Programme Analyst

The UNFPA Strategic Plan embraces the vision of the 2030 Agenda and places the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as a priority, and as an essential precondition to reaching those furthest behind. This together with UNFPA’s commitments to support the realization of international conventions and resolutions, including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), ICPD Beyond 2014 Review, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action plus 20 Review, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 among others, confirm that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is at the heart of UNFPA’s work, both as a stand-alone dedicated area of work and from a mainstreaming approach.

In Nepal, women have long experienced high levels of poverty, violence, social exclusion andmarginalization because of their gender. One in four ever married women have experienced spousal physical, sexual, or emotional violence. Social norms that value men and boys over women and girls deny equal opportunities to women and girls and result in a range of harmful practices, including child marriage and gender-biased sex selection. Evidence shows that vulnerabilities of women and adolescents are exacerbated during crisis situations, heightening their risk to gender-based violence. For women from ethnic minorities and groups considered low caste and those living with disabilities, these disadvantages are greatly compounded, making them the most left behind.

To advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, UNFPA contributes to strengthening policy, legal and accountability frameworks. This includes support for policies and programmes and human rights mechanisms that protect the rights of women and girls, promote equal opportunities, and end all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls and other marginalized groups.

UNFPA implements comprehensive programmes to change underlying social norms that impede eliminating gender discriminatory practices, including gender-based violence and harmful practices. In Nepal, UNFPA manages a portfolio of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Harmful Practices programmes, including the GBV Prevention and Response (GBVPR) programme, Empowered Women Prosperous Nepal (EWPN), Safe Girls Project and other projects that focus on ending child marriage, and comprehensive sexuality education.

As the lead agency for gender-based violence area of responsibility under the Global Protection Cluster, UNFPA plays a prominent inter-agency role and supports multi-sectoral capacity building and the use of a continuum approach in development and humanitarian settings to address GBV. All these programmes are closely linked to UNFPA-supported interventions to advance reproductive rights in the country, supported by efforts to improve population data systems to map and address inequalities and improve the availability of sex- disaggregated data across the country.

The Programme Analyst – Gender is entrusted with the responsibility of engaging in advocacy and policy dialogue for concerted actions by the provincial and local government counterparts, UN system and other development partners, and civil society organizations and networks on issues related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, with a special focus on GBV and harmful practices. S/he will provide technical assistance and build partnerships to leverage financial and technical resources for the accelerated achievement of UNFPA’s transformative programme goals. S/he will support the development, implementation, and oversight of UNFPA’s work on gender and women’s rights including social inclusion dimensions at provincial and local level and will coordinate with relevant UNFPA staff across thematic and other teams at all operational levels. S/he will establish, nurture and participate in sub-national networks in this field and promote harmonisation of gender and GBV interventions in the province and local level among the relevant actors.

You would be responsible for:

Under the overall technical guidance of the Gender Equality & Human Rights Specialist, and the direct supervision of the Head of the Provincial Office, Dhangadi, Sudur Paschim, the Programme Analyst – Gender will be responsible for;

A. Policy Dialogue and Technical Leadership:

Ensures the positioning of UNFPA on gender equality, women’s rights and inclusivity within broader national and provincial development and humanitarian agendas, as

relevant.

Establishes and maintains strong working relationships with concerned Government counterparts at Provincial, and Local Government levels.

Engages in policy dialogue with the Government, UN system and other development partners to incorporate the needs and rights of women and girls into provincial and local policies and plans, and within other relevant frameworks at sub-national level.

Keeps abreast of provincial and local gender legal and policies developments and strategies; analyzes policy papers, strategy documents, provincial and local plans,

development and humanitarian frameworks as well as their operationalization and prepares analysis on the potential implications for the work of UNFPA in the province.

Advocates for gender responsive budgeting and cost sharing strategies with Provincial and Local Government authorities.

Participates in provincial technical fora of government, civil society and academic institutions as well as of other technical agencies and partners on issues relating to

gender equality, GBV, harmful practices and social inclusion.

Provides technical inputs for the development and updating of guidelines, standards, tools, manuals and approaches on gender, GBV, harmful practices and reproductive rights at the provincial level to ensure they are aligned with global normative frameworks.

Actively promotes, nurtures and participates in communities of practice, networks and coalitions related to gender and social inclusion at the provincial level.

Identifies and analyzes trends, threats and risks at the provincial level that may affect the accomplishment of the ICPD agenda and UNFPA’s work across the province.

Keeps abreast of state-of-the-art thinking and research and ensures its integration into UNFPA’s gender and reproductive rights portfolios, incorporating an intersectionality lens and an integrated approach across all other thematic areas of work in the province.

Provides technical guidance on rights-based, gender-centric and inclusive programming that takes into consideration intersecting identities such as caste, race, gender, sexuality and other individual characteristics to reach women and girls that are furthest behind.

Contributes to the CEDAW, CRC and UPR reporting processes in the country through the provision of data and analyses from the province to ensure issues relating to the ICPD PoA are addressed and the interlinkages between gender equality, human’s rights, GBV and reproductive rights are established and reflected in the reports.

B. Programme Management and Coordination:

Provides technical and programmatic leadership in the formulation of gender responsive, rights-based programmes and projects at the provincial level, taking into consideration the linkages between gender-based violence and social exclusion with gender equality, human rights, reproductive rights, poverty eradication and sustainable development as embodied in the ICPD PoA and the 2030 Agenda.

