TERMS OF REFERENCE
Terms of Reference
Post Title: Deputy Coordinator for the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility
Contract Type: Temporary Appointment
Level: P4 level
Duration: 364 days
Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland - office based
Travel: Mostly office based, however, some travel may be required
Closing Date: Thursday 7 February 2013
1. Background
In late September 2005, as part of the Humanitarian Reform process, UNFPA and UNICEF were
tasked with coordinating gender-based violence (GBV) issues in humanitarian settings as an Area of
Responsibility (AoR) of the UNHCR-led global Protection Cluster. Proper coordination of this
complicated issue, that must engage a wide range of local and international NGO, government and
UN actors, is vital to ensuring that survivors receive adequate care, and that prevention efforts are
varied, wide-reaching and culturally appropriate.
A GBV AoR Working Group was established in early 2008 to facilitate a more predictable,
accountable and effective protection response to GBV in complex emergencies, natural disasters and
other such situations. The GBV AoR provides strategic leadership to ensure that issues of
importance to the GBV AoR community are placed at the forefront of the humanitarian reform
processes, including in the context of the Transformative Agenda. The GBV AoR provides a forum
bringing together over 55 agencies representing multilateral, NGO, and government bodies as well
as academics and independent GBV experts, who are committed to working collaboratively to
advance the quality and coverage of GBV coordination and programming in humanitarian contexts.
This broad constituency provides a strong platform for advocacy as well as technical expertise to
guide the work of the AoR.
Members of the GBV AoR Working Group and the humanitarian community at large have recognized
that Clusters and AoR working groups require dedicated coordination staff in order to remain
effective and relevant. Working as part of a team with the GBV AoR Coordinator (based in UNFPA),
this position will ensure coordination support to the GBV AoR. The position is based in Geneva,
Switzerland.
2. Purpose
On behalf of both UNICEF and UNFPA , the GBV AoR Deputy Coordinator works directly with the GBV
AoR Coordinator to support the work of the GBV AoR, to facilitate development and implementation
of the GBV AoR workplan, and to ensure that Working Group members are engaged, including by
taking leadership on key AoR workplan outputs.
The Deputy GBV AoR Coordinator will galvanize the global level GBV AoR Working Group’s interagency expertise to advocate for the mainstreaming of GBV issues throughout the cluster system
and will actively represent the GBV AoR Working Group in key cluster forums. She/he will enhance
the use of knowledge and empirical evidence on GBV AoR coordination for policy design and
evaluation. S/he will provide field support either remotely or through surge to the field. In all
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activities, s/he will foster collaboration internally within the Office of Emergency Programs in Geneva
and New York, Program Division in New York, and, with Regional and Country Offices, and externally
with relevant actors in UNFPA, within the GBV AoR and the broader humanitarian community,
ensuring the timeliness, adequacy, relevance and quality of substantive outputs.
3. Expected Results
Reporting to the UNICEF Inter Cluster Coordinator and in close collaboration with the UNFPA-based
GBV AoR Coordinator, and technical counterparts within UNICEF and UNFPA, the GBV AoR Deputy
Coordinator will support the work of the GBV AoR. More specifically this will include:
Strategic Support
 Work with cluster lead agencies and cluster members to ensure that GBV is fully mainstreamed
within cluster activities at the global and country levels and encourage full and effective intercluster coordination at the global and country levels, in particular with the Nutrition, WASH,
Education and CP Clusters/AoR that are led by UNICEF.
 Support the deployment of the GBV AoR Rapid Response Team (RRT) to provide short-term surge
support to fill capacity gaps in sudden onset, acute and/or neglected emergencies including
through development of a quality assurance framework to monitor the RRT.
 Provide substantive information management support and support to national and global
advocacy efforts on behalf of country-level clusters.
 Engage in strategic GBV, Protection and inter-cluster field missions to advance work in the area of
GBV prevention and response and support field-level GBV AoRs.
 Provide cutting edge technical advice in the area of GBV prevention and response, and to guide
effective inter-agency GBV coordination.
Capacity Development
 Oversee a multi-partner process to craft a long-term strategy for developing the pool of GBV
practitioners working in humanitarian contexts.
 Identify gaps and catalyze capacity strengthening of individuals and AoR members to perform core
country-level sub-cluster coordination functions and to generate sub-cluster-related knowledge.
 Provide technical guidance to field-level GBV Working Groups on strategic planning and standard
operating procedures; field-level training and capacity development; negotiation and identification
of AoR lead agencies; data collection and information management; monitoring and evaluation,
etc.
