UN Women: Protection Knowledge Management Specialist

Background

The duration of the assignment is for six (6) months. Whereas an external candidate will be offered a temporary appointment; subject to release agreements, staff members in UN Women may be administered as a temporary assignment and staff members in the UN Common system may be administered under a loan arrangement.

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.

The Peace, Security and Resilience Section leads UN Women’s work to fulfill its mandate in the area of peace, security and disaster risk reduction, as well as UN system efforts towards improved implementation, and monitoring and reporting of global commitments on women and peace and security, including as set out in the Beijing Platform for Action and in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019) and 2493 (2019), relevant Statements by the President of the Security Council, and related accountability frameworks established by the UN system.

UN Women is a founding member of the UN Action network Against Sexual Violence in Conflict that works across the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus and leverages the expertise of its 25 member entities to coordinate the UN’s efforts to prevent conflict, recover from crises, and build peace in contexts where sexual violence is used as a weapon of war. The Knowledge Management Officer will work to support UN Women and UN Action’s efforts to translate the CRSV agenda from policy to practice and work to build capacities and increase participation and inclusion of women in all aspects of peace processes at the local, national, and regional levels.

Under the supervision of the Policy Specialist, Rule of Law and Transitional Justice (UN Women) and in close coordination with the Coordinator of UN Action, the incumbent will promote UN Women’s relevant mandate priorities and enhance the organization’s role as a member of the UN Action through direct support to the network’s Secretariat, within in the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC), in New York. To achieve this, the incumbent will dedicate 60% of their time to UN Action’s Secretariat work and 40% to work within the UN Women’s Peace, Security and Resilience team.

The Protection Knowledge Management Specialist will support the UN Action Network in leading the development and implementation of knowledge management and information sharing initiatives as part of the implementation of the conflict-related sexual violence in conflict (CRSV) mandate under the Women, Peace, and Security agenda of the UN Security Council, and the implementation of UN Action’s Strategic Framework and Work Plan.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Policy Specialist, Rule of Law and Transitional Justice (UN Women) and in close coordination with the Coordinator of UN Action and the Policy Specialist – Protection (UN Women) the Protection Knowledge Management Specialist will undertake the following duties:

1. Oversee knowledge building and sharing of information across the UN system on gender-sensitive protection:

• Identify and map knowledge gaps and internal/external needs for enhanced knowledge and information sharing among UN Action Network, partners and UN Women’s country and regional offices
• Develop and implement knowledge management initiatives related to protection, including managing research projects, under the UN Action Strategic Framework and strategic vision of the SRSG-SVC and for UN Women
• Develop necessary knowledge management and guidance procedures, including managing and establishing relevant collaboration platforms
• Develop and oversee a global platform for the coordination of the UN Action Network (a ‘community of practice’) to manage the Network’s internal and public knowledge repository
• Ensure that knowledge from across UN Action member entities relating to CRSV is well documented, stored, and disseminated among Network, Secretariat, the OSRSG-SVC, and field colleagues, including Senior Women’s Protection Advisers (S/WPAs)
• Facilitate peer-to-peer learning to promote a coordinated approach to CRSV and serve as knowledge management liaison for the Network

2. Manage coordination, communication and advocacy:

• Promote UN Women’s peace & security priorities and enhance the organization’s role within UN Action by providing direct technical advice support to the network’s Secretariat.

3. Provide technical support and manage capacity building:

• Support capacity building initiatives led by the UN Action Network and UN Women, including designing and implementing virtual and in-person trainings on CRSV, particularly through the working group on capacity building and providing technical guidance on training curricula on CRSV to the Network and UN Women’s country and regional offices

4. Conduct research and analysis:

• Document lessons learned and promising practices on CRSV activities from UN Women and the UN Action network and liaise with the UN Women WPS Community of Practice Manager in coordination with the Policy Specialist, Protection to disseminate them.

5. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Strong knowledge of gender related issues including in the area of protection, human rights and rule of law;
• Ability to undertake policy research and prepare quantitative studies, utilizing statistical methodologies, knowledge of database applications for statistical analysis;
• Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
• Ability to handle a large volume of work under time constraints;
• Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective;
• Ability to draft policy papers, speeches, briefings, etc.;
• Ability to develop and maintain roster of experts, and a databank of research institutes, academics, civil society experts, etc. of direct relevance to protection and GBV prevention.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in development related disciplines, gender issues, economics, political science, human rights, law or other social science.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in gender, protection and rule of law, policy research and gender analysis.
• Strong knowledge of the UN’s women, peace and security mandate, and particularly as it relates to protection and rule of law is required;
• Experience in United Nations and intergovernmental organizations mechanisms on conflict-related sexual violence, protection more broadly and the rule of law, including, but not limited to CEDAW Committee, human rights mechanisms and special procedures, the Global Focal Point on Rule of Law, and transitional justice processes and frameworks is required;
• Experience conceptualizing and executing research projects in the area of women, peace and security and protection, in particular, is required.

Languages:

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

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. 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.

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.)