Project Assistant

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination and violence 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. Ending violence against women is one of the priority areas that UN Women focuses on, globally and in Kosovo. UN Women possesses the global and local expertise to address and combat GBV in Kosovo. In addition, as part of UN Women’s comprehensive approach, they work with local partners to enhance data collection and analysis to provide a better understanding of the nature, magnitude, and consequences of violence against women and girls: data collection and analysis helps UN Women and other stakeholders understand what works and doesn’t work to address this GBV.

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and Domestic Violence (DV) remain the most pervasive human rights violations globally, affecting approximately 1 in 3 women worldwide. In Kosovo, VAWG and DV persist as prevalent forms of violence, predominantly impacting women and girls.

Through this project “Addressing effects of gender based violence in Kosovo, and empowering survivors to fight stigma and speak out” funded by the Government of the United Kingdom) / British Embassy in Prishtina, UN Women will work in partnership with four local NGO’s working on women’s rights and gender equality. This project will address stigma-based myths and prejudices amongst the general public and those working in services that support survivors, including health-workers, police, prosecutors and judges through campaigns (with media coverage) and other educational activities, using gender transformative approach tools. Furthermore, will empower survivors of GBV to actively claim their rights through knowledge and access to available services which will ultimately facilitate their reintegration into the society. This will be done through capacity building of service providers and awareness raising activities for survivors addressing the lack of information survivors have on what services are available to them. Through the multi-stakeholder engagement to deliver this project, this will bring societal changes which in turn will have an impact on legal, political and cultural approaches to GBV.

Although there has been some progress in applying some areas of the Istanbul Convention, very little work has been done to address the stigma that GBV survivors face, nor to raise awareness of the services available to survivors, including on access to justice. Instead, the focus has been on encouraging survivors to report cases to the police, and then with little attention to follow-up support.

Therefore, the project objectives are:

• Educate and change societal perceptions of GBV to remove its stigma and advocate for an end to violence against women and girls;
• Support women and girls survivors, including to ensure they are aware of their rights, and what services, including judicial, are available to them.

In order to ensure effective implementation and timely reporting on the above-mentioned results and their planned activities, the UN Women Office in Kosovo seeks to recruit a national Project Assistant. Under the overall supervision of the Head of Office, and in close collaboration with the project Coordinator and the Operations team, the Project Assistant will ensure the effective management, monitoring and reporting of all financial obligations pertaining to the timely implementation of project work-plans, and the appropriate application of systems and procedures. She/he will be responsible for providing substantive support in the areas of financial, budgetary, and accounting management; procurement requests; and calculating and monitoring of delivery, project actual expenses, and balance for liquidations and newly requested advances. In addition, the Project Assistant will support and facilitate achievement of project objectives by performing a variety of standard administrative processes ensuring high quality and accuracy of work, by promoting a consistent results-oriented approach.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Under the overall supervision of UN Women Head of Office in Kosovo, in close cooperation with the Project Coordinator and Finance and Operations Team , Project Assistant will:

• Prepare and manage all financial and accounting reports, proposals, and budgets on project activities;
• Oversee and report on all project expenditures;
• Ensure spending of allocated amounts as planned;
• Prepare and process all project-related financial transactions in Global Quantum System, such as vouchers, requisitions, purchase orders, customer/vendor information updates, and support project budget revisions;
• Support periodic and ad-hoc financial reporting to UN Women and other parties, as needed;
• Support project management in monitoring expenditures and commitments against project budget and relevant plans;
• Provide finance-related data to support project implementation, planning, and reporting;
• Coordinate human resources, procurement, and finance procedures for the project in line with UN Women rules and regulations;
• Provide administrative support to conferences, workshops, retreats, the organization of field visits, missions, workshops, trainings, roundtables, conferences, and similar, organized in the framework of the project;
• Maintain and update all administrative, personnel, and financial files and records as well as general office files related to the project;
• Assist in the preparation of draft job descriptions, vacancy announcements, requests for recruitments, interview minutes, and requests for contract as well as supports all procurement processes within the project;
• Maintain the inventory of project assets/equipment and project correspondence and files;
• Ensure completion of monthly leave reports and attendance records of project staff;
• Prepare vehicle and security requests;
• Manages logistics and travel related to consultancy missions, in-country field trips and monitoring visits undertaken by staff, and travel of team members; arrange travel and hotel reservations, prepare travel authorizations, process requests for visas, identity cards and other documents, collect information for DSA;
• Liaise with UN Women Operations and assist team members, experts, and consultants, on financial and operational matters;
• Collect, analyze and present information for monitoring and evaluation of project implementation against project targets;
• Compile and design background information for formulation of project work plans, draft annual/quarterly budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements, and draft quarterly project reports;
• Monitor inputs provided by consultants, beneficiaries, and contracted parties and communicate findings to the supervisor;
• Participate in trainings for operations/project staff on relevant rules and procedures and organize briefings on new internal procedures for project staff, as required;
• Provide guidance to project staff on business processes, and administrative and other requirements and procedures, as relevant;
• Support knowledge management, strategic networking, and strengthening of communities of practice;
• Perform any other duties as requested by the supervisor.

Impact of Results:
The project will contribute to empowerment of GBV survivors, in increasing their trust in the service provision that will be offered free of stigma as well as knowledge on access to services, although required by national legal framework and relevant international standards. 

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Effective communication and Inclusive collaboration
• Actively promotes gender equality during Project Activities
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies –

Functional Competencies

• Thorough knowledge of financial rules and regulations and accounting principles;
• Ability to administer administrative processes and transactions;
• Good knowledge of administrative rules and regulations, organizational policies and procedures related to the position, and ability to apply them consistently in work tasks;
• Ability to extract, interpret, and analyze data, and resolve operational problems;
• Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;
• Good analytical skills and results orientation;
• Ability to support a team and team building skills;
• Excellent knowledge and application skills of IT tools and management systems;
• Focus on results and positive response to feedback;
• Attention to detail;
• Reports to internal and external partners in a timely and appropriate manner;
• Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet partners’ and donors’ needs and deadlines;
• Establishes, builds, and sustains effective relationships and effectively communicates within the work unit and with internal and external partners;
• Responds to partners needs promptly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Secondary education is required
• University Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or closely related fields is an asset
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s) in combination with additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years experience with secondary education or two years with Bachelors Degree of progressively responsible experience in project assistance, accounting and financial management, and the application of complex financial rules and regulations in international and/or corporate organizations;
• At least two (2) years of progressively responsible experience in administration, procurement, and/or logistic support service;
• Advanced expertise in the usage of office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), spreadsheet and database packages, and web-based management systems and ERP financial systems;
• Proven experience in working in the UN system and its organizations, Public International Development Organizations is considered an advantage;
• Previous engagement in international projects related to gender equality, human rights and is considered an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in Albanian and English is required.
• Knowledge of Serbian is considered an asset.

Application Instructions:

All interested candidates must complete a PERSONAL HISTORY FORM (P-11). Failure to disclose prior employment or making false representations on this form will be grounds for withdrawal of further consideration of his/her application or termination, where the appointment or contract has been issued.

• P11 including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at:
• Click on the “Apply now” button.
• Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. You can type in, or paste your short Resume into the last box.
• Upon completion of the first page, please hit “submit application” tab at the end of the page. On the next page, you will be asked to upload your Resume. Instead of uploading your Resume, please submit a fully completed and signed  Personal History Form (P-11).
• System will only allow one attachment. All docs (P11, academic qualifications/diploma) should be included as one attachment.