Programme Specialist - Gender Coordination, NPSA 10, Windhoek, Namibia

Position details

• Grade: NPSA-10
• Vacancy type: National Personnel Service Agreement
• Education and experience: Master's Degree - 5 year(s) experience OR Bachelor's Degree - 7 year(s) experience
• Required languages: English
• Application deadline: 2026-10-27T03:59:00+00:00

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 UN Women Regional Office for East and Southern Africa (ESARO) advances gender equality and women’s empowerment across the region through its triple mandate: normative support, UN system coordination and operational activities. In countries where UN Women has no physical presence, ESARO provides demand-driven support to Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams through a non-physical presence modality, drawing on regional and global expertise.

In Namibia, the Programme Specialist will be embedded in the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) and will support the Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team (UNCT) to strengthen the integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment across UN Cooperation Framework implementation, inter-agency coordination, accountability, partnerships and joint initiatives. The position will work closely with the RCO, the Gender Theme Group (GTG) and relevant Results Groups, while serving as a bridge to UN Women ESARO’s technical, normative and coordination support.

The position will be under the overall supervision of the UN Women ESARO Regional Coordination & Normative Specialist and the day-to-day supervision of the Head of the Resident Coordinator’s Office. The post does not constitute a stand-alone UN Women country programme function; its primary purpose is to strengthen coherent UNCT support for gender equality in Namibia and facilitate access to UN Women’s regional expertise.

Key Functions and Accountabilities

 Provide high-quality gender analysis, policy advice and strategic support to the RC, RCO and UNCT

• Provide timely analysis and advice to the RC, RCO and UNCT on key gender equality and women’s empowerment issues and their implications for UN strategic priorities in Namibia.
• Coordinate or contribute to gender analysis, including Country Gender Equality Profiles/Briefs and other analytical products, using sex-disaggregated and gender-sensitive data and identifying root causes of gender inequalities and discrimination.
• Prepare policy briefs, talking points, background notes and other strategic products to inform UNCT engagement, advocacy and policy dialogue on gender equality.
• Support the UNCT to draw on relevant national, regional and international normative commitments, including CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Commission on the Status of Women, the 2030 Agenda and, as relevant, Women, Peace and Security commitments.
• Facilitate access by the RC/RCO and UNCT to specialized technical expertise from UN Women ESARO and global teams, based on identified country needs.

Strengthen gender mainstreaming in the Common Country Analysis and Cooperation Framework

• Provide technical support to integrate gender equality across the CCA and Cooperation Framework cycle, including planning, implementation, Joint Work Plans, monitoring, annual reviews, evaluations and reporting.
• Support rigorous gender analysis in CCA updates, including analysis of differentiated impacts on women and men, girls and boys, and intersecting forms of exclusion.
• Review Cooperation Framework results, indicators, joint programmes and other UNCT initiatives from a gender perspective and provide practical recommendations to strengthen gender-responsive and, where appropriate, gender-transformative results.
• Support Results Groups and other UNCT mechanisms to mainstream gender equality in their workplans, results frameworks and reporting, rather than treating gender as a stand-alone issue.
• Identify opportunities for joint UN programming, joint advocacy, joint analysis/data and joint resource mobilization that advance gender equality priorities under the Cooperation Framework.

Support UNCT gender coordination and system-wide accountability

• Provide substantive and secretariat support to the Gender Theme Group (GTG), including preparation and implementation of its annual workplan, meetings, follow-up actions and links with Results Groups and other UNCT coordination mechanisms.
• Support the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard reporting cycle, comprehensive assessments where applicable, and implementation and monitoring of the resulting action plan.
• Support application and quality assurance of the Gender Equality Marker (GEM) in Joint Work Plans and UN INFO, in close collaboration with relevant RCO colleagues, and contribute to analysis of UNCT financial allocations and expenditure for gender equality.
• Support capacity development for UNCT members, GTG members and relevant partners on gender mainstreaming, UNCT-SWAP, GEM, gender-responsive results and other identified priorities.
• Promote coherence between gender equality and other cross-cutting UNCT priorities, including Leave No One Behind, human rights, disability inclusion, youth and PSEA, while maintaining a clear gender equality lens.

Support partnerships, normative engagement and collective advocacy

• Support the RC/RCO and UNCT in maintaining strategic engagement with relevant Government institutions, including the national gender machinery, as well as women’s rights and women-led organizations, civil society, youth, organizations of persons with disabilities, development partners and other stakeholders.
• Support coordinated UNCT contributions to relevant national and intergovernmental processes on gender equality, including follow-up to CEDAW recommendations, CSW agreed conclusions, Beijing commitments, SDG/VNR processes and other relevant frameworks.
• Support the development of common UN advocacy messages and joint initiatives on priority gender equality issues, including key international observances and advocacy campaigns.
• Promote meaningful engagement of women’s rights organizations and women-led organizations in relevant Cooperation Framework implementation, monitoring and policy dialogue.

Support strategic partnerships, financing, knowledge management and results harvesting

• Work with the RCO partnerships/development financing function and UN Women ESARO to identify opportunities for joint resource mobilization and financing for gender equality priorities under the Cooperation Framework.
• Provide gender inputs to relevant partnership, financing and joint resource mobilization strategies, including opportunities to strengthen gender-responsive planning, budgeting and financing.
• Document and synthesize results, good practices, lessons and emerging issues from UNCT work on gender equality and share these with the RCO, UNCT and UN Women ESARO.
• Contribute to timely reporting on UN Women ESARO’s support to Namibia under the non-physical presence modality and support results harvesting for regional and corporate reporting.
• Undertake other gender-related coordination tasks as agreed with the RCO and UN Women ESARO.

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 UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment and ability to apply gender analysis to development planning and policy.
• Good understanding of UN system coordination, Common Country Analysis and Cooperation Framework processes, results-based management and inter-agency mechanisms.
• Ability to provide practical policy and programme advice to senior stakeholders and translate gender commitments into measurable results.
• Knowledge of UNCT gender accountability tools, including the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard and Gender Equality Marker, is an asset.
• Strong analytical, drafting, facilitation, coordination and partnership-building skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a matrix arrangement across the RCO, UNCT and UN Women regional structures

Recruitment Qualifications

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Gender Studies, International Development, Human Rights, Public Policy, Social Sciences or a related field.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience in gender equality/women’s empowerment, development planning, policy, programme coordination, monitoring or related work. 
• Demonstrated experience in gender mainstreaming and results-based planning is required. Experience with UN system coordination, Cooperation Framework processes, UNCT-SWAP/GEM, normative frameworks, and partnership building with government, civil society and UN entities is highly desirable. 
• Experience in the Namibian development context is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. 
• Knowledge of a national language of Namibia is an asset. 
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.

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.)

 

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.