 Coach and manage junior professional staff and associates housed by UNICEF, direct expert
consultants contracted by UNICEF and facilitate working groups the development of a long-term
capacity building plan and capacity for rapid response as well as for the GBV AoR website.
Evidence and knowledge development and dissemination
 Ensure that evidence, technical knowledge and analysis of lessons learned are collected,
managed, disseminated and available for application by AoR members and relevant
stakeholders.
 Ensure incorporation of evaluation results, lessons learned and new knowledge in the updating
of strategies, policies, tools and approaches aimed to address GBV in humanitarian contexts.
 Maintain AoR website; support the GBV AoR Knowledge Management Task Team to examine all
documents for posting to GBV AoR website and to review the site for regular updates and
necessary revisions including reviewing all documents for posting and reviewing site for revision.
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Oversee and regularly reinvigorate the GBV AoR Community of Practice; monitor COP for
relevance, usage and field-level applicability.
Maintain stocks of the GBV Coordination Handbook, CDs for Caring for Survivors and other
relevant documents; and distribute to field-level GBV working groups as requested.
Assemble briefing and background materials on the GBV AoR for UNICEF senior management.
Maintain the Field GBV Coordination Matrix for all 1st and 2nd tier cluster countries.
Manage interagency processes to promote learning within the GBV AoR, such as the circulation
of lessons learned by email and through papers and publications; and face to face briefings (exit
interviews, etc.) which are accessible for field actors.
Engage with and support the process of revising the GBV guidelines and finalization of the GBV
Coordination Handbook.
Technical representation
 Relay key messages and ensure timely reporting to UNICEF senior management and provide
reports to global AoR members, inter-cluster forums, other global clusters, donors and other
relevant stakeholders, as requested and/or in collaboration with the two global cluster co-lead
agencies.
 Support fundraising efforts to ensure that the GBV AoR Working Group has the resources that it
needs to promote the efforts of the GBV AoR at the global and field levels.
 Provide technical support to co-lead agencies on the roll-out, merger and exit strategies of GBV
sub-clusters at the country-level.
 Substantively represent the GBV AoR in relevant inter-cluster forums including the IASC Subworking Group on Gender in Humanitarian Action as well as the GenCap Steering Committee.
 Carry out any other duties as may be required.
4. Organizational Structure:
The Deputy GBV Coordinator (UNICEF) post is located in the Office of Emergency Programs in
Geneva, and reports directly to the Inter Cluster Coordinator . The GBV AoR works in an integrated,
coordinated, and systems strengthening approach which is fundamental to the Office of Emergency
Programs and UNICEF’s overall strategy. The GBV AoR Deputy Coordinator works as part of an interagency team directly with the GBV Cluster Coordinator hosted by UNFPA, and the AoR community.
5. Competencies
Core values: Commitment, Diversity & Inclusion, Integrity
Core competencies: Communication, Working with people, Drive for results
Functional Competencies: Persuading and Influencing, Relating and Networking, Applying Technical
Expertise, Planning and Organizing
1. Excellent analytical skills and ability to identify problems and propose solutions.
2. Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving
results.
3. Strong inter-personal skills.
4. Ability to build trust and develop and maintain effective work relationships with sensitivity
and respect for diversity and inclusive participation.
5. Excellent communication skills.
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6. Strong and mature judgment.
7. Commitment to UNICEF’s Values and Guiding Principles
8. Very strong commitment to working closely with and under the strategic leadership of the
UNFPA-based Coordinator to make the role seamless, harmonized and to ensure that both
Coordinators represent the GBV AoR membership effectively, and there is no division along
agency lines
9. Developing People/Fostering Innovation and Empowerment/Performance Management
10. Team Work/Communication/Self-Management
11. Strategic Thinking/Results Orientation and Commitment to Excellence/Decision Making
12. Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Learning
6. Qualifications
1. Advanced University Degree or equivalent in gender studies, social anthropology, law and
women’s rights, sociology, cultural studies, public health, demography, socio-economics, or
other field directly related to the substantive area identified in the title of the post.
2. At least eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian affairs,
ideally with the United Nations system or NGOs. Experience in humanitarian
response/recovery preferred.
3. Demonstrated work experience in GBV in humanitarian settings;
4. Knowledge of IASC Transformative Agenda and the cluster approach.
5. Knowledge of the UN and UNICEF’s system's policies and procedures, including humanitarian
response mechanisms.
6. Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
Deadline for Submissions
Interested candidates are requested to submit (1) a letter of interest, outlining your relevant
background and experience, (2) an updated P11 form to Gwyn Lewis at e-mail: glewis@unicef.org by
Thursday 7 February 2013.
The external link to access a blank P11 form is
http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_temporary_appointments.html.
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