Programme Officer (Community Engagement and Social Cash Transfers) at UN Women

UN Women - 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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Programme Officer (Community Engagement and Social Cash Transfers)

Location: Abuja
Type of Contract: Service Contract
Post Level: SB-4
Duration of Initial Contract: 1 year

Background

• 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. UN Women has a universal mandate that encompasses a normative, an operational/programmatic as well as a coordination role, all of which are closely linked with its unique structure. At the core of its mandate, UN women plays a leading role in supporting governments in delivering on their gender equality and empowerment of women (GEEW) commitments in the SDGs.
• UN Women and other sister agencies (UNAIDS, UNCEF, UNFPA and WHO) will implement the Joint United Nations project on promoting Risk Communications and Community Engagement activities to contain the spread of COVID 19 in Nigeria. The project has the overall objective of influencing individual behaviour change with messages on effective handwashing and hygiene practices; social distancing; combating stigmatization and using risk communication and community engagement to mitigate socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated measures. A sub-component of the UN Women led interventions involves the distribution of small grants to mitigate the immediate socio-economic impact of COVID on the most vulnerable women and girls that are facing heightened protection risks including GBV, child marriage, female genital mutilation; and to facilitate their increased adherence to risk communication messages, and adoption of improved hygiene and other behavioral practices to help protect them from contracting the disease
• Reporting to the Deputy Country Representative- the Programme Officer- Social Cash Transfers will be responsible for the delivery of UN Women interventions and results under the Joint Project on Risk Communications and Community Engagement.
• She/he will work in close collaboration with other UN Women staff in the programmes and operations teams,  staff of other UN agencies, government counterpart institutions, academic institutions, NGOs, women organizations and leaders, and community leaders to execute the assigned responsibilities.

Duties and Responsibilities
Programme management and supervision:

• Lead and supervise the implementation of the community engagement and cash transfer initiative ensuring adherence to the targeting, registration, payment, and accountabilities frameworks and protocols developed for the project.
• Develop the annual work plan of the programme, including the setting of implementation targets/milestones, supervise the implementation of activities, and ensure results are achieved according to schedules and in compliance with the expected standards.
• Supervise project staff including consultants, and establish clear individual performance objectives, goals, and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently.
• Manage project budget, facilitate timely disbursement of funds to the implementing partners, and ensure that partners liquidate of advances timely and accurately

Monitoring and reporting:

• Lead the implementation of the project monitoring plan and implement recommendations to improve the efficiency and quality of the interventions.
• Undertakes field visits to monitor and assess programme implementation status and take action to address any implementation gaps.
• Organize/participate in project technical review meetings with partners and government counterparts; and provide inputs/reports for programme the Steering Committee meetings.
• Ensure timely preparation and submission of progress reports on the implementation of the activities and achievement of the planned results (outputs and outcomes) of the programme to the donor and provide technical inputs to UN Women reports.
• Monitor the delivery of programme funds and the submission of implementing partners

Capacity building and technical assistance:

• Develop and oversee the implement of a plan to support capacity building of partners, and UN Women Staff.
• Support training of UN Women staff, implementing partners including government counterparts, CSOs and private sector on the designing and implementation of social cash transfers and community engagement initiatives.
• Implement measures to reinforce institutional capacities of the government partners institutions at national and sub-national levels on the implementation of social cash transfers.
• Provide guidance to support staff and partners, acting as a point of referral and assisting them with analysis and queries.
• Provide technical assistance to partners on the implementation of the respective components of the programme (cash transfers and community engagement).
• Collaborate with and provide regular technical support to the Joint Programme Management Unit/Desk located at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs.

Partnerships, coordination, and resource mobilization:

• Promote partnership and interaction with internal and external counterparts, including those of the UN and national partners engaged in the implementation of Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) programme to facilitate exchange of information and enhance strengthen synergy
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors, and NGOs to ensure that UN Women’s intervention modalities in relation to COVID 19 is harmonized and aligned with other in-country efforts.
• Provide substantive technical support to the UN Women Representative and Deputy representative on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, events, and participating in groups and committees.
• Make significant contribution towards the implementation of the Country Office resource mobilization strategy and plan.

Communications, advocacy, and community engagement:

• Lead the development of the advocacy, communications, and community engagement plans of the programme.
• Engage in advocacy initiatives at the national, sub-national, community, and family levels to influence donors, government institutions, and other development partners to use a gender lens, and promote women’s leadership and participation, in designing and implementing programmes to address the socio-economic impact of COVID 19.
• Ensure a mix of Community Engagement interventions are used to promote the participation of women organizations and leaders, along with other stakeholders, in the planning and monitoring of project interventions at the community level, including the identification of beneficiaries.
• Ensure the quality, consistency and appropriateness of communication materials and tools that are developed, produced, and disseminated to local communities, government officials, other partners.

Knowledge generation and management:

• Lead the development of knowledge management strategies, products and methodologies on the social cash transfers and community engagement interventions of the programme.
• Ensure accurate data collection and analysis, reporting, as well as documentation, and sharing of lessons learned.
• Conducts policy analysis from a gender and women's rights perspectives to support advocacy and policy dialogue with diverse stakeholders.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality technical advice and support
• Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner
• Effectiveness in targeting, identification, and registration of beneficiaries for social cash transfers
• Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders
• Strong engagement with women CSOs in project implementation
• Contributions to resource mobilization
• Timely and quality knowledge products
• UN Women is well represented in relevant meetings

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

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge and technical skills on community engagement approaches and social cash transfers programming for vulnerable populations including the gender dimensions in the context of Nigeria.
• Excellent networking and community engagement skills and knowledge including the socio-cultural dimensions.
• Ability to interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities, and threats to fundraising
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
• Excellent analytical skills.
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings.
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management, and reporting
• Share knowledge across the organization and build a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.
• Strong people management skills.

Required Skills and Experience
Education and certification:

• Master's degree or equivalent in International Development, Development Studies, Economics, Gender Studies, or other related 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.

Experience:

• At least 7 years’ experience in designing and/implementing community engagement, livelihoods/resilience building/recovery programmes, ideally, with experience in cash transfers.
• Technical experience in gender issues
• Experience in programme, policy analysis, and strategic planning.
• Experience working with, and building partnerships with governments, donors, and civil society organizations internationally and in the field.
• Experience working with the UN is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of the other UN official language is an asset.

Application Closing Date
13th July, 2020.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online