Representative, D-1, Sana'a, Yemen

Context:

Yemen remains one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. In 2023, a staggering 21.6 million people require some form of humanitarian assistance as 80 percent of the country struggles to put food on the table and access basic services. 
 

Eight years of conflict, compounded by economic collapse, natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, have taken an inordinate toll on women and girls. The health system has virtually collapsed cutting their access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health services. Today a woman dies during pregnancy and childbirth every two hours from causes which are almost entirely preventable with access to services. In 2023, more than 1.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to suffer acute malnutrition – with risks of negative birth outcomes and malnourished infants.
 

Violence against women and girls, already high before the conflict, has worsened, with displaced women and girls, female-headed households and those with disabilities particularly at risk. Girls are increasingly vulnerable to early, forced and child marriage, Female Genital Mutilations, human trafficking and child labour. As needs soar, protection systems are at best overstretched or entirely absent.
 

UNFPA’s priority is to ensure that all Yemeni women and girls can access services that are vital to their health, well-being and lives.
 

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

The position:

The Representative leads a country office team in the design and implementation of a population and development and sexual and reproductive health country programme. Through alliances and partnerships with governments, UN and bilateral agencies, development partners, civil society, academia and the private sector, the programme aims to realize the 2030 Agenda in order to make a positive difference in the lives of millions of people; especially those furthest behind.
 

Job Purpose:
 

We need visionary leaders who stand up for the values inherent in the UN Charter: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity; who are able to maneuver complex political settings including humanitarian and emergency; who can leverage multi- stakeholder partnerships and coalitions; who think creatively, innovatively and connect cross-pillars of evidence, knowledge and experience; and who consistently seek greater system-wide solutions that reach beyond individual entities and interests.
 

Under the guidance of the Regional Director for Arab States, you will lead a Country team in the development and management of an innovative Country Programme of Cooperation focused on population and development and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, including maternal health, family planning, gender, and adolescent and youth empowerment.
 

You are accountable for the effective implementation of the Country Programme, playing the lead role in promoting the mandate of the organization, and ensuring the integration of issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the broader national development agenda. Through engagement with national counterparts, UN Country Teams, compelling advocacy, and delivery of effective programmes, including in emergency settings, you serve on the frontline of the organization, validating both the mandate of the organization and its ability to deliver high quality support and results. Your ultimate accountability is to the people that you serve; the most vulnerable, excluded, or marginalized and for the causes that you serve; human rights, sustainable development and humanitarian relief.

You would be responsible for:
 

Strategic direction, planning and management

• Lead the positioning of UNFPA on strategic issues in the country on the basis of global, regional and national policies and strategies
• Build institutional relationships with government counterparts, civil society, the private sector, the UN community, other international/national organizations, academia and bilaterals that galvanize support for UNFPA’s mandate
• Promote UNFPA’s role in the national development agenda, and in the changing aid environment
  Establish priorities for the work of the Country Office in line with regional and global UNFPA corporate priorities
• Ensure that policies, programming tools, state-of-the-art knowledge and sound business practices are incorporated into UNFPA country operations
• Lead and coordinate the development of a strategic plan for UNFPA’s humanitarian and preparedness actions in-country

Management of resources

• Manage international and national staff providing them with direction and motivation; fostering empowerment, learning and career management
• Demonstrate performance appraisal and transparent leadership approaches that support a culture of growth and development, where good performance is incentivized and underperformers are held to account
• Attract and retain the highest calibre of staff for the Country Office
• Set standards of performance, and assign responsibilities for achieving results according to the Country Office Strategic Information System
• Drive the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive resource mobilization and partnership strategy including donor relations and effective mobilisation of funds; securing and efficiently using mobilised funds and assigned budget allocations for the country programme
• Ensure the safety, security and wellbeing of staff 

Programme leadership and representation 

• Advise senior management of UNFPA on country level issues
• Provide leadership in the development and execution of the organization’s country level policy dialogue and programme, including delivery of technical assistance for capacity development and for humanitarian situations
• Engage national counterparts through effective advocacy on UNFPA’s agenda; build support for programme objectives and create awareness of the role of ICPD issues in the overall development agenda and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
• Represent UNFPA within the inter-agency United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and the UN Humanitarian Team; support the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) as UNCT leader, promoting integration of population and development, and sexual and reproductive health issues in the development and humanitarian agenda; contribute to the UN reform process including the triple nexus (Development, Humanitarian and Peace) within the UNCT context
• Drive UNFPA accountability for the UN Flash Appeal/ Humanitarian Response plan and contribute actively to the achievement of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) common results, including through chairing/co-chairing UNCT Results Groups
  Initiate programme and technical support opportunities for South to South collaboration with other countries.

Programme oversight and coordination

• Drive the application of results-based management and quality assurance frameworks for the work of the Country Office;
• Enforce financial and monitoring processes to ensure the Country Office complies with UNFPA policies and procedures, corporate requirements and audit recommendations;
• Carry out any other duties as may be required by the Regional Director for whom you report to.

Qualifications and Experience 

Education:
Advanced university degree (Masters level or equivilent) in one of the following disciplines: Public Health, Medicine, Sociology, Demography, Gender, International Relations, International Development, Economics, Public Administration, Management or other related field.

Knowledge and Experience:

• 15 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in public administration and international development of which at least 8 years in the field of population and development, sexual and reproductive health or humanitarian at the international level;
• Current knowledge of issues of population and development, sexual and reproductive health, and their place in the development and humanitarian agenda;
• Proven ability to lead teams to achieve demonstrable and high quality results
• Experience at national and international level in advocacy and policy dialogue
• Experience in media/communication with partners, and public information
• Experience in international development, particularly in the mandate of UNFPA and dedication to the principles of the United Nations;
• Field experience is essential; experience from a developing, humanitarian or crisis context is an asset.
   

Languages:
Fluency in English is required and Arabic is considered a strong advantage.
 

Required Competencies: 

Values:

• Exemplifying integrity, 
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, 
• Embracing cultural diversity, 
• Embracing change

Core Competencies: 

• Achieving results,
• Being accountable,
• Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,
• Thinking analytically and strategically,
• Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,

Managerial Competencies:

• Providing strategic focus
• Engaging internal and external partners/stakeholders
• Leading, developing and empowering people / creating a performance culture
• Making decisions and exercising judgement 

UN Leadership Characteristics:

Norm-based, principled, inclusive, accountable, multidimensional, transformational, collaborative, self-applied

Compensation and Benefits:

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. 

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.