The Position:
Gender Transformative Community Action
The TRANSFORM project is a bold and inclusive effort by UNFPA to promote SRHR in South Sudan through empowerment-driven strategies, enabling vulnerable groups to assert their rights; community empowerment, building localized momentum for equitable SRH access; and holistic service delivery, combining innovation, mobility, infrastructure, advocacy, and accountability. The project is aiming to implement women and youth-led technology solutions for gender equality and SRHR, setting up Community-Based Complaints Mechanisms (CBCM) in each targeted area to prevent sexual exploitation, working with women and girls to establish mentorship initiatives for womenโs leadership in decision-making, work with men and boys to promote positive masculinity, work with the traditional leaders to end child marriage, and strengthen community action groups for social norms change.ย
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.ย UNFPAโs strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to โbuild forward betterโ, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on womenโs and girlsโ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.
Job Purpose:
Goal of the consultancy is to strengthen UNFPA's community-level interventions by providing capacity building support, evidence-based insights for operational effectiveness, monitoring and documenting best practices, and sustainability of the community-based actions
You would be responsible for:
Intervention Design & Planning Co-develop an integrated (SRH, gender-based violence, Maternal Health, Social Inclusion, Gender Equality etc) community action group designs with input from UNFPA team members, implementing partners, community members, civil society, marginalized populations, women and girls. Co-design behaviour-change, awareness-raising, community dialogues, peer interventions, male engagement strategies e.g. โSouth Sudanese dadโ initiative, reproductive health and well-being mentors etc. as per the project design Co-create context specificย men and women led savings groups as local-level social protection mechanisms for safe motherhood. Ensure interventions are culturally appropriate, inclusive (e.g. youth, people with disabilities, marginalized groups), conflict-sensitive, and gender-responsive. Capacity Building & Community Engagement Train / facilitate training of local actors (community leaders, health workers, youth groups, NGOs) on gender-transformative approaches, positive masculinities, gender-based violence prevention, etc.ย Support community dialogues, workshops, peer-to-peer sessions, theatre / arts / social media campaigns (as appropriate) to challenge harmful norms. Engage men and boys as allies, role models, and change agents. Organize and facilitateย trainings for community actors (mentors, youth champions, action groups, menโs and womenโs savings groups, women leaders, traditional chiefs). Organize/ Facilitate capacity-building for state-level government actors on SRHR commitments and frameworks. Implementation Oversight & Support Support and work with partners for the roll out of interventions, including training on social norms, reproductive health and well-being mentors, men and women led social protection schemes, behaviour change communication activities Provide technical support / coaching during implementation. Coordinate between UNFPA and partners; ensure alignment with policies, ethics, safeguarding, and UNFPA gender standards. Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Track participation and progress of community mentors, youth champions, action groups, BCC campaigns, savings groups, and leaders. Prepare briefs and reports to inform UNFPA and stakeholders. Document success stories,ย positive role models (e.g., South Sudanese Dads),ย challenges, lessons learned. Advocacy, Reporting & Dissemination Share briefs / knowledge products; facilitate workshops / learning events with stakeholders. Support advocacy for policy reforms and legal frameworks (Maputo Protocol, CRPD, domestic policy integration). Deliverables / OutputsThe deliverables for each month will be agreed in advance and the payment shall be released based on the satisfactory completion of the deliverables on monthly basis. The following overall deliverables are expected:
Report of the training conducted on social norms change and climate change induced vulnerabilities for the UNFPA implementing partners Community Action Groupsโ lessons learned, achievements and processes documentedย The Womenโs mentorship training package is prepared Training Packages & Reports (for women mentors, youth champions, action groups, savings groups, women leaders, traditional chiefs, state actors). Community Engagement related activities carried out as per the Outputs (dialogues, campaigns, radio spots, theatre sessions, arts/sports activities, peer education sessions). Advocacy Materials (case studies, policy briefs, documentation of positive masculinities, โSouth Sudanese Dadsโ stories/exhibitions organized). Progress & Monitoring Reports (monthly/quarterly updates on activities, participation, challenges, lessons). Final Consolidated Report summarizing achievements, success stories, best practices, and recommendations for scaling.Qualifications and Experience:ย
ย Education:ย ย
Masterโs degree in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Anthropology, Public Health, or related field
Knowledge and Experience:ย
Minimum 5 years of experience in designing and implementing genderโtransformative / social norms change interventions at community level. Demonstrated experience in engaging men and boys, communities, youth in behaviour change. Experience with participatory methodologies, qualitative and quantitative data collection, MEL. Prior experience with UN or other international development agencies is an asset. Experience in South Sudan and/or working in fragile/ post-conflict environments is desirable.Languages:ย
Fluency in English. Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.Required Competencies:ย
Values:
Exemplifying integrity,ย Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,ย Embracing cultural diversity,ย Embracing changeCore Competencies:ย
Achieving results, Being accountable, Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen, Thinking analytically and strategically, Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,Functional Competencies:
ย Providing strategic focus Engaging internal/ external partners and stakeholders Leading, developing and empowering people/ creating a culture of performance Making decisions and exercising judgmentManagerial Competencies (if applicable):
Advocacy/ Advancing a policy-oriented agenda Leveraging the resources of national governments and partners/ building strategic alliances and partnerships Delivering a results-based programme Internal and external communication and advocacy for results mobilizationUNFPA Work Environment:
UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - clickย hereย to learn more.
Disclaimer:
Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements.ย
UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.ย
Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.