UN Women: Programme Specialist, Asia Pacific, New York, P-4 (Temporary Appointment)

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 Policy, Programme, and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) provides global support to UN Women offices in all field locations and at Headquarters to deliver results in support of UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and internationally agreed goals on gender equality and women’s empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Division provides intellectual and strategic leadership on normative support and delivery of integrated policy and programme advice, including through policy analysis and gender mainstreaming. The Division leverages innovation, knowledge management, and cutting-edge technical expertise to support UN Women’s operational work to build the capacity of partners to deliver results on gender equality and women’s empowerment at the country level and coordinate the contribution of the UN system. 

The Political Analysis and Programme Development Unit (PAPDU) is a unit within PPID focused on providing regional and country analysis and field support, and developing approaches and guidance on cross- cutting programming priorities and principles. PAPDU is also engaged in the development of political analysis, support to senior management in participation in high level meetings and is engaged in corporate support and quality assurance processes. 

Under the supervision of the Chief of PAPDU, the Programme Specialist is responsible for providing political and regional analysis, and supporting programme planning at field levels. The position will support the work in the Asia Pacific region, working in close collaboration with regional and country offices in the region.  

Key Functions and Accountabilities:

1. Lead political analysis, forecasting and horizon scanning on strategic, emerging and/or topical issues in the Asia Pacific region to inform UN Women work and positioning in inter-agency initiatives and processes

• Monitor and analyze development trends, political developments, gender equality issues  across the regions to offer substantive recommendations to inform corporate decisions; 
• Conduct desk research, track, and analyze emerging and evolving crisis and complex development situations, identify critical issues for UN Women programming and offer substantive recommendations to the PPID and UN Women Senior Management on corporate advice to country and regional offices in the development of strategies for positioning of UN Women
• Contribute to crisis situation rooms for the Asia Pacific region, including with pollical analysis and development of key messages. 
• Stay abreast of the work and priorities of regional inter-governmental organizations such as the ASEAN, APEC and the Pacific Islands Forum. 
• Act as the focal point for the Asia Pacific region in HQ and respond to information requests and representation of UN Women in inter-agency meeting and processes when required.
• Participate in relevant external meetings, partnerships and advocacy activities with UN partners, Permanent Missions, and external stakeholders.

2. Support to the coordination of UN Women’s participation in the SG’s Executive Committee

• Lead the coordination of the preparation of talking points, input to background notes and overall coordination with the EC secretariat. 
• Support the implementation tracker and ensure timely updates. 

3. Support effective representation of UN Women leadership on issues pertaining to the Asia Pacific region - liaising and coordinating with CO/ROs and units across the organization

• Prepare background analysis and briefing documents for UN Women senior management participation in the SG’s Executive Committee and other high level meetings as relevant for the Asia Pacific region in close coordination with regional offices.
• Support political analysis in crisis contexts to support UN Women’s response, as well as the UN preventative mechanisms, such as the Regional Monthly Reviews (RMRs) for the Asia Pacific region.

4. Support country and regional SN planning, project development and oversight with a focus on the Asia Pacific region

• Support the implementation of the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022-2025 in the Asia Pacific region  through and technical support to offices in the CCA/UNSDCF and Strategic Note (SN) planning process. 
• Support quality assurance processes for Strategi