies, norms and standards with the Gender Team in BDP, NY Contribute experience and expertise to the formulation at the regional and central level of new and evolving global policies, norms and standards. Knowledge Management and Learning Contribute to knowledge capture of national, regional and global know-how in relevant subject areas; Contribute to development of region-wide lessons learnt, best practices and generate knowledge needed and lessons learnt to shape UNDP’s strategies in the region and globally; Contribute to knowledge creation and dissemination related to national, regional and global know-how in the subject area, collaborating and building partnerships with internal and external networks or communities of practice covering prominent experts in government, non-government, think tanks, private agencies, international development organizations and the UN system. Contribute to the organization of events for the Asia-Pacific Gender Community of Practice; and Participate in local Knowledge Management sharing events and support the corporate Knowledge Management agenda.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies: Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards. Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP. Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability. Treats all people fairly without favoritism. Ability to convey difficult issues and positions, proven political judgment, sensitivity to local cultures. Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents. Building support and political acumen. Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member. Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking. Functional Competencies: Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments Policy advocacy Advocates for the inclusion of UNDP’s focus areas in the public policy agenda Brings visibility and sensitizes decision makers to relevant emerging issues Builds consensus concerning UNDP’s strategic agenda with partners on joint initiatives Leverages UNDP’s multidisciplinary expertise to influence the shape of policies and programmes Demonstrates political/cultural acumen in proposing technically sound, fact based approaches/solutions Develops internal organizational policies promoting strategic approaches to UNDP’s focus areas (HQ) Dialogues with national counterparts and other stakeholders to strengthen advocacy efforts, incorporating country, regional and global perspectives Demonstrates cultural sensitivity, political savvy and intellectual capacity in handling disagreements with UNDP’s policy agenda in order to promote and position UNDP in complex environments Conceptual Innovation in the provision of technical expertise Leverages different experiences and expertise of team members to achieve better and more innovative outcomes Leverages multi disciplinary, institutional knowledge and experience of other countries and regions to promote UNDP’s development agenda Develops innovative and creative approaches to meet programme and capacity development objectives Participates in dialogue about conceptual innovation at the country and regional levels Client Orientation Anticipates client needs Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective Solicits feedback on service provision and quality Promoting Organisational Learning and K sharing Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches Identifies new approaches and strategies that promote the use of tools and mechanisms Develops and/or participates in the development of tools and mechanisms, including identifying new approaches to promote individual and organizational learning and knowledge sharing using formal and informal methodologies Building Strategic Partnerships Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda Sensitizes UN Partners, donors and other international organizations to the UNDP’s strategic agenda, identifying areas for joint efforts Develops positive ties with civil society to build/strengthen UNDP’s mandate Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners Displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignments Takes responsibility for achieving agreed outputs within set deadlines and strives until successful outputs are achieved Promotes UNDP’s agenda in inter-agency meetings Results-based Programme Development and Management Provides programmatic, policy and strategic guidance throughout the programming and implementation processes Provides UNDP regional and country level strategic perspectives into UNDG work (HQ) Promotes dialogue with regional institutions, agencies and other partners of regional reach on planned and operational regional and country level activities Leads organizational programme priorities by integrating regional priorities and building consensus in senior management bodies (HQ, RSC) Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting Ability to lead implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects Sets priorities, produces quality outputs, meets deadlines and manages time efficiently

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Masters degree or equivalent in a discipline relevant to development and/or gender equality. Work Experience: At least 7 years post-graduate experience of extensive field and programming within development and or/gender Experience in the area of gender and Poverty Reduction. Experience in programming gender responsive methods Work experience in the Asia-Pacific region Experience with UNDP and UN system policies is an asset. Language Requirement: Fluency and excellent analytical writing skills in English. Language skills in an Asia-Pacific regional language preferred but not mandatory. REMARK: WOMAN CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

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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.