UNIFEM| GENDER EXPERT

Location:occupied Palestinian territory
Application Deadline:October 15, 2010
Additional Category:Millennium Development Goals
Type of Contract:SSA
Languages Required:Arabic    English
Starting Date:November 1, 2010
Duration of Initial Contract:1 November 2010 - 31 December 2011
Expected Duration of Assignment:14 months

Background

In December 2006, UNDP and the Government of Spain signed an agreement to establish a new fund, the MDGs Achievement Fund (MDG-F), to accelerate efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, and to support UN reform efforts at the country level. The Fund will operate through the UN development system and finance, typically, collaborative UN activities that leverage the clear value-added of the UN in the sector and country concerned, particularly where the UN’s collective strength is harnessed in order to address multi-dimensional development challenges. In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), the MDG-F will intervene in a number of thematic areas, including Culture and Development.
MDG-F Programme on Culture and Development: In the (oPt), UNIFEM, UNDP, UNESCO, and FAO developed a joint programme which aims to promote Palestinian cultural diversity as a means to foster social cohesion and economic growth. The programme activities have been structured in order to achieve two integrated outcomes:

1) Institutional development: policies and practices for safeguarding cultural heritage are established as a contribution to the updating of the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP) and implemented in the selected areas; and 2) Socio-economic development: the potential of cultural and eco-tourism as well as of creative industries for inclusive economic growth and social cohesion is identified and enhanced.
Within this programme, the Gender Expert is placed within the Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), Ministry of Culture (MoC), and under UNIFEM’s supervision.  As a national expert and based on UNIFEM’s TOR and vision, the expert is responsible to support the (MoWA), (MoC), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) at the technical level. 

Duties and Responsibilities

-Liaise between the MDG Culture and Development Programme and all the relevant ministries: MoC, MoTA, MoA and  MoWA;
-Liaise regularly with the UNIFEM gender experts/advisers stationed in MOWA and MOA;
-Liaise regularly with the UNIFEM Gender Equality Adviser in the Jerusalem office;
-Support MoC and MoTA in the rolling out of the national sector strategies and ensuring that the strategies are gender sensitive; 
-Support MoC and MoTA to upgrade the National Palestinian Plan for Culture and Heritage (NPPC);
-Liaise with the line ministries involved in the Culture and Development Pogramme, non-governmental organizations and service providers in translating, developing and implementing actions in line with the NPPC;
-Facilitate capacity building workshops for MoWA and MoC staff, based on a needs assessment of MoWA and MoC staff, as a basic mechanism to mainstream gender, and ensure sustainability of MoWA and MOC's work on gender mainstreaming and their institutional development;
-Provide on-the-job coaching to designated MoWA and MoC personnel involved in the Programme;
-Provide feedback on different strategy documents, meetings and papers developed by MoC to include gender mainstreaming;
-Ensure gender responsive implementation in all activities under the Joint Programme on Culture and Development;
-Provide feedback on any documents related to the Culture and Development Programme, as requested by UNIFEM;
-Document how Gender Responsive Programming (GRP) has been applied in the Programme context and the impact it has had on accountability for gender equality;
-Contribute to the collection of sex and age disaggregated data as requested by the MDG – Culture and Development Programme monitoring and evaluation framework;
-Support MoWA and MoC in developing monitoring and evaluation systems within the ministries themselves and other key ministries, including gender-responsive budgeting and bottom-up feedbacks on services;
-Closely coordinate and ensure flow of information with UNIFEM programme staff related to gender, culture and policy development, in order to guarantee inside gender mainstreaming;
-Inform UNIFEM, MoWA and MoC on any relevant developments related to gender mainstreaming and policy development in the oPt;
-Ensuring transfer of knowledge to MoWA and MoC staff working on issues related to gender mainstreaming, throughout the assignment, by facilitating effective and regular mechanisms for transferring knowledge – including coaching mechanisms – to MoWA and MoC;
-Work in coordination with the MDG-F Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Programme to ensure synergy in approaches, especially in support to line ministries;
-Facilitate the process of MoWA engagement with key partners and stakeholders in gender-based programming and policy development within the context of the Programme.
-Contribute to UNIFEM's definition of specific goals and related strategic actions, consistently with UNIFEM national and regional goals and women’s human rights standards,  in gender  mainstreaming; 
-Support MoWA and MoC staff in preparing and conducting meetings with key stakeholders and civil society organizations to strengthen their role and to build consensus among governmental and non-governmental organizations, within specific reference to the gender mainstreaming and policy development; 
-Work, specifically, in the framework and for the achievement of the outcome related to institutional development and overall goal of the joint MDG – Culture and Development Programme;
-Contribute to the collection of data related to gender mainstreaming as requested by the MDG – Culture and Development Programme monitoring and evaluation framework;
-Participate in UNIFEM staff meetings, as requested;
-Prepare written reports, as requested;
-Promote knowledge sharing as well as a learning culture on issues related to gender mainstreaming, both within UNIFEM as well as MoWA and MoC;
-Perform other duties as required and as agreed upon jointly with UNIFEM, MOWA and MoC.


Functions/ Key Results Expected:

1-An engendered NPPC is developed and endorsed by MoC and MoTA.
2-Capacity of middle and senior management staff at MOWA, MoC, MoTA and MoA, in particular, the gender unit at MoC, are built in terms of integrating gender into the ministries programs and national policies.
3-Improved Networking and coordination among and between ministries and UN agencies partners of the MDG Programme on Culture and Development.
4-A framework for gender responsive budgeting incorporated into the MDG-F Programme on Culture and Development.
5-Enhanced coordination with the MDG-F Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Programme to ensure synergy in approaches, especially in support to line ministries.
6-Enhanced processes for MoWA engagement with key partners and stakeholders in gender-based programming within the context of the Programme.

Impact of Results:
The first engendered NPPC as well as increased programming and monitoring efficiency and effectiveness in relation to gender mainstreaming within MoWA, MoC, MoTA and MoA.

Competencies

1-University degree in social work, gender studies or related field.
2-Specialist knowledge of Palestinian culture and development issues.
3-At least 5 years experience in research and analysis.
4-Knowledgeable of the local political, social and economic context.
5-Strong motivation in working with women, deep understanding of women's environments and ability to develop women's resources within a feminist perspective.
6-Excellent communication and diplomacy skills.
7-Fluency in English and Arabic languages with excellent oral and writing skills.
8-Excellent coordination and networking skills.
9-Ability to multi-task and meet deadlines.
10-Ability to work individually as well as in a team.
11-Experience in monitoring and evaluation preferable.

Please send your application (resume and cover letter) in English to the following email address [email protected] no latter than Friday, 15 October 2010.