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.
In Ukraine, UN Women is committed to delivering results across strategic priorities, exercising its triple mandate encompassing normative support, UN system coordination, and operational activities to mobilize urgent and sustained action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. UN Women has long been actively supporting local priority areas in Ukraine from increased political participation to gender mainstreaming in public policy, and economic development.ย Since the Russian Federationโs full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the war continues to cause civilian casualties and hardship, damage to infrastructure and productive assets, disruption to the economy, causing the largest displacement and refugee crisis in Europe since 1945, and one of the greatest modern challenges to the global and regional peace and security architecture.ย
Women and girls are the majority of those affected disproportionally by the ten-year war.ย They experience higher rates of poverty and displacement than men, worsening inequalities, many have lost their homes and jobs lack access to basic social services, and are facing protection concerns,[4] including gender-based violence[5], conflict-related sexual violence,[6] and human trafficking[7].ย Among the 14.6 million needing humanitarian assistance, women and girls constitute the vast majority. Women make up 56% of the estimated 3.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine and constitute 93% of the 4.6 million people returning to Ukraine[i].ย ย
Despite the ongoing war, Ukraineโs recovery and reconstruction provide significant opportunities to build back better, more inclusive, and more equal, to strengthen good governance, the rule of law, gender equality, sustainable socio-economic development, and human rights.ย
To achieve gender equality and women's empowerment in Ukraine, the CO will contribute to the UN Cooperation Framework 2025 โ 2029 and the Humanitarian Program Cycle. The CO will leverage its triple mandate to promote UN system-wide coherence, results, and accountability. It will address early recovery needs through a nexus approach and the longer-term policy reform priorities of the Government of Ukraine. The UN Women Ukraine Strategic Note 2025-2029 will focus on Gender responsive recovery, reconstruction, and development programs achieving the three outcome areas:
Governance, Women Peace, and Securityย Women's Economic Empowermentย Humanitarian ActionsUN Women will focus its programs on the East of Ukraine, as this region has been more severely affected by the war since 2014 compared to other areas in Ukraine. The sub-national program will adopt a community-driven approach to address the needs of women and girls in the region. UN Women's sub-office in Dnipro (East of Ukraine) will continue to coordinate, implement, and monitor UN Women's programs (Governance, Women Peace and Security, Women Economic Empowerment and Humanitarian Response) and engage local stakeholders to consolidate UN Women's efforts and achievements in promoting gender equality and empowering women in the region. This will involve collaborating with WROs located in the East, as well as strengthening coordination and relationships with the Regional Military Administration of Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy Oblasts. The goal is to deepen existing relationships with community leaders, the UN systems coordination mechanisms, academia, and state and non-state actors to advance GEWE at local levels.ย ย
The sub-office is central to operationalizing UN Womenโs triple mandate in a localized context
Reporting to theย Deputy Country Representativeย and under the overall guidance of the Country Representative, the Programme Specialist, based in Dnipro,ย is responsible for supporting the implementation of UN Women SN 2025-2029 priorities in the East, leading engagements with Regional Military Administrations in the East, managing Eastern-based partnerships, supporting and coordinate Eastern-based programming and operational oversight, convening/participating in UN systemwide coordination mechanisms at the local level in the Eastern Region, supervising UN Women personnel in the sub-office, supporting the monitoring and documentation of social, political and economic situation in the region, and providing technical guidance on Area East to inform Ukraine CO programming.ย
Key Functions and Accountabilities:
Design, manage, and implement UN Women interventions in the oblasts of Eastern Ukraine
Design and formulate program/ project proposals and initiatives, in coordination with partners.ย Draft inputs to country strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue, and other documents related to the UN Women activities in Eastern Ukraine Finalize the annual work plan and budget and manage their implementation.ย Manage the technical implementation of the program/project; ensure synergies with other teams. Ensure effective internal communication and coordination at the Sub-Office level and effective and proactive communication between relevant Country Office units (both programme and operations) and the Sub-Office Provide guidance to personnel and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators. Provide inputs from programme activities and results to Country Office reporting. Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports.Represent UN Women at the sub-national level and develop and manage UN Womenโs strategic partnerships and stakeholder engagement.ย
Coordinate relationships with national partners, especially women civil society representatives to support the implementation and expansion of the UN Women Country Office programme/Portfolio. Represent UN Women in relevant humanitarian coordination mechanisms, events, and workshops and coordinate UN Women inputs to interagency initiatives at the sub-national level. Establish effective communication channels with and ensure that stakeholders (civil society, humanitarian and development partners, bilateral and multilateral donors, private sector, civil society, UN agencies, and others) have a consistent UN Women counterpart at the sub-national level. Maintain collaboration and coordination with other UN and humanitarian-development partners to ensure programmatic integration.ยManage technical assistance and capacity development for program partners.
Review and coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports. Manage the implementation of technical advice and guidance. Develop and implement technical tools, and initiatives. Provide substantive technical support to partners regarding program planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Build and manage relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion in Eastern Ukraine; respond to any potential problems. Identify capacity building needs of partners and lead the coordination of technical assistance, mentoring, training, and capacity development initiatives to partners.ย Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports.Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project.
Manage the monitoring of programme/ project implementation and finances using results-based management tools. Oversee field missions and review reports on monitoring missions. Write quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output, and outcomes. Contribute to office donor and UN Women reports.ยManage the people and financial resources related to UN Women activities in Dnipro sub-office.
Manage the programme budget and draft financial reports. Coordinate development and preparation of financial resources of the program including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting;ย ensuring the integrity of financial systems and consistent application of the Internal Control Framework and/or rules and regulations. Oversee and monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to participating partners. In collaboration with the Security Specialist and the Operations Manager, ensure that the security needs of the office and projects are met.ย Supervise staff, Mentor and coach personnel and conduct performance assessments. Oversee recruitment processes, as necessary.Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies.
Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies. Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization. Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost-sharing.Manage advocacy, knowledge-building, and communication efforts.
Identify programming, advocacy, and communications opportunities and entry points for UN Women and advise the UN Women Country Office on policies, programs, and strategies to adequately respond to localized challenges and needs regarding gender equality and womenโs empowerment. Monitor the perception of UN Women at the sub-national level and suggest and ensure that UN Women's programming objectives and local programming results are effectively communicated in collaboration with relevant units/teams. Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide program improvement and strategy planning. Develop knowledge management strategies, products, and methodologies on UN Women interventions in Eastern UkraineThe incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Sub Office and the Organization.
Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: The incumbent will lead the team of 4 personnel with 3 direct reports (Programme Analyst, JPO, Programme Associate) and including UNV and the driver based at the Dnipro sub officeย
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 visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:
Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills Strong knowledge of Results Based Management Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making Strong knowledge of supporting Governance, Women and Peace and Security, Humanitarian Actions and Women Economic Empowermentย Strong analytical skills Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategiesRecruitment Qualifications
Education and certification:
Masterโs degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field 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. A project/programme management certification would be an added advantageExperience:
At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects is required.ย Technical experience gender equality & women's empowerment is required. Experience leading and coaching staff in international settings is required. Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required. Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is desirable. Experience working in the UN System is desirable. Experience working in the Ukrainian context is desirable.ย Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.Language Requirements:
Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish). Knowledge of Ukrainian is desirable.ยAll applications must includeย a completed and signedย UN Women Personal History form (P-11)ย which can be downloaded fromย ttps://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.docย
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,ย and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age,ย ability, national origin,ย 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 toย UN Womenโsย policiesย and proceduresย andย theย standardsย of conduct expected of UN Women personnelย 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.)