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 Somalia Strategic Note articulates the entity's strategic direction, objectives, and approaches to support efforts to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, including women's full enjoyment of their human rights. It outlines how UN-Women will leverage its normative support functions, UN system coordination and operational activities, as mandated by its founding resolution, in an integrated and mutually reinforcing manner in support of transformative results. 

The Joint Police Programme II (JPP2), implemented by UNDP, UNSOM, and UN Women, supports the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member States (FMS) to strengthen police service delivery, institutional capacity, accountability, and professionalism, in line with the New Policing Model. The programme promotes a problem-solving  people-centred and rights-based approach, combining institutional reform with enhanced community engagement and oversight mechanisms.

Despite these efforts, women’s participation and leadership within the Somali police remain limited, particularly at the FMS level. Assessments and consultations, including those led by the Office of the Prime Minister, indicate that gender considerations have not been adequately integrated into police reform, training, or recruitment, and that women’s representation has not translated into gender-responsive security sector development.

Recognizing the critical role women play in effective and trusted policing, UN Women will engage a consultant to develop a comprehensive Gender Mainstreaming Strategy for the Somalia Police Force. The strategy will address structural and institutional barriers, strengthen women’s participation and leadership, and promote gender-responsive policing aligned with the New Policing Model and Women, Peace and Security (WPS) commitments.

The consultant will report to the Joint Police Programme II Programme Specialist and work closely with the UN Women team, with administrative and technical support provided by the WPS II Programme Assistant.

Scope of Work:

• Facilitate a consultative process to develop a comprehensive Gender Mainstreaming Strategy for the Somalia Police Force (SPF) at Federal and State levels, aimed at enhancing the visibility and role of women in policing. 

Specific Objectives:

• Develop a comprehensive Gender Mainstreaming Strategy through a consultative process;
•  Develop an implementation plan for the strategy that includes sector-wide and agency specific actions and interventions, with identified budget requirements and a monitoring, evaluation and reporting plan;
• Design a capacity development framework that embeds gender mainstreaming into the sector’s core operations by aligning training requirements from the Strategy and Implementation Plan with sectoral training programs and agency recruitment processes;
• Support the identification of senior Somalia Police Force leaders who can serve as champions for gender equality and actively drive the implementation of gender-related initiatives;
• Develop simplified version of the new Gender Mainstreaming Strategies at Federal and FMS in Somali language. 

Tasks and Deliverables:

Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the first installment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt.

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 programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills.
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management.
• Strong knowledge of women, peace and security.
• Strong analytical skills.

Qualification Requirements

Education: 

• Master’s degree or equivalent in gender and women studies, security studies, M&E, Development Studies, Social Studies, Governance, Human Rights or another 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:

• At least 5 years of relevant education & experience and proven expertise with program management, strategy design, and planning for gender equality and women empowerment, and security sector engagement.
• Technical expertise working on the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
• A strong record in Gender mainstreaming and women empowerment.
• Demonstrated experience in doing research and analysis on areas of gender, development, peace and security and demonstrate publications.
• Demonstrated working relationships with state and non-state actors at the national and sub-national levels, security sector institutions, peace actors, women’s human rights and gender equality organizations, development partners that can be activated for the purposes of the data collections and analysis.
• Demonstrated excellent written and oral communications skills in English.
• Ability to work independently and deliver on tight timelines.

Language requirements: 

• Fluency in English or French/or Spanish is required. 
•  Knowledge of [French] or [Spanish] or any other UN official language is an asset.

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.