Project Officer : Women’s Economic Empowerment SB4

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.

As part of Women’s Economic Empowerment Pillar, UN Women Rwanda Country Office is a participating Agency to the ‘’Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment ‘’ Joint Programme (JP-RWEE) since 2013.

The Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment (RWEE) joint programme supports a results-oriented collaborative effort from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)  to accelerate progress towards the economic empowerment of rural women. This coalition between UN Women, FAO, IFAD and WFP (collectively referred as the Participating UN Organizations) is expected to generate synergies that capitalize on each agency’s mandate, comparative advantage and institutional strength for more lasting and wider scale improvements in the livelihoods and rights of rural women, including young women. To this effect, the Participating UN Organizations have agreed to adopt a coordinated approach to make greater impacts in the lives of thousands of rural women and girls from few selected Districts of Eastern and Southern Provinces of Rwanda.

Safer rural public places is part of UN Women’s Safe Cities and Safe Public Places for Women and Girls Global Flagship Initiative. Through the Programme, each participating city commits to create safe and empowering public spaces for women and girls free from sexual harassment (SH) and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls (SVAWG). Through a comprehensive human rights and evidence-based approach, cities develop practical solutions in four main action areas: ensuring that locally relevant and owned solutions are identified, strengthening laws and policies, investing in the safety and economic viability of public spaces, and fostering transformative social norms that promote women and girls’ rights to use public spaces free from SH and other forms of sexual violence (SV).  In Collaboration with UNILEVER, the programme is in the phase of being scaled up to secondary Cities including in semi-urban settings.

About the Position

Reporting to the National Programme Specialist, the Programme Officer contributes to the effective management of UN Women programmes promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment particularly the Rural Women through the Joint Programme  ‘’Accelerating Progress Towards Economic Empowerment of Rural Women in  RWANDA’’  and the ‘’Safer. rural public places ‘’ by providing substantive inputs to programme design, formulation, implementation , monitoring and evaluation.  The Programme Officer  guides and facilitates the delivery of UN Women programmes by monitoring results achieved during implementation and ensuring appropriate application of systems and procedures and develops enhancements if necessary.  The Programme Officer works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, other One UN participating Agencies (WFP, FAO and IFAD), Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.    She/he will also work with Regional Office and HQ based Colleagues on Economic Empowerment and safer rural pubic places  in accordance with the projects’  results frameworks.  

II. Functions.

5. Contribute technically to the development of programme strategies in the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) and safe rural public places

• Provide substantive inputs to the design and formulation of programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Contribute to the identification of project’s beneficiaries and introductory meetings for the safe rural public places
• Identify areas for support and interventions related to the programmes
• Network with other stakeholders and identify strategic avenues for joint programing and partnerships in the area of WEE and Safe rural public spaces

5. Provide substantive technical support to the implementation and management of the WEE /JP-RWEE programme including Joint Programme Finance as well as the programme on safe rural public places

• Provide technical inputs to the annual workplan and budget;
• Liaise with other JP-RWEE participating agencies to plan , monitor or assessment the implementation of the Joint Programme activities and results, as  a member of the technical team
• Lead the implementation of programme activities assigned to UN Women within the framework of JP-RWEE Joint Programme and Safer rural public places;
• Lead the coordination of the call/request for proposals, including the organization of technical review committees, and capacity assessment of partners and subsequently manage implementation and reporting relations with partners and Responsible Parties;
• Review, coordinate and monitor the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Train partners on Results Based Management and monitor implementation.
• Monitor budget implementation and make budget re-alignments/ revisions, as necessary;
• Provide substantive inputs to financial reports;
• Supervise the team assigned by the Senior Management as applicable

5. Provide technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners

• Coordinate and provide technical support in the implementation of programme activities;
• Identify opportunities for capacity building of partners and facilitate technical/ programming support and trainings to partners, as needed.

5. Provide technical inputs to the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ projects

• Monitor progress of implementation of activities and finances using results -based management tools;
• Maintain and update UN Women Corporate monitoring and evaluation and reporting platforms, in close collaboration with the country office Monitoring and Reporting focal person
• Draft reports on monitoring missions, programme results , outputs and outcomes;
• Provide substantive inputs to the preparation of donor and UN Women reports.
• Provide guidance to Implementing Partners on reporting and review the submitted reports and expenditure supporting documents before liquidation of cash advance

• Provide substantive inputs to resource mobilization strategies; analyze and maintain information and databases as needed;
• Prepare relevant documentation such as project summaries, conference papers, briefing notes, speeches, and donor profiles as needed;
• Participate in donor meetings and public information events, as delegated.

5. Provide substantive inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop background documents, briefs and presentations related to the thematic areas under responsibilities
• Coordinate and organize advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products;
• Coordinate the development of knowledge management methodologies, and products on both thematic area.

5. Provide technical support to inter-agency coordination  to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners in the country

• Provide substantive technical support to the Senior Management on inter-agency coordination related activities by drafting background reports and briefs.
• Participate in all relevant Results Groups meetings as delegated by the Country Representative  or immediate supervisor

III. 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

• Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations.
• Good analytical skills
• Good knowledge of women’s economic empowerment as a  technical area as well as familiarity with the national development agendas and gender equality
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising

IV. Recruitment Qualifications.

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, development economics, rural development, 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.
• Project Management professional certification is desirable;

Experience:

• At least 3 years of progressively responsible work experience in development programme/project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building;
• Experience in the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment in access to finance, entrepreneurship, Gender Based Violence and Women’s Economic Empowerment nexus;
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors;
• Experience in handling web-based monitoring and reporting platforms is an added advantage

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Kinyarwanda is required
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset;

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