Programme Associate needed at UNDP

From a gender perspective, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a significant step forward from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), covering for the first time core areas of the feminist agenda. The Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), created under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC), has identified a robust set of 231 unique indicators to monitor progress in achieving the SDGs. Overall, a quarter of these indicators explicitly or implicitly address gender equality.  The challenges of effectively monitoring the SDGs from a gender perspective cannot be overstated.. Lack of statistics in these areas arises both from a failure to prioritize gender equality in data collection and from a lack of resources. Gender statistics are rarely prioritized in data collection and the resources devoted to them, both at the national and international level, remain grossly inadequate. The demand for greater support for statistics will only increase as countries begin to implement the SDGs.

To support member states in implementing the 2030 Agenda, UN Women’s Flagship Program Initiative Making Every Woman and Girl Count (MEWGC) aims to undertake a radical shift in the production, availability, accessibility and use of quality data and statistics on key aspects of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The program is currently in its phase 2 (2002 -2025) and it   has three objectives: (i) Promoting an enabling environment by putting in place a supportive and well-coordinated policy environment to ensure gender-responsive localization and effective monitoring of the SDGs; (ii) Increasing data production by removing technical barriers and constraints to ensure that quality, comparable and regular gender statistics are produced to monitor the implementation of national policies and meet reporting commitments under the SDGs; and (iii) Improving data accessibility by ensuring that the data produced are widely available and used effectively by different players with sufficient capacities to understand, analyze and use them to inform advocacy, research, policies and programs and to monitor progress on the SDGs.

In Cameroon, Making Every Woman and Girl Count (MEWGC) is an initiative meant to strengthen the capacity of the Government and Non-State Actors to produce and use gender statistics in order to inform and monitor the implementation of Cameroon’s gender-related commitments in the 2030 Agenda.

From 2019 to 2021 the Country Office (CO) has implemented the phase 1 of  Women Count,  addressing many challenges related to the enabling environment for gender statistics, data production, data dissemination and use. This has allowed UN Women to position itself as a key partner of the NSS and for the achievement of SDGs in Cameroon.

The Country Office is currently implementing the second phase of the project (Women Count 2). The phase 2 focus on the following (i): Sustain the existing enabling environment for gender statistics by reinforcing the supportive policy environment addressing institutional and financial constraints to implement gender commitments of the 2020-2030 NSDS. (ii) Pursue efforts to improve the regular production of relevant gender statistics in order to narrow the gender data gap for SDGs indicators and mostly in areas such as Violence Against Women, Environment and climate change . (iii) Improving the utilization of existing gender data and statistics for development, monitoring and improvement of public policies, researches, communication and planning.

UN Women will continues working with its  partners including government, National Statistical System (NSS) and INS, the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Family, UN Agencies and other actors including civil society organizations and academia.

To fully support the implementation of the Cameroon Women Count Phase 2, UN Women is recruiting a Programme Associate. S/he will report to the Project Officer Women Count and will closely work with the country office Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. The Programme Assistant works with and provides support to the members of the Programme Team in the development and implementation of effective programmes consistent with UN Women rules and regulations.  S/he will also provide administrative and logistical assistance to the team for the smooth programme implementation. While ensuring a proper support to the coverage of gender sensitive SDGs related to UN WOMEN intervention field, the Programme Associate will also provide significant support to the production and management of data in the country office.

• Support the creation of projects in Quantum, prepare budget revisions, revise project awards and status; and determine unutilized funds and the operational and financial close of a project;
• Provide administrative support in monitoring and preparation of budget and the finances of programmes/projects, and in the preparation of FACE forms;
• Perform delegated role in Quantum ;

2. Provide logistical support to the Programme Unit

• Undertake all logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for organization for meetings, workshops, events, and missions;
• Make travel arrangements for the Programme Team, including travel requisitions and claims;
• Draft minutes in meetings, as delegated;
• Assemble briefing materials and prepare power-point and other presentations, in collaboration with the Programme team;
• Organize and coordinate filing of documents; maintain mailing lists.

3. Provide administrative support to resource mobilization

• Organize, compile, and process documentation and information from donors, and programme team as inputs to various databases and documents.
• Support the overall resources’ mobilization strategy of the Country Office

4. Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Provide administrative support to the organization of training for the office staff and partners on programme and operations related issues.

• Support the development and review of background documents, briefs and presentations related to the Gender Statistics in the CO;
• Support the monitoring and communication on the use of gender statistics for  policy making, strategies development, advocacies, etc..
• Support Identifying and documenting best practices and lessons learned to guide project improvement and strategy planning;
• Support the development of  knowledge management strategy, products and methodologies on Gender Statistics;
• Support knowledge management’s efforts on CO’s activities.

5. Provide programmatic support to the formulation, management and monitoring of projects/programmes

• Provide programmatic support in the preparation of programme work plans, budgets, and proposals on programme implementation arrangements, including tracking the delivery of funds;
• Provide support to the programme team on routine deliveries and reporting of activities and finances;
• Provide administrative support for the audit of programmes/ projects and support implementation of audit recommendations;
• Identify sources and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers, in collaboration with the Programme team.
• Provide significant support to indicators tracking on the different projects of the Country Office

• Provide valuable support on project implementation – monitoring and related finances (project deliveries) using results-based management tools (RMS, Quantum, etc.);

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and accurate administrative and logistical support to events, workshops, and missions;
• Full compliance of administrative activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures;
• Timely and accurate tracking of data for CO management and donor purposes;
• Quality maintenance of internal systems and files;
• Quality and timely support to programme team.

• 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

Functional Competencies

• Knowledge of programme management;
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Good financial and budgeting skills;
• Good IT skills

• At least a Bachelor’s degree in Social related Sciences.
• Certificate in project management and RBM is an asset

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in administrative or programme management.
• At least 3  years professional experience in gender, women’s rights, economic and social development issues;
• Good mastery of ERP systems
• Work experience on SDGs indicators tracking and reporting.
• A good knowledge of the Cameroonian National Statistical System is an asset.
• Experience in supporting the production of high quality research or policy papers on gender and or gender data at national level and/or international levels;
• Technical experience in Gender Statistics is an added advantage.
• Good knowledge of statistical software (Excel, SPSS,STATA, etc)
• Experience in using online management tools is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and/or French is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. 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.