UN WOMEN: UN WOMEN REPRESENTATIVE TIMOR LESTE

The Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of (hereafter 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 will lead and coordinate United Nations system all efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. The scope of work of the Representative requires experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, as well as sound management and programming expertise, to translate UN WOMEN's strategic plans into effective development initiatives and results. It also requires developing mutually reinforcing partnerships with relevant Government counterparts, UN organizations, CSOs, and with bilateral and non-traditional donors in order to promote inter-agency partnerships, support for UN reform, and mobilization of visibility and resources to advance gender equality and women's empowerment. The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is a small country in Southeast Asia with an estimated population of about1 million and one of the poorest economies in the world. While the young nation has seen some initial progress and achievements in gender equality and women’s empowerment since its independence in 2002, this has been primarily thanks to technical assistance provided to the Government by development partners such as the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), members of the UN Country Team, bilateral donors and other development agencies. It is expected that the key themes of the current programme of UN Women in Timor-Leste will continue under the new Annual Work Plan 2012-2013 with the aim to build the capacity and provide support in the following areas: Women in Politics and Decision-Making: ensuring women’s contribution to politics and decision-making by strengthening support and capacity building for current and future women leaders at the national and local levels; Gender Equality on all agendas: supporting ministries and State Secretariats, Parliament, national and local institutions, and civil society to advocate for and mainstream gender equality, to develop gender-sensitive programmes, laws, policies and budgets, and to monitor their implementation; Women, Peace and Security: supporting community-led initiatives (including working with male networks in Timor-Leste) to develop local and national responses to sexual gender-based violence(SGBV) and to strengthen women’s security and voice in peace building at community, national and international levels as part of mainstreaming SCR 1325 in the security and other sectors; Women’s Economic Empowerment: supporting gender equality advocates and organizations in assisting vulnerable women to reduce poverty and strengthen their economic rights and participation by facilitating their access to micro-finance, markets and skills development. CEDAW implementation: increasing awareness of women's human rights and CEDAW by the State and civil society, strengthening the capacity of governments and civil society organizations to promote women's human rights and stop violence against women under CEDAW, and engaging stronger political will and commitment to CEDAW implementation by developing women's knowledge and capacity to claim their rights. UN Women in Timor-Leste cooperates closely with other UN agencies, especially through the Gender Thematic Working Group, on joint programmes with the Government and its institutions, the Parliament, and civil society. The Representative will work closely with the UN Country Team to exchange information, coordinate activities and support program delivery. Under the overall guidance of the Regional Director of UN Women’s Asia Pacific Regional Centre in Bangkok, in addition to the representational duties as Head of Office the Representative will provide oversight in managing the programme and operations of the country office to maintain strong partnerships on the ground and to ensure timely implementation of a results-based and rights-based country programme, with high quality outputs that deliver results towards achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in Timor-Leste. The Representative works in close collaboration with the UN WOMEN Regional Centre in Bangkok, Thailand team in operations and program and UN WOMEN HQ units and sections in New York.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Functions: Strategic Country Programme Development and Advocacy Country Programme Management and Oversight Support to the UN System; Representation and Partnership Building Knowledge Management and Capacity Building Under the supervision of the Regional Director, the Representative has the following key functions: Strategic Programme Development and Advocacy Proactively assess trends and identify emerging issues at the national level of relevance to the mandate of UN Women; Lead the implementation of the UN Women Country Programme Strategy based on the Corporate Strategic Plan (SP) in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment; Identify strategic programme opportunities, approaches and modalities to strengthen UN Women country presence; Support, monitor and assure quality control in the formulation of high quality, results-based, rights-based and relevant country programmes and projects and oversee the appraisal and approval of UN WOMEN programmes in line with corporate guidelines and consistency with corporate policies and strategies; Participate actively as a member of the UNCT to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment issues are well integrated into UN programming processes such as CCA/UNDAF, Country Programmes, etc. Assist the RC System to secure expertise that will ensure commitment, quality control and resources for gender equality outcomes, and actively participate in country level United Nations programming processes ensuring that the UN Women is strategically placed within UN planning processes, joint programmes and other inter-agency initiatives; Advocate on behalf of UN WOMEN and its mandate to help raise awareness and stimulate action to advance gender equality and women's rights and form strategic partnerships with government, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, media and the private sector; Carry out ongoing advocacy to ensure that UN support towards realization of the national plans and priorities are done in a gender responsive manner, and within agreed regional and international frameworks that promote and protect gender equality. Strategic support to and leadership within the UN System Within the UN Resident