UNFPA Representative - Lomé

The Position :

Under the guidance of the Regional Director, you will lead the 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 organisation, 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 front line of the organisation, validating both the mandate of the organisation 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 marginalised and for the causes that you serve; human rights, sustainable development and humanitarian relief.

UNFPA Representative as Country Director :

You may also act as non-resident Country Director in some of UNFPA's country offices. In this function you are supported by the staff in the respective country offices.

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 realising the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organisations 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 realise 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.

Job Purpose :

The UNFPA Representative plays the leading role in projecting the priorities and mandate of the organisation at the national and/or area level. Through compelling advocacy and thought leadership, the Representative effectively positions UNFPA to be the visible centre of innovation and excellence on issues of population and development, sexual and reproductive health, and gender, human rights and culture. Placing the ICPD issues at the centre of the overall development agenda, the Representative plays a significant part in ensuring a coordinated and comprehensive engagement across the UN system, with bilateral donors and civil society, with national counterparts and other partners. The Representative provides leadership for the work of UNFPA in the country of assignment and is accountable for the UNFPA Country programme and operations in the country.

Key activities include :

• Strategic direction, planning and management
• Programme leadership and representation
• Programme oversight and coordination
• Management of resources.

Education :

• Post-graduate university degree in: International Relations, International Development, Economics, Public Administration, Management, Public Health, Gender or other related field.

Knowledge and Experience :

• 10 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 at the international level;
• Job knowledge and technical expertise –up-to-date knowledge of issues of population and development, sexual and reproductive health, and gender, and their place in the development agenda;
• Proven ability to lead and manage teams to achieve demonstrable results;
• Excellent communication skills in speaking and writing in English;
• Strong interest in development work, especially the mission of the United Nations Population Fund, and dedication to the principles of the United Nations;
• Field experience is essential.

Languages :

• Fluency in English and French is required

Compensation and Benefits :

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