Programme Support Associate: GBV

Host entity: UN Women South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO)

Volunteer type: National

Areas of expertise: Administration, Community development, Gender, women's rights

Application deadline: 20/08/2026

Mission and objectives

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.

UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide.

Assignment context

UN Women South Africa implements a range of programmes aimed at promoting gender equality and preventing and responding to violence against women and girls (EVAW). Successful implementation of these programmes requires effective programme coordination, stakeholder engagement, documentation, knowledge management and administrative support to ensure activities are delivered efficiently and in accordance with organizational priorities.

Hosted by UN Women South Africa, this assignment provides an opportunity for a young professional to gain practical experience within the United Nations while supporting programme implementation and inter-agency coordination. Working under the supervision of the designated UN Women supervisor and in collaboration with programme staff, implementing partners, government institutions, civil society organizations and other UN agencies, the UN Volunteer will contribute to programme coordination, monitoring, reporting, stakeholder engagement and administrative support.

The assignment also provides exposure to the United Nations Country Team coordination architecture through support to the Gender Theme Group (GTG). The UN Volunteer will assist in coordinating meetings, maintaining documentation, monitoring action points and facilitating communication among participating UN agencies to strengthen collaboration on gender equality across the UN system. Through structured mentoring, workplace learning and regular coaching, the UN Volunteer will strengthen competencies in programme management, coordination, communication, partnerships and organizational administration.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the designated UN Women Supervisor, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

1. Support programme coordination and implementation
● Support the planning, coordination and implementation of programmes focused on gender equality and the elimination of violence against women and girls (EVAW), in collaboration with programme teams and implementing partners.
● Assist with coordinating programme activities, meetings, workshops, consultations and field engagements to support the timely implementation of approved work plans.
● Contribute to the day-to-day coordination of programme activities and provide operational support to facilitate effective programme delivery.

2. Provide administrative support to the Programme Unit:
● Undertake all logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for organization for meetings, workshops, events, and missions; 
● Make travel arrangements for the Programme Team, including travel requisitions and claims; 
● Draft minutes in meetings, as delegated;  
● Assemble briefing materials and prepare power-point and other presentations, in collaboration with the Programme team;
● Organize and coordinate filing of documents; maintain mailing lists. 

3. Support monitoring, reporting and results tracking
● Under the guidance of the M&E Lead, assist in monitoring programme implementation by maintaining activity trackers, compiling programme information and supporting the collection of performance data.
● Contribute to internal, donor and inter-agency reporting by consolidating information from programme teams and implementing partners.
● Support results tracking, documentation of programme achievements and identification of lessons learned to strengthen programme performance and accountability.

4. Support knowledge management and documentation
● Provide administrative support to the organization of training for the office staff and partners on programme and operations related issues. 
● Organize and maintain programme documentation, electronic filing systems and information repositories.
● Document lessons learned, good practices, success stories and stories of change arising from programme implementation.

5. Support communication and visibility
● Assist with documenting programme activities, meetings and events through summaries, photographs and activity records, where appropriate.
● Contribute to the compilation of programme information for internal reporting, knowledge sharing and stakeholder updates.
● Support the dissemination of programme information to stakeholders in accordance with organizational policies and procedures.

6. Provide general administrative support
● Provide administrative support for programme operations, including meeting logistics, travel arrangements, procurement processes, correspondence, scheduling and document management in collaboration with procurement team
● Maintain filing and records management systems and support financial and administrative documentation in accordance with UN Women policies and procedures.
● Perform other programme support and administrative duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Skills and experience

Demonstrated interest or experience in:
● Gender equality, women's empowerment or ending violence against women (EVAW)/gender-based violence (GBV) programmes.
● Programme coordination, project administration or stakeholder engagement.
● Monitoring, reporting, knowledge management or partnership coordination.
● Administrative support, event coordination and documentation.     

Skills in:
● Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Microsoft Teams).
● Project administration, report writing and meeting coordination.
● Stakeholder engagement, professional communication and partnership coordination.
● Monitoring, records management, document control and knowledge management.
● Planning, organization and attention to detail.

*Mastercard Foundation Alumni and Youth with Disabilities are encouraged to apply.

*Candidates must be between 18 and 34 years of age at the time of application.

Competencies and values

Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues, Accountability, Creative Problem Solving, Effective Communication, Inclusive Collaboration, Stakeholder Engagement, Leading by Example, Respect for Diversity, Integrity, Professionalism, Working in Teams.

Living conditions

Bigger cities in South Africa can be highly cosmopolitan. In Johannesburg and Pretoria, you will find an abundance of world class gyms, restaurants, bars, recreational classes, galleries, parks etc. The bigger shopping malls host a large selection of international brands. There is a plethora of international cuisine to be sampled, and quirky independent cinemas to be discovered. OR Tambo International Airport is a world class airport, offering highly sophisticated facilities. It is located just outside of Johannesburg, in Kempton Park. It has many international airlines that fly into this airport. Crime rates in South Africa are ranked on the high end, petty theft and opportunistic crimes are common, and armed robberies, smash & grabs and hijackings are also fairly frequent in certain areas. One needs to remain vigilant especially at night and at road intersections. There are usually sign posts that indicate such hot spots. Periodic security information updates are sent via email providing information at national level, with regards to circumstances such as incidents of civil unrest, transport security, computer and networking safety and trends in criminality. UNDSS sends weekly security updates via email. Updates from wardens are on an ad hoc basis, following security related events in your residential area. Updates from UNDSS are provided weekly.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.