UN Women: Policy Specialist, Rule of Law and Transitional Justice

Background

The duration of the assignment is 364 days.  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.

At headquarters, the Peace, Security and Resilience Section leads on UN system-wide coordination on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, provides technical and financial support to the peace and security work of UN Women country offices, and implements a number of global initiatives to promote women’s rights, including the meaningful participation of women in all aspects of peace and security, and accountability for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). In the area of rule of law and transitional justice, UN Women works to strengthen inclusivity by generating knowledge, providing expertise, building partnerships, facilitating dialogue and strengthening the capacity of actors engaged on rule of law and transitional justice efforts to enhance women’s meaningful participation and advance gender justice.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Chief, Peace and Security (P5), the Policy Specialist on Rule of Law and Transitional Justice is responsible for leading UN Women’s work on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts, and UN Women’s global work on transitional justice. This includes managing UN Women’s global programmes on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice, including the UN Women-UNDP Gender Justice Platform and the UN Women SGBV Justice Expert Deployment Programme; coordinating UN Women’s participation in inter-agency groups including the UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law and its Working Group on Gender Justice, and the Interagency Taskforce on Transitional Justice; providing country-level capacity-building support and advice in these areas; and leading UN Women’s policy engagement and knowledge development on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.     Oversee the development and implementation of global programming on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice:

• Lead implementation of UN Women’s global programmes on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice, including the Gender Justice Platform and SGBV Justice Expert Rapid Deployment Programme.
• Build and strengthen partnerships for the implementation of UN Women’s global programmes, including OHCHR, UNDP, Justice Rapid Response, and other international and national civil society organizations.
• Build and strengthen UN Women’s relationships with key donors on rule of law and transitional justice, including through timely donor reporting.
• Mobilize resources for future UN Women global programming.

2.     Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships and coordinate UN Women’s participation in inter-agency fora on the rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice, and women, peace and security:

• Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of the rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice, including with donors.
• Coordinate UN Women’s participation in the UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law (GFP) and its Working Group on Gender Justice, including by representing UN Women in GFP partners’ meeting, liaising with relevant UN Women country offices on country-specific meetings and missions, and participating in rule of law assessment missions.
• With the Policy Specialist, Protection and Transitional Justice, coordinate UN Women’s participation in the Inter-Agency Transitional Justice Taskforce.
• Support UN Women’s participation in the Rule of Law, Coordination and Resource Group;
• With the Policy Specialist, Protection and Transitional Justice, support UN Women’s participation in the UN Action to Sexual Violence in Conflict network.
• Represent UN Women at relevant country-specific interagency task forces.

3.     Advise and provide capacity building support to country and regional offices and their partners on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice, including accountability for SGBV:

• Develop, implement and monitor capacity building initiatives with UN Women offices and their partners.
• Provide technical support and policy advice to UN Women offices and their partners.
• Provide technical advice and strategic guidance to UN Women country and regional offices, including through online support and country visits.
• Support resource mobilization undertaken by UN Women country and regional offices, including advice on the development of funding proposals, for example through the UN Peacebuilding Fund’s Gender and Youth Promotion Initiative.

4.     Oversee policy development and knowledge building and sharing on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts, transitional justice and women, peace and security:

• Provide policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice.
• Identify promising practices, technical expertise, and strategic opportunities on rule of law in conflict-affected contexts and transitional justice.
• Identify and develop UN Women’s research agenda on rule of law and transitional justice, including by creating and disseminating knowledge products.
• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with country offices, including through participation in UN Women’s community of practice on Women, Peace and Security.

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

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: 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

1. Excellent knowledge of UN human rights investigations, gender-responsive rule of law and transitional justice
2. Excellent knowledge of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law
3. Excellent networking skills
4. Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising
5. Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research
6. Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
7. Excellent analytical skills
8. Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings
9. Knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in law, transitional justice, human rights, international relations or other social science fields is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A certification in the investigation of serious human rights violations and international crimes and/or SGBV is desirable.

Experience:

• At least 7 years progressively responsible experience working on gender justice, rule of law, human rights, transitional justice, preventing and addressing sexual and gender-based violence, and/or the women, peace and security agenda is required.
• Experience in policy analysis and research relating to gender justice, accountability for SGBV, human rights, rule of law, transitional justice, and/or women, peace and security is required.
• Experience supporting or leading programmes at the global or country level related to gender justice, human rights, transitional justice and/or women, peace and security is required. 
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors and civil society organizations internationally and at the country level is required.
• Experience working with the UN, particularly UN human rights investigations, human rights treaty bodies and/or UN Special Procedures is desirable.
• Experience documenting SGBV and women’s human rights violations under international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in Spanish or French is desirable.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: . 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.