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 and the diverse gender as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is an essential element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the roadmap to a more equal, just, peaceful, and sustainable world. Two of the key areas of concern are ending violence against women and the economic empowerment of women. It is expressed in targets and indicators of SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) SDG 11(Sustainable cities and communities) and SDG 8 (Promote inclusive and sustainable development, decent work, and employment for all). Progress toward it depends not only on the adoption of a set of public policies by governments, but also on the existence of an enabling environment and active engagement of relevant stakeholders.

UN Women promotes integrated approaches to ensure that all women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence. Gender-based violence (GBV) exists in various settings, including domestic, public, private, online, and workplaces and affects all genders, women and marginalised genders bear a disproportionate burden of its impact. Violence against women (VAW) is a grave violation of human rights with far-reaching consequences for women, their families and communities worldwide. It has tremendous costs from greater strains on health care to legal expenses and losses in productivity. The violence cuts across boundaries of age, class, caste, sexuality, sexual expression, education, marital status, race, culture, and geography, among others.

UN Women in India has played a pivotal role in supporting governments in eliminating violence and discrimination against women by demonstrating models of that work to prevent and respond to violence. Efforts towards promoting gender equality are multiplied through partnerships with governments, women’s organisations, civil society, academia, private sector, and the larger UN ecosystem. Initiatives range from strengthening legal frameworks and specific national and sub-national actions, including enhancing service provisioning for survivors of violence, and supporting prevention at the grassroots level. UN Women India supports strengthening data collection and knowledge generation on VAW, facilitating new learning on the issue. Through advocacy and communication campaigns, UN Women India works to transform gender norms, behaviours and attitudes that perpetuate gender inequality.

UN Women India has a donor funded project titled: ‘Gender Equality Xcelerate: Transformative Pathways towards Gender Justice’ for women’s social, economic and political equality and empowerment towards achievement of the 2030 agenda.

The overarching objective of this project is to strengthen women’s leadership in economic, social, and political spheres. The project will be implemented in India over a period of four years from 2024 to 2027 in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh.

The following are the intended outcomes of the project:

• UN Women’s institutional impact on advancing gender equality is accelerated through outcome-driven advocacy efforts.
• Government and non-government stakeholders prioritise, monitor, and evaluate GEWE investments at the grassroots level.
• Transforming norms, strengthening response mechanisms, and empowering stakeholders for a survivor-centric environment through effectively utilising the Nirbhaya Funds.

UN Women through this programme will work on ending violence against women issues in 3 States, namely, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh. Within this context, UN Women seeks the services of State Coordinator (Kerala)- EVAW who would be working on ending violence against women in the State.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Country Program Manager (EVAW), UN Women India and the Government of Kerala designate Supervisor the State Coordinator (Kerala) will provide technical support to the State government to address issues of violence against women. The State Coordinator will work with the project team to ensure that the project produces the results in the State to the required standards of quality and within the given time and cost specifications.

The State Coordinator will have the following tasks:

Strengthening Coordination and GBV Efforts at the State level:

• Establish/strengthen effective coordination mechanisms within and among Women and Child Development, Planning, Social Justice, Legal Affairs, Education, Police, Health Departments and other line Departments to institutionalize and promote GBV in the state;
• Provide technical expertise and support to nodal Department and other Departments UN Women is working in the state to set up/review and monitor institutional mechanisms and processes to adopt/advance GBV in the state including Inter-Ministerial monitoring processes;
• Provide technical support for issuing advisory and necessary guidelines for line Departments at the state level to create/strengthen and implement GBV initiatives;
• Provide oversight for any other UNW projects implemented in the state.

Research and Documentation:

• Undertake mapping and documentation of State nodal Departments, CSOs and other stakeholders who are actively involved in the feminist ecosystem on GBV at the state level;
• Undertake state-specific situational analysis of GBV initiatives to map the current status;
• Support the state government in developing State Action Plan on GBV;
• Document and disseminate resources and knowledge products on GBV, such as case studies and good practices at the state level.

Facilitating Training and Capacity Development of relevant constituents on GBV:

• Compile/develop training tools, manuals, and other resource material on GBV for the state;
• Coordinate with the state nodal Department and training institutions to conduct state-specific training needs assessment as per level of officials, develop capacity building strategy and training calendar for GBV;
• Monitor the outcomes of the trainings by undertaking pre and post-assessment and developing quality training reports.

Implementation of the project at the state level:

• Coordinate with project implementing partner and UN Women officials in the state for timely completion of project deliverables including periodic reporting;
• Prepare progress reports to supervisor in a timely manner;
• Coordinate with state Departments especially Women and Child Development Department and other Line Departments to keep them abreast of our work in the state and garner their support and involvement in project related activities;
• Develop partnerships with feminist publication houses and provide support to gather short stories from potential writers;
• Support in organising creative labs for journalists, artists, and filmmakers to produce knowledge products to address GBV;
• Support in organising policy dialogues and development of policy briefs based on insights from policy dialogues;
• Facilitate curation of gender festivals;
• Facilitate convening CSOs and women’s groups to strengthen the feminist ecosystem;
• Facilitate conducting state and district-level campaigns focusing on arts, literature, film, and cultural events;
• Support in generating mass public awareness in vernacular languages on issues and the impact of violence against women and girls;
• Support in establishing a Community of Practice at the state level to design a robust project;
• Draft proposals for accessing and utilising the Nirbhaya Fund in the state;
• Build capacities of state NGO partners on issues of gender and ending violence against women.
• Provide oversight and conduct monitoring visits (as needed) for any other projects implemented in the state

Any other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Input and technical expertise provided to state nodal and line Departments on GBV;

• Evidence-based State Action Plan developed with the state nodal Department on GBV with verifiable monitorable targets and timelines;
• Institutional mechanisms and processes to strengthen GBV developed and implemented;
• Training calendar on GBV developed and training and capacity development of state officials and relevant stakeholders strengthened based on assessments;
• State-level training programmes on GBV facilitated and results documents through Reports, Evaluations, data analysis;
• Facilitation and completion of Project related activities in the state involving state government, UN Women implementing partner and
• Timely compilation and submission of reports to UN Women/Government of Kerala.

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 of Gender.
• 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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in Social Sciences/Economics/Social Work /Gender Studies/Public Administration/Policy or related fields.
• 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 5 years of experience at the national/state level working with development projects including hands-on experience of design, implementation and monitoring/evaluation of projects, preferably on Gender Based Violence, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.
• Some experience of working with national/ state governments on gender issues, preferably on Gender Based Violence. State specific experience will be preferable.
• Experience of undertaking assessments, policy analysis and capacity building of government officials.
• Proficiency in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).

Language:

• Proficiency in English;
• Good command over Malayalam is desirable.

Application Information:

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org.

Application Information: Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org.

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
• 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.
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

Inclusion Statement:

• At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, 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 you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your 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.)

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.