UN Women | Human Rights Programme Associate

UN Women Human Rights Programme Associate - Jerusalem, with frequent travel to West Bank Locations

Job Title : UN Women Human Rights Programme Associate
Brand : UNWOMEN
Application Deadline :     23-Mar-16
Duty Station :   Jerusalem, with frequent travel to West Bank Locations    
Languages Required : Arabic, English,
    
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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). UN Women Palestine focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities.
The Women’s Human Rights Programme (WHRP) within the UN Women Palestine office coordinates and cooperates extensively with national stakeholders, civil society, UN sister agencies and international donors, and participates in coordination mechanisms in related fields.  UN Women’s Women Human Rights Programme(WHRP), as part of its approach and methodology within the unique political and social context and situation of the State of Palestine and in order to advance the recognition and enjoyment of women's rights, implements programme interventions aimed at creating and institutionalizing systems, policies, procedures and mechanisms related to the protection and empowerment of women victims of violence, as well as to women’s access to equitable justice.
With funding from the Government of Spain, UN Women has recently launched three new projects that aim to enhance the protection and empowerment of Palestinian women, as follows:
- The ‘CEDAW Palestinian Project’ (2016/2017) is aimed at supporting the CEDAW reporting and implementation process utilizing a harmonized and multi-sectoral human rights approach.
- The ‘Support to Sustainable Protection and Empowerment Services for Women Victims and Survivors of Violence’ (2016) project is aimed at supporting the reintegration of violence against women survivor into the community with specific emphasis of economic empowerment.
- The ‘Engendering Humanitarian Action in Palestine’ (2016) project is part of the humanitarian response programme in oPt and is aimed at implementation of priority actions towards a transformative approach in humanitarian response in support of gender equality, in addition to increasing visibility of the needs and rights of Palestinian women and girls.

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to implement CEDAW obligations and to eliminate Violence Against Women (VAW) as set in the National Strategy to Combat VAW, UN Women supports institutions and civil society to strengthen services for women and girl survivors of violence and to eliminate discrimination against women in the law and practice.

Based on the above, UN Women is currently seeking to hire a Programme Associate to support the implementation of the projects.
Description of Responsibilities:

The Programme Associate will be working under the overall guidance of the UN Women Special Representative the direct supervision of the Women Human Rights Programme (WHRP) Projects Manager and will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities:

- Assist the WHR Projects Manager in the development of project work plans, annual procurement plans, budget work plans and support their implementation as needed;
- Assist in drafting projects’ reports as per UN Women and donor reporting requirements, including internal reports/ project briefs and donor updates/reports;
- Draft partnership agreements with local partners, and support in monitoring agreements, including providing follow-up support on  the implementation of project activities by partners;
- Establish and maintain the projects’ calendar of events, establish and follow-up on projects’ tracking system for keeping track of required actions and deadlines;
- Assist in the organization of workshops, training and other events as identifies in the projects’ work plans;
- Draft visibility and communications materials, including but not limited to press releases, summary of events, success stories, etc.;
- Liaise and follow up with implementing partners and consultants for any matter related to contractual issues, and financial reporting requirements;
- Coordinate and follow up on all procurement activities for the projects;
- Follow up and track status of ongoing procurement contracts including Special Service Agreements (SSAs), professional services agreements, etc.;
- Report to the WHR Projects Manager on status of ongoing/planned procurement processes;
- Creation of e-requisitions in Atlas for the programme and register of goods receipt in Atlas;
- on behalf of the Projects Manager, enter projects in Atlas, prepare  budget revisions, revision of project award and project status, and generating financial reports as required;
- Liaise with UN Women’s Operations Unit on the issuance of contracts/amendments for all procurement and Human Resources cases;
- Follow up with UN Women’s Operations Unit on requests for UN services such as issuance of UNIDs, permits issuance and renewal, visas, etc.;
- Liaise on daily basis with the Finance Associate on all project financial matters;
- Act as the asset focal point for the projects;
- Ensure proper filing for the projects in adherence to UN Women regulations;
- Performance of other duties, as required.

Competencies :

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

- Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
- Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

CORE COMPETENCIES:
- Ethics and Values: Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity;
- Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
- Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Initiative-taking; coaching and mentoring ability;
- Working in Teams: Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
- Communicating Information and Ideas: Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
- Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control.
- Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Managing conflict;
- Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other.

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

Knowledge Management and Learning
- Ability to share knowledge and experience
- Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas,

Development and Operational Effectiveness
- Ability to perform a wide range of varied, inter-related administrative services
- Ability to interpret and analyze data and resolve operational problems, propose solutions
- Ability to work with minimum supervision, and to plan and organize work
- Ability to supervise and train support staff
- Ability to provide inputs to business process re-engineering and development and implementation of new systems

Leadership and Self-Management
- Ability to focus on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
- Ability to organize and prioritize work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines
- Ability to approach work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
- Ability to remain calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
 
Qualifications :

Education:
- Bachelor Degree in Social Studies, Business or Public Administration management or related fields is required.
 
Experience:

- Minimum of 4 years of relevant experience in project/programme implementation and/or management.
- Previous  experience in financial project support.
- Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).
- Experience in handling of web-based management systems is highly desirable.
- Experience in gender/ women empowerment and protection is considered an asset.
- UN experience is considered an asset.

Languages:

- Fluency (both oral and written) in English and Arabic essential.