Program Coordinator

United Nations Development Programme

Monrovia, Liberia

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. Women’s leadership and political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. Through its Leadership and Governance section, UN Women works to ensure that women lead, participate in, and benefit equally from governance systems.

A key strategic partner of UN Women in Liberia is the Women’s Legislative Caucus (WLC). The WLC was formed in 2006 to bring together women legislators around common issues and concerns to women, irrespective of political affiliation, religion, or ethnic background. The WLC aims at increasing the participation of women in decision making at all levels and at strengthening legislation, systems, and mechanisms for the protection and promotion of women and girls’ rights. Specifically, it aims to increase women’s presence and influence in national decision-making; to enhance the political, campaign, and fundraising capacities of its members and other women candidates; and to promote affirmative action for women’s political participation and leadership and contribute to gender responsive legislation. Currently it is comprised of 11 members comprising 2 women Senators and 9 women Representatives.

UN Women supports the WLC, its normative and legislative agenda, and its promotion of women’s political participation and representation in national decision-making. To this end, UN Women will support the personnel costs of the WLC Secretariat to execute its core functions.

Reporting to UN Women’s Program Management Specialist, the Program Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the WLC’s program which includes coordinating relationships with WLC members and staff, as well as national partners and stakeholders. This person is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the WLC’s strategic plan. S/he coordinates the Secretariat staff and the WLC members and their staff, as well as WLC partners, as needed. S/he is also primarily responsible for developing concept notes for activities, monitoring and reporting on progress, new developments, etc.

Duties and Responsibilities

Coordinate the implementation of WLC’s program activities

  • Coordinate the development of the WLC’s work plan according to the WLC’s strategic plan and agreements with donors including UN Women.
  • Liaise with WLC members, national actors, donors, UN Women and partners to ensure the program results are achieved and resources are managed
  • Prepare and present workplans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to the WLC members, Secretariat staff and UN Women
  • Establish systems for project planning, implementation, and monitoring, in collaboration with partners
  • Record and maintain documents on relevant program activities, issues, and risks, in collaboration with the Finance/Admin Officer.

Guide coordination with national partners and other stakeholders

  • Coordinate relationships with national partners – Women’s groups and networks, political party women, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, National Elections Commission Gender Unit, legal experts and others, to support implementation of activities, and raise potential problems and provide solutions
  • Support the Secretariat to establish performance indicators, objectives, and monitoring achievement of results;
  • Identify capacity building needs for the Secretariat and member staff and work with UN Women and partners for the delivery of capacity development initiatives (technical assistance, mentoring, training, peer learning, and others)

Support coordination on the monitoring and reporting of WLC activities

  • Gather and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting on activities from the planning to the evaluation stages
  • Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds
  • Conduct/participate in regular monitoring visits
  • Write annual and quarterly reports and coordinate inputs and review from Secretariat staff and WLC members, as appropriate

Support the management of financial resources and supervision of Secretariat staff, jointly with UN Women

  • Supervise and manage a team of professional and administrative staff, review performance together with UN Women
  • Coordinate development and preparation of financial resources including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting;
  • Oversee and monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds for program activities.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

  • Provide technical support to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
  • Identify potential programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of the WLC country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships.

Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication

  • Ensure documentation of the program implementation process and products produced are in accordance with UN Women guidelines
  • Contribute to the exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally with WCL, UN Women and other partners, as relevant
  • Coordinate the organization of advocacy and campaign and activities and events

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences or other related areas 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/program management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage

Experience:

  • At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in managing interventions with national partners, preferably related to women’s political participation and leadership
  • Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects
  • Previous experience working in the UN system is an asset. 

Source: https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=109130