Coordination Assistant

Job Title: Coordination Assistant

Organization: United Nations Volunteers (UNV)

Host entity: UN Women BIH

Assignment country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Expected start date: 02/10/2023

Sustainable Development Goal: 5. Gender equality

Volunteer category: National UN Volunteer Specialist

Type: Onsite

Duration: 6 months (with possibility of extension)

Number of assignments: 1

Duty stations: Sarajevo

Details

Mission and objectives

UN Women (the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of 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’s normative and programmatic work, guided by the UN Women Global Strategic Plan (2022-2025) and Country Strategic Note (2021-2025), and supported by a consolidated organizational architecture, have been instrumental in advancing gender equality, improving women’s access to opportunities, rights and services in political, social and economic life, and combating gender stereotypes, discrimination and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments. UN Women collaborates with numerous partners – government authorities, civil society organizations, including women’s organizations and platforms, academia, other UN agencies. It commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle, by supporting targeted actions to remove the obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women face in accessing their rights and to promote them as agents of change.

Context

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides support to Member States’ efforts and priorities in meeting their gender equality goals and for building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. In 2021 UN Women commenced implementation of the new Strategic Note covering the period (2021 – 2025) aligned with the UNSDCF (2021 – 2025) with financial support from the Government of Sweden to contribute towards implementation of three strategic Development Result (DR) Impact Areas: (i) Governance structures and sector priorities reflect gender equality concerns and commitments, (ii) Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, (iii) Women and girls live a life free of violence as well as strengthening the Office’s Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency (OEEF). Towards these goals, UN Women implements programmes and projects that aim to advance gender equality, improve women’s access to opportunities, rights and services in political, social and economic life and combat gender stereotypes, discrimination and violence, as required by international and national legal and policy commitments. UN Women collaborates with numerous partners – central and local level government authorities, civil society organizations, including women’s organizations and platforms, academia, private sector companies, other UN agencies. It commits itself to the Leaving No One Behind principle, by supporting targeted actions to remove the obstacles that marginalized and vulnerable groups of women face in accessing their rights and to promote them as agents of change. In addition to the programmes it implements UN Women BiH CO is also the co-chair of Gender Theme Group and an active member in four UN Results Groups. UN Gender Theme Group ensures gender mainstreaming in United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework planning and implementation and supports UN agencies to promote coordinated UN joint programming that advances gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Group develops policy and advocacy messages for joint advocacy initiatives and coordinates UN events such as International Women’s Day or the 16 Days of Activism as well as Generation Equality.

Task description

1. Provide technical and administrative support on UN inter-agency coordination. • Support the organization and documentation of the meetings of the UN Gender Theme Group under the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2021-2025 . • Assist and support in the coordination and implementation of key UN Women and UN System-wide initiatives, such as the UNCT-SWAP Gender Scorecard. • Provide technical support on other coordination activities with the inter-agency platforms, such as UNSDCF Results Groups in which UN Women is a member; • Provide support to UN Women’s involvement in joint inter-agency UN initiatives, including joint events and campaigns. • Prepare inputs and briefings for the Country Representative as part of the preparation for UNCT meetings and other key UN coordination and intergovernmental events; 2. Provide administrative, logistical and coordination support related to the implementation of activities from Coordination Portfolio • Supporting the preparation and organization of advocacy events, meetings, conferences, specifically under the Coordination portfolio budget. Undertake and ensure logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for meetings, events and conferences; including travel arrangements. • Communicate and coordinate with key stakeholders from local, regional and HQ levels, regarding meetings, data, and information. • Provide support to the quarterly monitoring and Annual Reporting. • Maintain, develop and update internal databases and files in a confidential and secure manner; 3. Support to coordination with national and international development partners and women’s civil society: • Providing secretariat support to UN Women’s engagement on International Working Group on Gender Equality. • Providing secretariat support to UN Women’s leadership in Generation Equality campaign and technical support to Generation Equality Organizing Committee. • Providing technical support to the Coordination Associate in cooperation with the main national partners (gender institutional mechanisms) for the fulfilment of the coordination mandate. • Providing technical support to the Coordination Associate in cooperation with women’s civil society organizations. • Documenting and keeping records of the meetings and information sharing among the participants. 4. Facilitate knowledge building and sharing: • Identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learned; • Compiling information and analyzing trends related to development assistance to gender equality and empowerment of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina; • Maintaining up to date information on donor-funded programmes in this area. • Provide technical support in preparing internal and external briefings, PPTs and reports about UN Women’s work in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as necessary; • Contribute to development of knowledge products. • Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Eligibility criteria

Age

27 - 80

Nationality

Candidate must be a national or legal resident of the country of assignment.

Requirements

Required experience

3 years of experience in • Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights, gender, international relations, international development, international law or other social science fields is an asset • At least 3 years of professional work experience at the national and/or international level in programme/project administration and supporting complex projects/processes that include extensive communication, coordination and facilitation • Experience in coordination of development/humanitarian programmes/projects among different partners or teams, is a strong asset. • Previous experience working in the UN system is an asset • Previous work experience in the field of gender equality is an asset. • Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills; • Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing; • Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels; familiarity with tools and approaches of communications for development;

Area(s) of expertise

Administration, Communication, Legal affairs

Driving license

-

Languages

Bosnian, Level: Fluent, Required Serbian, Level: Fluent, Required Croatian, Level: Fluent, Required English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in social sciences, public administration, gender studies, political science, international development, business, public administration or other similar subject and fields at the university level.

Competencies and values

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organizing • Professionalism • Self-management

Other information

Living conditions and remarks

Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the largest urban center with an estimated population of 370.000. The city is situated along the Miljacka river and surrounded by the Dinaric Alps. The city is famous for its traditional religious diversity, with adherents of Islam, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Judaism coexisting there for centuries. There are no administrative or other restrictions, apart from visa (exceptions possible), on international staff members’ travelling in/within/from the country and in the past two years restrictions imposed by Covid-19 pandemic. In general, regular medical facilities are available, with two main hospitals and a significant number of small private clinics. General sanitary and hygiene conditions are adequate. Good local banking facilities are available (use of credit cards, ATMs). Communication services (domestic and international) are available on a regular basis. Availability of food, furnishings and other necessities is adequate (various grocery stores and markets with fresh food products, shopping centers, etc). Public transportation is available (tram, bus, trolleybus, taxi). International airport is 20 minutes drive from the UN building in Sarajevo. Public water supply, electricity and sewerage system are in place. Sarajevo offers numerous cultural events open also for international population. The most famous ones are Sarajevo Film Festival, MESS (international theatre festival), Jazz Festival, Sarajevo Winter, Bascarsija’s Nights in summer time, Novi Grad’s Days, Agro-food, International Book Fair, etc. There are number of galleries and museums, sports facilities open for public use and annual international sports competitions. There are several Cinema multiplex that regularly offers a rich repertoire of latest films, both blockbusters and masterpieces of independent cinema. The UN designated state of alert for Bosnia and Herzegovina is Security Level 1 which is minimal and lowest security level in the Security Level System for the entire country, including the capital of Sarajevo. The situation in BiH is generally quiet; all international agencies consider threats to their staff to be low at this time. However, BiH has the same problems as much of Europe, from pickpockets to traffic accidents, so all staff must exercise appropriate personal security awareness and common sense. Bosnia and Herzegovina is still the country with the largest mine contamination problem. Staff are advised not to deviate from well-travelled routes while in the country. See http://www.bhmac.org. As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator. The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos

Inclusivity statement

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements

Selected candidates for certain occupational groups may be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) in line with the applicable host entity policy

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