Project Officer-Human Rights Liaison, NPSA-9 (Nationals only)

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a UN agency that works in about 170 countries and territories, helping eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience. It thereby helps them sustain progress and achieve Sustainable Development Goals. In Ukraine, UNDP operates in three programme priorities: Democratic Governance and Inclusive Social Fabric, Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Recovery and Growth, and Sustainable Environment and Energy Transformation.

Since the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has faced widespread violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), affecting women, men, girls, and boys. In response, the Government of Ukraine and the United Nations, through the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC), established the Framework of Cooperation (FoC) and its Implementation Plan (IP) to coordinate national efforts on prevention and response to CRSV.

The Joint Programme on CRSV Prevention and Response (Phase II), implemented by UNDP in partnership with UN Women, UNFPA, OHCHR, and OSRSG-SVC, aims to strengthen national and subnational capacities to deliver a coordinated, survivor-centred, and rights-based response to CRSV. The Programme focuses on strengthening coordination mechanisms, enhancing institutional capacities, supporting accountability and reparations frameworks, expanding access to services, and reinforcing monitoring and documentation systems.

In this context, the Project Officer-Human Rights Liaison will support the effective implementation of the Joint Programme by ensuring coordination across stakeholders, contributing to policy and analytical work, supporting capacity-building initiatives, and facilitating the translation of national frameworks into operational results at both national and subnational levels.

• Contribute to the implementation of the Joint Programme, ensuring timely delivery of outputs related to CRSV prevention, response, coordination, and accountability.
• Facilitate the functioning of coordination and implementation platforms involving government, UN agencies, civil society, and survivor-led organizations. 
• Ensure implementation of activities in compliance with UNDP rules and procedures, integrating survivor-centred, human rights-based, and gender-responsive approaches. 
• Coordinate implementation of regional workplans through field missions, consultations, and engagement with oblast-level stakeholders. 
• Support development and maintenance of coordination tools, tracking matrices, and planning frameworks to monitor implementation progress. 

• Maintain working relationships with government institutions, civil society, women-led and survivor-led organizations, and international partners. 
• Conduct stakeholder mapping and analysis to strengthen coordination and participation across CRSV response systems. 
• Contribute to coordination with UN agencies and partners through relevant platforms (IAWG, CRSV Technical Group, UN CRSV Working Group). 
• Promote complementarity and coordination with EU-funded and other initiatives. 
• Provide coordination support to partners and facilitate communication between UNDP and stakeholders. 
• Preparing briefing materials, inputs, and documentation to support programme development and resource mobilization. 

• Monitor project implementation and track progress against established indicators and targets. 
• Contribute to the development of data collection systems, means of verification, and reporting frameworks. 
• Identify implementation risks, issues, and bottlenecks, and propose corrective actions and mitigation measures. 
• Contribute to preparation of progress reports, donor reports, and analytical outputs. 
• Coordinate with programme, finance and operations teams to support timely and compliant project delivery. 

• Coordinate the organization of trainings, workshops, and consultations for national and regional stakeholders. 
• Develop knowledge products, analytical summaries, and technical materials. 
• Document lessons learned, best practices, and innovations from project implementation. 
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing among stakeholders and contribute to relevant communities of practice. 
• Support advocacy and communication efforts in coordination with project and communications teams.

• Draft policy briefs, analytical products, and recommendations related to CRSV prevention, response, and accountability. 
• Contribute to the implementation of CRSV-related legislation and frameworks, including Law 4067 and related by-laws. 
• Ensure alignment of project activities with international standards, including international humanitarian law, human rights law, and EU integration priorities. 
• Contribute to the development of methodological materials, guidelines, and standard operating procedures (SOPs). 

• Promote integration of gender equality and women's empowerment considerations across all project activities, ensuring that interventions are responsive to the differentiated needs, risks, and barriers faced by women, men, girls, boys, and persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity affected by CRSV. 
• Ensure that project implementation promotes survivor-centred, rights-based, inclusive, and do-no-harm approaches, with due attention to confidentiality, dignity, accessibility, and meaningful participation of survivors and affected communities. 
• Apply gender-responsive and protection-sensitive communication principles in line with UNDP corporate standards. 
• Support a safe, respectful, and enabling working environment free from discrimination, harassment, sexual exploitation, abuse, and misconduct, in accordance with UNDP policies and standards. 
• Contribute to strengthening participation of women-led and survivor-led organizations in service delivery interfaces, policy feedback mechanisms, oversight processes, and localization efforts supported by the Joint Programme.
• Demonstrate respect for gender equality in professional interactions, identify and address sexism and gender discrimination.

Core:

Cross-Functional & Technical: 

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Public Administration, Political Sciences, Social Sciences, International Relations, Law, Development Studies, Gender Studies, Human Rights, Business Administration, Economics, or a related field is required, or 
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the above-mentioned fields in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years (with master’s degree) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the national or international level in providing management advisory services, and/or hands-on experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.
• At least two years of relevant experience in supporting complex, multi-stakeholder projects involving government institutions, international organizations, civil society organizations, and development partners is required.
• Proven experience in project implementation related to governance, justice, human rights, gender equality, women, peace and security, protection, or related thematic areas. Given the substantive focus of the Joint Programme, experience related to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), survivor-centred programming, or institutional coordination in sensitive protection or accountability settings; 
• Proven experience and knowledge of international humanitarian law, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment frameworks.
• Previous experience within UNDP or other UN agencies, other international organizations.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) is required. 

Required Language(s):

• Flueny in English and Ukrainian is required.

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

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