Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Knowledge Centre (GEWEKC) Coordinator, NPSA8, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Background:

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.

As part of its strategic cooperation with the Government of Kazakhstan, UN Women in 2025 successfully finalized the implementation of the Tied Grant “Assisting Kazakhstan in the Implementation of the Concept of Family and Gender Policy in Terms of Ensuring Gender Equality and Empowering All Women and Girls in Kazakhstan, as well as Overcoming the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis” for the period 2022–2024 (Tied Grant). The first phase of Tied Grant, focused on improving women’s representation, reducing the gender pay gap, and enhancing economic participation. It successfully strengthened government capacity, promoted initiatives such as gender sensitive legislation, Gender studies and raised public awareness. Building on the results achieved during the phase one, it also highlighted the need for further capacity-building of national partners, sustained results, and improved coordination.
 

In 2025 UN Women Kazakhstan with support of the National Commission for Women Affairs and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Culture and Information started implementation of a new project for 2025–2027: “Promoting the Improvement of Legal Protection for Women, Strengthening Gender Equality, and Ensuring Full Participation of Women in the Socio-Political Life of the Country.”
 

This new project draws on lessons learned to drive long-term change for the empowerment of women and girls in Kazakhstan. It addresses key challenges such as the need for more coordinated capacity building, greater integration of gender perspectives into budgeting and policy processes, and increased consistency in applying gender considerations across the legislative framework. It also identifies opportunities to strengthen the role of the National Commission, improve monitoring and evaluation of the Concept of Family and Gender Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, enhance media coverage of gender equality issues, and further support to women’s political participation and professional development in Kazakhstan.

The Coordinator will ensure close collaboration with UN Women team, key national and international partners, and the expert community. The incumbent will lead the day-to-day operations of the Secretariat, overseeing the overall coordination of the GEWE Knowledge Centre and its stakeholders, namely the National Women’s Machinery and the Ministry of Culture and Information and others.
 

In carrying out these functions, the Coordinator will engage with partners at national, regional and global levels to ensure coordination and collaboration across all workstreams and delivery of tangible results in accordance with the Project Document.

The responsibilities and duties of the Coordinator will include:

• Lead and support to the daily work of the GEWE Knowledge Centre through coordination with the government, civil society and private sector partners. Coordinator will be responsible for the effective the GEWE Knowledge Centre’s annual work plan implementation, initiatives, including the achievement of targets, design, operationalization, and high-quality delivery of various capacity development and research activities for the GEWE Knowledge Centre—such as trainings and policy workshops in offline, hybrid and online formats—targeting stakeholders from both the public, civil society and private sectors on national GEWE priority themes, as well as topics aligned with the UN Women mandate. In consultation with partners and under the UN Women Kazakhstan Strategic Note 2026-2029, develop and implement strategic interventions of the GEWE Knowledge Centre’s, including ensuring sustainability, conducting strategic negotiations with partners, contributing to resource mobilisation and achieving targets and indicators of the annual work plan and UN Women Kazakhstan Strategic Note 2026-2029;

• Develop and implement new and innovative strategies for increased partnership with government institutions, the private sector, civil society organizations, academia, the media, and international partners, aimed at advancing SDG 5 and fulfilling Kazakhstan’s international commitments on gender equality and the empowerment of women, thereby contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda;

• Provide support to the implementation of the GEWE Knowledge centre initiatives on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (development of knowledge products, trainings, learning video products, etc.);

• Maintain strategic partnership with the Government of Kazakhstan, and its key stakeholders as National Women’s Machinery and the Ministry of Culture and Information and other partners working on gender equality at the national level.

• Support UN Women’s corporate outreach to private sector partners to advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in close coordination with Country Programme manager/Programme Specialist and Project manager and national partners; 

• Ensure the design, planning, formulation, preparation, development and maintenance of planning and working documents, training materials, manuals, archives, digital library, knowledge products of the GEWE Knowledge Centre;

• Monitor best practices at the national, regional, and international levels, related to policymaking, legal review, capacity building, awareness raising and data gathering on GE and WE, to integrate it into GEWE Knowledge Centre work and inform national partners;

• Organize quarterly and ad-hoc meetings of the GEWE Knowledge Centre by engaging all key stakeholders and partners;

• Attend and keep a record of meetings, meeting minutes and circulating them with all partners, supporting with follow up, including with UN entities, as necessary;

• Prepare analytical overviews with statistical data, financial and narrative reports, talking points, briefing notes in relation of work of the GEWE Knowledge Centre and keep informed Country Programme Manager and key National partners;

• Provide inputs to the communication and visibility strategy of the GEWE Knowledge Centre, supporting its implementation (including informational and media coverage of the planned activities and working with the Communications specialist);

• Pro-actively reach out to potential new partners in close coordination with Country Programme manager/Programme Specialist and Project manager and national partners;

• Ensure the development and implementation of a sustainable financing strategy, including through resource mobilization, for the GEWE Knowledge Centre and consult with all relevant stakeholders;

• Manage procurement related work to the GEWE Knowledge Centre operations ensuring full compliance with UN Women rules and regulations;

• Work in close cooperation of with UN Women Operation Unit and a Communications Specialist, to ensure timely and high-quality outputs (e.g. organisation of events, meetings, written documents, etc);

• Oversee and ensure the quality and timely delivery of outputs produced by consultants engaged under the project, providing guidance, feedback, and coordination as necessary.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

Excellent knowledge of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment concepts, as well as women’s rights and leadership context on the national, regional and global levels.
• Excellent knowledge of national strategic priorities in the field of Family and Gender Equality Agenda.
• Excellent networking skills
• Ability to interact with high level governmental officials, donors, the United Nations system, international organisations, civil society, diplomatic community, private sector 
• Identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and effectively contribute to the resource mobilisation of UN Women Kazakhstan
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice
• Excellent representational and analytical skills
• Ability to write policy papers, speeches, briefings

Recruitment Qualifications:

Education:
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree or equivalent in political science, law, social sciences, business/public administration, and/ or other related fields.
• Specialized training/ certifications in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment is an asset.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.
 

Required Qualifications and Experience:
• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience with Bachelor Degree and 3 years in International and/or state organisations, international human rights, and gender equality mechanisms;
• Demonstrated leadership skills, including leading a diverse team;
• Experience in working with multiple stakeholders, establishing and managing networks, working with, and building partnerships with national state and private sector partners;
• Familiarity with UN development programmes and working methods, and particularly with UN Women policies and programming procedures, desirable;
 

Language:
• Fluency in oral and written English and Russian/ Kazakhs is required.

Statements :

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.