Job description for a Gender Focal Point within the United Nations Secretariat

Background:

The gender focal point position has the role to support the Under Secretary-General and senior managers to carry out their responsibility to implement gender mainstreaming in the substantive work programme. The position is not linked to the promotion of gender equality within the department - i.e. to promotion of gender balance, work/life issues, harassment, including sexual harassment and a gender sensitive work environment. These issues are taken care of by the Departmental Focal Points for Women.

The gender focal point reports to, and should receive support from, senior management. There should be a clear mandate for the position; a specific percentage of the time of the person appointed to the position should be allocated for this work; and the work of the gender focal point should be included in the PAS (Performance Appraisal System).

The gender focal point is not a full-time position; persons appointed as gender focal points normally have other areas of responsibility. The work of a gender focal point is to support gender mainstreaming by advocating, advising and supporting professional staff and monitoring and reporting on progress - if necessary through the use of / support from consultants or external specialists. Dissemination of information and competence development, through training and seminars, is also part of the work of the gender focal points.

Gender focal points are not necessarily specialists. Individuals appointed to this position may have some experience in promoting gender equality or may be completely new to this work. If the gender focal points appointed have not worked with gender mainstreaming they should be provided with opportunities for professional development throughout their term of office, including an initial programme of competence development, and should have access to advice and support from gender specialists in other parts of the Secretariat.

Functions of the Gender Focal Points

Act as adviser on gender mainstreaming to the Under-Secretary General

1. Provide advice on request on gender perspectives in all aspects of the work of the department, using own resources or outside expertise.
2. Represent the Under-Secretary General, on request, at workshops and events where information on gender mainstreaming in the department is requested.
3. Assist in the preparation of speeches and other presentations on gender mainstreaming by the Under-Secretary General and other senior managers, using own resources or outside expertise.
4. Attend important relevant events on gender and the substantive area covered by the department at international leve, to disseminate information on progress made in gender mainstreaming in the department, as relevant.

Policy, strategy and action plan on gender mainstreaming

1. Support the development of a short policy statement, to be endorsed by senior management, which provides a framework - the mandate, rationales and goals - for the work of the department on gender mainstreaming, using consultants or other resources as necessary.
2. Develop, on the basis of the policy statement, and an inventory of the roles and work methods of the department, a strategy, to be endorsed by senior management, to be included in the medium-term plan. This strategy should outline the overall approach to gender mainstreaming to be taken in the headquarters (and in the field where relevant) and designating responsibility and accountability throughout the department, using consultants or other resources as necessary.
3.  Develop an overall action plan, to be endorsed by senior management, outlining the initial concrete actions to be taken by the department on a biennial basis, to be included in the programme budget.

Analysis, knowledge development and information activities

1. Support the preparation, at an early stage, (if this has not already been done in the department) of an issues-paper on gender perspectives in the substantive work of the department which would outline the linkages - i.e. the ways in which gender perspectives are relevant and important to what the department does - as the basis for efforts to promote gender mainstreaming. Particular attention should be paid to the synergies and to the ways in which mainstreaming a gender perspective can support the achievement of the goals of the department. Revise the issues-paper as needed over time.
2.  Develop, maintain and disseminate a comprehensive knowledge base on the gender perspectives in the area of work of the department to promote the professional development of staff in this area and provide information as required for different purposes.
3. Develop and disseminate a collection of good practice examples of gender mainstreaming in different types of work carried out in the department.
4. Maintain a library of materials on gender and the area of substantive work for the department, and produce user-friendly and operationally-oriented summaries of key documents for broad dissemination in the department, using consultants as necessary.

Support to gender mainstreaming in headquarters

The gender focal point would be expected to advocate for greater attention to gender perspectives, providing the necessary rationales and advice on approaches to support gender mainstreaming throughout the department. This requires that the gender focal point understands the work of the department, what the relevant gender perspectives are, and how these perspectives can be incorporated into on-going work, or can be supported with external resources. The following activities would be included, carried out with any additional needed support from outside experts:

1. Advice and support to senior management at policy level and other staff members at operational level.
2. Development of necessary methods and tools, such as overall guidelines and guidelines for specific processes and the work of different parts of the department.
3. Initiation of a competence development programme, if not already carried out, and initiate on-going activities to increase the professional capacity of all staff in gender mainstreaming, using own resources or outside expertise.

Support to gender mainstreaming in the field, if relevant

The gender focal point should support the work of the gender units and gender specialists in the missions, where these exist. Concrete actions can include:

1. Establish a system of regular communication through email.
2. Provide relevant information from headquarters on a regular basis, from the department as well as from other part of the United Nations. 
3. Visit the missions to gain adequate knowledge of the potentials and constraints, and the work environment, in order to be able to provide better support.
4. Provide links to researchers, consultants and funders on request.

Where such gender units or gender focal points do not exist in the field, other mechanisms for supporting and monitoring gender mainstreaming need to be developed. These could include:

1.  Visits to the missions to advise, support and monitor progress.
2. Provision of regular information, including good practice examples, guidelines and tools based on the experience from other missions
3.  Meeting specific requests for support, including links to consultants and funders.
   
   Regular monitoring and reporting on gender mainstreaming

An ongoing process of monitoring will take place through participation in strategic policy-making and through the daily contacts with other staff members in relation to the operational work. The gender focal point will also need to develop mechanisms of regular monitoring and reporting, with necessary support from outside experts.

1. Develop indicators for assessing progress with gender mainstreaming, adapted to the various types of work in different parts of the department.
2. Prepare reports for the Under-Secretary General on a regular basis, with copies to the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women.
3. Collect, analyse and disseminate on a regular basis, statistics on the representation of women in all processes and bodies established in the work of the department, to provide a holistic picture of the representation of women in the work of the department.
4. Monitor the achievement of the goals set out in the Platform for Action and the Outcome Document from the GA Special Session to review the Platform for Action (2000) and prepare the contributions of the department to the rolling reports to the CSW, ECOSOC, and the GA, and other reporting requirements within the UN.
5. Arrange for the preparation of special reports as needed, on particular gender issues.
   

Representation, collaboration and resource base development

The gender focal point should:

1. Collaborate, as relevant, with the Departmental Focal Point for Women.
2. Attend the meetings of the Network of Gender Focal Points and any competence development activities organized by the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women.
3. Represent the department at the ACC Interagency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality and other UN events on gender equality, such as follow-up to the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly to review the implementation of the Platform for Action.
4. Maintain contacts with Member State delegations, as relevant and appropriate, and develop regular contact with NGOs and academics working with gender perspectives in this field.
5. Develop, maintain and disseminate a resource-base of gender specialists with relevant competencies in the area of work of the department which can be used throughout the department as necessary