Manages timely planning and implementation of the gender component work plan at the provincial level, in collaboration with the UNFPA technical and programme teams at all levels as well as with relevant implementing partners including the key government counterparts, NGOs and other partners, in line with provincial and local government priorities and UNFPA programme policies and procedures. Oversees the preparation and management of AWP and programme budgets of all IPs in the province and ensures the timely and accurate reporting of financial information

Conducts results-based monitoring and reporting of the gender programme and projects in the province as well as on gender mainstreaming and the integration of women’s rights and social inclusion in the projects; and undertakes regular monitoring visits, as well as joint visits with donors and implementing partners.

Promotes inter-linkages within the gender portfolio of UNFPA supported projects (GBV prevention and response, child marriage, safe girls project, comprehensive sexuality education) and among other UNFPA programme components (sexual and reproductive health, adolescent and youth, population dynamics) at the provincial level to ensure synergies, complementarities and progress towards achieving gender equality and reproductive rights for all, in both development and humanitarian contexts.

Coordinates and engages closely with Provincial and Local Government authorities for sustainability of the gender programme outcomes.

Emphasizes the centrality of gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and reproductive rights to the full achievement of the ICPD agenda and SDGs and participates in relevant interagency processes.

Ensures the UNFPA-supported provincial programme and projects on gender and GBV (as well as other components in terms of gender mainstreaming) are aligned to provincial and local government priorities, UNFPA programme policies and procedures, and global normative frameworks vis-à-vis gender equality, women’s rights and social inclusion.

Provides technical advice to and builds capacity of relevant programme staff in the provincial office on gender mainstreaming and the integration of women’s rights and social inclusion in other thematic areas (eg: in the development and implementation of concept notes, proposals and work plans).

Contributes to UNFPA collaborations with government counterparts, civil society organizations, UN agencies and other development partners on the design and delivery of policy and programme interventions on gender, GBV and harmful practices, promoting approaches grounded in rights, gender equality and social inclusion.

Collaborates with team members, programme partners, and sub-grantees to ensure safe implementation of programmes at the community level applying Do No Harm approach.

Contributes to the development of humanitarian response interventions, by ensuring they are gender responsive and address the needs of women and girls of the assigned province, particularly of the most marginalized during emergencies.

C. Advocacy and Resource Mobilization:

Leads advocacy and engagement work on gender and women’s rights at Provincial, and Local Government levels, ensuring that stakeholders are kept abreast of relevant developments in the UNFPA gender programme.

Identifies opportunities to advocate for gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and the elimination of GBV and harmful practices at the provincial level as part of UNFPA’s efforts to support the achievement of the ICPD PoA and the SDGs.

Analyzes and interprets the political, legal, social and economic environment and trends on gender, GBV, harmful practices and social exclusion issues and identifies strategic opportunities for UNFPA assistance and partnerships in the province.

Synthesizes provincial level data and analyses to be used in advocacy efforts and for resource mobilization and contributes to the preparation of concept notes and proposals on gender, GBV and harmful practices that are innovative, demonstrate potential for high impact and UNFPA’s comparative substantive role.

Contributes to advocacy efforts for increases in provincial and local budgetary allocations and expenditures for gender equality, women’s rights and the elimination

of GBV and harmful practices, and leverage financing for the ICPD agenda and ensure the sustainability of interventions.

Contributes technical inputs from provincial perspective to communications materials for advocating for gender equality and women’s rights, with a focus on addressing all forms of violence against women and girls and the realization of reproductive rights as essential for sustainable development.

Provides inputs to content for visibility of UNFPA’s policy and programme work and achievements on gender, GBV and harmful practices in the province including for the development of briefs, reports, press releases and social media, as requested.

D. Knowledge Management:

Provides technical and programmatic support from provincial perspective for research related to GBV, harmful practices, gender equality and women’s rights, and identifies, documents, and disseminates lessons learned and best practices in addressing GBV and harmful practices in the province.

Creates and documents knowledge about current and emerging issues relating to gender, GBV and harmful practices, by analyzing programmes, strategies and approaches for lessons learned, best practices, and shares with management for use in knowledge sharing and planning future strategies.

Contributes to communities of practices and knowledge sharing platforms to share key research, data and information related to gender equality and reproductive rights, including on issues related to GBV and harmful practices from the province.

E. Carry out any other duties as may be required by UNFPA leadership.

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

• Advanced degree in Gender Studies, Human Rights, Law, Public Policy, Development Studies, or related disciplines.

Knowledge and Experience: 

• Minimum two years of professional experience in gender and/or human rights and GBV programme management in the public sector.
• Technical expertise in gender equality, GBV, harmful practices and knowledge of relevant international human rights norms and gender equality frameworks.
• Strong understanding of women’s rights, reproductive rights and gender equality dimensions in law, policy and programme formulation, implementation and
• monitoring.
• Demonstrated experience in coordination and liaison with government counterparts, NGOs, UN agencies, private sector, development partners and CBOs.
• Understanding of cultural context and social norms influencing the incidence of gender-based violence at national and sub-national level.
• Knowledge of federalism and governance systems in Nepal, with experience in advocacy with governments and in planning processes.
• Strong English speaking, oral and writing skills, including proposal development and report writing for complex programmes and interventions required.
• Ability to communicate in a clear and articulated manner, technical and/or complex issues to different types of audiences.
• Demonstrated management and oversight experience with capacity to lead diverse teams, strongly preferred.
• Working experience in the humanitarian setting is an asset.

Languages: 

• Proficiency in English and Nepali is required. Working knowledge of another UN language is an asset.