Programme Associate (Coordination) at UN Women Nigeria

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.

Job Title: Programme Associate (Coordination)
Background
The marginalization of Nigerian women in democratization process is well pronounced. Women in Nigeria constitute more than two - thirds of the country’s 70% adult non-literate population. Ironically, they hold less than 5% of the important decision making positions in the country. The present national assembly in Nigeria has an appallingly low average of 7.2% of women in both houses of the national assembly and 5% in the state houses of assembly. Compared to a regional average for Africa of 18.2 % women’s representation in national parliaments, Nigeria has failed to match gains elsewhere on the continent. Six African countries now have over 30% of women in national legislatures. Nigeria cannot overcome gender based discrimination and inequality as long as women’s political voice remains marginalized.

In view of the foregoing, the Governance, Women’s Leadership and Participation  programme is recruiting a Programme Associate to help coordinate activities under the programmme  with the opportunity to galvanize efforts – past and on-going- towards the realization of a more gender-sensitive democratization vision in Nigeria.
Duties and Responsibilities
Summary of key functions:  
Under the leadership of UN Women Country Representative and under the direct supervision of Programme Officer, Governance, Women’s Leadership and Participation,  the Programme Associate-Governance Women’s Leadership and Participation will support the overall oversight of UN Women governance and participation of women in political programmes and activities in Nigeria.  The Programme Associate will support the Programme Officer for coordinating the overall programme implementation and management of programme activities, including resource mobilization and building linkages with relevant entities, work planning, supervision of field operations including short-term consultants, reporting, project monitoring and arrangement for impact evaluation.

Summary of key functions:
Programme Development, Management and Implementation
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Communications and Advocacy
Developing Partnerships and Networks
Research on Women’s Leadership and Participation Issues
Administration of programme
Details of Functions
Programme Development, Management and Implementation:
Assist to coordinate implementation of the Women’s Leadership and Participation goal of UN Women country strategy
Assist to formulate and implement results-based programme strategies in the WLP area, focusing on achieving results, including grant management and reporting with support from Finance Staff
Supporting strategies for fundraising, communication and partnership-building, evaluation and knowledge management; and ensuring information flow and team-building across the diverse network of partners and stakeholders involved in various GWLP programmes;
 Assist to facilitate quality assurance of all WLP programmes and undertake technical assistance and monitoring missions to the projects sites;
Assist to identify capacity development needs and develop adequate solutions to ensure effective programme implementation;
Assist to monitor the development of, and provide substantive guidance and technical inputs, to ensure the quality of products and capacity development tools commissioned by country teams with emphasis on ensuring evidence-based approaches;
Assist to ensure high-quality, results-oriented reporting on the WLP programmes, for internal and external audiences contributing substantively to monthly, six monthly and annual reports;
Assist to maintain and implement donor reporting and accountability schedule ensuring quality production of reports;
Assist to oversee coordination of the UN Regional and National Gender and Human Rights Advisory/Theme Groups.
Perform additional job-related duties, tasks and special projects as assigned

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning:
Assist to coordinate the monitoring and evaluation of UN Women’s WLP programme and projects;
Assist to develop and oversee wide strategic dissemination of WLP programme findings and knowledge-related publications, inclusive of select case studies, good practices and lessons learned;
Assist to document, and analyse lessons learned that might be useful for the UN system at large and UN Women in particular for global institutional learning and future programming
Serve as resource person on capacity development activities on GWLP  and other gender responsive issues as required.
Communications and Advocacy
Support staff for the development and implementation of communications and advocacy plans and identify and seize strategic advocacy opportunities on an on-going basis
Support in the identification, synthesis and dissemination of best practices and lessons learned linked to programme outcomes
Support in the Preparation of briefings for internal and external, country and regional meetings, ensuring consistency of messaging and quality of materials
Support in coordination  and collaboration with Communication Associate preparation of technical, advocacy publications and working papers on the programme
Assist to provide information on a timely basis on important political and institutional developments of interest for UN Women, and on potentials opportunities of work in the country
Provide support to ensure learning processes are in place and that resulting best practice is widely shared
Assist to prepare briefings, talking points and presentation materials
Make sound contributions to knowledge networks