Coordinator system, support the coordination and promotion of accountability within the UN System to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment; Provide leadership and guidance to the UNCT in supporting enhanced response to national partners in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment; and in advancing UN Reform; Advise the UNCT on the implementation of key policy commitments to gender and women’s rights at the sub-regional, national and regional levels, implementation of CEDAW and Security Resolutions (1325 and 1820), development of gender equality policies and mechanisms and mainstreaming of gender issues in national development strategies and budgets. Partner with UN system and agencies to enhance collaboration, resource mobilization and joint ideas to influence agenda and priority setting. Actively seek out participation of UN Women in UN system thematic and other working groups to establish effective network and to keep abreast of ongoing debate and thinking on development, facilitate joint programming and promote UN Women competencies to advance gender equality and women’s human rights. Country Programme Management and Oversight Lead the management, implementation and evaluation of the country strategic plan based on UN WOMEN's Strategic Plan (SP), and in line with regional and national priorities and in consultation with government, civil society and UN partners and stakeholders; Manage ongoing program activities on gender equality and women’s empowerment and ensure delivery of agreed results; Ensure UN Women’s strategic and technical support to government counterparts, non-state actors and UN agencies through direct involvement and provision of advisory services as needed; Oversee, monitor and assure quality control in the implementation of high quality, results-based, rights-based and relevant country programmes and projects in line with corporate guidelines and consistency with corporate policies and strategies. Ensure that the Country Programme Office has the human and financial resources and capacities needed to respond to requests for assistance and to deliver on its commitments to support and advance gender equality and to participate effectively as a member of the UN Country Team; Manage staff and office in an empowering and effective manner; Manage the Country Office resources and administration to ensure proper utilization of allocated funds and accountability; Use corporate monitoring and oversight tools to identify areas which need improvement; Contribute to regular assessments of the regional, sub-regional and country strategic plans and implementation plans and identify lessons learned and areas of emphasis to underpin consistently improved programming and future Strategic Plan development. Representation and Partnership Building Represent the UN Women in UN system-wide inter-agency tasks forces to contribute to strategic and policy discussion on gender equality, and women empowerment issues; Represent UN WOMEN at inter-agency, intergovernmental, international, regional and national conferences and meetings and advocate UN WOMEN's policy and initiatives in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment; Forge strategic partnerships at the county level to promote gender equality and women's advancement through joint projects and interagency efforts; Maintain active relationship/partnerships with National Government Counterparts, UN System, and agency partners, inter-government and non-governmental organizations, institutes and academia on women’s issue to enhance collaboration, resource mobilization and share and influence agenda and priority setting; Forge strategic partnerships with Government, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, media and private sector to stimulate action to advance gender equality and women's rights. Knowledge Management and Reporting Manage the process of collecting and disseminating lessons learned on gender equality and women's empowerment strategies and contribute to UN Women’s knowledge management efforts; Lead and manage the preparation of UN Women country reports as required, ensuring relevancy, quality and appropriateness of content and presentation; Work with relevant UN Women units to identify and disseminate best programme and management practices; Lead the development/expansion of knowledge management strategies and methodologies at the country level; Contribute to the development and maintenance of global, regional and national knowledge networks and practices; Produce knowledge products to meet UN Women needs and standards of quality. Impact of Results: The Representative impacts on the success of efforts to formulate and implement the UN Women Programme Strategy at the country level to promote and advance gender equality and women’s empowerment issues.

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: Promoting Ethics and Integrity / Creating Organizational Precedents Organizational Awareness: Building support and political acumen Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation Working in Teams: Building and promoting effective teams Communicating Information and Ideas: Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating an emotionally intelligent organization Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking Functional Competencies: Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in the area of gender equality and women's empowerment issues; Demonstrated People Management Skills; Familiarity with women's rights organizations and networks in the region and globally; Good knowledge of UN Women and the UN system; Proven ability to advocate and provide policy advice; Ability to lead strategic planning, programme development and implementation, results-based management and reporting; Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources;

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Advanced degree in a social sciences, economics, gender issues, or other development-related fields. Experience: A Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience on gender programming issues, including 5 years field experience on gender equality and women’s rights issues with an international organization. Strong familiarity with UN inter-agency cooperation would be an asset. Language Requirements: Fluency in written and spoken English; knowledge of another UN official language is an asset. Note:In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment. 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