Organizational Setting
The Position:
The Technical Adviser (VAW Data) post is located in the UNFPA Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (APRO), Bangkok, under the overall direction of the Regional Director and direct supervision of Deputy Regional Director, APRO.
S/he is the principle technical expert at the regional level for measurement of Violence against Women (VAW), focusing on technical advice to country offices and research teams leading VAW prevalence surveys, capacity building on measurement of VAW and managing the UNFPA-DFAT project to strengthen regional and national capacities to measure VAW in the Asia Pacific region – kNOwVAWdata Phase II.
Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Regional Director, the incumbent works as a team member of APRO in close consultation with the GBV Technical Specialist, and liaises as necessary with all team members in APRO, relevant staff in New York and country offices, with DFAT and other key partner agencies, as well as the Technical Advisory Committee for the UNFPA-DFAT project.
The Technical Adviser works in an integrated manner with the technical and programme staff in APRO, and as part of the team which provides technical and programme support to country and sub-regional offices.
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. UNFPA's 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 "build forward better", while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women's and girls' 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:
The VAW Research and Data Technical Adviser leads UNFPA APRO's technical area of measurement of VAW. In particular, s/he will lead the DFAT- UNFPA project -kNOwVAWdata Phase II - which aims to provide strategic advice and technical quality assurance to regional capacity building initiative on VAW prevalence measurement, ensure timely and quality technical advice to Country Offices on VAW data collection, analysis and utilization for programming and policy advocacy, and support evidence generation and knowledge development and dissemination on VAW data.
The Technical Adviser will also identify and promote opportunities for South-South cooperation as a modality for capacity building, and will promote and support knowledge exchange, communications and advocacy for VAW data at national, regional and global levels.
Main Tasks & Responsibilities
You would be responsible for:
Under the overall guidance of the UNFPA Deputy Regional Director, and in close collaboration with the GBV Technical Specialist, the Technical Adviser (VAW Research and Data), will provide:
Strategic Programme and Technical Support on VAW prevalence measurement
- Provide strategic and technical guidance to countries where national VAW prevalence studies and DHS surveys (using the DV module) are underway or being planned:
- Provide strategic and technical advice to national research teams on research methodology options, costs, and comparative advantages, safety and ethical concerns, and dissemination and use of VAW data, including in the context of SDG reporting.
- Coordinate and supervise regional technical support, including staff and/or consultants, as required.
- Provide technical guidance and capacity support for secondary data analysis of VAW survey findings.
- Provide strategic advice and capacity support to country offices on the use of VAW data by strengthening data literacy, analysis, interpretation, dissemination and translation into policy advocacy and programming to address violence against women.
- Build and extend partnerships for the measurement and use of VAW prevalence data, including to support SDG monitoring and reporting, within and beyond the Asia-Pacific region
Quality Assurance of Technical Support and Capacity Development
- Provide technical expertise and coordination of regional capacity building on VAW data collection through technical assistance and quality assurance to a regional institution for delivery and roll out of training curriculum on VAW prevalence measurement:
- Provide strategic and technical guidance and quality assurance to regional institution/s to ensure timely roll out of the kNOwVAWdata course (both online and face-to-face) to ensure capacity building can continue via flexible modalities in response to the COVID19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions.
- Lead the revision and update of the curriculum in line with the experience of delivering the course and feedback from course participants. This includes adding new modules on specific issues to support the development and rollout of new methodologies, once piloted.
- Provide guidance to the institution to develop and maintain a network of practitioners through online community of practice, facilitating mentoring arrangements between established and new practitioners, and actively involved trained practitioners to support VAW data collection and analysis.
- Liaise with HQ VAW Data team to strengthen technical and strategic linkages between APRO kNOwVAWdata initiative and regional adaptations.
- Expand twinning arrangement to other academic institutions in the region.
Evidence and knowledge development and dissemination
- Provide technical contributions to UNFPA APRO's strategic positioning, advocacy, and knowledge exchange on VAW data in the region:
- Develop knowledge products, policy briefs, briefing notes, academic research papers and reports on VAW data.
- Lead the development and documentation of new approaches for measuring VAW prevalence in different (humanitarian and conflict affected) contexts and for specific vulnerable groups of women, as well as building on work commenced in 2020 on safe and ethical GBV data collection under COVID- 19.
Policy Dialogue and Technical Representation
- Provide technical contributions to specific VAW data related national, regional and global events and activities:
- Provide inputs to country office country programme documents and country programme action plans on VAW data collection and analysis, as required.
- Represent APRO in relevant regional fora and mechanisms on gender and statistics, including the Issue Based Coalitions on Gender and Human Rights, the Technical Working Group on SDG Statistics and the Technical Working Group on gender and statistics.
- Participate in global interagency mechanisms with a specific focus on VAW data, including in the context of SDG reporting, as required.
- Identify and participate in strategic events and activities to share UNFPA's work on supporting VAW data collection in the Asia and Pacific region.
Management of the DFAT-UNFPA project
- Provide day-to-day management of the kNOwVAWdata initiative Phase II with close partnership with the APRO Gender team:
- Develop and implement a comprehensive workplan as per the agreed project proposal
- Manage the Implementing Partners, including twinning partners and ensure timely utilization of budget as per agreed workplan.
- Manage strategic and technical coordination with DFAT and the kNOwVAWdata team to ensure timely implementation of the project as well as strengthening the evidence on how VAW prevalence data collection in the region can better inform prevention and response efforts.
- Set up and coordinate a Technical Advisory Committee for Phase II
- Ensure timely submission of progress reports to DFAT and UNFPA
- Carry out any other duties as may be requested by the Regional Director and /or designated staff.
Qualifications and Experience
Education:
Advanced university degree in one or more of the following disciplines: Public Health, Sociology, Statistics, Epidemiology, Demography, Gender, or other related field.
Knowledge and Experience:
- At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in leading and implementing quantitative social/health/economic surveys (questionnaire design, training, piloting, sampling strategies, data processing and analysis).
- Demonstrated experience with the WHO Multi-Country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence research methodology, or with the domestic violence module and materials of the Demographic Health Survey, as well as knowledge of other available methodologies such as UNECE;
- Knowledge of global standard monitoring and indicators for VAW including SDGs.
- Extensive knowledge and experience in using statistical software for data analysis;
- Proven ability to build national survey team capacities, including guiding national research teams in the preparation of study reports;
- Extensive experience in advising academic and government institutions on similar surveys on violence against women and girls;
- Demonstrated ability to work in partnership with UN system partners, national government partners, National Statistical Offices, NGOs, and the academic and development community;
- Prior work experience in the Asia-Pacific region on similar surveys is an advantage;
- Demonstrated expertise in policy dialogue and high-level advocacy is desirable;
- Demonstrated expertise in qualitative research on violence against women desirable;
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English;
- Familiarity with UN systems and procedures, management and monitoring tools is desirable.
Languages:
Fluency in English is required; Other UN languages are considered an asset.
Required Competencies
Values:
- Exemplifying integrity
- Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system
- Embracing diversity in all its forms
- Embracing change
Core Competencies:
- Achieving Results
- Being Accountable
- Developing and Applying Professional Expertise/Business Acumen
- Thinking analytically and Strategically
- Working in Teams/Managing Ourselves and our Relationships
- Communicating for Impact
Functional Competencies:
- Advocacy/advancing a policy-oriented agenda
- Leveraging the resources of national governments and partners/building strategic alliances and partnerships
- Delivering results based programmes
- Providing conceptual innovation to support programme effectiveness
- Generating, managing and promoting the use of knowledge and information
- Internal and external communication and advocacy for resource mobilization
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