Developing partnerships and networks
 Assist to strengthen and enhance partnership/co-operation/ consultation/ coordination with , national and local state actors, national and international civil society actors, specially, women’s organisations, bilateral institutions, UN, donors and private foundations for more effective and coordinated GWLP programme implementation as appropriate;
Assist to ensure effective partnership, networking and coordination between other on-going UN Women programmes, projects and activities in the sub-region
Assist to maintain a database of donors for the sector and initiate result-oriented resource mobilisation actions.

Research on Women’s Leadership and Participation Issues
 Assist to coordinate and support high quality research to generate knowledge on GWLP
Assist to derive Policy recommendations from research and assist in the development and implementation of an evidence-based advocacy strategy for the Programme
Work in a team to produce concise reports, briefing notes etc.
Administration of programme 
Assist in the preparation of budget for programme activities and follow up with finance
Assist to coordinate necessary logistics for day to day
Collate necessary documentation for contract award and transmit to operation

 Impact of Results:
The key results have an impact on the overall effectiveness and success of UN Women’s interventions and activities in achieving the goals of gender equality and women empowerment in democratic governance in Nigeria.  Effective design and implementation of capacity building strategies for gender justice and women empowerment in democratic governance as well as efficient management of the capacity building plans and processes will enhance the organization’s capacity and credibility in implementation of highly effective programmes with strong impact.
 
Competencies
The  Programme Associate must possess the following competencies:

Demonstrates commitment to UN Women’s mission, vision and values.
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
An excellent sense of judgment.
Creativity and innovation for coordination and management activities;
Partnering and networking:
Capacity to initiate and sustain relationships with key constituents;
Builds and sustains effective partnerships with other UN agencies;
Advocates effectively, engaging others to take action in desired directions;
Communicates sensitively and effectively across different constituencies;
Seeks and applies knowledge information and best practices from within and outside the UN Country Team.
People Skills and Team Working:
Recognizes and responds appropriately to the ideas, interests and concerns of others.
Ability to work as a team member, be a good listener, well organized, pay attention to details, and meet deadlines.
Builds trust and engender morale by displaying open, transparent and credible behavior;
Respects individual/cultural differences; utilize diversity to foster teamwork;
Ensures others’ understanding of, involvement in, adaptation to a change process;
Sets clear performance goals and standards;
Executes responsibilities accordingly; provide and respond constructively to feedback (correction or recognition);
Self analyzes performance problems seeking appropriate direction and support;
Strategic vision: strong technical and analytical capacities, sound judgment. Demonstrated ability to respond quickly to evolving client needs and to manage several complex activities in parallel.
Relationship building for influence: Must possess the skills to build strategic relationships to influence and impact on tasks functions and deliverables.
Analytical skills:  Must possess skills that enable him/her to separate things into their constituent elements in order to examine them, draw conclusions, or solve problems.
Excellent organizational skills and ability to handle multiple tasks effectively.
Dependability, reliability and initiative.
Sense of confidentiality

Required Skills and Experience
Education  
Secondary education. Certificate in Administration or first University Degree in social sciences, gender and development studies,Law or related fields is desirable but not a requirement.

Experience
6 years of progressively responsible administrative or programme support experience is required at the national or international level.
Knowledge of and practical experience with the design and implementation of training manuals, modules and tools.
Knowledge of and practical experience with the design and implementation of development projects particularly in the areas of gender mainstreaming and women empowerment.
Strong analytical and conceptualization skills including ability to analyze and report on quantitative and qualitative data.
Prior experience working with the UN or any other development organization is an added advantage
Proven ability to design and deliver training; Knowledge of result-based management (RBM) will be an advantage
Good computer, data and web based applications.

Language Requirements
 Excellent writing and speaking skills in English
 Good report writing skills.
The UN is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

A service contract (SC) is a modality for hiring individuals under a non-staff contract

How to Apply
Click Here to Apply
Application Deadline 30^th July, 2013