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.

Peace and Security is a key area of UN Women’s work. At headquarters, the Peace and Security Section leads on UN system-wide coordination on Women, Peace and Security, provides technical and financial support. As the entity responsible for strengthening women’s access to justice in all settings, UN Women deploy expertise in the form of a Gender Justice and Rule of Law Specialist to coordinate gender mainstreaming and the impacts of rule of law programming for women. The position will entail coordinating between relevant UN entities, government, CSOs and community elders, in order to draw in the necessary resources, skills, expertise needed in relation to each context and programme.

Access to justice and the equal application of the rule of law is a pre-requisite for the realization and protection of women’s rights. Effective judicial and legal systems not only ensure the protection and advancement of women’s rights, but can provide an enabling environment to address discriminatory practices which impede development. From a women’s human rights and rule of law perspective, at no time is legal protection more necessary, or more fragile, than during and in the immediate aftermath of conflicts when women’s experiences of insecurity and violations often continue unabated. Ending impunity for sexual and gender-based violence and asserting women’s access to the full range of rights, including their equal access to justice are some of the most challenging yet fundamental conditions for the restoration and strengthening of the rule of law and access to justice for women and girls in Somaliland.

Under the direct supervision of the Country Program Manager, UN Women, the Gender Justice and Rule of Law Specialist will ensure coordination between the work of UN Women and the Rule of Law Joint Program partners and other entities. Will leverage on UN Women’s work at country and regional level. The Specialist will be responsible for ensuring that gender expertise is mainstreamed into all areas of work of the Rule of Law Joint Program in order to strengthen women’s access to justice in post-conflict and fragile settings and will serve as a bridge between the Joint Rule of Law Program and UN Women networks, capacity and expertise at the country and regional levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

Oversee the implementation and management of the Rule of Law Portfolio:

• Responsibility to coordinate and implement UN Women component of the Rule of Law Joint Program, providing bridge for integrating expertise, knowledge and capacity to the broader Government, UN system and CSOs;
• Finalize the annual workplan and budget and oversee implementation of the JRLOP and RoL Priorities of UN Women;
• Finalize reports on activities, outputs and outcomes; as well as donor and UN Women reports;
• Ensure adherence to standard UN Women procedures in planning and implementation of programmes/ project;
• Ensure synergies within and with other programme/ project teams;
• Oversee the technical implementation and conceptualization of the project.

Support UN Women programme development and technical support, taking into consideration the work of the Joint Rule of Law Program:

• Provide policy recommendations, strategic advice and proposed courses of action linked to the Joint Rule of Law program implementation and implications for UN Women;
• Provide policy recommendations, strategic advice, technical support to the UN Women country office on issues related to women’s access to justice, drawing on the knowledge and expertise within the Rule of Law Joint Program;
• Build up and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships with government, CSOs and other partners on gender justice and rule of law;
• Represent UN Women at inter-governmental and regional meetings linked to issues covered by the GFP, as requested by the UN Women Country Program Manager;
• Provide inputs to the concept notes for sharing with donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization.

Act as an advisor to the Rule of Law Joint program mainstreaming gender into all aspects of planning, programming, and country level support:

• Support the Joint Rule of Law Program (JRLOP) to mainstream gender into all aspects of planning, programming, country level support, linking with UN Women’s presence at the country level where appropriate;
• Work within the JRLOP team to respond to and support gender mainstreaming into country-level assessments, planning and programming through the provision of expertise, technical support, guidance and coordination of actors;
• Work in close cooperation across the rule of law entities of the JRLOP in order to coordinate existing gender capacities and networks both within and outside the UN system;
• Develop from the UN Women mapping report on women’s access to justice for women, a strategy for the implementation of the recommendations of the report through the work of the JRLOP.

Knowledge management, including developing guidance on aspects of women’s access to justice for dissemination and use in country setting:

• Input to policy documents, Secretary General reports and other system wide processes as requested by the Country Program Manager;
• Develop monitoring and reporting frameworks to track gendered impacts of rule of law programming;
• Gather information and monitor country-level trends on relevant gender and rule of law developments;
• Prepare and contribute to donor reports, briefings, inputs for quarterly and annual progress reports, newsletter and other processes requested by the CPM;
• Develop guidance on various aspects of gender and rule of law – in particular police, corrections, justice – for dissemination;
• Contribute, in collaboration with the Country Program Manager and the Joint Program partners, to the development of a knowledge hub and community of practice on women’s access to justice.

Manage financial resources and oversee monitoring and reporting of the Rule of Law Portfolio:

• Oversee the monitoring of implementation of activities and finances using the results-based management tools;
• Oversee field missions and write reports on monitoring missions;
• Write quarterly reports and donor reports;
• Responsible for overall programme budget and drafting of financial reports;
• Write terms of reference for new staff, consultants and contractors and oversee the recruitment process, as necessary;
• Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide guidance to staff and partners on RBM tools and performance indicators.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality technical advice and support;
• Leadership in area of expertise in area of rule of law and access to justice for women;
• Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner;
• Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders;
• UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise;
• Contributions to partnerships and resource mobilization;
• Timely and quality knowledge products.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of gender-responsive rule of law and access to justice;
• Strong knowledge of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law;
• Strong networking skills;
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification: 

• Master’s degree or equivalent in law, transitional justice, human rights, international relations, women’s studies or other social science fields is required;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 5 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for gender justice, rule of law, transitional justice and the women, peace and security agenda;
• Experience in policy analysis and strategic planning relating to gender justice, rule of law, and women, peace and security;
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations in the field;
• Experience supporting the documentation of women’s human rights violations under international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Application Process:

All applications must include (as an attachment) a completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.