UN VOLUNTEER DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT
Preamble:
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism tosupport peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature ofdevelopment and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peaceand development
elopment by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism
into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers
volunteers.
In most cultures volunteerism is deeply embedded in long
long-established,established, ancient traditions of sharing andansupport within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in various forms of volunteerism
and play a role in development and peace together with coco-workers,
workers, host agencies and local communities.
In all assignments, UN Volunteers promote vo
volunteerism
lunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging involunteer activity can effectively and positively enrich their understanding of local and social realities, aswell as create a bridge between themselves and the people in their host community. This will make thetime they spend as UN Volunteers even more rewarding and productive.
1. UNV Assignment Title:
2. Type of Assignment:
3. Project Title:

Gender Rights Advocacy and Women Empowerment Specialist
International UN Volunteer
Facilitating Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in theSouth of Kyrgyzstan

4. Duration:

1 Year

5. Location, Country:

Osh, Kyrgyz Republic

6. Expected Starting Date:

1 February 2013

7. Brief Project Description:
The project the UNV is assigned under deals primarily with Women, Peace and Security. It follows up on
activities pursued in the area of peace
peace-building since mid-2010,2010, specifically on capacitating a network ofo
local activists across the three southern oblasts on building bridges between different ethnicities andengaging communities in early warning on issues holding conflict potential and reporting these to state andnon-statestate duty bearers for preventative acaction.
tion. Further, rights of women under CEDAW and obligations ofGovernment under UNSCR 1325, et al. are to be published and capacity of duty bearers at local selfself
government level is to be built to ensure the human, political and economic rights of women withwit a focus
on young women.

8. Host Agency/Host Institute: UN Women Kyrgyzstan Country Office
9. Organizational Context:
The UNV will interact on a daily basis with the various UN agencies present in Osh, as well as withother national and international organizationsorganizations.. During these encounters the UNV will promote themandate of UN Women and identify areas for cooperation. The UNV will fol
follow
low-up commitments
made by AFP under the ‘7 Point Agenda of the SG’. Cooperation agreed with partners will bebackstopped by the UNV. A key focus of the UNV is to build capacity of small, activist-driven
activist
civilsociety organizations. Further, the UNV will mobilize youth towards volunteering on mandate areasof UN Women. The UNV will assist UN Women in mobilizin
mobilizing
g additional financial resources tosupport these activities. The UNV is based in a small UN Women Osh office and will have minimal
logistical support at her or his disposal beyond a fully equipped and secure office shared withanother UN entity. The successss of the assignment then relates to the ability of the UNV to engage
meaningfully with the aforementioned partners, and with government and to be able to advocate andcontribute value of UN Women Kyrgyzstan and the UNV him
him- or herself to the agenda, programmes
progrand mandates of the various partners.

10. Type of Assignment Place: assignment with family/ without family (please choose)Osh is classified a non-familyfamily duty station
station. Dependent spouse and child dependents cannot join.
11. Description of tasks:
Under the direct supervision of the UN Women international programme specialist on women,wompeaceand security based in Bishkek the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:• Work closely with UN entities and other international actors towards promoting
promotthe UN
Women gender equality and women empowerment agenda, and stand ready to assist
agencies in implementing commitments under the 7 Point Agenda of the UN SG;• Map all stakeholders in the areas of i. gender equality, ii. women economic and politicalempowerment; iii. peace and security; and iv. human rights advocacy active in Osh andJalalabad cities and adjacent areas and update on a quarterly basis. Stakeholders include
civil society, international organization, government and influential individuals. Undertake acapacity
pacity desk review of those who are likely partners for UN Women (partnership requires
more than an entity receiving funds from UN Women w
which
hich is what constitutes a contractor);
contractor)• Regularly meet with likely partners and identify concrete areas for partnership. These can
include civil society organization capacity building (aimed at entities with less than
USD10,000 annual turnover) based on ga
gaps identified;• Provide on-the-job training to fill organizational gaps identified in the aforementioned
organizations to make them more effective
effective;• Subject to transport being available carry out aforementioned activities in Batken province;
province• Partner with tertiary
tiary education institutions and identify and engage committed youth towards
activating them as youth volunteers towards promotion of gender equality and assurance ofthe rights of young women in situations relating to bride kidnapping, etc.
etc.;
• Subject to thee relevant experience provide basic legal training to youth volunteers and otherstakeholders on the rights of young women and the obligations of the state to meet them in
relation to its CEDAW and UNSCR 1325, etc. commitmentscommitments;• Assist the various programme areas of UN Women Kyrgyzstan to effectively engage thepopulation, civil society and state in the south of the country with a focus on and around Oshcity,, and backstop existing and new programmes, activities and individuals trained;• Advise the UN Women Country Office of appropriate strategies aimed at the elimination ofviolence against women, network with local actors and support them;• Assist in preparing missions and meetings for visiting UN Women personnel, and partake insome of these missions and their meetings;• Provide support to the implementation of projects and programmes in the south with a focus
on Osh city;• Participate in all relevant meetings of civil society, international organisations andgovernment, advocate for the UN Women mandate and b
brief
rief the UN Women Bishkek officeon them [the UNV modality does not allow for formal representation of UN Women];• Closely partner
artner with any national UNV(s) that may be deployed by UN Women in Osh,support, substantively
bstantively guide and train such national UNV(s);• Draft a monthly newsletter on gender issues in the south of Kyrgyzstan to provide a platform
for local actors to showcase activities and contribute to networking between them.
themFurthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to:

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Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant
UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that markIVD);
Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in
ongoing reflection activities;
Contribute articles/write-ups
ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites,
newsletters, press releases, etc.;
Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly
newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local
individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service
servic whenever technicallypossible;
Be role models in the promotion of volunteer
volunteerism and the values of the United Nations.

