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 Somalia works to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment by supporting government institutions, civil society, and communities. Guided by its triple mandate of normative support, UN coordination, and operational programming, UN Women focuses on key priorities including Women, Peace and Security (WPS), Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE), gender responsive humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction (Hum/DRR), and leadership through initiatives such as the Leadership, Empowerment, Access and Protection (LEAP) programme. Through these efforts, UN Women promotes women’s participation in decision making, strengthens livelihoods and resilience to climate and humanitarian shocks, and supports inclusive and sustainable development in Somalia.
UN Women is a key implementing partner in the Strengthening the Resilience of Displaced and Host Communities in Dolow (SRDHT), funded by AfDB in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (MoPIED), and jointly implemented with UNHCR, FAO, UN-Habitat and IOM UN Women leads the Women’s and Youth Economic Empowerment, Gender Equality and Leadership components, focusing on skills development, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, gender-responsive community engagement and protection-sensitive programming. The programme aligns with the Somalia National Transformation Plan (NTP), the National Durable Solutions Strategy and local development priorities.
Reporting to the Programme Specialist and working in close coordination with the Country Programme Manager and relevant stakeholders, the Programme Analysr – Women’s Economic Empowerment is a field-based position stationed in Dolow, responsible for providing technical leadership, programme management and coordination, partner oversight, monitoring, reporting and stakeholder engagement across all WEE components under the SRDHT programme. The Programme Officer ensures high-quality, gender-responsive implementation aligned with the National Transformation Plan, the National Durable Solutions Strategy and local resilience and recovery priorities. In addition, she/he will contribute to UN Women’s LEAP (Leadership, Empowerment, Access and Protection) flagship programming and support humanitarian interventions across Somalia to ensure coherence, synergy and alignment with broader country office priorities
Scope of Work:
- Contribute technically to the development of programme strategies in Women’s and Youth Economic Empowerment, Gender Equality and Leadership (WEE-GEWE):
- In coordination with Program Specialist, lead the planning, design and implementation of WEE and youth livelihood activities in Dolow aligned with the SRDHT joint programme framework;
- Provide technical guidance on employability, TVET, entrepreneurship, start-up support, financial inclusion, leadership development and protection-sensitive programming for women and youth;
- Ensure interventions are informed by joint assessments, gender and youth analyses, labour market studies and community consultations conducted with UN partners and government counterparts;
- Harmonize training curricula, value chain development and livelihood models with UN partners to avoid duplication and strengthen complementarities;
- Integrate gender equality, GBV risk mitigation, safeguarding, disability inclusion and conflict sensitivity across all WEE components;
- Embed environmental and social safeguards, climate-resilient livelihood practices and sustainable resource management into programme design;
- Develop and adapt training content, business tools and community engagement approaches to local contexts, literacy levels and displacement-affected communities;
- Ensure alignment of programme design with the Somalia National Transformation Plan (NTP), National Durable Solutions Strategy and local development priorities.
- Provide technical support for the implementation and management of the WEE-GEWE programme:
- Provide technical oversight and guidance to implementing partners, women-led organizations, youth groups and community networks;
- Support effective delivery of market-oriented skills training, start-up inputs, financial linkages and capacity building for women and youth;
- Coordinate with local authorities, community leaders, private sector actors and UN agencies to ensure coherent implementation of WEE activities;
- Facilitate GEWE dialogues, community engagement sessions and advocacy forums promoting women’s leadership and social norms change.
- Ensure delivery is conflict-sensitive, protection-centered and GBV-risk mitigating;
- Identify operational gaps, risks and delays and propose solutions to improve efficiency and accountability;
- Support partners in timely reporting of activities, expenditures and results in accordance with approved workplans;
- Guide the Programme Associate on logistical, administrative and operational arrangements required for field implementation;
- Monitor partner performance against agreed targets, budgets and results frameworks.
- Provide technical assistance and capacity development support to project/programme partners:
- Provide ongoing technical coaching and capacity support to implementing partners in programme delivery, reporting and community engagement;
- Strengthen partner capacity on budgeting, financial management, documentation and audit readiness;
- Develop training materials, tools and guidelines to strengthen partner and community capacity for WEE delivery;
- Support awareness and capacity building on gender mainstreaming, safeguarding, compliance and accountability;
- Lead or facilitate learning exchanges, cross-site visits, mentorship initiatives and knowledge sharing between partners and communities;
- Organize and support training sessions, workshops and retreats for staff and partners on programme and operational topics.
- Provide technical inputs to the monitoring and reporting of the programme/project:
- Conduct routine field monitoring of training centres, safe spaces, youth initiatives and women’s business groups;
- Lead monitoring of WEE outputs with timely, accurate and gender-responsive data collection and validation;
- Track progress on indicators related to training, employment, entrepreneurship, youth leadership and GEWE dialogue activities;
- Prepare high-quality progress reports, briefs, donor inputs and field updates;
- Document success stories, lessons learned, best practices and human-interest narratives demonstrating programme impact;
- Maintain knowledge management systems including partner documentation, monitoring records and feedback logs;
- Support programme reviews, evaluations and learning exercises;
- Compile and analyze gender and youth data to inform technical briefs and strategic communications;
- Coordinate with the Monitoring and Reporting Officer to align data collection with corporate reporting requirements.
- Provide technical inputs to the management of people and finances of the WEE programme;
- Monitor expenditures, delivery rates and budget utilization for WEE activities to ensure alignment with workplans;
- Support and oversee financial processes including payments, requisitions, procurement and vendor management;
- Review partner budgets, financial forecasts, liquidations and financial reports for compliance with donor and UN Women standards;
- Identify financial risks or deviations and recommend corrective actions;
- Support procurement planning and ensure timely delivery of programme supplies and services;
- Support audit follow-up and ensure compliance with UN Women financial rules and procedures;
- Contribute to building partnerships and resource mobilization strategies:
- Strengthen partnerships with government authorities, private sector institutions, civil society, financial actors and training providers;
- Promote collaboration with community structures, business associations and women’s organizations to enhance sustainability;
- Strengthen market systems linkages by engaging private sector and value chain actors to create economic opportunities for women and youth;
- Contribute to resource mobilization through concept notes, proposal inputs, situational analyses and donor engagement materials.
- Develop concept notes and proposals targeting traditional and non-traditional donors;
- Support the Country Office in preparing presentations and briefing materials for donors, government and UN forums.
- Provide technical inputs to inter-agency coordination on Women’s Economic Empowerment and Gender Equality:
- Collaborate with UNHCR, FAO, UN-Habitat and IOM under the SRDHT joint programme to ensure coordinated delivery of livelihoods and resilience interventions;
- Represent UN Women in field-level coordination platforms including livelihoods, youth, protection/GBV and gender working groups;
- Coordinate with district, state and federal authorities to ensure alignment with national policies and durable solutions frameworks;
- Collaborate with joint programme partners to harmonize information management and inter-agency reporting systems.
- Provide inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts:
- Facilitate GEWE dialogues and community forums promoting women’s leadership, participation and positive social norms change.
- Capture, systematize and disseminate knowledge generated through programme implementation.
- Document scalable WEE models for replication in humanitarian and displacement settings.
- Develop tweets, articles and human-interest stories to showcase programme results and impact.
- Incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as required for the effective functioning of the Office, including contributing to UN Women’s LEAP flagship initiatives, supporting the humanitarian portfolio, and providing additional programme, financial or coordination assistance as needed
