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.

The Government of UAE and UN Women have agreed on a Strategic Partnership Framework (SPF) to join forces to deepen and expand the UAE Government’s global leadership on promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality through its foreign policy. The SPF aims to support the UAE to adopt a ‘women-centered foreign policy’ in line with its commitment to the SDGs and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as an overarching framework on gender equality, which would be the first of its kind in the Arab Region. Further, the partnership builds from the UAE’s national priorities specifically on matters of women, peace and security, gender-responsive climate action, and gender-equality policy advisory support.

The UN Women UAE Liaison Office established under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak and facilitated by a collaborative agreement among the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Women’s Union, and UN Women, supports the Government of the UAE with its strategic engagement on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The technical support to the Government of UAE on the abovementioned ‘women-centered foreign policy’ will be anchored by the UAE Liaison Office (in close coordination with the UN Women Arab States Regional Office).

UN Women’s global portfolio on gender-responsive approaches to foreign policy is led by the Governance and Participation section at UN Women Headquarters. The section supports UN Women’s policy and programme work to ensure that all women are able to fully and equally participate in decision-making, and that women and girls can benefit from gender-responsive laws, policies, budgets, services, and accountable institutions.

Under the overall supervision of the head of the UAE Liaison office and with matrixed reporting to the Chief, Governance and Participation section, the Women-Centered Foreign Policy Specialist will provide high-quality technical advice to the Government of the UAE to support the UAE’s women-centered foreign policy initiatives as outlined in outcome 1 of the UN Women-UAE Strategic Partnership Framework (2024-2027).

Key Functions and Accountabilities:

Provide technical support to the UAE Government on the development and implementation of women-centered foreign policy initiatives

• Develop gender training and capacity development initiatives for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant line ministries and agencies leading foreign policy areas to support the development of foreign policies that advance gender equality, women’s rights, and empowerment.
• Provide technical support to the Government on the design of a women-centered foreign policy framework and integration of gender equality across various areas of the UAE’s foreign policy;
• Lead the development of tools and guidelines for the Government to institutionalize women-centered foreign policy making.
• Facilitate data collection and research, trend analysis, and assessment initiatives in line with the UAE’s women-centered foreign policy priorities;
• Lead the development of initiatives that promote women in diplomacy.

Support the UAE Government with engagement in Intergovernmental processes

• Support the engagement of the UAE government delegations in intergovernmental processes to advance gender equality.
• Provide technical support to the government in the preparation of reports, background documents, and presentations on the gender equality initiatives of the UAE government in intergovernmental fora.
• Ensure the dissemination of intergovernmental decisions and outcomes that advance gender equality and the development of follow-up plans of the UAE Government.

Support Knowledge Exchange and South-South and Triangular Cooperation initiatives of the UAE Government on Gender Equality

• Coordinate and contribute to the organization of events, conferences, meetings, workshops, and exchange of experiences on women-centred foreign policy to be organized by the Government of the UAE in partnership with UN Women as part of South-South and Triangular Cooperation of the Government of UAE.
• Facilitate the effective development of knowledge products related to gender dimensions of the design and implementation of various fields of the UAE’s foreign policy.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of a roster of gender experts who can develop/ provide technical support in various areas of foreign policy.
• Establish and nurture relationships with UN Entities, member states, academia, research institutes, civil society, and foreign policy experts to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on the latest findings, and incorporate cutting-edge thinking related to gender-responsive foreign policy.

Contribute to Project Management and Reporting

• Contribute to monitoring and reporting of policy and program objectives, including their financial commitments in line with UN Women’s RBM standards, the UAE LO strategic note, and UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025.
• Participate in and/or represent the organization in various fora including inter-governmental, inter-agency task forces, and international technical and advocacy related to gender-responsive foreign policy as required.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

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

Please visit this link for more information on the UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Strong understanding of the UAE foreign policy;
• Strong understanding of the GCC governance structure, mechanisms and processes;
• Excellent knowledge and programmatic experience in foreign policy design and implementation;
• Ability to provide high-quality policy advice and technical support;
• Ability to produce high-quality programme documents and knowledge products;
• Ability to manage for results, translate strategy into achievable plans, with established priorities, and monitor them, making periodic adjustments as necessary;
• Ability to establish, build, and sustain effective relationships with partners;
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds;
• Excellent communication and public speaking skills.

Education and Certification

• Advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in International Relations, International Law, Economics, Political Science, Diplomacy, Gender/Women’s Studies, Social Sciences, or related field.
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent) in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of foreign or development policies and projects, including on gender equality is required.
• Experience providing expert policy advice to the government is required.
• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights, and related instruments is required.
• Proven advocacy, analytical and writing skills are required.
• Experience coordinating and liaising with national and trans-national civil society, academia, government agencies, and/or donors is desirable.
• Experience working in the UN System is desirable.

Languages

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

Statements :

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:

At UN Women, we are 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 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.)