Job: DIRECTOR - RESEARCH, UNITED NATIONS SUPPORT TO HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE ON STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA - (OPEN TO INDIAN NATIONALS ONLY)

Location : New Delhi, INDIA

Application Deadline : 28-Oct-13

Additional Category Women's Empowerment

Type of Contract : Service Contract

Post Level : SB-5

Languages Required : English

Duration of Initial Contract : One Year (renewable)

Background

Government of India has constituted a ‘High Level Committee on Status of Women (HLCW) in India' to undertake a comprehensive study to understand the status of women and evolve appropriate policy interventions based on a contemporary assessment of women's needs and concerns.

The High Level Committee on the Status of Women (HLCW) will examine the overall status of women including, inter-alia, the socio-economic, health and nutritional, legal and political status, disaggregated by rural / urban, economic and social position and wherever possible by minority status. The high-level committee will conduct an intensive literature survey to take stock of published data, reports, articles and research from about 1989 onwards, on the status of women in India. The analysis would take into account the cross-regional differences and focus on inequalities both within and outside the household. It would also assess the impact made by existing policies and legislative changes on equality, security and holistic empowerment of women, and will identify inequalities in policy and legislation as well as gaps in implementation. The Committee would also look into women's access to and participation in formal and informal paid employment, geographical pattern of their economic activity, access to micro-finance, bank credit, training and skill upgradation, among others. The areas of intervention and measures for affirmative action by the Government would be identified for the all-inclusive empowerment of women.

The HLCW will submit its report to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India on the current socio-economic, political and legal status of women in India and make recommendations that lead to an improvement in the status of women in the country.

The High Level Committee on status of Women in India (HLCW) will be assisted in its functioning by a secretariat consisting of researchers, support personnel for administration and finance and people with an expertise in communication & publishing.

A number of United Nations Agencies (UNDP, UNFPA, UN WOMEN) in line with its mandate of promoting gender equality and women's empowerment is supporting the HLCW to initiate processes to map, identify and prioritize issues and to establish the philosophical underpinnings as well as guide the course of report formulation process. Within the scope of the above, it is proposed to recruit Director – Research, supported by UNFPA, to head the research, documentation and communication functions.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Director Research will:

• Lead the entire process of collecting and collating the evidence for recommendations to be made by the HLCW;
• Supervise literature reviews and a mapping of the information currently available on the status of women as designated by the HLCW;
• Commission and Support collaborations/partnership the commissioning of papers, studies and if necessary primary research to assist the HLCW in fulfilling its mandate and to supervise the progress & quality of such efforts;
• To ensure that the research team under the leadership of the Research Director provides the members with information and data that they direct and require in time and in a form that aids their efforts;
• To ensure that the research team provides the members with information and data that they require in time and in a form that aids their efforts;
• To ensure that the proceedings of workshop, conference and consultations of the HLCW are documented, shared in the public domain periodically and that significant issues emerging from these are available for the HLCW to utilise;
• To provide technical inputs and guide the preparation of monographs, papers for discussions and the report including the background research necessary for these documents;
• To provide leadership and to manage a team of researchers to accomplish the research agenda of HLCW;
• To ensure consistency with the philosophical underpinnings as well as across the research domain.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

• In-depth knowledge on gender and related interconnected issues;
• Ability to lead research teams and to supervise inter-disciplinary research;
• Ability to deal with large data-sets & primary data;
• Familiarity with research, assessment and survey methodology and tools;
• Good knowledge of gender studies conducted in the county and willingness to collaborate and liaise with other institutions and researchers , government agencies;
• Strong IT skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills in English. Communication skills in Hindi or any other regional language desirable;
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Doctorate Degree in any of the Social Sciences, Law or related fields.

Experience:

• Minimum 12 years of relevant experience of having undertaking and leading research on gender and development issues at the national or international level:
• Must be able to demonstrate track record of independent Research / Publications;
• Experience in undertaking research on women's studies;
• Demonstrated track record of having undertaken and led research on gender issues;
• Experience of working closely with government department, institutions and diverse stakeholders is desirable;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management systems;
• Experience in field work and documentation.

Language:

• Fluency in English and at least one other Indian language and excellent skills in writing clearly and succinctly in English.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

More Info and Application