Gender, Policy and Advocacy Programme Specialist

UNFPA expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy and productive lives; delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.  Advancing gender equality and promoting the empowerment of women are key priorities that are newly formulated in the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2018-2021.

UNFPA manages the “Women and Girls First” (2016-2018), which is a large multi-year, multi-donor initiative that provides knowledge and technical leadership in partnership with civil society organisations and a wide range of national stakeholders to advance:  gender equality, improving sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, responding to and preventing gender based violence (GBV) and integrating gender equality and women's rights perspectives into national policies, development frameworks and laws. This aims at achieving improved and strengthened access to justice, increased participation of women in the peace process, and their economic and political empowerment. Focus areas for the Initiative include Rakhine, Kachin and Northern Shan and Kayin, Kayah and Mon States.

 Emergency preparedness and humanitarian assistance are integrated in UNFPA’s work in Myanmar and are an important aspect in its proposed fourth country programme (2018-2022). UNFPA, in line with its global strategy, contributes to strengthening national capacity to provide sexual and reproductive health services, gender based violence prevention and response and the use of population and rights-based data in humanitarian settings. 

Requirements and Qualifications:

Education: 

Advanced university degree in law or social sciences as it relates to human rights, gender and GBV, policy development, or other related field;

Knowledge and Experience:

• At least 5 years of increasingly responsible relevant professional experience, including experience in programme management, including large multi-sectoral projects, designing and appraising proposals and actively liaising with relevant and potential project partners;

• Knowledge of and experience in policy development particularly as they relate to sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equality and ;

• Knowledge of legal systems and the justice continuum in order to support strengthened access to justice through strong policy development and justice sector engagement.

• Knowledge or capacity to acquire knowledge of health issues, and particularly sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls to ensure support relevant and comprehensive policy development.

• Knowledge of gender issues in development, particularly GBV, including relevant international human rights standards;

• Prior training in gender and GBV issues and their application in humanitarian, conflict, recovery and development settings;

• Experience in utilizing the following internationals tools: GBV Standard Operating Procedures; GBV Information Management System; IASC GBV Guidelines; IASC Gender Handbook; GBV Coordination Handbook; WHO Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Researching, Documenting and Monitoring Sexual Violence in Emergencies;

• A familiarity with Myanmar is preferred given the unique environment of a strong women’s movement combined with the current economic, social and political transitions the country is witnessing.

Languages:

• Fluency in oral and written English essential.