Would Anyone Actually Want This Job?

On Tuesday, MRCTV reported that the United Nations has an interesting job listing on its website. The listing is for a “Partnership Specialist” to bring gender equality to Afghanistan.

This is a portion of the listing:

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 is dedicated to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in Afghanistan. Staff and consultants of the Afghanistan Country Office (ACO) are expected to contribute to a professional working environment in which the strengthening of national capacities and human potential is prioritized. Respect for diversity and human dignity is required, as is the active pursuit of a collaborative and inclusive approach to both internal and external stakeholders, including colleagues and partners.

Under the direct supervision of the Country Representative, the Partnerships and Reporting Specialist will be responsible and accountable for the effective and efficient provision of donor-related support services to senior management, programmes and operations units within the Afghanistan Country Office (ACO). The donor related support services include external relations and resource mobilization coordination, coordinating the preparation of proposals and donor reports and maintaining a working relationship between UN Women and donors.

The duties and responsibilities include:

Build and maintain effective external relations, strategic partnerships and support resource mobilization:

    • Develop the resource mobilization strategy/plan for the Afghanistan Country Office (ACO) and coordinate implementation;
    • Undertake ad-hoc donor studies, research, and other activities to identify funding opportunities; update the resources mobilization strategy as needs emerge;
    • Develop a prospective donor profile database that includes prospective donor funding areas, geographical and sectoral preferences, criteria, and policies with a view to identifying funding opportunities;
    • Monitor calls for proposals related to UN Women ACO mandate;
    • Initiate Resource Mobilization meetings and presentations to prospective donors in Afghanistan and outside, including preparation of briefing notes;
    • Design and implement effective advocacy strategies and methods for proactive and strategic targeting of partners and donors.
    • Convene and facilitate donor working group on gender to
    • Manage and coordinate relationships with key partners; provide technical inputs to senior management’s efforts to develop new and innovative partnerships;
    • Develop and implements strategies for maximizing potential for existing trust funds and regional projects and other sources;
    • Provide technical support the drafting and review of partner-specific Framework Arrangements and Cost Sharing Agreements.

The job posting notes:

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.

MRCTV notes:

The members of the Security Council called for an immediate end to the violence in Afghanistan, the restoration of security, civil and constitutional order, and urgent talks to resolve the current crisis of authority in the country and to arrive at a peaceful settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process of national reconciliation. They underscored that a sustainable end to the conflict in Afghanistan can only be achieved through an inclusive, just, durable and realistic political settlement that upholds human rights, including for women, children and minorities. The members of the Security Council called on parties to adhere to international norms and standards on human rights and put an end to all abuses and violations in this regard.

Somehow I don’t think the actions of the United Nations Security Council will have any results. You really can’t make this stuff up.