UN Women: Statistics Specialist

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.

UN Women’s global gender data programme, “Making Every Woman and Girl Count” (Women Count), delivered significant results in scaling up work on gender statistics availability, accessibility, and use during Phase I of its implementation. Presently in Phase II, with gender data being elevated as one strategic outcome of UN Women’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan, Women Count is steadfastly supporting Member States and leading efforts on mainstreaming gender perspectives in three key interventions:

• Enabling environment for the production and use of gender statistics: Put in place supportive policy, legal and financial environment to ensure gender-responsive national adaptation and effective monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Increasing the production of gender statistics: Increase availability of quality, comparable and regular gender statistics to address national data gaps and meet policy and reporting commitments under the SDGs, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and Beijing Declaration
• Increasing data accessibility and use: Ensure that gender statistics are accessible to all users (including governments, civil society, academia and private sector) and can be analyzed, communicated, and used to inform research, advocacy, policies and programmes, and promote accountability

Located in the Research and Data (R&D) Section of UN Women, the Statistics Specialist works under the supervision of the Inter-Regional Advisor on Gender Statistics/Statistics Specialist to contribute to the effective implementation of the statistical global project of Women Count Phase II (hereinafter referred to as, “Programme”). Specifically, the Statistics Specialist will provide technical support in understanding gender data gaps, proposing methodologies and instruments needed to fill these gaps, and identifying and engaging with active stakeholders working in the gender data ecosystem. As Women Count Phase II is significantly and progressively supporting the conduct of time-use surveys and increasing the utility of non-traditional data, s/he will provide technical support in designing, planning, and implementing surveys or other data collection activities. S/he will also provide quality assurance and develop guidance on select areas of gender data work to support the implementation of Women Count regional and country projects. The Statistics Specialist must also deliver in ensuring coordinated efforts within relevant actors/units within UN Women, across UN System, and inter-agency or inter-governmental mechanisms to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of the global project.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Statistics Specialist of the Women Count Phase II, under the supervision of the Inter-Regional Advisor on Gender Statistics/Statistics Specialist, will perform the following tasks:

1. Develop global tools or formulate mechanisms towards improving gender data management, coordination, collection and analysis under the Women Count Phase II programme

• Prepare or provide support in the development of guidance and technical notes to guide Women Count regions and countries in the planning, design, and implementation of gender data collection activities (including, among others, global guidance on citizen-generated data (CGD) for SDGs monitoring, how Women Count countries have monitored or been monitoring SDG 5.4.1 using time-use surveys (TUS))
• Review concepts, definitions, standards, and classifications towards development of operational statistical frameworks and estimation approaches (e.g., CGD statistical framework, citizen’s engagement in the gender data value chain, SDG gender data availability)
• Keep abreast of emerging statistical techniques to contribute to the programme’s work on gender statistics production and use, with an intersectionality lens
• Aside from official gender statistics, explore production and use of other non-traditional data sources such as administrative data, CGD or big data (including, among others, validation and calibration of non-traditional data sources to ensure data quality)
• Develop and coordinate close connections with concerned partners such as Member States, CSOs, NGOs, and international organizations (e.g., PARIS21, UN agencies and other organizations) to ensure that guidance developed align or, at least, consider existing related initiatives in the broader statistical system

2. Contribute to the delivery of high-quality statistical activities/outputs of the Women Count Phase II global projects

• Coordinate and provide technical support to the development of the gender data flagship report, Gender Data Outlook (GDO), which assesses countries’ levels of statistical maturity in terms of gender data and capacity
• Lead the technical implementation of the development of statistical guidance to Women Count projects, particularly on: i) monitoring of SDG 5.4.1 via TUS; ii) increasing policy relevance of TUS results; and iii) CGD for SDGs monitoring
• Lead in curating data used for or produced from various reports, associated resources and materials, including statistical annexes, technical notes, statistical references, and definitions
• Develop and coordinate strong collaborations with partners such as Member States, CSOs, NGOs, and international organizations (e.g., PARIS21, UN agencies and other organizations), especially those working on data capacity frameworks and data use typology in relation with the work on GDO, TUS, and CGD in order to ensure up-to-date concepts, definitions, frameworks, and methodologies are used in global projects
• Contribute to the conduct of multi-country rapid gender assessments on the impact of crises and lead the production of its global evidence, data and knowledge (whenever possible considering data availability)
• Contribute to increasing availability and accessibility of disaggregated gender statistics (e.g., SDG 5.a.1 on women’s land ownership, gender and environment, intersectionality analysis)
• Identify strategic opportunities to facilitate the implementation of various global projects; and develop and manage partnerships needed to deliver them (e.g., Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys (ISWGHS), Inter-Agency Expert Group on Gender Statistics (IAEG-GS), with UNSD, World Bank, ILO, UNFPA, etc.)
• Lead the Secretariat work to support the operations of governance coordination mechanisms of global projects

3. Provide technical support to Women Count Phase II regional projects towards ensuring quality and adherence to standards

• Ensure and promote quality assurance to the delivery of the programme’s regional projects, particularly those related to standards and practices on the effective and efficient implementation of gender data programmes
• Regularly conduct technical analyses of reported activities (including quarterly updates and annual reports) to identify good practices and challenges, anticipate needs and propose ways to address them
• Serve as Secretariat to the monthly Inter-Regional Meetings of Women Count HQ and Regional Advisors

4. Contribute to capacity development and overall implementation of Women Count Phase II

• Contribute to the strategic coordination of data and statistics priorities of Women Count Phase II across regional and global projects (i.e., women’s economic empowerment, violence against women, governance and participation, environment, administrative data systems, and modern technologies such as big data and AI)
• Assist in the design and delivery of capacity development initiatives to facilitate implementation of the programme, including the design of a training module on gender equality in statistical leadership
• Contribute to content development of pages related to global projects on the Women Count Data Hub
• Support the organization and implementation of seminars/webinars or other similar events
• Provide statistical support to UN Women’s policy and programme work and perform other tasks, as required

Competencies

Core Values

• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Respect for Diversity

Core Competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity regarding Gender Issues
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Inclusive collaboration
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Good understanding of and commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment and its policy implications to inform design and implementation of statistical activities
• Strong knowledge and experience related to latest development and good practices in gender statistics development, production, and use
• Effective and efficient coordination and partnership skills to ensure coherence, supplementarity, or complementarity in efforts among partners within the gender data system
• Strong statistical and analytical skills, including advanced proficiency to statistical software packages such as Stata, SPSS
• Proven planning, goal setting, and prioritization skills
• Strong communications skills, both oral and written
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, and ability to work in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environments

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in statistics, gender, economics, demography or population studies, or other related development or social science fields; OR
• 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:

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience, including two years at the international level, in supporting programmes in the field of statistics (preferably on gender statistics)
• Experience in coordinating gender statistical projects or programmes, particularly those in close partnership or collaboration with various international agencies or partners
• Experience in developing statistical frameworks, methodological statistical standards or guidance
• Experience in country assessments, particularly on data production, capacity, and use
• Experience in data analysis using statistical software packages (e.g., Stata, SPSS)
• Experience working with national statistical office/s, particularly on gender statistics, is an advantage

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required
• Knowledge of other UN official working language is an advantage

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

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.)