Mission and objectives

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and institutionally. In UNICEF, Gender equality means that girls and boys enjoy the same rights, opportunities and protections. Gender equality and the empowerment of all girls and women is central to the mandate of UNICEF to uphold the rights of every child. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other key international human rights treaties, UNICEF works to protect and advance the rights of every child and woman so that they have the resources, support and opportunities they need to achieve their full potential. Despite the proven benefits of gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women for individuals, families and societies, gender equality-related commitments in the Sustainable Development Goals are not fully met. Progress is hindered by shrinking official development assistance, a shifting multilateral landscape, lack of data and increasing pushback on the rights of girls, women and children. In this challenging environment, UNICEF remains steadfast in its commitment to advance gender equality and the empowerment of all girls and women, as articulated in this Gender Equality Action Plan. Since 1952, UNICEF has worked in Jordan to protect and promote child rights and help children, youth and their families survive and thrive – especially the most vulnerable. Gender Equality is inherent to UNICEF’s work in programme and institutional work.

Context

UNICEF Jordan Country Office (JCO) is currently in the fourth year of its Country Programme Cycle (2023–2027), a period marked by continuous efforts to support targeted interventions and mainstreaming in gender equality and adolescent girl empowerment across programming and institutional work. Guided by a Gender & Disability Action Plan (2025-27) and a Gender Programmatic Review (completed in October 2025), JCO has invested in building gender capacity, establishing a well-staffed team, and aligning its interventions with UNICEF’s global Gender Action Plan (GAP 2022–2025), the Strategic Plan (2022–2025), and positioned itself for alignment to the current UNICEF Strategic Plan (2026–2029) and Gender Equality Plan (2026-29). UNICEF JCO is seeking a national Gender Expert to sustain gender mainstreaming and targeted gender equality work, within programme and institutional work, within the country programme. Additional Information: National UN Specialist Volunteers in Jordan are entitled to: • Monthly Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) at the amount of JOD 1603.11; • Annual and learning leaves; • Free Medical and life insurance; • Free access to different learning platforms. For more information on UN Volunteer benefits, entitlements and support, please visit: https://www.unv.org/volunteer-your-country-conditions-service

Task Description

Under the direct supervision of the International Gender Programme Specialist for 2026 and the Child Protection Specialist in 2027, the UN Volunteer will undertake tasks in the following key areas: - Provide high quality technical expertise and gender advisory support in development and humanitarian programming • Provide technical and coordination support to integrate gender equality into key country programme planning and implementation milestones. This includes supporting data collection, documentation, analysis, and preparation of inputs for strategic planning exercises such as the SitAn, CPD, CPMPs, mid‑term and annual reviews, programme component notes, and programme assessments. • Provide high quality technical support through evidence-based gender principal / gender responsive programming in sectoral programs, with focus to Protection, not limited to policy and legislative development processes, capacity building of service providers, prevention and response in gender-based violence, violence against children & violence against women and adolescent girl empowerment. • Advance implementation of prioritized gender equality programming in collaboration with sectoral colleagues and supervisor, as identified in the JCO Gender Programmatic Review, and in alignment with country, regional and HQ priorities. • Work with sectoral counterparts and supervisor to track and incorporate sound gender equality indicators and measures in programme and policy initiatives, proposals, and advocacy efforts and assist in developing inclusion-sensitive theories of change models for sector and cross-sectoral programming. • Collaborate with Culture Taskforce work team to ensure gender mainstreaming in the workplace. • Collaborate with Communications on the drafting and delivery of internal and external gender equality communications and advocacy messages. - Program management, monitoring and delivery of results • Provide technical support in indicator identification, measurement and performance tracking as it relates to gender equality, in collaboration with Planning, M&E and sectoral teams. • Participate and provide technical support in cross-sectoral collaboration and coordination on key programmatic results on gender equality, ensuring coherence, maximization of synergies and efficiency in utilization of resources and delivery of results • Provide technical support in high quality research, evidence generation and reporting on gender equality results, and a biannual performance review of results. • Support documentation and sharing of the country-level experience and good practice experience in gender equality programming and lessons learned • Strengthen the use of disaggregated data and gender analysis to inform evidence-based programming and decision-making. - Advisory services and technical support to partners • Provide technical support and guidance to national government, NGOs, UN Agencies and other country-level and local-level partners on aspects of gender equality programming and ensure incorporation of relevant indicators and measures in programs/projects, policy initiatives, proposals, and M&E systems. • Provide technical support and advocacy, in consultation with the supervisor, to report and follow-up on international and regional gender equality commitments made by the countries, and support alignment with global frameworks, such as SDG 5 and relevant human rights conventions. • Engage in needs assessment/humanitarian missions on gender equality and support implementing partners to ensure an effective, gender inclusive humanitarian response. - Support to advocacy, networking and partnership building • Liaise and consult with sections, government and other external partners (civil society, NGOs, private sector, academia and media) in consultation with supervisor to support integration and develop and reinforce partnerships in gender equality. • Support building and maintenance of internal and external partnerships and networks in the development of harmonized, gender principal/ responsive programme interventions. • Support building and maintenance of strategic alliances for equality with various partners, including institutional links with UN agencies and other relevant entities.

Competencies and values

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness • Works Collaboratively with others • Builds and Maintains Partnerships • Innovates and Embraces Change • Thinks and Acts Strategically • Drive to achieve impactful results • Manages ambiguity and complexity

Living conditions and remarks

Amman, the capital, is a peaceful city with over four million residents. People are friendly to visitors. Services in terms of banking, transportation, health and communications are easily available. Though Arabic is the official language, English is widely spoken among the majority of the population, especially in Amman. Road network is good both in terms of spread and quality of the roads. Public transportation in Amman is limited. Taxis are relatively cheap and easily available. There are a number of shopping malls, restaurants, gyms, and cinemas. A large variety of accommodation options can be found; however, it is worth noting that prices in Amman have generally increased in the past few years. There are no specific security threats. Amman is a very easy city in which to live; large, many amenities, very modern and serviced by an international airport with direct flights to most capital cities. According to the assessment of the UN Department of Safety & Security (UNDSS) Jordan is a family duty station (category A hardship). As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. National UN Volunteers are part of the insurance plan.