Programme Specialist - Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction at UN Women Nigeria

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 Specialist - Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction

Job Identification: 25777
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Employment Type: Contract
Initial Contract Duration: 6 months
Vacancy Type: National Personnel Service Agreement
Job Function: Humanitarian Action

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.
• In Nigeria, UN Women supports the strengthening of women’s voice, agency, and leadership across sectors to advance their rights, provide space for their meaningful participation, and contribute to tangible differences in their lives. Under the overarching SN 2022-2027, UN Women’s work in Nigeria focuses on four programmatic areas, including, governance and leadership, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, and women, peace and security and humanitarian action, and disaster risk reduction. 
• The violent conflict in Northeast Nigeria has led to massive displacements and destruction of livelihood, with the worst affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe experiencing high displacement, enormous human, social and economic losses and severe levels of food insecurity and malnutrition. This effect of the North-East crisis has been worsened by the amplifying deeply entrenched gender inequalities that are putting women at higher risk of its health and socio-economic impact.
• UN Women Nigeria Country Office capitalizes on its Sub-Offices located Maiduguri to work with design and deliver intervention to address the economic, protection needs of vulnerable women in Internally displaced settings and host communities in Northeast, Nigeria in close collaboration with the Government of Nigeria. To this end, UN Women seek to recruit a Programme Manager, Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction to support the implementation of its humanitarian and disaster risk reduction programmes.
• Reporting to the Deputy Representative, Programme Manager Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction will oversee the development of Humanitarian programmes, provide capacity building to Nigeria Country Offices, establish and strengthen partnerships, and develop relevant knowledge products on Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction.

Scoop Of Work
Manage the development of programmes on Humanitarian to Nigeria Country Office Programme Presence teams:

• Manage the development of Nigeria Country Office programme documents on humanitarian action; 
• Provide technical inputs to programme proposals from Nigeria Country Office;
• Provide advice on contextualizing/ localizing programme documents, country strategies, and knowledge products;
• Coordinate proper monitoring and reporting for humanitarian action in collaboration with programme teams.

Provide capacity building support to Nigeria Country Office Programme Presence and partners:

• Provide technical and policy support to Nigeria country office, programme presence in developing and strengthening projects/ programmes;
• Implement and monitor capacity building initiatives;
• Provide technical support to partners on implementation of humanitarian action.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with stakeholders, regional/ international actors and development partners:

• Build and maintain alliances and strategic partnerships for the advancement of humanitarian action;
• Build and maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards humanitarian action, as delegated;
• Contribute inputs to updates and briefs on /country development situation to be used by stakeholders, Country Office
• Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Women Regional and HQ. 

Manage the resource mobilization strategy for humanitarian action in the Nigeria Country Office:

• Participate in the implementation, monitoring and periodic updating of the resource mobilization strategy on humanitarian action in the region;
• Provide technical support to field based presences in the region in mobilizing resources for the implementation of humanitarian action;
• Research and analyze information on donors. 

Manage the design of humanitarian action in the region and the development of relevant knowledge products:

• Provide inputs to policy recommendations and guidance to strategic planning and positioning on humanitarian action;
• Research and develop analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, summaries, correspondence, and knowledge products on humanitarian action; 
• Identify promising practices, technical expertise in humanitarian action. 

Manage the advocacy of humanitarian action through inter-agency coordination:

• Work closely with and provide advice to regional/ national bodies and interagency groups that influence national policies related to humanitarian action;
• Participate and contribute inputs to the Country office, regional Humanitarian Protection Cluster, and international bodies;
• Coordinate specific efforts in mainstreaming gender and protection in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts of other clusters and relevant working groups;
• Advocate for the engagement and participation of local organizations and civil society networks in humanitarian coordination mechanisms.

Manage advocacy and communication efforts of humanitarian action:

• During emergency response, develop and implement communication and advocacy messages and contribute inputs to strategies on key gender and protection concerns;
• Develop information, education and communication (IEC) materials, press releases, situation reports, alerts and contribute gender and protection-related inputs to documents prepared by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Manage knowledge building and sharing for humanitarian action:

• Identify and disseminate lessons learnt and good practices in collaboration with country offices;
• Ensure technical skills and knowledge are shared within and among Nigeria Country Office.
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality programme strategies and activities.
• Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget and workplans, and in line with all UN Women operational rules and regulations, including security.
• Timely and quality monitoring and evaluation of programmes;
• Relations with partners and stakeholders.
• Quality reports and timely submission.
• Quality of advocacy and communication initiatives.
• Increased cooperation and communication between UN Women and the humanitarian partners in Borno and Yobe State

Supervisory / Managerial Responsibilities: The incumbent leads a team of 2 UNVs  3 SC holders. The incumbent also serves as OIC Maiduguri Sub-Office.
Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Education and Certification

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in human rights, gender, international relations, international development, international law 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 project / programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in designing and managing humanitarian programmes, with a particular focus on gender and protection in emergencies;
• Technical experience in inter-agency coordination, preferably protection cluster coordination, and/or ProCap/GenCap in a natural disaster setting;
• Experience in 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; and
• Experience working in the region is an asset.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Functional Competencies:

• Strong knowledge and experience related to current policies and practices in the fields of gender equality, protection and humanitarian action, including humanitarian coordination; 
• Strong knowledge of the region
• Strong networking skills
• 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
• Strong analytical skills;
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
• Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results-based management and reporting.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).
• Knowledge of Hausa is an asset. 

Remuneration
Grade NPSA-11.

Application Closing Date
9th May, 2025, 04:59 AM.

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