Mali: Policy Advisor, Women, Peace and Security

Sep 17, 2023 | United Nations Women
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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 by the implementation of the National Plan of the UN resolution 1325. 

UN Women's Peace and Security cluster is responsible for providing technical support to UN Women Country Offices in a number of areas, including: conflict prevention and peacebuilding, justice sector and security reform, transitional justice, promoting women's political participation and mainstreaming gender issues into governance reforms. It has global components but it is grounded in country-level activities. To further this work, UN Women has entered into a joint partnership with the Peacebuilding Support Office to support the implementation of the Secretary-General's Report on Women's Participation in Peacebuilding.  UNWOMEN aims to strengthen women’s participation, leadership and empowerment in both humanitarian response and peace and security settings.

In the specific context of Mali, the signing of the peace accords now paves the way for a transitional phase which will facilitate a consolidation of the peace dividend. Women's participation in the current process and in the post-conflict phase during which the peace agreement will be implemented is therefore crucial. At the same time, women constitute strong actors for peaceful coexistence, community reconciliation and to improve prevention efforts against radicalization and the spread of extremism.

Under the supervision of the UN Women Country Representative and in close collaboration with the deputy Country Representative, the Regional Peace and Security Adviser and the Peace and Security team in HQ, the Women Peace and Security policy advisor will  further UN Women's mandate in ensuring the participation of women in all aspects of conflict resolution, fighting against radicalization, peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery as described in the national plan of United Nations Resolution 1325 for Mali Country, which includes  provide advisory and technical support in the area of women, peace and security, provide programme management support, lead coordination and policy development initiatives, provide technical support in strategic partnerships, resource mobilization and advocacy, liaise with partners and stakeholders, provide technical support in monitoring and reporting, and provide inputs to knowledge management and capacity building.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide advisory and technical support in the area of women, peace and security:

  • Advise the UN Women Representative on strategies and opportunities for building women's participation and influence in conflict prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding, with a particular focus on implementation of the resolution 1325 in Mali, strengthening the ongoing collaboration with Peace and security organizations in this area;
  • Provide technical support in project management and resource mobilization for the UN Women's programmes and initiatives on peace and security, through strategic partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations (AU, ECOWAS) and civil society groups, and training of relevant stakeholders;
  • Provide technical advice on strengthening women’s role in fighting against radicalization and violent extremism;
  • Advise, support, guide and provide input to ensure the formulation of relevant, high quality, results-based and rights-based peace and security programmes and projects;
  • Prepare policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers and materials for use in the development and presentation of a coherent UNWOMEN country perspective on women peace and security (R1325);
  • Provide strategic and specialized technical advice to the peace and security team on the development of systems, processes and mechanisms to support effective program planning, implementation, monitoring and timely progress reporting. 

Provide programme management support: 

  • Review and provide feedback to ongoing peace and security project, strategies and documents, work-plans, case studies and related knowledge products and publications as requested and needed;
  • Provide technical support in project management and resource mobilization for the UN Women's programmes and initiatives on peace and security including Rule of Law Programmes, through strategic partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations (AU, ECOWAS) and civil society groups, and training of relevant stakeholders.

Lead coordination and policy development initiatives:

  • Develop outreach and advocacy programmes to ensure women's voices are heard throughout main peacebuilding processes and forums, including through nurturing policy dialogue Member States, senior officials and staff of international and regional institutions, in close cooperation with the UN Women Peace and Security Section and the Regional Office for West and Central Africa;
  • Provide technical support and guidance for women's groups and women peace activists to develop common positions related to peace and security processes affecting Mali;
  • Advise on capacity development of Malian women's organizations in the peace building process and collect and analyze good practices;
  • Work with civil society partners and other stakeholders to conduct awareness raising on transitional justice and to mobilize this constituency to document and advocate for gender sensitive transitional justice measures;
  • Provide technical support for the coordination of the peace and security result group of the UNCDF and other Coordination mechanisms
  • Set up the women, peace and security national coordination mechanism and strengthen its capacities to monitor the R1325 and UNWOMEN peace and security Program. 

Provide technical support in strategic partnerships, resource mobilization and advocacy:

  • Establish and nurture relationship with Ministry of the Promotion of Women, Technical specialists and financials partners, academia, research institutes, civil society and experts in transitional justice, DDR/RSS and other women peace and security matters to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking in UN work on gender equality;
  • Convene or represent UN Women in relevant international and regional forums to enhance coordination and/or ensure increased attention to gender and mediation and other conflict prevention and resolution issues;
  • Build strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, regional organizations, NGOs and core international mediation institutions seeking to increase their presence and activities in Mali;
  • Develop and maintain networks with institutions and experts in peace building and women's peace networks;
  • Plan, organize and provide technical support to ad hoc expert group meetings, seminars, conferences, workshops, communities of practice and similar gatherings, including identification and determination of major issues for discussion and selection of participants, development of background documentation, preparation of reports and policy recommendations, and dissemination of results of such meetings;
  • Organize regular meetings with the technical and financial partners of the peace and security program.

Liaise with partners and stakeholders:

  • Liaise with the Regional Office and HQ to ensure exchange of information and develop analytical briefs on the evolution of peacebuilding processes in Mali;
  • Liaise with the commissions on Dialogue, social cohesion and Reconciliation to ensure that they have the technical support, expertise, training, and general support to ensure women's full participation and gender-sensitive transitional justice;
  • Liaise with the DDR and RSS National commissions to ensure women’s ex-combatants and associated to combatants’ participation in these processes.

Provide technical support in monitoring and reporting:

  • Review and evaluate proposals and oversee the preparation of donor proposals and reports;
  • Contribute to the monitoring and evaluation of the results of UN Women.

Provide inputs to knowledge management and capacity building:

  • Develop, implement and monitor capacity development in the area of gender and peace building capacity amongst relevant stakeholders including through information sharing and joint trainings with national stakeholders and relevant regional and sub-regional organization so as to build availability of regionally knowledgeable and rapidly deployable specialists in this area;
  • Work with civil society partners to conduct awareness raising on women’s participation in the peace agreement implementation and to mobilize this constituency to document and advocate for gender sensitive peace process;
  • Ensure regular assessments of the country office peace and security program, implementation plans and Mali’s national plan on 1325 implementation. Identify lessons learned and areas of emphasis to guide program improvements and future strategic development plan;
  • Identify areas that may require improvement and capture best practices/lessons learned, using corporate monitoring tools;
  • Manage the process of collecting and sharing lessons learned on women, peace and security to build knowledge and capacity of partners and stakeholders;
  • Identify and implement capacity building training activities to enhance skills and knowledge on women’s participation in peace building and all related matters: gender and DDR, gender and SSR, women’s early recovery;
  • Contribute to the development and maintenance of county program knowledge networks and practices, and development of knowledge products.

Competencies

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 of Peace and Security
  • Strong knowledge of the region
  • Excellent 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
  • Excellent analytical skills;
  • Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings;
  • Strong knowledge of programme development, implementation, results based management and reporting 

Core Values:

  • Respect for Diversity
  • Integrity
  • Professionalism

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in Peace and Security human rights, international relations 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.

Experience:

  • At least 7 years progressively responsible experience in designing and managing programmes and advocating for peace and security ideally with some experience in developing countries, in conflict/post-conflict situations
  • 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;
  • Experience working in the west and central Africa is an asset

Language requirements:

  • Fluency in English and 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:

UN Women is 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 an applicant needs any reasonable accommodation to support their participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in their 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.