INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT- DEVELOP KENYA COUNTRY PROGRAMME,Vacancy at

POST:INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT- DEVELOP KENYA COUNTRY PROGRAMME
Organization:UN-Women
Location :Nairobi, KENYA
Type of Contract :Individual Contract
Post Level :International Consultant
Languages Required :English 

Starting Date :(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
26-Aug-2013
Duration of Initial Contract :

30 Days

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 Days

Background
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) was established by General Assembly resolution 64/289 of 2 July 2010 on system-wide coherence, with the mandate to assist countries and the United Nations system itself to progress more effectively and efficiently toward the goal of achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment and upholding women’s rights. This strategic plan, developed pursuant to paragraph 77 of resolution 64/2892 is the first such plan created by UN-Women. The plan lays out the organization’s priorities for achieving this goal up to 2017, and which it will assess and revise in 2013, in order to align it with the planning cycles of other United Nations agencies. The UN-Women vision is a world where societies are free of gender-based discrimination, where women and men have equal opportunities, where the comprehensive economic and social development of women and girls is ensured so that they can lead the change that they want to see, where gender equality and women’s empowerment are achieved, and women’s rights are upheld in all efforts to further development, human rights, peace and security.

The mission statement of UN-Women was set out in the proposal of the Secretary- General as follows: “Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, the composite entity will work 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 center of all its efforts, the composite entity will lead and coordinate United Nations system 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.” To operationalize the global strategy at the national level, UN Women Kenya is developing a new country programme document for 2014 – 2017. To date, the current country programme aims to strengthen the promotion of and respect for women’s rights as well as promoting women’s participation and enhancing gender responsiveness in democratic governance in Kenya.

The Gender and Governance basket fund as well as the Human Rights Programme in Kenya have been focusing on supporting an increase in the numbers of women within all levels of governance, strengthening women’s leadership capacities and strengthen mechanisms for women to claim their rights. The support to CSOs and the government has been specifically in the areas of mainstreaming gender in policies and laws, including the new constitution; supporting the development of reform of laws to protect and promote women’s human rights; and promoting the administration of gender justice through redress mechanisms, and promotion of the rights and equality of women. The establishment of UN Women, whose mandate is to provide, through its normative support functions and operational activities, guidance and technical support to all Member States, across all levels of development and in all regions, at their request on gender equality, the empowerment and the rights of women on gender mainstreaming , and to conduct its work in ways that lead to more effective coordination, coherence and gender mainstreaming across the United Nations system, requires a change of strategy at global, regional and country levels.

Guided by its mandate as well as regional and global inter-governmental agreements, such as CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, Security Council Resolution 1325, 1820 and others, and the Millennium Development Goals, UN Women allows for more influence at policy and programming levels without taking away the responsibility of other UN Agencies to deliver on gender equality and women’s empowerment. It is therefore imperative that the country programme be developed with clear strategic as well as in programme focus.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the leadership of the EE Policy Advisor and M& E Officer as well as the overall guidance of the Kenya Country

Director, the consultant will undertake the following:

•     Review/Undertake a mini country situation analysis with regards to gender equality and status of women to include an assessment of the national frameworks for gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment, the mandate and the capacity of gender machineries as well as the implementation of national and international commitments to gender equality in the areas relevant to the strategic plan;
•     Review current national programmes and policies and key documents such as the Kenya Vision 2030, Draft MTP II, the NAP on UN Resolution 1325, UNDAF related documents, the UN Joint Programme on Gender as well as other relevant documents/studies such as the WB report on devolution as well as Women and agriculture, Kenya’s CEDAW Report presented in 2010 and the Concluding observations of the CEDAW Committee, etc.;
•     Review the current UN Women Country Programme Document 2011-2013 as well as the SP consultation outcome document to identify lessons learnt and areas that might still be relevant to Kenya;
•     Facilitate consultations with key partners in Government (Gender Machineries, Office of the President, especially Ministry of Devolution, Internal Security, National Treasury, Ministry of Planning and Vision 2030, Ministry of Justice, Police, Ministry of Agriculture and others; strategic development partners (Norwegian Embassy, Swedish Embassy, World Bank, DFID, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Canada); local development partner groups such as UN Women CSO Advisory Group, UN Agencies, Civil Society Organization to establish their views on the priorities that UN Women should be addressing as well as identify potential partnerships for the implementation of the programme activities;
•     Facilitate consultative validation meetings/workshops with stakeholders to validate the proposed Programme;
•     With UN Women staff to endorse the document;
•     With donor community to get their buy-in and potential support;
•     With Government and civil society to own and validate the programme.

Competencies
Planning and Organizing:

    Ability to plan work assignments, establish priorities and to meet strict assignment deadlines.

Communications:

    Compelling communication (verbal and written) skills, including ability to prepare reports, formulate and defend sound recommendations and articulate options concisely conveying maximum necessary information;
    Negotiating skills and ability to work at all levels with others to reach mutually benefiting and lasting understandings.

Teamwork:

    Excellent interpersonal skills; capacity to recognize and respond appropriately to the ideas, interests and concerns of others;
    Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management

    Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

•     Ability to lead strategic planning, results based management and reporting;
•     Ability to apply conceptual models in support of formulations, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects and mobilize resources.

Management and Leadership:

•     Build strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback;
•     Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
•     Demonstrate openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
•     Demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills;
•     Demonstrate good listening skills and responsiveness to the opinion of others.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

    Master’s Degree in Social Science, Law, International Development, Peace and Conflict Studies,

Experience:
    At least five years’ experience in research, programme development, monitoring and evaluation;
    Hands-on experience working on women’s issues at global, regional and national levels would be desirable;
    Previous consultancy experience with UNIFEM/UN Women and/or with other UN Agencies especially in programme development will be an added advantage.

Language:

    Excellent writing and presentation skills will be a high priority requirement.

UNDP 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.
How to ApplyClosing Date: Tuesday, 20 August 2013
http://unjobs.org/vacancies/1376500333812