12. Results/Expected Output:
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Maintain an up-to-date
date database of civil society and international organization actors in themandate areas of UN Women in Osh specifically and the three southern oblast more generally
Identify and backstop cooperation with the above
above-mentioned
mentioned actors on joint activities;
activities
Convene UN entities around the mandat
mandatee of UN Women and actively assist coordination towardsa ‘One UN’ approach;
Mobilize and facilitate a network of young volunteers providing services to the community related
to the mandate of UN Women within the context of the laws prevailing in the Kyrgyz Republic;
Strengthen the organizational capacity of civil society partner organizations;
Monthly gender equality and women empowerment newsletter publishedpublished;
Lead, if commanding the necessary technical expertise participatory conflict analysis atcommunity level identifying areas for interinter-ethnic
ethnic accord and cooperation and local capacities forpeace;
Draft a concise monthly briefingbriefing-style
style report (approx. 3 pages) on issues of interest to the UN
Women country office;A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the assignment, suchas reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.

13. Qualifications/Requirements:
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Previous experience of volunteering a
as a part-time or full-time capacity required;required
University degree in the social sciences or in law
law, or a related subject required;;
A documented track record of working directly on gender equality and/or women empowerment issues
or indirectly on such issue by focusing on human rights of the vulnerable, or providing legal or otherassistance to victims of violence/survivors required
required.. Dedication to the UN Women mandate;
Work experience at community level in the field of development required;
Familiarity with participatory
icipatory approaches such as PRA, RRA a strong advantage;advantage
Qualified trainer and/or trainer
trainer-of trainers highly a strong advantage;
Familiarity with conflict analysis or participatory evaluation a strong advantage;;
Familiarity with Central Asia preferredpreferred;
Someome Russian language skills highly desirable
desirable;
Kyrgyz, Uzbek or Tajik language skills aan advantage;
Excellent English communication and drafting skills essential
essential;
Calm, cool and collected under pressurepressure;
Strong diplomatic skills in the advocacy of potentially sensitive human rights agendas required;requiredMust be a team worker and can follow instructions
instructions;Self-starter
starter who can work with minimal supervision
supervision.

14. Living Conditions:

Osh was seriously affected by interinter-ethnic strife in June 2010. Life in Osh was severely disrupted andmany services ceased. A large number of people were displaced. Several hundred people weremurdered and many more women raped. Foreigners were neither targeted nor became victims; mostwere evacuated. International humanitarian actors helped restore basic services and the international
community provided assistance to Government to rebuild some of the property damage various
neighborhoods. Two-and-a-half
half years after the violence tensions remain between ethnic Kyrgyz andUzbeks andd little signs of accommodation and cooperation between the now highly divided
communities exist; inter-ethnic
ethnic marriages are no longer acceptable to local people. Life has, however,very much returned to normal in terms of range of items available at supermarkets,
superentertainment
options, etc. Street crime is very low. UN premises meet high security requirements. The most serious
impediment are low-quality
quality medical services and the absence of international schooling. Osh airport
can take Medevac flights and hahass international connections to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines and on
China Southern to Urumchi, and elsewhere on nonnon-UN cleared carriers.
riers. Little English is spoken andrudimentary Russian is essential. The UNV operates on an eight-weekly
weekly RR cycle. After no lessle thaneight and no more than ten weeks the UNV will be provided with an airfare lump-sumlump
and one week off,
this in addition to annual leave. The UN Women office shares premises with another UN entity in Osh.
UN Women has a presence between 1 and 3 personnel in Osh, depending on circumstances. There
currently is no vehicle and driver but it is hoped that a dedicated vehicle and driver can be added
adin2013 due to new projects being secured. For approved missions out of town a vehicle and driver will
be made available by a private entity that has been contracted to provide such services.
15. Conditions of Service
A 24-months
months contract; monthly volunteer living allowance (VLA) intended to cover housing, basic needs
and utilities, equivalent to US$ 1,845.00 for a single volunteer; US$2,095 for a volunteer with one
dependent or US$2,295 for a volunteer with 2 or more ddependents; settling-in-grant
grant (if applicable); life,health, and permanent disability insurance; return airfares (if applicable); resettlement allowance forsatisfactory service.
Description of Assignment prepared by the UNV Field Unit/UN Agency: Sabine Machl,
MaUN Women
Representative in Kyrgyzstan
Date: 18 January 2013

Description of Assignment approved by UNDP/RR/CD or UNV Field Unit:: Gemma Marie Carnacete,
UNV Programme Officer in KyrgyzstanDate: 21 January 2013